Phoenix and Luke AFB questions

[Guest DesiJ1125]

I was wondering if anyone had any infomation about Luke, the surrounding area and job market for teachers/substitute teachers. I'd also really appreciate any tips on where to live (we'll be there 9 months for his casual status) and what base housing for officers is like. Thanks everybody!

[WHAP]

PHX-3 million people, oh yeah, you can get sub jobs there, i dont know any LTs that lived on base there, but i know the sorrounding area is full of houses and apartments for rent that are in line with BAH. Ive got a buddy who got married over thanksgiving, he and his wife are there now for his casual status. if you want i can try and get an email address for you so you can talk to them directly, they would know a lot more than me as I am now in sunny laughlin.

[Guest Vistar1]

I am originally from PHX and spent most of my life just down the road from Luke AFB. As far as housing, look in Goodyear, Litchfield, Surprise, and the Glendale/Peoria area. Those cities are all suburbs of PHX and will be within a 15 minute drive of the base. TONS of apartments up near the Arrowhead Mall area to look into since you'll only be there a few months. As far as substitute teaching, my mom-in-law is on the school board for one of the larger school districts in that area. Look at the Peoria school district, they would have several schools in the same area you'd be living near.

I'm a bit biased, but PHX is a great place...tons of stuff to do...shopping galore and all the sports arenas are newly built on that side of town so you'll have the best of everything right at your doorstep. Ahhhh...civilization! (I'm at Laughlin right now too.)

Good luck!

V.

[Guest flychick]

I also know a realtor in the Phoenix area....he has told me a MILLION times how awesome the real estate market is right now. He mentioned the same thing as Vistar- even if you won't be there for long, BUY A HOUSE and when you leave, you'll make a bunch of money!

[Guest turtle]

My husband and I will be PCSing to Luke AFB in January. Does anyone know the name of the school the children will attend if we live on base? Or have any other helpful information about Luke?

Turtle's wife

[scoobs]

Its located in Glendale which is west of Phoenix. Its really hot for 3 months and then gets better. There is a big range in housing if you decide to buy. Stay out south Phoenix and you will be okay. According to military.com there are no schools on base.

[ 29. October 2005, 22:58: Message edited by: scoobs ]

[Guest Vistar1]

Kids that live in base housing will probably go to Luke Elementary (go figure). However, you should know that base housing isn't actually ON base. It's located across the street from the secured area of Luke so it's basically like living in a regular neighborhood.

Try cities like Litchfield, Surprise, Glendale, Avondale, and Peoria. They would all be within a 15 minute drive of base. Peoria School District is one of the best on Arizona if you can get your kids in there. New construction homes are going up EVERYWHERE so you shouldn't have any difficulties finding housing (rent or buy).

Good luck!

I was fortunate enough to call Arizona home for 15 years...it's a great place!

Any specific questions..you can PM me.

[Guest AV8NSP]

Actually, they just went through a huge construction project here, and they have lots of new houses in the family housing area. And yes, Litchfield Road cuts between main base and the BX/Commissary/Hospital/Housing area, but they also constructed new gates, and you can no longer get into any of these areas without going through a gate/getting your ID checked. It's a great area (I'm a little biased because I live in this area), and I think you'll be quite happy here...lots to do in the west valley!

[Login Name]

Which is a better base, Luke or D.M.? I'm not talking about which aircraft flies from each base b/c that really won't effect me since I'm a mx officer and will go to whatever MWS. What I'm more concerned about is the surrounding city, nightlife, girls, things to do etc.

I know that one is in Phoenix and one is in Tucson but I've never been to either. Thought I'd get your inputs.

[ 09. December 2005, 03:25: Message edited by: Login Name ]

[ASUPilot]

Dude, this is not even a question...PHX is the clear choice. TUS is a shithole; it's swanky like a dirty border town. Lots of girls when UofA is in session though. PHX has it all...nightlife, shopping, dinning, beautiful women year-round, tons of activities, non-stop flights from Sky Harbor and something TUS lacks...culture. PHX has literally blown up in the past 10 years, especially the last 5. Find me anyone who's been there recently who'd pick TUS over PHX...actually you won't find anyone, but if you do let me know and I'll personally pay for their therapy. DM is cool, I'll grant you that, but LF is better because you can live in PHX, SDL or Tempe.

-ASUPilot

ASU undergrad '97

ASU grad '99

[Guest flecth033]

Thumbs up to Phoenix. Plenty of women, big city, and oh ya plenty of women. Not sure where you're coming from but you'll have to get used to the heat during the summer, however the nights are perfect and the ladies will dress like its daytime when they hit the bar.

[Guest Jollygreen]

Welcome to hell.

