Where would you go???
Point Mugu (2)
20%
San Diego (3)
30%
Fallon (2)
20%
Pax River (3)
30%

I am currently up for orders and would love to stay in Japan if getting a COT wasn't so freaking hard. I mean, come on!!!! I want to stay here. There are choice orders up in Misawa now. But the way that 7th fleet is you have to have both of your pins just to get looked at. I only have 1 and that was on a requal from the last time I was at sea. I digress about my anger at how hard and ridiculas it is to get a COT thru on my ship. So I am left with the following options seeing that my Japan days are numbered. There are orders to NAS Fallon, San Diego, and Pax River. There are also orders to Point Mugu but I have been there already and want a change of scenery. My wife may want to go back but again, I haven't heard from her... So please tell me if you have been to any of the 3 that I mentioned how they were. I am on the GW and I was in SD for a while. Also, I was at Pax for 2 weeks for and AIRSPEED conference when I was in VA. It was nice but didn't know about the commands. I would love to know more about the commands. I would be at the FRC if you know what that is, specifically the Calibration Labs. Any and all info would be greatly appreciated. I thank you for reading this and wish you all the best!!!
V/R,
Big Jim

Okay for Pax River. They are going to be older ships when I say older I mean older and crappy.Also in my expericance my husband hated both commands he was atttachted to in Va. I hear some people do like it but most people I know avoid any command in Va.

For Sandiego we spent two tours there. Some commands are really good. We had an awsome shore command and an awsome ship command. Also one crappy ship command.(the first ship he was on got D-commed.) So it could be hit or miss . As far as living in Sandiego, depending on what your wife does for a living she could have a hard time. I did dental assisting in Mi and moved to Ca with my husband. I expected to enroll in a community collage and get trained for Ca or find a dentist and train on the job. Nope didnt happen everything was full and the dentistis in Ca only wanted to pay $7.15per hour I made $15 in Mi. Also anyone who works in retail high up with any sort of degree. Lots of places to work, hard to get your foot in the door. Alots of nice areas to live. Imperial beach is a nice community they do the sandcastle compitiion on the beach there every year. And its 25cents to ride the bus anywhere in imperal beach down to the beach on the days of the compition too.When we left they had just started adding a street fair to it. So from the 5 to the Beach is a good area from the othere side of the 5 where walmart is was a bit sketchy. Pacific Beach is nice too I had friends that lived on voltire. More hippish better farmers market than cornando but horrible parking problems. This community is where the 8 ends at the Ocean. You usually stay away from national city. Oh and the mile of cars we called the mile of thiefs. If you go there and buy a car when you get done shaking the guys hand you better make sure you got all your fingers back. You see all these millitary welcome signs up and all that means is as soon as they find out your millitary they think you are a sucker. We bought our cars out in fashion vally kinda near the mall down where the benihana's is. We got much better deals there.

For fallon I have another friend who is a millitary brat thats dad was stationed there twice. He says that the base was kinda nice but the surrounding area was pretty crappy.That was a while ago things might have changed by now but he didnt like it there as far as dependants go.

Not knockiin' ya, but that's the first time I've heard IB called "a nice community." I guess it's right up there with Nasty City.

Anyway, much of this is subjective. As far as commands being good or bad, everyone will have a different experience. Part depends on your boss, and most depends on you. Don't take anyone else's word that this or that command sux. Mostly it's what you make of it.

A big part of the question is career path. What type of job are you being offered at each locale? Will it help advancement? Warfare quals? Can you find someone presently at the command to talk to? I voted for SD in your poll, but any place can be a nice home; it's what you put into it. I'm even loving little ol' backwater Iwakuni to my great surprise. I would focus more on the job and on your (and the wife's) attitude.

Just a follow up to this. I didn't get my COT approved. Oh well. But I did get the orders to San Diego that I was hoping for as a second resort. I will be leaving Japan in June. I would love to hear what anyone that has been stationed there and had experiance with the base housing what it was like. I am looking at a few of the places. I have 2 kids so I will need a 3 bedroom. I will try and ask for a 4 bedroom. I would love to have an extra room. But I am sure that lots of people would love that. Anyway, I would like to hear anything about what the housing. Thanks again in advance.
V/R,
Big Jim

Hi Jim,
My husband and I met in San Diego and except for a brief stint in Newport, RI we've lived in San Diego his whole career (up until last summer).
We have a townhouse (3br) near MCAS Miramar in the Scripps Ranch/Miramar area that we rent out now and I LOVED it there.  2 minutes from Miramar.  There are other townhomes there for rent, I can give you my property managers number he may be able to find you something.  Here is one that is my properties neighbor- http://www.postlets.com/rts/4166260   (awesome area- big trees and a fishing pond walking distance - kind of a country feel).
 
Stay away from anything south of I8 (especially Imperial beach and National City).  Unless you go to Coronado or some parts of Chula Vista and more east are ok. 
The base housing in Tierrasanta (Murphy Canyon) is old and horrible (that's what I've heard, and I was only visiting one friend in an 04 house - it wasn't great).  The base housing in Scripps Ranch (Pomerado Terrace) is nice externally and a GREAT location, but I haven't been inside the units.  It's off Pomorado Rd off the I15 and really close to Miramar. 
There is some new base housing on the sub base in Coronado, but it's only senior officer housing.  The family housing on Naval Station San Diego is ok at best.  We had to stay there temporarily during the wild fires.

The reason I loved Miramar so much is that it was only a 20 minute drive(opposing commute traffic) to NS San Diego and the MCAS Miramar base has an awesome (brand new) youth/teen center, sports programs, babysitting (drop in care), big commissary & exchange, annual air show, multiple parks for kids to play in, pools (summer swim lessons), big theater ($1 movies), etc.  There is also brand new housing on that base as well, but I don't know anything about it other than it looks really nice from the outside.

here is the link to base housing san diego.  http://www.lincolnmilitary.com/
i just looked on there and you can find out exactly what's available now.

good luck in san diego.  you and your family will absolutely love it!  If you decide to live off-base (you should...lots of options), stay close to a base and use the commissary - local grocery stores can get pricey.
Lisa

Just wondering... Are you in any position to buy a house in SD? Prices are the lowest they've been in years, and sooner or later they will climb back. If you've never owned a home this is a good time to enter the market particularly if you will be there at least 3 years. Prices will likely remain depressed for the next couple of years, but they will come back sooner or later. It's a great chance to build personal wealth. I did this during the real estate run up from 1997-2005; I wasn't smart but I was lucky and got out just before the market took a dive.

ThaiGuy has some excellent advice! You really should consider getting into the real estate market in San Diego - you will get a huge tax refund because you get to write off all the interest you pay on your mortgage and in California that is a big advantage. Lots of people are leaving California because of the economy, but because you are in the military your paycheck is coming every 2 weeks so you have that stability that civilians do not. You can buy with your VA loan or ask a mortgage broker for the other ways to buy with no money down - there are ways!
I am glad we did and now our townhome pays for itself (with renters) and just keeps appreciating in value!

Follow up!!!

My San Diego orders got canceled due to down sizing of shore duty billets. Oh well. I now have 2 choices for shore duty. Pax River or Fallon. I have less then 24 hours to pick. Any and all help would be great!!!! Please advise. Thanks ahead of time!!!