I will be assigned Knowledge Operations Management and have been told that is a job utilized at just about every base. My recruiter told me I will be given 8 choices for stateside and 8 choices for overseas. Which bases would you recommend and which would you avoid?
One thing to keep in mind is that the base has a decent gym. Additionally, Im wondering if certain bases would be better to opt out for chow hall use and just request to receive funds to shop for groceries instead, I thought I remember hearing you can do thatâ?¦.
I think gyms on most DoD bases are pretty lame and you’re better off going off post. Not too many freeweights, inadequate hours and lots of bros in tank tops on Jack3d. Wright Pat in Ohio is basically that. If you’re in the DC area, there’s a lot of pretty good gyms around here. I’m at Walter Reed now and go to a great powerlifting gym. There’s a sizable Air Force contingent at Ft. Meade. Coliseum is in the area and caters to bodybuilders if that’s your thing.
Offutt in Omaha has a huge gym built into an old aircraft hanger. There’s a conventional weight room that also has platforms and a CrossFit area that anyone is allowed to use. They’ve also got mats and bags with grappling and MMA classes. Other perks include a half mile track, tennis, bball and indoor soccer. Definitely the best gym I’ve used on a base. Omaha’s surprisingly a pretty good place.
Eglin is a huge Air Force spot, but their gym is pretty crummy. Platforms and squat racks, but it was a pretty bro-ey environment, and it had bad hours. The gym at Hurlburt isn’t much better. I’m told the gym for the 7th group is good, but you have to sneak in. It’s the Florida panhandle. Beaches and tourists.
Hickam on Hawaii is possibly the best looking and best maintained base. Did I mention it’s Hawaii? The Marine base on the other side of the island is 30 min away and is pretty good and is 24 hours.
I spent time at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, it seemed pretty cool because you are in Vegas of all places. Hot as fuck in the summer if you don’t mind that.
[quote]XiaoNio wrote:
I think gyms on most DoD bases are pretty lame and you’re better off going off post. Not too many freeweights, inadequate hours and lots of bros in tank tops on Jack3d. Wright Pat in Ohio is basically that. If you’re in the DC area, there’s a lot of pretty good gyms around here. I’m at Walter Reed now and go to a great powerlifting gym. There’s a sizable Air Force contingent at Ft. Meade. Coliseum is in the area and caters to bodybuilders if that’s your thing.
Offutt in Omaha has a huge gym built into an old aircraft hanger. There’s a conventional weight room that also has platforms and a CrossFit area that anyone is allowed to use. They’ve also got mats and bags with grappling and MMA classes. Other perks include a half mile track, tennis, bball and indoor soccer. Definitely the best gym I’ve used on a base. Omaha’s surprisingly a pretty good place.
Eglin is a huge Air Force spot, but their gym is pretty crummy. Platforms and squat racks, but it was a pretty bro-ey environment, and it had bad hours. The gym at Hurlburt isn’t much better. I’m told the gym for the 7th group is good, but you have to sneak in. It’s the Florida panhandle. Beaches and tourists.
Hickam on Hawaii is possibly the best looking and best maintained base. Did I mention it’s Hawaii? The Marine base on the other side of the island is 30 min away and is pretty good and is 24 hours.
Hope that helps.
[/quote]
Awesome, do almost all DoD gyms have fight training available? Any other gyms or areas stick out with good MMA setups besides Offutt?
[quote]MaximusB wrote:
I spent time at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, it seemed pretty cool because you are in Vegas of all places. Hot as fuck in the summer if you don’t mind that.[/quote]
I usually love the heat. I think the heat only sucks if you’re out of shape, low on sleep and/or hungry,haha.
Ya think theres Any truth that Las Vegas is a germ haven inclining people to get sick more often, or is that just somewhat valid in the casinos/tourist hotspots?
[quote]ZJStrope wrote:
MacDill AFB in Tampa. Really nice based and you are in Tampa with all the Tampa hotties.
Overseas, anywhere in Germany or possibly Italy (haven’t been to Italy though). Japan would be awesome too.[/quote]
You’ve been stationed in Japan, how does your experience in Tampa rank up to other stateside afbs?
How does your experience in Japan & Germany rank up to other overseas afbs?
[quote]ZJStrope wrote:
MacDill AFB in Tampa. Really nice based and you are in Tampa with all the Tampa hotties.
Overseas, anywhere in Germany or possibly Italy (haven’t been to Italy though). Japan would be awesome too.[/quote]
You’ve been stationed in Japan, how does your experience in Tampa rank up to other stateside afbs?
How does your experience in Japan & Germany rank up to other overseas afbs?[/quote]
Never was in the Air Force (Army) but my dad was.
I’ve been to Tokyo and know a lot of people stationed in Japan. I’ve also been to Germany a few times and knew people stationed in Germany. No one I have known disliked being stationed over there. Not to mention, I LOVED all those places. Very military friendly and just tons of fun.
