And the verdict is…
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Well, the list came in… We didn’t get California, New Hampshire, or another extremely high cost of living area… we didn’t get D.C. or another high crime area. We also didn’t get anything we wanted or were hoping for…
We did get the middle…
OF NOWHERE!
Our choices are as follows.
Maxwell AFB in Montgomery, Alabama (D)
Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, Texas (C)
and
Laughlin AFB in Del Rio, Texas (B)
So how do we feel about these bases?
Three words…
PRAY FOR TEXAS!
None of them are great or what we hoped for and all of them have low BAH (Basic allowance for housing a.k.a. the money to rent a house) allotments but the lowest is Maxwell, it’s got humidity which we don’t love, and it’s by far the farthest away from home.
Why is being close to home important? (Besides the obvious reasons of course)
Now that none of our choices are bases that will be permanent for Ryan’s career, his chances of being deployed for more than 8 months of the year… EVERY year just spiked through the roof.
For that reason being closer to home would be ideal. It gives me the opportunity to load up the boys and hit the road for Phoenix a couple times a year when Ryan is deployed and it would give Ryan many more opportunities to see family during the few short months a year he’ll be in the states.
Now if God grants our request the only question will be the border of Mexico or the middle of tornado alley!
Aye Carumba!
Not All Who Wander Are Lost 32 
I’m sorry you didn’t get anything you wanted or anything closer to home 😦 I will pray that God puts you where He can use you & grow you the best, but also that it is near-ish to home!! many HUGS!!
You should come to Offutt AFB in Nebraska… that really and truly is the middle of nowhere. I’m sorry you guys didn’t get what you wanted, we’ve been through that a lot lately.
I think you guys would grow to like Witchita Falls, Accoding to my husband it has really grown in the past few years. And your a few hours away from Dallas. SHOPPING!!!! Its got alot of things to do in a small town. It seems like you and I are saying the same three words! PRAY FOR TEXAS!!! LOL Witchita is actually one of the bases we are hoping for.
I’m praying for Texas, because then you can go on all our Girl’s Weekends with us! :O) And.. if you get Alabama, it’s not technically in tornado alley.. lol Praying for a good spot close to home!
I’ll keep you in my prayers!
OH! I’m so sorry. I will continue to pray for you!! Now I can pray more specifically.RYC: you know… just reading the words “I’m praying for you” means SOO much more to mean then any words of wisdom or anything else you could say. Some people, I know will say those words and will not necessarily follow through. I KNOW when you say ‘I’m praying’ … you ARE praying. To have my friend approach the throne of God on my behalf is such a great treasure and I appreciate it so much. There are days when I just feel like I don’t have the strength to pray myself… I find it somehow…but often feel like it is a feeble attempt at a prayer. So, to know that my friend is lifting me up …. is so comforting. Never feel like you have nothing to offer. You have a great deal to offer. THANK YOU!
Easy for me to say but I’m excited to see where the Lord plants you! Blessings~
Wow, y’all really didn’t get much of a choice! We had a friend who was at Sheppard for firefighter Tech. School. Too bad you didn’t get Fort Hood…hah! This place is a joke!
now I have even more reason to visit TX. . .
Sorry the choices are so limited. I also think you might like Witchita Falls. We used to live near there, and it isn’t as bad as you might think. Here’s hoping for TX! 🙂
Oh wow. Praying for you during this… when do you hear the final destination? Maybe I missed it… Just like Germany’s post, I’m excited to see what God has in store for you my friend! ((Hugs))
Well, I’ve lived at 2 of those bases at one point or another in my life!! Maxwell actually isn’t that bad. It is humid, but there is a lot to do, if you’re willing to find it. There is tons of history in Montgomery and you’re only a few hours from the beach. The base is really ghetto though, and in a bad part of town. We lived on base and when we got there we got told (in an official briefing!) that you don’t want to go to the fast food joints right outside the gate after dark because you have a high probability of getting robbed! I lived in Del Rio as a kid, so I can’t give you tons of insight, but I remember I really liked it! We actually lived in Mexico (the town has it’s own border crossing) because we could get a really nice house with a really low rent, and we had a housekeeper. I don’t think you can do that anymore though, the live in Mexico part, you can probably still have a housekeeper if you wanted! It would be nice for you to be closer to home, that’s for sure! And we found out that we aren’t staying at Wright-Patt after AFIT, we’re moving to Albuquerque, NM (Kirtland AFB), so you could come stay with me when Ryan is gone if you wanted, if you got sick of family ;). Anyway! I can’t wait to find out!
