Base housing. You’ve heard all the negatives before: Mold, brown water, arguing neighbors, jets flying overhead, showing ID to get to your house, “Is the commissary open?” posts. If you haven’t lived on a military base before, there’s probably a line full of disgruntled individuals who would be more than happy to share their personal testimony of why you definitely shouldn’t live on base, but this is not that article. While there are many things that should be addressed regarding quality of living, I’m here to shed some light on all of the positives that can come with base housing.
This is our second time living on base. Our first neighborhood we adored our neighbors. From late night fire nights while the kids were in bed, to sharing baked goods, the community that was built was something I wish all could experience within their time in the military, but after our PCS, we decided to give off base a try. However there were numerous qualities we were missing, so a year later we made the move back onto base and these are a few of the things we have noticed that have changed our living situation for the better, just within these last three weeks.
We are getting more bang for our buck
Living in an expensive state, we were paying the entire BAH with utilities out of pocket, and our daughter didn’t even have her own room. Our bathroom was the size of our current closet, and our closet, well let’s just say, the majority of my clothes lived in boxes under our bed. Since moving on base, our children have their own rooms, we have two living spaces, perfect for a play-room and another for a cozy reading room, our clothes are hung in the closets.
Hitting those fitness goals
When my husband was deployed in 2021, I would use evening time to run the neighborhood. The dark and the quiet allowed for time to decompress, and the safety of living on base made me feel at ease. We missed this living off base, and while we were able to go to the local gym, it was still money out of pocket. Living on base has opened up opportunities to take the kids with me to the gym (something we would have to pay for off base), get outside with the safety of the sidewalks and enclosed playgrounds, and meet other moms that love to get their work out while their toddler wreaks havoc around them.
Friends for my children
With April being the month of the military child, we know how hard it can be for military children to experience frequent change and build lasting relationships. As April is Autism Acceptance month as well, and my son is on the spectrum, I would like to highlight that building those relationships can be even more difficult with the social differences. Since we’ve seen Spring tease us with some warm days, the parks have been littered with children. My son has gotten to be around other children his age every time he has stepped out the door.
Listen, I’m not saying you can’t get these things off base. While you may have to work a little bit harder for it, you can 100% can. In fact, we have an amazing community we built from living off base. However, if there is a season you need to be on base, like this is for us, just know that there are so many positives to it, if you just simply stop and look around.
