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My husband has been a HP recruiter for as long as weve been together. He is going back to SF and we are moving to Whiteman AFB. I have never lived on base before let alone in the middle of no where. What will i expect? Is there things close by for me and the kids to keep busy? How is on base living like? We also have a double edge sword going for us, we are currently stationed in Chicago, were my husband grew up. My son spends every sat night at his grandparents, this move will be traumatizing to him.
Yes Security Forces. He hits his 15 yr mark this year, he's been recruitng the past 6 years. Hes not to happy going back to SF, he knows all about it. We are hearing that they have changed their shifts to 8 hrs days 4 or 5 days a week. Which helps things alittle bit. I still have hope that he doesnt get PRP and we can go elsewhere .
Nwi, I've never been to Whiteman. But over my career, I'd heard that places like Mountain Home and Laughlin AFBs were the armpit of the USAF. I served at both and found BOTH to be highlights of my career. So hope you, hubby and son will go with a positive attitude and enjoy your time there. I'm willing to bet that wherever you end up, even your son will have some wonderful memories from your time at Whiteman. Yeah, it sounds a little too simplified and sugary, I know. But there really IS something good at every assignment. And hubby only has 5 more years 'til retirement. I've driven a truck through MO a lot and have enjoyed the people there. While the Midwest isn't always the most scenic parts of our country, there's plenty of variety in the Show ME state. Besides, both St. Louis and Kansas City are great getaways. As well as a lot more things to see in MO. Best of luck!
My son is SF there right now. The duty sucks and the Squadron sucks according to him. He has been there two years. One good thing, they don't deploy much. He was able to find an apartment in Warrensburg. It was hard to find off base housing when he got there. Kansas City has lots to do but is a bit of a drive.
I was a Security Policeman for 24 years. Whiteman is not a place I ever wanted to be stuck at.
Nwi, I've never been to Whiteman. But over my career, I'd heard that places like Mountain Home and Laughlin AFBs were the armpit of the USAF. I served at both and found BOTH to be highlights of my career. So hope you, hubby and son will go with a positive attitude and enjoy your time there. I'm willing to bet that wherever you end up, even your son will have some wonderful memories from your time at Whiteman. Yeah, it sounds a little too simplified and sugary, I know. But there really IS something good at every assignment. And hubby only has 5 more years 'til retirement. I've driven a truck through MO a lot and have enjoyed the people there. While the Midwest isn't always the most scenic parts of our country, there's plenty of variety in the Show ME state. Besides, both St. Louis and Kansas City are great getaways. As well as a lot more things to see in MO. Best of luck!
Speak for yourself. Laughlin IS an armpit. Bad for single people, bad for families with children of school age. Lack of adequate housing options is not what you make of it. Lack of medical facilities and resources is not what you make of it. Lack of employment outlets for supporting families and their chronic underemployment is not what one makes of it. These are objective logistical hardships and shortcomings that aren't imagined, subjective, nor compensated for in any monetary form.
Limestone gravel ground full of cactus and despair. A mirage in a desert where a town should not exist if not for purposeful federal pork barrel congressional influence. An outright hardship this place is, which should actually qualify as a remote location if it wasn't for the fact they boondoggled the mileage to the nearest medical "facility", if one wants to call it that. A town full of hostile apathetic locals who know you're stuck here and so you'll just have to deal with their lack of work ethic. When a newcomer's brief starts word for word with: "do not complain about this place around the locals" you know you've lost the war before you started it. I do my part, patronizing businesses in San Antonio with my federal dollars on the weekend, every weekend. Nuff said.
When it comes to military installations, most of it depends on how far you have to drive to the nearest urban center with the amenities that distract and support the families of those already burdened by the daily active duty bull----t. Knob Noster is 70 miles from city center. That's a layup. What sucks about that destination, enlisted SF or officer aircrew, is the PRP and the PL1 sandwich. That is of course much more AFSC dependent than it is location dependent. Let's just say Im glad Im out of the PRP business.
I'd say I'd give my left one to be stationed in a place like whiteman before a Cannon, Creech, Laughlin. I'm about to eat my own words, but in hindsight I'd be willing to be PRP if it meant I didn't get stationed in places like Laughlin. I know people who have volunteered to Kandahar over spending all 4 years in Mexico. 70 miles from a city is about the outer edge of what I would consider commutable. Try 144 miles from ANYTHING, to include decent hospitals. Korea in the winter sounds like a softer kick in the jimmy....
Of course, going from a civilized recruiting position in the cities to SF in a quasi-rural station is a pretty rude downgrade. This is not news for a 15 yr guy though. Good luck. Only 5 more years. Could have been Cannon or Laughlin.....
