Quote:
Originally Posted by Deacon211
.. I'm usually a big fan of getting away fron the flagpole. I had run into a couple of 74 guys commuting to ANC and they looked like they were heading off to the sandbox for six months. It's interesting to hear that those spots are pretty desirable and that the trips are good.
74 guys looked like they're going to the sandbox?
You obviously haven't been around Z guys/gals or worst yet, domestic and Airbus drivers? Some of them carry blow up mattresses, blankets and look like they're the Walking Dead going to the sandbox for life. LOL!
ANC used to be the most junior base. That's no longer the case so if you get hired you probably won't get based there. You never know but...
If you truly want to avoid Anchorage tell them during your Indoc that you'd absolutely LOVE to be based in Anchorage. They'll then put you in Miami.
At least that's how it worked in the past, maybe things are changing for the better? ..not sure..
I wasn't planning on being based in ANC (displaced during the furlough) but must say it turned out much better than I ever expected.
For one, the domicile itself is fantastic with a very tight group of people who enjoy their job and who like to hang out and have fun. Also, the trips are actually much nicer than anywhere else in the system. People who live here tend to bid reserve or fly short out-and-backs (ANC-SDF-ANC, ANC-ICN-ANC, etc). So the long or "longer" trips are usually flown by commuters. Crashpad the first year or so makes sense but some people resort to hotels instead.
A good friend who bid back to SDF a couple of years ago is now planning on bidding back to Anchorage. He lives just outside SDF so that alone should tell you the difference between SDF and ANC trips.
Basically your choices are - "suffer" the commute and enjoy your trip or enjoy your drive to work and "suffer" the trip. Yes, it's on oversimplification but you get my point..
Personally, unless we open up a foreign domicile sometimes in the future, which is very doubtful, I will never bid SDF or even any of the other domiciles.