RyanP,

Sorry to hear that, maybe someday, I’ll feel that way, but right now the benefits of keeping my kids in their schools, outweighs the benefits of moving. I have commuted for 4 years, to the east coast and west coast, on long call reserve and short call reserve. During that time I also commuted to my AF job. Yes, you lose some time at home, but I have already factored that into my decision to commute, so I don’t dwell on it, which is key. Also, I don’t lose nearly the amount of days that you did. I commuted to the east coast from DEN, 1 night early 4 times last year, always made it home. So lost 4 partial days off. This year, I’ve only done it once and that was because I picked up a trip that paid a lot more but started early (worth it to me). Believe it or not, I actually enjoy the commute often. I like decompressing on the flight home. I enjoyed driving to my AF job and listening to books. That said, I’ll consider moving to base when my youngest goes to college, probably commute half the year, live in base half.

I’m not trying to thread drift here, but the OP is military and needs to hear all sides of the commute issue (even though this commute is only theoretical at this point, since we have a base in PHX...). A potential commute (that may never materialize) would be low on my decision matrix.