Can anyone make a case for Dover instead of Travis?

[Truman08]

I once heard a Californian tell me that they wouldn't eat anything from a microwave because they read somewhere that Johns Hopkins had done a study on it. When I asked them what it said, they couldn't tell me other than supposedly it was bad for you. UFB

[Kenny Powers]

...Johns Hopkins had done a study on it...

"I smoked pot with Johnny Hopkins. It was Johnny Hopkins and Sloan Kettering. And they were blazing that shit up every day."

[CHQ Pilot]

I've been in Dover for almost 8 years in the Reserves. What I can say about Dover..

The location is more like the Midwest of the East Coast. Flat, farm fields, Amish, NASCAR. Lower Delaware, except for the beach areas has a definite southern feel. Northern DE is more cosmopolitan and big city liberal. It's the state of Joe Biden, but you wouldn't know that in the southern 2 counties. It all revolves around agriculture and what comes with it (guns, little government, open spaces). There is a clear difference from northern and southern Delaware.

The cost of living is some of the lowest on the east coast. No sales tax, low property tax (I pay a year what some in MD almost quarterly), low gas prices (we are about 2.20/gal right now and was right around 2.00 a few weeks back). It does save a lot of money in the long run. Just no sales tax alone is great.

Schools around Dover are hit and miss. They are nothing to brag about, but they tend to fare okay in test scores. There is a large low income population mixed with solid middle income and it shows. The "diversity" is generally spread evenly around the districts, so there really isn't one area that is better than another. Most regard the Caesar Rodney SD (Camden-Wyoming) as better than Capital (Dover city), but that just may be because I live in the CR district.

Nightlife...what is that? Not much to be found, unless you head towards Philly or the beaches. The most exciting new restaurant to come to the area was a Cheddar's if that says anything. There are some good places around, but you tend to have to search it out. It also goes back to COL, since it does save money because eating out all the time at the same few good restaurants would get old.

So after all that it pretty much sounds like Dover is one of the worst places ever. During my last 8 years I've started to see some of the good qualities and it has grown on me. There are some positives that I've come to enjoy. Beaches are 45-60 mins away (Assateague Island and the wild horses are a great escape with nice wide beaches) and the mountains of PA, MD, VA are 3-4 hours away. A lot of the local people are extremely friendly. A few years ago I was stuck in a snow drift (Delaware has an issue when it comes to plowing roads) and a guy in a pickup drove by. He immediately got out, hooked up some chains and pulled me out. When I offered him some cash, he refused and said "We're all just neighbors helping neighbors." Another time I had an appliance issue and I called a local repair place. To save me the charge to come out, the manager talked me through how to fix it for free. Those are two examples that have surprised me. I wouldn't expect that around Philly. Although DE can't compete with the west coast, there is lots of good beer available around here. Dogfish Head is close by, along with Dover's own Dominion and Fordham, Flying Dog out of MD, 16 Mile, and Mispillion River all brew some good stuff, but that is dependent on taste. DC, Baltimore, Philly are around 1.5-2 hours away with traffic. NYC is a little farther at 3-4, but doable. Dover is not a big city with big city amenities, but I'm starting to enjoy the slower pace. I don't deal with traffic, Amazon can deliver pretty much anything I can't find (and usually the next day because of the large distribution center 20 miles north), and I've made some great relationships. If you're young fresh out of pilot training, it may not be great, and I totally get that. If you have a family or are past going out all the time, it's not that bad and I've seen some great positives. A lot of the younger guys live in the Newark, Wilmington, Philly area. It's a little bit of a drive, but it has more appeal.

If anyone has specific questions, PM me and I'll try to answer them.

Edited March 4, 2015 by CHQ Pilot

[scoobs]

California is awesome, except for all the Californians.

Haha, if you stay away from the bay and LA you should be fine. Sac is a cool town with lots to do and not terribly expensive compared to the rest of the state. If you like the outdoors, recreation is free.

Edited March 4, 2015 by scoobs

[xaarman]

The best thing about Cali is you can drive 3 hours in any direction and go from beautiful scenic beaches to 100 year old redwoods, skiing to death valley, world class wineries, huge cities to being out in the middle of nowhere, 5 star steakhouses to Chinese Vegan restaurants and everything in between.

It's 70 +/- 15 almost year round and most of the time sunny. I guess if guns are a major hobby, but if you can live there and not pay California taxes, it would be perfect.

Then again, I've run across people in the military who say they want all four seasons and get sick of perfect weather, so whatever floats their boat I guess.

I once heard a Californian tell me that they wouldn't eat anything from a microwave because they read somewhere that Johns Hopkins had done a study on it. When I asked them what it said, they couldn't tell me other than supposedly it was bad for you. UFB

California is almost 40 million people, more then the entire country of Canada. You're gonna find weirdos everywhere.

Edited March 4, 2015 by xaarman

[DEVIL]

It's 70 +/- 15 almost year round and most of the time sunny.

Except in the sac valley, where it turns into an oven during the summer.

[wannabeflyer]

I'm at Travis now and have to say I enjoy it a lot more than RONing at Dover. I'm not sure what you're thinking job wise? I'm assuming something C-17 related? They're both single squadron C-17 bases so there's not much difference as far as the work end if you're C-17 aircrew. I've been in 3 C-17 squadrons and there's a lot more similarities than differences. So basically it comes down to location. if you enjoy skiing in the mountains, surfing real waves, eating good food, and drinking fine wine, choose Travis. if you enjoy Nascar, guns, and Amish furniture, choose Dover. Also unless you are a rock star, you probably won't be offered a choice between the two...second assignment conversations usually involve something more like this:

CC: Well they're looking for IPs at Altus...

You: I'll go anywhere but there, anywhere!

CC: Well I have this slot to Dover I could probably swing for you

You: Dover sounds amazing

PM if you want more details about Travis, in all honesty there are pluses and minus to living in California, but I feel that the pluses outweigh the minuses.

Edited March 12, 2015 by wannabeflyer

[faipmafiaofficial]

bump this to the top.  Looking at C5s this summer when I leave Columbus.

I know the upsides of each location all I want to know about are the downsides.  Im a married with baby O-3.  Thanks for the help!

[doubleu]

Bump, looking for any updates to either with C-5M life.