• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life

  • Home
    • My Disclosure Policy
    • My Privacy Policy
    • Contact Me
  • Advertise With Me
  • The SWCL Shop
  • So Your Spouse Just Deployed, Now What?
  • Duty Stations
  • Surviving Deployment
  • Military Life
    • Movies & TV
    • Disneyland
    • Books
You are here: Home / Guest Post / Guest Post: Langley Air Force Base

Guest Post: Langley Air Force Base

July 10, 2012 by Julie 1 Comment

Hi guys!  I am in California for vacation and wanted to have a few guest posts share with you about where they call home at the moment!  If you would like to guest post about your duty station or location, please email me at soldierswifecrazylife (at) gmail (dot) com :)

 

Hi! I’m LC from Faith & Deployments (link: http://flightlinefightline.blogspot.com). I was born and raised in what is known as: Hampton Roads Virginia. For 24 years it was my home. It’s where I went to school, college, got my first place of my own, my first full time job, met and married my husband, bought a house, and started our lives together.

Living in Hampton Roads Virginia had my incredibly spoiled. I used to hate it before I realized how much there is to do in the area. My husband was stationed at Langley AFB for six years and even he misses it.

If you’re getting stationed at:

Norfolk Naval

Fort Eustis

Yorktown Naval Weapons Station

Coast Guard Training Base

JEB Little Creek

Dam Neck Naval

Fort Story

Langley AFB

 

Then you are in for a treat. They are all within an hour of each other. Langley AFB to Norfolk Naval is a whopping 10 minutes (without traffic). It is a highly heavy military area, however the stores/restaurants are not as “military friendly” as many others. Since the area survives on more than 1 billion dollars of income because of the bases, few stores and restaurants offer discounts.

But don’t let the lack of discounts discourage you, the area is home to more historical significance than I have ever seen. Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown, and Yorktown are all there. The birth of our USA began on these very lands.

During the summer the local area is flooded with outdoor festivals (food & beverage), concerts (free & cheap), the beach, amusement parks, and anything else under the sun you came dream of. The area from Williamsburg to the North Carolina Border is flooded with things to do 8 months out of the year. From spring until fall, if you are willing to be adventurous you will not be disappointed.

The one disclaimer I will say is that the traffic sucks. There is no way around that. VA has wacky road systems and to get from one peninsula to another (Langley AFB to Dam Neck, JEB, Norfolk Naval) you have to go through tunnels. Now ladies and gents these are always, always, always backed up. This area is full of tourists and military members all on the same schedule of work and there is no avoiding the traffic. But if you can get over that simple fact, there is no reason why you can’t make the most of what the area has to offer. So many military members complain about the traffic and never go out and experience this amazing area surrounded by the Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean. Don’t be one of those families. You will hate Virginia and the area if you do that.

But enough of the area. I’ll give you some insight on Langley AFB since I know it pretty well. It’s home of the fighter jets and one of the biggest Intel headquarters, so the base is giant. One whole side is offices alone and the other is housing. Langley is tearing down their old 40s 50s housing and putting up brand new: Officer, Senior Enlisted, Junior Enlisted housing. These new houses are gorgeous and well worth your BAH in gold. The local area is expensive and many places are not very safe off base, so if you can, live on base. It’s worth the fact alone that the area around the base is pretty sketchy. Wonderful, but some low income families make the area not what it used to be.

The base has separate enlisted and officer spouses clubs and both of them are incredibly active in the community and on base itself. I would definitely check them out if you get a chance.

The base offers tons of things to do for families, but you have to go out and find the information. The biggest complaint I had about the base was it’s lack of communication, even to the active duty members. So if you want the information you will have to work for it, or make friends with the right people: First Shirts, Squadron Commanders, Spouses Club board members, Flight Chiefs, etc.

All in all I loved the area just as much as the base. I lived in the area for 24 years and I miss the area so much more than I thought I would now that I am in the desert.

 

(Visited 1,114 times, 1 visits today)

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Filed Under: Guest Post, Military Life, Pcs Tagged With: duty station, guest post

About Julie

Owner of Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life. Writer, reader, coffee drinker. Mom to three boys, wife of a National Guard soldier. Living life in Tennessee.

I wanted to let you know about the InDependent Wellness Summit, March 1-6, 2021! 

It's all virtual! And you can either sign up for Free General Admission or receive 30% off of their VIP All-Access pass using my link! 

Previous Post: « Guest Post: Goodfellow Air Force Base
Next Post: Guest Post: Ft. Bliss Army Post »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Catherine

    July 18, 2012 at 11:04 am

    It’s nice to read a post about LAFB that does not describe Hampton as a pit. I grew up in Hampton where the children of military families often told me what a pit my hometown was and how their family could not wait for their 3 year assignment to end. Thanks.

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Primary Sidebar

About Soldier’s Wife, Crazy Life

Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life

Welcome to Soldier’s Wife, Crazy Life! I am so glad you are here.

My name is Julie and I have been an Army wife for almost 15 years now.

My husband of 18 years has served in the active-duty Army and now the Army National Guard. We have lived in Germany & Tennessee during our time as a military family.

We have three boys and have been through four deployments together.

I hope that you can find support for your own deployments, pcs moves, or anything else military life brings you 🙂

~Contact Me~

Sign up for your FREE Guide to the First 30 Days of Deployment!


Thank you!

Check your email for confirmation! 

.

Top Posts!!!

  • The Waiting Military Spouse
  • Living in Rota, Spain
  • Why You Should Break Up With Your Military Boyfriend
  • 18 Military Spouse Memes When You Just Need A Good Laugh
  • 14 Tips to Help You Survive Basic Training When Your Spouse Joins the Military
  • The First Night After the Deployment is Over
Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Footer

Archives

Copyright © 2021 Soldier's Wife, Crazy Life on the Foodie Pro Theme

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.