Military Base Housing.. Did any one else grow up around it? Do you remember...

[ilovewindex]

SO during a good chunk of my child hood I was passed around from time to time to differing family members to be watched while my grandparents or dad or mom could deal with things and not worry with me (or in the case of my grandparents they could go visit friends and me not be bored)

Anyway, my uncle was an officer in the USMC and i spent ALOT of time on several different bases and in base housing.. I always remember how crappy base housing was, and how unkempt it could be

I first remember base life at Camp Pendelton in 1989/1990 but they lived off base and remember very little from the base

My first ACTUAL rememberances of base life where at Quantico in late 1991... It was a duplex of some sort, with the kitchen/laundry off to the right, a living room area and dinning room dead ahead and bedrooms to the left.... I was always fascinated by appliances then and I remember it had a gas over/under stove and my aunts GE top freezer she carted all over the us for 16 years..They've redone all the housing there, so I can't find pictures.. It always intrigued me and i've ment to ask for pictures from my aunt

In the end of 1992 they moved to McCoy Annex of NTS Orlando and where there until 1996... I remember the house well... It had a carport and the washer and dryers where in a room off the carport... I remember sneaking around during the day and looking in the neighbors laundry rooms (i remember this once, knowing me, i did it a bunch)... Alot of Kenmore's! Lots and Lots of Kenmores... Thats why mid to late 80s Kenmores are so special... Anyway, you walk into the kitchen and it had 2 doors and an akward layout.. The dishwasher was probably a WCI clone of somesort (Gibson or westinghouse, Gibson sticks in my head), a basic 18 cu ft fridge (my aunt had her GE where there fridge whent and used the base one as a second, it was off white and brand new, Gibson or some off brand was its name, I didn't really pay attention)... What stuck in my head was the stove... It wasn't special, it was BOL as all can be... It had a slightly slanted control panel and a window in the door... It had gray decals with the lettering for the stove and sliver and black knobs... IT said "VISTA"on it... I think it had lines on the window for the oven.. But i can't remember.. We used it for several thanksgivings and such and it worked well...

In 1996 they moved to Stella NC to an off base house for 18 months.. It was almost new, had full black whirlpool appliances and the first ceramic topped stove i ever cooked on. It was nice.. TOL everything... Then 18 months later, they got a house on base... This was the house I had to dodge the MP's because i thought they would arrest me for not being in school (I was schooled in a wierd way)... Anyway, it was a full on 1970s GE Kitchen.. GE SXS, GE 40" dual oven range and AND GE Potscrubber.... Sadly, the potscrubber didn't work, and it was replaced with a Whirlpool gold power clean of around 1997... That 40" GE stove was a beast.. I mean it made some mean cookies.. I loved using it... The wierd thing with this house is the washer and dryer was directly behind the stove and in a closet, almost too small for them. The water heater was tucked in here.. They also used the trash can carrier heatpumps that always seemed broken... I loved that kitchen.. It was huge, and the house had a maids quarters even... The base was actually getting ready to redo the housing at that time, and looking online, i see they moved the laundry upstairs along with the water tank and hvac.. Such fond memories.. I remember begging to keep the stove because we knew they would be ripping the houses apart.. My grandmother and aunt go so mad because I wouldn't shut up about the damn stove

They moved back to Camp Pendleton next, and the house there small and cramped.. I actually was not out to this house, as they where there like 18 months..

In the summer of 2000, they moved to my uncles final installation (he was mad, had they kept him in San Diego, he would have stayed in until 2005)... They moved to Paris ISland, SC... I actually learned to drive on Paris Island and have so many memories here as well.. The house was OLD and falling apart... The floors tilted, it creeked, the kitchen sucked, but it was decent.. We stayed across the field most of the time at the Osprey Inn.. My aunts old Kenmores where stationed by the back door, there poor (and now inside was cracked) GE fridge was stuffed into the tiney kitchen, along with a White Westinghouse fridge and dishwasher (that was 20 years old) and a 1980s White Westinghouse Range that looked similar to the Vista in orlando... The HVAC and water tank where in a sub basment thing and always flooded during the rains or storms.. Those houses are now also gone.. They needed it... It was so dark and cramped in that house...

It was an intetresting 13 years of life for me and I do miss the travel and the bases, but i know they where glad to be done

So did any one else grow up in base housing or spending time on military bases

 

[tolivac]

My Dad was in the Air Force-Remember three base homes we lived in-this would be late fifites early 60's.First place was at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs,Colorado.Nice place with a basement.Next were two homes in Holloman AFB,New Mexico.Both were very nice-first place smaller than the second.Sort of vaguely remember GE appliances in those houses.This was when I was a kid!.The Holloman houses didn't have basements.They did have "desert Coolers" on the roof-along with a gas furnace.Think all homes had three bedrooms adn at least two baths.

 

[pulltostart]

My only experience living on a base was at the end of my dad's career, when we were stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB in North Carolina.  We were there from July 1959 until November 1963.  I loved that base.  All of the housing was brand new, thoroughly modern, and nicer than anything we'd ever lived in.  All of the homes had slab-on-grade construction and had carports, exterior storage and patios.  NonComs had 2 and 3 bedroom duplexes (one bathroom), officers had detatched single-family housing with 3 bedrooms and 2 baths.  All electric with heat pumps, fully-featured General Electric kitchens, although pretty much BOL appliances.  Electric range, refrigerator, washer, dryer, dishwasher (exception to GE, as it was Waste King, and I'm guessing so was the disposer).

