Military base expenses

[dilbert383]

Assuming that you are a military dentist…

What are some of the advantages that come with living on base?
Are utilities included or do you pay for them separately?
Are you able to get cable and internet service?
If you eat on base, how expensive are the meals… Is there a large cafeteria/mess hall?

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[NAVY DDS 2010]

Assuming that you are a military dentist…

What are some of the advantages that come with living on base?
Are utilities included or do you pay for them separately?
Are you able to get cable and internet service?
If you eat on base, how expensive are the meals… Is there a large cafeteria/mess hall?

As an officer, unless you are married and they will not be living in the same location as you, it is not to your advantage for the most part to live on base. In no location I have been stationed at was it ever beneficial to live on base except when I was a "geo-bachelor" when my wife was in pharmacy school in Florida and I was in the Seattle area. I couldn't support 3 households at once (mine, hers and her mothers, so I lived on my ship. That is the only reason I stayed there. If I was in the financial situation I am now, I would have lived off base. Anyways, with the exception of a few places, most of the time you will come out ahead financially by renting a place off base. Plus, you do not have to be surrounded by military 24/7 that way.

Since I have not lived on base (only a ship) I cannot answer your questions except for cafeteria. That really depends on the base you are stationed at. Some bases do have good size cafeterias/mess halls. While others don't. Many people choose to eat at SUBWAY, McDonalds or whatever restaurant there is on base.

 

[del Sol DOHC]

Depending on the base, there are two types of base housing: DoD owned and privatized. At DoD owned base housing units, you will not be paid BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing), but your rent and utilities will be free. In privatized housing, your rent/utilities will be equal to your BAH rate, but if you go over the standard utilities usage, you will pay the excess out of pocket. If you get promoted and your BAH goes up, so does your rent. You will be able to get cable and internet in both types of base housing. There is usually a mess hall/dining facility on base, but since you will be an officer, you will have to pay to eat there (the prices are pretty cheap).

Most officers will choose to live off base. You can usually find a nice place off base for less than your BAH pay, which allows you to pocket the rest of the money. For an officer, there is usually not a very good reason to live on base unless a short drive to work is of the utmost importance to you.

 

[Act0fgod]

Assuming that you are a military dentist…

What are some of the advantages that come with living on base?
Larger maintenance issues are taken care of for you (your essentially renting the place so if your roof leaks they fix it), short commute to work (not always the case for example if you are stationed somewhere like LA Air Force Base where housing is not collocated with the base/clinic but this may be really nice if you live in like Alaska with bad weather), close access to things like a free gym (again not always the case), the base golf course may be nearby, there is a community of military to provide support (if you deploy it will be nice to have support for your family and at the very least your stuff is safe and someone will likely mow your lawn), junior officers with families may be able to get more space than their BAH would allow off base depending on location (when I got to my first base as a 2Lt I could only afford a condo or a place in a less than desirable neighborhood but on base it was safe and would have gotten a house so if I had kids I probably would have lived on base because of space and the school for the kids - as a Capt probably a wash and higher ranks unless you are a commander with a designated house probably not going to get anything better than you could afford off base).

Are utilities included or do you pay for them separately?
Generally included

Are you able to get cable and internet service?
Yes you pay for you plan so can usually get what you want

If you eat on base, how expensive are the meals… Is there a large cafeteria/mess hall?
Officers are not usually permitted to eat in the mess/dining hall unless they are temporarily visiting for duty or for some sort of morale type thing if they are a commander. Other options are fast food and prices are the same as off base. The grocery store on base is something there is often a misconception as well, the food is not free, but is often name brand things at discounts but personally I shop sales at Safeway/Ralphs or get generic and it is cheaper.

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[AFDDS]

Can't add too much more than what you've already been told here. I have lived on base twice. Once was in DC and base access was an issue. I would have had a long commute to live off base in a good community, so I chose to live on base. 2nd time was in Alaska. Mostly due to weather, but also because I knew I was going to deploy and my wife would be well taken care of on base and what better gated community than one with armed guards, a fleet of aircraft and an Army next door. I didn't worry about her being alone off base while I was gone.

 

[toooldforthis]

"If you eat on base, how expensive are the meals… Is there a large cafeteria/mess hall?
Officers are not usually permitted to eat in the mess/dining hall unless they are temporarily visiting for duty or for some sort of morale type thing if they are a commander. Other options are fast food and prices are the same as off base. The grocery store on base is something there is often a misconception as well, the food is not free, but is often name brand things at discounts but personally I shop sales at Safeway/Ralphs or get generic and it is cheaper."

This is a broad generalization- In USAF facilities this will vary from installation to installation. Travis and Lackland AFB cafeterias have mess halls and officers are allowed to eat there. The 2 overseas bases i waas stationed at with my wife were in the Uk and Germany, officers werent allowed to eat there.

Having lived in enlisted housing (its the same for Officer housing)- the big negative for me are the inspections. You usually have a weekly (biweekly, monthy, etc...) insection where you will be told if your lawn, shrubs, leaves are out of order. i found it irritating.

also you want to pop off base for a movie? be prepared to drive 2-25 mph until you get off base (assuming it isnt in lockdown, or hacing an exercise, or airshow open to the public) and when you come back in you have to go through the gate (see negatives above-same thing can happen). I have lived on and offbase and i wont live on again unless we go back overseas.

 

[umkcdds]

I live on-post and like it. No inspections for me, and I couldnt get any closer to the hospital, which I spend 80+ hours a week at. I haven't seen a D-fac that officers couldn't eat at - you just have to pay, and feel weird eating around a ton of enlisted people.
It is no hassle at all getting on or off post.
I am close to the PX, Commissary, restaurants on post and a big, brand new movie theater that is as nice as any off post theater.
The wife and kids have close access to all the stuff that wives and kids would want to do.