questions for military ppl

[Mac in Wisco]

Quote:
No, no difference at all. In fact I was speaking from 21 years active duty service with the Air Force, having retired one year ago.

I remember one Saturday morning I was watching cartoons with the kids and got a call at 10 AM that they needed me at work. By 2 PM I had a seat on a KC-135 tanker headed to the other side of the world. I was a power linesman at the time... If they need you and your expertise, you go.

In later years I retrained to a flying job and served as a Flight Engineer on C-130 cargo aircraft.

Those are widely varying jobs that you listed. Do you know anything about that "security" job?

 

[desertdarlene]

I'm not in the military, but I've worked for the military and live in a military town and worked in a military neighborhood and I think it sometimes depends on the base you live on and what rank you are and what duties you have. Here in San Diego, they have places where people can keep some of their livestock, such as horses, but usually not in a backyard or in a home. There's a separate section of the base that they allow for things like that and space is limited and most likely given to higher ranking military personnel, first. I agree with those who say to ask and check around. Like others have said, most of the military folks I know of do not keep anything more than a small pet that can be easily transported or given away just because of the nature of being a military family.

 

[hossfeathers]

It is frequently very difficult to move ones own self + stuff + car in the military, and adding any sort of dependants, including animals, to that only makes it worse.

Military people move about every 2-3 years (more often if you are single) and if you are in the military at this time, you should plan on being deployed every 2 years for 6 months to a year plus. (That's a conservative estimate. Lots of people move more frequently.

What seems to work fairly well for people who have been in for a while, and are married, is that they buy a house/property off base, set up a household, move to another base with the next assignment and rent out their house, then move back with the assignment after that, and retire at the end of that last assignment. But we're talking the 15-16 year point.

I'm not saying that it is impossible, but it is VERY difficult. Please take your time and think/work this through.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Your best bet may be to always search for sources of fresh, local eggs wherever you go. It's getting much easier to find them now and you wouldn't have to deal with cleaning cages, getting them cared for or any of the other requirements of raising birds. Good luck, and thank you for serving!

 

[dsqard]

I would listen to mac in abiline. I was in the Army for ten years. In those ten years I was all over the place to include Korea for a year. I am assuming that you are entering the military as an enlisted person and probably one at the bottom of the ranks as I did when I first went in. You will be surprised at how fast that money disappears between paychecks LOL. I would advise against buying any property until you get out. You move around so much that trying to sell property every three years will make you bankrupt especially in today's real estate market. That market has not recovered yet in most parts of the country (I just had to move this year and the area that I came from and the area that I moved to are both still in the dumps)
The only way I would have bought property when I was in the military was if I was convinced that I was going to "move back home" after serving and bought land there. I knew I wasn't going to go back to where I enlisted from so I never bought any property. You are still running a risk even if you do that since you might wind up living somewhere that you never want to leave. Hard to predict what life might deal you! By the way, I would like to thank you for serving. I know it is a hard decision especially in the current political climate. It will always be a source of pride for you even if you only serve one enlistment.