Active Duty Commuting

[12xu2a3x3]

The ANG/AFRC commuting thread exists but I was wondering about the experience of active duty people with long commutes:

Has anyone ever lived in DFW and commuted to KSPS? It’s two hours but seems doable with a crash pad a few nights a week. I know IPs live in Edmond and commute to Vance at about 1.5 hrs. That’s below SMD! 

[the g-man]

The ANG/AFRC commuting thread exists but I was wondering about the experience of active duty people with long commutes:
Has anyone ever lived in DFW and commuted to KSPS? It’s two hours but seems doable with a crash pad a few nights a week. I know IPs live in Edmond and commute to Vance at about 1.5 hrs. That’s below SMD! 

Sounds terrible. Especially for a UPT IP. In AMC at McGuire I, along with a bunch of other peeps lived in Philly-proper ~1 hr from base. Now I’m a UPT IP and I couldn’t imagine having a 1 hr commute with the amount of show-times that are before 0700.


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[Sua Sponte]

When I was at Altus some people commuted from Lawton and even OKC. One guy commuted from Atlanta to Robins daily due to having family in the area and not wanting to live in the shit hole known as Warner Robins/Macon.

[12xu2a3x3]

1 hour ago, the g-man said:

Sounds terrible. Especially for a UPT IP. In AMC at McGuire I, along with a bunch of other peeps lived in Philly-proper ~1 hr from base. Now I’m a UPT IP and I couldn’t imagine having a 1 hr commute with the amount of show-times that are before 0700.


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That checks re: philly, I lived in fishtown and there were lots of KC-10 types in my neighborhood. I commuted 1+30 to ACY as an ART. 
 

Does being an MWS guy at UPT buy you anything like some easier show times? Would crashing two nights a week ease that you reckon? 

[12xu2a3x3]

I was thinking about a T-6 to SPS to help get my wife access to good employment opportunities for her field.

[the g-man]

That checks re: philly, I lived in fishtown and there were lots of KC-10 types in my neighborhood. I commuted 1+30 to ACY as an ART. 
 
Does being an MWS guy at UPT buy you anything like some easier show times? Would crashing two nights a week ease that you reckon? 

I’m a toner dude so we kinda show to brief for the flight (no formal brief). That said being an MWS guy doesn’t really help. Morning local push for us is t/o from 0730-0900, out and backs 0930-1030, then afternoon locals 1400-1500. And you can never ensure you’re on the afternoon consistently. Brief times are all at least 2 hr prior to takeoff


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[jazzdude]

When I was at Vance flying the T-6, there was no slack for being an MWS guy. Show for the flight meeting ~5 min prior to formal brief. Had friends commuting from Edmond making it in for formal brief (or for RSU or SOF duty).

If you've got a long commute, hopefully your scheduler lines you up for first go (and doesn't bookend you with a long sit between flights), and gets you done with your day quicker, so your not sitting around.

The flights I was in typically cut the long commuters loose earlier (ie skip formal release). But that can change with the flt/cc or sq/CC's policy.

But overall, don't expect special treatment as an MWS guy coming to UPT, unless you consider sitting SOF special treatment...

[HU&W]

We had a couple of commuters that lived in Lubbock when I was at Cannon.  They hated life, but for different reasons than most people. 

[hindsight2020]

We had a good amount of geo-bachelors at DLF.

[the g-man]

We had a good amount of geo-bachelors at DLF.

What you’re describing there is probably someone who grinds out the week at DLF and then high-tails it to SAT on the weekend, yeah?


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[hindsight2020]

17 minutes ago, the g-man said:

What you’re describing there is probably someone who grinds out the week at DLF and then high-tails it to SAT on the weekend, yeah?


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Yeah, and AUS, and CRP believe it or not. But there were a couple who would do it daily.

The other cohort was part-week geo-bash, and those put a lot of miles on their cars. Basically split the week on Wednesday, so they were home every 72 hours. The only true commuter I know who did it consistently every day lived in Uvalde.

[viper154]

3 hours ago, HU&W said:

We had a couple of commuters that lived in Lubbock when I was at Cannon.  They hated life, but for different reasons than most people. 

If I stay in it’s inevitable I will end up back at Cannon, I’ve highly considered doing the LBB commute. I don’t want my kids going to school in that shit hole, and I suspect my wife would Be happier. With the new use or loose leave extension and deployments I think I could take a 3 or 4 day weekend almost every week. Someone doesn’t like it they can deny my leave every week when I put it in and I’ll take a week a month off. 
 

I don’t think I can live in that wretched place again, but current outside job prospects + my resume don’t leave a lot of options to maintain my current income. 

[DFNJ]

AD at Edwards and commuting about 85 miles from LA.

 

As a single dude it's well worth the trade off of having a 90 minute drive. What made life infinitely better was finding someone to carpool with at least part of the way. 

[HAWDINGL]

AD at Edwards and commuting about 85 miles from LA.
 
As a single dude it's well worth the trade off of having a 90 minute drive. What made life infinitely better was finding someone to carpool with at least part of the way. 

I know my commute is too long if I have to remember to pee before Ieave the house.

Also, 90 mins each way is 15 hours a week = 60 hours a month/2.5 days a month = 30 days a year in the car driving to/from work! Obviously not counting days of leave/holidays/tdy/deployment, but you get my point.


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[jice]

@12xu2a3x3 Data is ~6 years old; take it for what it’s worth. Wichita Falls has no shortage of old, kind of shitty, but super cheap apartments in the old downtown area (12 minutes to base). You could pick one up for less than $700 a month back in 2014. Some for less.

It’s also the closest piece of civilization to some extraction operations (though not as booming as Midland/Odessa can be when the price of oil goes up), so long-term rentals at campgrounds are fairly common.  (Good luck buying a camper at the moment though; COVID has made that market go crazy.)

If you want to commute, having a place in WF is doable on a budget, and you could probably work the schedule so that you can spend one or two weeknights at home regularly during the week.