Homesteaders...don't we just love them...

Maybe we all need to get together and write the chief of MWR at the Pentagon .

Wow! Such animosity over extended stay members of the community. We are lucky to be extended stay in a very expensive part of the country. We love saving money and living in our RV. We are able to live debt free and afford to let our children attend local enrichment classes in music, sports, dance and theater that we otherwise would have not been able to afford if we had remained in base housing.
We are tidy, respectful and lend tools and our guest passes to local attractions to our RV neighbors. We are the only extended stay guest at our park and we're assigned a spot that is sloped and very tight. There are about a dozen other full timers who move from park to park locally and stay here as well. About half of them are AD and half retired and/or contractors.
I would hope retirees who were able to purchase homes cheaply, enjoy full pensions, social security etc would be more supportive of younger AD families who have been priced out and are trying to find ways to save for our future. The American dream of purchasing a home on a single salary and retiring with a full pension is long gone. We live with less so we can plan for our future. We saw a way to save money and took advantage of it. We are not stealing, we are choosing to spend our money in a smart way.
BTW, there is flat rate housing available in our area on base which is available to retirees and DOD but not to AD. It is half the cost of BAH and smaller but we are barred from living in them due to my husband's AD status. The company also has housing available to civilians with lower than BAH rates but AD are not allowed. How is that fair?

I know there have been a lot of comments about the homesteaders and I can understand it, but I do have to ask,,, I have seen comments about it having been outlawed. Were there trailer parks in the past on the larger bases? With the number of bases that have been cut, the remaining bases have by necessity gotten larger. If they have not built housing I can understand the use of the MWR facilities by the base commanders, however with the new change in priorities in DC can the needs be pressed with a new administration? The manning and size of bases have evolved into something the old locations weren't built for, and "trailer parks" would seem a cost effective solution. I know the base housing offices wont like having to maintain and police them, but it becomes a "needs of the service" issue. Is there something that can possibly be voiced through veterans or service groups?
Having been Coast Guard, our facilities typically aren't large enough to have extensive facilities except at a handful of training centers, but I have seen some other services with plenty of space and you would think sufficient infrastructure to accomadate these types of housing expansion.

It would be great if the military embraced this lifestyle for folks that are looking for a minimalistic (or as my daughter puts it, smaller carbon footprint) way of life. Think of how much less PCS costs would be if even 10% of AD families were given this option? We have four kids and moved from our five bedroom base house (where we paid full BAH plus additional utility costs that varied not based upon consumption but a rather arbitrary billing system based upon comparison of homes in our community which could be occupied or unoccupied) into a 425 sq ft fifth wheel two years ago. We will retire here so PCS costs won't be saved in our case but we are in a much better financial place having downsized before retirement than after.

So correct on the junk. I am currently staying(vacationing 12 days at Sigsbee NASKW) and the homesteaders are everywhere here. There are 3 parts to the park the far end, called the overflow has about 30 FHU sites and the rest are dry. Then there is the nice RV park with large concrete pads and very spacious sites a palm tree at every site, post card scenes. Then the last part, the part I'm currently in, the trailer trash end. Here we have junk scattered about the place. We have the outdoor furniture with the additional refrigerators known as "The Last Dive Bar". The grass isn't cut, all the sites are made from gravel and are only level around the site, because when it rains all the ponds are formed under your rig and of course right where you have to step out of your rig. As I said the grass is uncut and weeds out the ying yang. I'm told there is a mower and weed eater for check out if you need the yard mowed,"WHAT I pay to stay and now I have to mow the yard too!" That's like going to a restaurant and paying for your food and they tell you if you want to eat on clean dishes then you'll need to wash them. At the trailer trash end you are squeezed in like sardines, I sneezed and my neighbor said "Bless you" and passed a tissue to me. I always thought the "FamCamp" was for MWR and yet one of the reserved for Active Duty Vacationer site has a big classA parked in it and the license plate on the front states "USAF retired". I find it hard to enjoy myself in a facility in such a sad state when I know they make at least $1.0 million in fees a year. Personally I think all facilities should be short term stay no longer than 30 days and don't want to see you back here for 30 days. I know there are the long term stayers that will scream about that but you know this is for recreation and if you need to stay longer at one spot then buy a condo or vacation rv park spot. Sorry but I hate coming to these facilities and have to dry camp for 2 or 3 weeks and have to pay to store my RV basically. Oh lets not forget quiet hours and those homesteaders that complain about the gas fumes and noise. I've gone on long enough :blink:

DILLIGAFF wrote: Personally I think all facilities should be short term stay no longer than 30 days and don't want to see you back here for 30 days.

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