NORMALS JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC ANN

PHOENIX 65.9 70.7 75.5 84.5 93.6 103.5 105.9 103.7 98.3 88.1 74.9 66.2 85.9

TUCSON 63.9 67.8 72.8 81.2 89.9 99.6 99.4 96.8 93.3 84.3 72.7 64.3 82.2

[Guest CBStud]

I'd say those norm temps are a little off, at least from last year. During July I don't think the high got below 110 between the hours of 8:00-1900. I also saw plently of days higher than that. I've got a great picture of a digital thermometer showing 127. Luke is definately the way to go though, even with the heat.

[scoobs]

I was in Phx in August of this year for a week and it didn't get below 110 degrees. But its only for 3 months then its only 90.

[Smokin]

Thread Hijack! (If I call it, it's legal right?)

Anyone know if married students going to RTU at Luke usually stay on or off base? Any places close to base that are better than others? If PHX really has "blown up" in the last five years, would it be worth considering buying a house for those 7-8 months? Thanks.

[Guest Sniper5482]

Might not be a bad investment if you have the financial means to do so, but i'd still do some research on the real estate market there. I think it's up there with Vegas and San Antonio in the top 3 fastest growing cities in the US.

[M2]

I doubt you can recoup any of your investment in less than a year on the sale of a house. Maybe if you we willing to keep it as an investment/rental property, but if the market is anything like San Antonio, the prices of new houses is not that much greater than what used ones are asking. As such, with all the new construction going on here in San Antonio, the used housing market is pretty swamped as a lot of people are pulling a 'George Jefferson.'

I made a profit off a house in San Antonio after owning it less than three years, but that was the exception and not the rule. Usually it takes five years or greater to make any real money off property.

By the way, here are the monthly temperature averages for Phoenix...

Cheers! M2

[Guest brad0706]

I've lived in Phoenix my whole life and went to Arizona State. The nightlife/girls are awesome. Much better than Tucson! Soooo much more to do in Phoenix. Plus you are closer to Vegas!

[Guest FAIPMAFIA]

I have heard some rumors lately that some of the current SQ/CC's will not let FAIPS go overseas out of the B'course except for Korea.....Can any current viper studs elaborate on the assignment selection process for the various squadrons?

Thanks

[Guest f16wolf]

When I went through RTU last year, it was not the squadron commander that prevented the FAIPs from going overseas. It was AFPC. The FAIPs in my class all had 8 year commitments. If AFPC would have allowed them to get overseas assignments, they would have missed out on the leverage to send them to Korea before their commitments were up. I can go into more detail later if you want.

If you have a 10 year commitment, I don't see why AFPC would prevent you from going overseas on the first tour out of RTU. There's a rumor that FAIPs have been getting Spang and Aviano lately out of RTU, but I bet they have 10 year commitments.

[ 28. January 2006, 08:25: Message edited by: f16wolf ]

[Guest Hoser]

Originally posted by f16wolf:

If AFPC would have allowed them to get overseas assignments, they would have missed out on the leverage to send them to Korea before their commitments were up.

To elaborate on what wolf said, the reason is that when someone is at an overseas assignment, AFPC can not non-vol you to an oversea's assignemnt (read Korea). They have to give you a CONUS assignment first before they can non-vol you. So for the FAIP's, they get a 3 yr FAIP tour, 3 year overseas, then a 3 yr CONUS tour, AFPC tries to send them remote, and they 7 day out.

Thank God we don't have that problem in the Mud Hen.

Hoser

[ 28. January 2006, 11:37: Message edited by: Hoser ]

[Guest FAIPMAFIA]

How long is RTU....no kiddin from the time you show up....to the time you leave for your ops squadron?

What squadrons do the student training--what block do they fly and are they going through CCIP?

After you graduate the B course do u stay for upgrades for the block 40/50 and NVG or is most of that done during the B course?

Thanks....I am sure I will have more later.

[Guest f16wolf]

I arrived at RTU on the 1st of March and graduated the first week of September. Since I went Block 50s, I went through the 310th for NVG training. At the time, targeting pod training was not available to Block 50 guys, and I'm not sure if that has changed yet. That lasted about a month. I was then in Block 50 academics for about three weeks and had three more weeks before PCSing. I arrived at Shaw on the 14th of December and started flying in January. All in all, it took 9.5 months. The Block 40 guys did targeting pod training and PCSed about a month earlier than I did.

Keep in mind this was little over a year ago. The 63rd, 308th, and 310th Fighter Squadrons flew Block 42s. I heard about a month ago that the 310th (Night Training Squadron) was going to be the first to complete CCIP. The remaining squadrons were Block 25s (upgraded to Block 30 avionics I was told). These were the American squadrons of course. There were also two foreign squadrons, the Singapore and Taiwanese squadron as well.

[Guest FAIPMAFIA]

Wolf-How did your class determine assignments..was it left up to the class to decide?

[brabus]

A stud I talked to down there last week said they were given the list of assignments and for the most part all was decided with a dice game. Pretty crazy to know your first ops tour could very well be based on a pair of dice.