 

Again, I loved it.  I'm sure the primary goal would have been to create a utopia on the base so the residents could basically do without the local community.  SJAFB came as close to that concept as I've seen.

 

lawrence

 

[ozziepuppy]

My dad was in the Air Force. I remember living on base at Griffiss AFB in Rome, New York. First we lived in a 2-bedroom duplex and then, when my sister was born, in a 3-bedroom duplex on the base. The floor plans were actually OK, IIRC. They were small, with a walk-through kitchen from the driveway. The W/D were in the kitchen as you entered the house from the driveway. We lived in military barracks in Norfolk, Virginia while my dad attended some sort of armed forces college there. Those units were so small (tiny 2-bedrooms) that many of my friends had their own rooms, separate from the families, in another hallway of the barracks (we were in 6th grade). We also lived in base housing in Naha, Okinawa. Another small unit; the W/D were on a concrete slab outside of the kitchen. None of these houses had a basement. I do remember coming home from school one day and a pipe had burst in the ceiling, so there was water coming down from the ceiling all over the living room! A lot of people don't like living on base, I guess, but I always liked it. I had a fair amount of freedom, perhaps because living on base was considered "safe"--or maybe it was just because it was in the 50's & 60's and things were so very different back then.

 

[passatdoc]

My father was an office in USN 1954-7, stayed in navy reserves 1957-69, retiring with rank of Lieutenant Commander. By the time I was born, with my father in reserves, we had no PX or Commissary privileges, but did have basic base privileges, and we lived one block from San Diego's Naval Training Center (NTC). Bowling for 10 cents a line, movies for a quarter. Often Dad would walk us through the gate, and then let us run wild for a few hours. We'd walk back home ourselves. We lived that close for 15 years, though for the last five Dad was no longer in reserves and could not enter the base any more.

My parents had an off-base housing allowance, so we never lived on base or in Navy housing. In my neighborhood, there were several blocks of Navy apartment houses off-base (surrounded by civilian houses)across the street from my high school. They were built during WW2 when there was still a lot of undeveloped land around the high school.

 

[ilovewindex]

Thats really strange Jim, maybe back then it was different

I know several retired military who all have base privlages.. I look foward to another trip to the Exchange!

It was very freeing, even in the 90's to be on base.. I used to ride my bike around NTC Orlando for hours and my aunt never cared..There where play grounds and people she knew... If there was an issue, she'd find me in 2 seconds...

Same with paris island.. I used to drive, by my self all over the base..
The mp's only stopped me once, and i explained i was learning how to drive.. They turned me around and told me i wound up in an unsafe area and the gate was broke.. Oops..

It was a freedom i enjoyed so much.. even the off base house in Stella NC... I ran through those woods like no ones buisness...Lejune was fun, but the MP's did ask why i wasn't in school, hence me hiding in the ditch a few times when i saw them.. I think they knew I was home schooled..

 

[pulltostart]

SJAFB

Here are some photos of Seymour Johnson, Goldsboro, NC.

 

The first pic is of an article in 'State' magazine January 1959 about the new housing.  We always referred to the housing as 'Capehart' housing, not realizing that the name came from Senator Capehart (Ohio) who sponsored legislation in the early 1950's to fund housing for military families (after the Korean conflict it was realized that many military families were living in substandard housing).  The 1800 units that were built at SJAFB were a part of that program.  Contractors bid on the work as a package (for each location) and functioned as a design/build/finance entity.  Once the housing was built it was turned over to the military and paid off over time, with the military assuming all responsibility for maintenance.  The housing we had was built during 1958 and the first half of 1959.  Our particular unit was completed in March 1959 and we moved in in July of the same year.  In the photo you can see the layout of the housing, the main gate to the base is just out of the photo on the right side, the base hospital is the large complex basically up from the gate, and the elementary school that was built for all of the Air Force kids is under construction at the lower left edge of the photo.

 

Second photo shows the welcome sign at the Main Gate, and the residence of one of the Base Commanders (double carport, with a Cadillac parked there).

 

The third photo is of some of the Officers' housing.  I took this photo on a visit to the base in late summer 1997.  LOVED these units!

 

The fourth photo shows the Base Chapel.

 

Last photo - this model GE dryer was included in each unit, along with the matching washer.

 

The base was pretty self-contained and in addition to the housing had a very nice hospital (my youngest brother was born there), commissary, exchange, Gulf service station, Wachovia branch bank, theater, library, NCO Club and pool, Officers' Club and pool, Olympic pool (not sure where it was and I never visited it), golf course and trailer park.

 

As a child of 8, moving to that environment left QUITE an impression on me.

 

lawrence

 

[passatdoc]

Dad was active military for only 2 1/2 years. The rest was in reserves. We had basic base access but no PX or Commissary privileges. The retired people who did enjoy such access were usually career military (> 20 years service).

Also, we used to eat at the officers' mess in Point Loma (the Admiral Kidd) but this too stopped following dad's discharge from reserves.