**hindsight2020** You forgot to add Minot to your list! They tried their hardest to send us there twice in Jan. No housing, town still in rubbles due to flooding. No families can move there since lack of housing,schools ect. They even had to temp raise the BAH since people jacked the price of hotels and rentals up.
Yes very rude downgrade. Has been a year long fight, somebody at the Pentagon decided their numbers projected a low number of SF(gee, really?) in the future. So they are calling everyone back. Even though my husband has had enough time into recruiting that he could have been a career recruiter. But they did a wavier for that. My husband has pissed off everyone in the chain especially a certain chief in Texas, for trying to stay in recruiting. So thats where we think the 2 assessment's to Monit came from. Finally after those were canceled we were told due to the new HYT we get to stay here till next Sept. Then 2 weeks later was slapped with another assignment to Whiteman (they did another wavier there 2) We kind of had to bow down since we didnt have anymore cards to play, and they just seem to waiver everything anyways. Gonna be a huge change for hubby, hes use to telling people how it is now its back to the other way around. At least as of now he can not be deployed due to sleep apnea. And we were also scared hed just end up doing a one year remote while we were still here and he had that year left. So at least we are together and thats whats important. He very much considered getting out. It was heart vs mind deal. Since his family is here and with our child he didnt want to take them away, but we also knew what the smart thing was to do. And at least we didnt get minot, and home is a 8 hour drive. But im still nervous about the PRP, hes on a med for carpel tunnel and its a neurological med. He's certain that he will get it but im really not sure. I would really love for him to not get it and we move to Wright-Pat(yes im dreaming) but with our luck he wouldnt get it and we would have to move far way in the middle of no where..like Laughlin. I guess i should just let sleeping dogs lie.
Speak for yourself. Laughlin IS an armpit. Bad for single people, bad for families with children of school age. Lack of adequate housing options is not what you make of it. Lack of medical facilities and resources is not what you make of it. Lack of employment outlets for supporting families and their chronic underemployment is not what one makes of it. These are objective logistical hardships and shortcomings that aren't imagined, subjective, nor compensated for in any monetary form.
Limestone gravel ground full of cactus and despair. A mirage in a desert where a town should not exist if not for purposeful federal pork barrel congressional influence. An outright hardship this place is, which should actually qualify as a remote location if it wasn't for the fact they boondoggled the mileage to the nearest medical "facility", if one wants to call it that. A town full of hostile apathetic locals who know you're stuck here and so you'll just have to deal with their lack of work ethic. When a newcomer's brief starts word for word with: "do not complain about this place around the locals" you know you've lost the war before you started it. I do my part, patronizing businesses in San Antonio with my federal dollars on the weekend, every weekend. Nuff said.
When it comes to military installations, most of it depends on how far you have to drive to the nearest urban center with the amenities that distract and support the families of those already burdened by the daily active duty bull----t. Knob Noster is 70 miles from city center. That's a layup. What sucks about that destination, enlisted SF or officer aircrew, is the PRP and the PL1 sandwich. That is of course much more AFSC dependent than it is location dependent. Let's just say Im glad Im out of the PRP business.
I'd say I'd give my left one to be stationed in a place like whiteman before a Cannon, Creech, Laughlin. I'm about to eat my own words, but in hindsight I'd be willing to be PRP if it meant I didn't get stationed in places like Laughlin. I know people who have volunteered to Kandahar over spending all 4 years in Mexico. 70 miles from a city is about the outer edge of what I would consider commutable. Try 144 miles from ANYTHING, to include decent hospitals. Korea in the winter sounds like a softer kick in the jimmy....
Of course, going from a civilized recruiting position in the cities to SF in a quasi-rural station is a pretty rude downgrade. This is not news for a 15 yr guy though. Good luck. Only 5 more years. Could have been Cannon or Laughlin.....
Hindsight2020, I guess it does make a difference that, while single, I was in a long-distance relationship and I also worked full-speed to complete my CCAF. So I'll definitely grant that Laughlin was different things to different people. And a TSgt's perspective is a bit different than a single first-termer stuck in a dorm. I was fortunate to live in a decent apartment on Kings Way. And as a maintainer who normally lives in the ACC world, AETC was a nice change of pace for awhile.
So I sure agree with your assessment. And I'm guilty of not seeing Laughlin through the eyes of a parent who wants good schools and medical facilities instead of being a single, bulletproof-in-my-own-mind single NCO. That and Val Verde is one of the poorest counties in the U.S.A...
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