Originally Posted by Piedmonster

1st off, I'm at SKW.
2nd, I live in base.
3rd, Soft credit is king. Find it where ever possible.
4th, I have a life. I have a wife and kid at home, and being home is #1. I don't do 3 or 4 day trips. Mostly 2days, CDOs, and locals.
5th, as long as the credit is there and it's totally commutable, I'll pick up an out of base trip. ONLY when I want it. Otherwise, commuting sucks.
6th, always be on the lookout for Jr.Man.
7th, I was home EVERY day last month, doing CDOs only. Got paid 119hrs, blocked 53.

I credited over 1250hrs last year, and blocked just shy of 700.
Averaged over 105h/month pay, blocked around 60h/month.

Pick a base where your seniority works for you, live in it. Don't walk by a penny on the ground without picking it up.
You can do fine. Not easy to modify a schedule the way I do, but learn all the rules, and it pays dividends.