Depending on what country you are from, you may or may not be used to large military bases and military personnel walking around town in uniforms. I sure wasn’t used to it so the thought of living INSIDE a military base kind of freaked me out!
So, what is a military base and how on earth can you live there? It’s actually pretty cool and less scary than it sounds like!
The U.S. has a large number of military bases domestically and internationally. Depending on what your spouse does for a living, there are a few options for where he or she can be stationed.
Many bases have government housing, also known as base housing, where military personnel live alone or with their families (for free!)
On base, you usually find everything you typically find in a normal town; Gas stations, restaurants, grocery stores, malls, post offices, schools, hospitals, and sports facilities. In addition, the base has great support amenities offering professional services without charging a cent such as legal advice, education advice, counseling, financial advice, professional development and more.
It's just a town. Except it's gated and literally guarded 24/7 by armed military personnel. You'll feel safer than ever!
If you know where you will live, I highly recommend you to explore the base website or Facebook pages. Each base is unique and knowing as much as you can about your new home is important.
· You need to be married to your servicemember to be able to live on base. Depending on your situation and marriage plans, you will have to work out your housing situation before immigrating.
· You don’t have to live on base! Once you are married and decide to live off base, your servicemember will receive a Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) which will help you pay for rent or mortgage. The pros and cons of living on or off base is a forever ongoing debate – it is totally up to you to research what works best for you and your spouse.
· As a military spouse, you will be given a military ID. You will need it to enter the base and to access services that the base is providing.