Now I’ve been to a few US AFBs including Homestead, KI Sawyer (which is closed), Pope AFB (which I think may not exist anymore), and MacDill. By far, MacDill is the best. Given that it is headquarters to CENTCOM, SOCOM, SOCCENT, MARCENT, and other high profile commands, the facilities are amazing.
Plus, you are in Tampa, which has a lot of great amenities you won’t find so close to many other air bases.
But I guess overall, I wouldn’t get to comfortable anywhere in the Air Force. Lots of moving around in general, although from the rumblings I’ve heard, the military in general is trying to temper that stuff.
Offutt’s been the only one I’ve seen with permanent mat space and a pretty reasonable schedule. When I was in Hawaii, there was a multi-base MMA competition, so I’m assuming some of them had clubs. Tripler had a team that met at 5 AM 2-3 days a week.
Echoing what ZJStrope said, you should definitely think about the area that you want to end up and not just the base amenities. Tampa is pretty nice. I thought Omaha was not awful. I was not a big fan of Destin (Eglin) or Montgomery (Maxwell). I think if you go to a base closer to a real urban area, you’ll have more options of stuff to do. I’ve never been, but I’d take a look at Travis in California, or Lewis-McChord outside of Tacoma/Seattle.
I work as a civilian at Travis in Fairfield. I can’t really comment on the military side of things in too much depth. However, it has a decent gym (I’m into powerlifting and it meets my needs fine) and it’s in a decent area. Sacramento is 35 minutes east and the Bay area is 35/40 minutes the other direction. The city I live in is ten minutes away from the base and Fabio Prado has an MMA/BBJ gym there.
There’s also non-stop hops to Hawaii.
[quote]MaximusB wrote:
I spent time at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, it seemed pretty cool because you are in Vegas of all places. Hot as fuck in the summer if you don’t mind that.[/quote]
I usually love the heat. I think the heat only sucks if you’re out of shape, low on sleep and/or hungry,haha.
Ya think theres Any truth that Las Vegas is a germ haven inclining people to get sick more often, or is that just somewhat valid in the casinos/tourist hotspots?[/quote]
Once you get outside of the Vegas strip, it’s a pretty small quiet place.
It has it’s spots to go slumming for sure, but it also has places for some clean fun too.
I have never seen so many fake tits per square mile than in Vegas.
I was stationed at Patrick AFB in Cocoa Beach, FL. It was a nice base, decent gym, and across the street from the ocean.
I would stay away from any training base (AETC). I highly doubt you get to choose whether or not you get money or chow hall.
I received money because I was on shift work at an on base Detachment. If you really like working out, try out for the PJ’s.
There is a test you can take in Week 3 of Basic for PJ or CCT.
I live right near Walter Reed. Just curious which PL gym do you go to. The only one I know of is Rockville Fitness.
[quote]XiaoNio wrote:
I think gyms on most DoD bases are pretty lame and you’re better off going off post. Not too many freeweights, inadequate hours and lots of bros in tank tops on Jack3d. Wright Pat in Ohio is basically that. If you’re in the DC area, there’s a lot of pretty good gyms around here. I’m at Walter Reed now and go to a great powerlifting gym. There’s a sizable Air Force contingent at Ft. Meade. Coliseum is in the area and caters to bodybuilders if that’s your thing.
Offutt in Omaha has a huge gym built into an old aircraft hanger. There’s a conventional weight room that also has platforms and a CrossFit area that anyone is allowed to use. They’ve also got mats and bags with grappling and MMA classes. Other perks include a half mile track, tennis, bball and indoor soccer. Definitely the best gym I’ve used on a base. Omaha’s surprisingly a pretty good place.
Eglin is a huge Air Force spot, but their gym is pretty crummy. Platforms and squat racks, but it was a pretty bro-ey environment, and it had bad hours. The gym at Hurlburt isn’t much better. I’m told the gym for the 7th group is good, but you have to sneak in. It’s the Florida panhandle. Beaches and tourists.
Hickam on Hawaii is possibly the best looking and best maintained base. Did I mention it’s Hawaii? The Marine base on the other side of the island is 30 min away and is pretty good and is 24 hours.
[quote]A-rod wrote:
I live right near Walter Reed. Just curious which PL gym do you go to. The only one I know of is Rockville Fitness.
[/quote]
SSPT
It’s run by Matt Gary (Some time USAPL coach of the year) and Sioux-Z Gary (numerous time national/international champ). It’s small, but there’s a good contingent of PL and OL there. Probably the best equipment and some of the most serious lifters in the county.
On base gyms are the last thing you should be looking at when choosing a location. Even bases with good gyms are usually really overcrowded so it’s hard to take advantage of. My favorite place to live was Hurlburt. The worst was Tinker. Of the places I only visited on TDY, Nellis is a lot of fun but I’m not so sure I would want to live there, and I hope I never get stuck at Robbins. In the end you may not get anything on your list so be ready to make the most of anyplace you wind up.
Personally, I’d stay away from Japan and the west coast under this Fukishima thing is under control. They found a two-headed whale washed ashore from the Pacific.