We checked into Sheppard when we thought Jason might get an instruction position there. Its not SOOO bad. Don’t know about Laughlin, I think that one is by far the closest as far as drive times, but I hear the Texas coast can be humid. I’ll keep my fingers crossed for ya. Also, has Ryan looked into any type of special duty assignments? That’s how Jason and I got out of Shaw. Once you are all state side It might be something to check out. Love-Snow
The base in Montgomery is less than 3 hours from Eglin AFB where Rich teaches at here, so you’re closer to the beach than you think at that one. *lol* Rich was at Huntsville, AL for AIT and he said it wasn’t that bad with the humidity, but we’re Texans and used to it. 🙂 My ex-BIL did border patrol for NG 2-3 years ago in Del Rio and he said it wasn’t that bad… but it wasn’t that great either. And I don’t know much about Wichita Falls, Tx, even though it’s only 4 hours west of where I grew up. *lol* I’m partial to Texas (especially east Tx, for the obvious reason of it being home – and it’s not part of tornado alley). I hope y’all are able to pick a new home and it works about beautifully! 🙂
i hope that TExas works out for you. i was excited to hear that cause i knew it would be ‘closer’ for you.
I’m from Montgomery LOL! Brent actually went to tech school @ sheppard and i lived there for a few months while he was there. I kind of liked it :o) We didnt have any tornados but the storms were pretty cool! It’s pretty hot though, i do remember that!!! We ended up at Cannon in New Mexico this time, ick! Be thankful you didnt get THIS base!
Wow….no Atlanta ;o( I am from Montgomery. It was great back in the 80’s, but has slowly become a not-so-great and not-so-safe place to live. My grandad still lives there so we visit a couple of times a year so if you end up there we could definitely meet. But I will pray for Texas as that is what you want most so you can be close to family. I’m sorry it wasn’t what you wanted but I believe God must have an awesome reason for wanting you at one of these places. Let us know the final results. Love ya!
What a blessing that they are all relatively close to home! I was excited when I saw that. They may not be as close as you like, but they certainly aren’t far at all! You’ll get home more than you think. Praying for Texas!
I still say come to Base Borden in Ontario, which is 10 minutes from my house. Or even the base in Kingston, which is 5 hours away. That’s closer than Alabama or Texas!God will put you where you’re meant to be for this time.
Well, I was really hoping for Scott AFB in IL but hey….it’s ok if you go where the government tells you, rathe than me. LOL I know several people who have spent time at Wichita Falls and I don’t think it was a bad place to be. I am sure that KNOWING is a huge relief for you both and now you can start planning the next chapter of your lives! Love you guys!
Texas is wonderful. I got drug there with the National Park Service. I hated to leave! Congrats on leaving Germany!
OH.MY.GOSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! WICHITA FALLS!!!!!! That’s like two hours away from me!!! Wow!!! Oh I’m praying so hard for there. Wow that’d be so neat!!!!Can’t wait to hear!!!
@kcornchips – We feel the same way! We put Wichita as our number one and really think we would love it there. It’s funny that you and I are practically in the same bouat huh? Leaving Europe at the same time, resigned to what we can live with and praying hard for TEXAS! LOL Good luck to you guys… we’ll be keeping you in our prayers right alongside us!
@GuideUsWithYourGrace87 – @BeAuTiFuL_n_BrOkEn – Oh girls how much fun would that be!?
@chicarubia15 – We’ll get our orders on Febuary 15th. I can’t believe we have to wait another FOUR weeks! LOL
@michellek25 – I swear that the Air Force is the smallest world! I’m glad for the information you gave me… thank you very much! We are really hoping for one of the bases in Texas. It would be close to home for when Ryan is deployed and it looks like that will be for the majority of the year every year… I’d like to be able to do a quick drive home to visit for a few weeks at a time… Somewhere like Montgomery and I’ll have to stay longer to make the trip worth it and that’s not exactly ideal! LOL I can’t believe you guys got NM. Funny how often we get reminded that we really have ZERO control huh? I’ll be praying that you find the perfect niche for your family there!
@SnowFrog – Actually the two bases only have about an hours drive time differnece so either would work for us. Although we would most like Sheppard I think. We looked into special duty assignments but Ryan is in an extremely undermanned career field and so special duty is not an option for him right now.
Alabama isn’t so bad, we almost got stationed thier about 8months ago…it’s actually still on our “maybe” list for someday. lol! But as you well know with the military…planning isn’t really an option. I’ll be praying for texas…being close to home is a blessing, even if it’s a bit of a drive, your still in the states. Hang in there girlie and keep us posted. *hugs*