I was just wondering if anyone has stayed at this park before.  We are looking at it as our permanent park.  We've never been to AZ before, so we don't know anything about the area.  If you have any info on the park or just the general area I would love to hear from you.  Thank you so much.

Did you get orders to AZ.? Just curious...I know you were interested in California...

It gets good reviews here - http://www.rvparkreviews.com/regions/Arizona/Phoenix.html. We have stayed at Desert Sands RV Park, which is not far away and is mostly permanent residents. The better campgrounds in the area are mostly in Mesa, Apache Junction and Queen Creek. It gets very hot in the summer in this area, 110 and hotter is not uncommon.

We did want NorCal, but then we learned how the shop my husband would be working at operates and that's not good (12 hour days, 6 days a week). We decided that wasn't a good idea for us. So we are looking at other places. I'm a little leary of the desert, which is why we said no to Nellis in Las Vegas before. But Phoenix looks like a really good place. So we are adding it as an option. We thought about Beale but are concerned about the size of the cities and the RV parks there. They just didn't look very family friendly and I'm not sure how big the biggest town by it is. Thanks for the help so far. Keep it coming. :)

What does your husband do in the AF? Might be able to recommend something but need to know what he does as not all bases have all jobs. Travis is a nice base, it's in the bay area. I would call the FamCamp and inquire about long term parking availability near any base you have on your dream sheet.

Now I KNOW I am OLD. When I was active duty we didn't get to "choose" our duty assingment. Am I missing something here?

I was stationed at Luke AFB many years ago. It was a great assignment. Loved the Phoenix area. That's when I fell in love with the south west.

Racerguy- We don't always get to choose. If you are in your first enlistment you have the option of puting in for Base Of Preference (BOP). You have to put in for about 4 bases and they get to pick which one they send you to. My husband has to re-enlist soon (within the month), so we need to figure out which ones we want. NorCal Dan-He does Aircraft Structural Maintenance. He does the sheet metal and advanced composite work on the jets. We are hoping to go to where there are fighters instead of heavies because that's what he's always worked on, but it really doesn't matter at this point. We want a base that's beside a nice area and a decently large town. Thanks for all your help. Jim- I'm glad to hear you liked Luke. Right now it's looking as our first choice in a base. Did you find it too hot?? That is my main concern with it. We can't wait to meet you guys. You've all been so helpful. :)

Tonya, thanks for the reply. Being a 2 year draftee in the late 60's I was not aware it worked that way.Glad to hear military is getting job done and treating our brave young men right. By the way thank you and your husband for your sacrifices for our country.

Just some thoughts... Northern California has a lot to offer. Beale is not next to a big town, but Roseville and Sacramento are an easy drive of about 30 miles. We like being away from the noise, traffic, pollution, etc. of the big city. I don't know much about aircraft structural maintenance...Beale has/had U-2, T-38, KC-135, and Global Hawk aircraft. They may had added other missions/aircraft since I left but the Beale homepage should list available aircraft. What Beale does offer is a fantastic location. Pick any direction and within 2 or 3 hours you can easily be doing something. They have the Sierra mountains if you like snow skiing. Head over to the coast and do some whale watching. How about Lake Tahoe or Reno for some fun. Summers can reach temps in the 100's, and winters are mild, good for RV'ers. No rain in the summer and no snow in the winter. You can go snow skiing in the Sierra's in the morning and return to the valley and play a round of golf in the afternoon. Travis AFB in Fairfield is just outside San Fran...plenty of big city stuff. I don't know much about the area as I only went there a few times. It put's you a little farther away from the mountains but closer to the coast. But you can still enjoy the benefits of Norther California. Like I say, just some thoughts...best of luck with your BOP choices...

Quote:Jim- I'm glad to hear you liked Luke. Right now it's looking as our first choice in a base. Did you find it too hot?? That is my main concern with it. End Quote: Hot? Oh yea. . . Luke AFB flightline was the hottest place I had ever worked until my current job (Afghanistan). Luke is cool compared to this place. The heat at Luke is only bad for a few months out of the year. And there is so much to do around the area that it really makes up for it. The base has (or did have) a "famcamp" up in Flagstaff where you can go on day's off. You will find beautiful country all around Phoenix with nice cool camping areas in the mountains. Lots of free camping on BLM land also. It's one of the area's I plan on spending a lot of time at in the very near future. Good luck to you both with choosing your next assignment.

Thank you for your help. We have our three choices narrowed down to Luke AFB, Beale AFB and my husband is putting down Korea also. I think they want you to have four, but we just can't come up with another one. So we are going with three. My husband really wants to go to Luke. He worked the flight line at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas for a while (May-Oct). He also was in Kuwait in '03, so he's ok with the heat. I don't want him to get Korea, but if he does we'll figure it out then.

I wish I would have seen this thread earlier before the choices were made. I retired from the AF 7 years ago but was stationed many places in my 32 years of active duty. Since it appears you want to stay in the western portion of the country, I was wondering if you considered McChord AFB in Tacoma, WA? That is a really lovely area, not hot (like Nellis) and when I was stationed there it had both fighters and transports. That said, I did spend 4 years at Nellis and while it does get hot there in the summer, it is a dry heat so not quite as bad as the temperature sounds. I'll be interested in hearing where you end up going. I was never stationed at Luke, but AZ should be nice also.