I lived in Okinawa for 3 years. I enjoyed the heck out of it. Kadena is a nice base. Probably the biggest base as well, followed by Foster. I lived on Courtney though. Kadena is where all the good places are to shop on base. Other bases (at least when I was there) were a bit small and lacking. Enjoy the culture while you are there. Eat out in town a lot. Try new things. You will thank yourself for it later when you are gone and dont have the opportunity anymore. AND take lots of pictures. Visit Expo Park and go shopping in Naha. It is all great. Also...go to Okuma. It is the prettiest vacation spot everrrrr. ?I have been trying to get back to Okinawa ever since I left. It was one of my reasons for joining the Air Force.
DH and I lived on Kadena from '05-'08...I miss it desperately!!! I'm sure quite a bit has changed since we left, but I could probably answer most of your questions. What kind of info are you looking for? There's a LOT to know...
Do you have kids? Pets? Do you want to live on base?
Like with any base, you get out of it what you're willing to put in. If you stay on base for three straight years and never experience the real Okinawa, you're going to hate it. But if you jump in, learn a bit of the language (just a few key phrases can go a long way!), and explore, you'll find that it's an unbelievable opportunity with SO much to do!
Again, I'd be happy to answer any questions. And when you get there, you must go to Cocoichibanya and get some chicken cutlet curry....you'll quickly become addicted!
Oh wow, Kadena AFB. My dad was stationed there twice when I was growing up and all of my memories are good ones. I'm sure things have changed after all these years, but I can only remember good things. The USO was by Gate 2 and was huge and a good place to hang out. My mom worked there.
Out Gate 2 was some amazing local shopping and where they would hold festivals like the giant tug-of-war. The island itself is nice and the locals were always nice to us. Great food too. I really, really miss good Japanese food. I also remeber some nice beaches and some great snorkling opportunities.
I hope you can find some folks who have been there more recently, but I don't think you'll hate living there. Its far, true, and you won't see family as much, but I am a firm believer in getting to see the world while you have the chance. Its a great opportunity. So if you get the chance to visit the mainland or go shopping in South Korea, go for it.
They also have a members society (free) and you can post questions, look at other opinions, etc.
With the order in place, you will be required to move into base housing if it's available and not over a certain percentage. They are attempting to remodel the units on the bases in Okinawa but they are doing so very slowly.
I'm not sure if you have a tourist passport, but please be advised that unless you are going back and forth to the states or on official orders, you cannot use your SOFA passport for leisure travel, say to China or Australia.
We are stationed on Oki right now. Of course, hit up kadena.af.mil for the official site. Also check out kadenaforcesupport.com. Another good one is mccsokinawa.com. That one covers MCB Butler, which is what all the Marine bases collectively are known as. If you are interested in Torii Station (the Army base), the site is toriimwr.com. Though, most people only go to Torii if they are Army or want to go to the beach that is part of the base.
If you are interested in the medical, I know that there are a good amount of medical things done on Kadena, but the all island military hospital is run by the Navy and the site is: www.med.navy.mil/sites/nhoki.
Okinawahai.com is very good, but be careful. I've found quite a bit of outdated information on the site, though they do try to be diligent about updating it. Just make sure to check the dates of the postings and if it's more than a couple years old, double check the info.
That should be enough to get you started at least. If you figure out some more specific questions, or even just general topics, please feel free to message me.
Re: Kadena AB
DH and I lived on Kadena from '05-'08...I miss it desperately!!! I'm sure quite a bit has changed since we left, but I could probably answer most of your questions. What kind of info are you looking for? There's a LOT to know...
Do you have kids? Pets? Do you want to live on base?
Like with any base, you get out of it what you're willing to put in. If you stay on base for three straight years and never experience the real Okinawa, you're going to hate it. But if you jump in, learn a bit of the language (just a few key phrases can go a long way!), and explore, you'll find that it's an unbelievable opportunity with SO much to do!
Again, I'd be happy to answer any questions. And when you get there, you must go to Cocoichibanya and get some chicken cutlet curry....you'll quickly become addicted!
Oh wow, Kadena AFB. My dad was stationed there twice when I was growing up and all of my memories are good ones. I'm sure things have changed after all these years, but I can only remember good things. The USO was by Gate 2 and was huge and a good place to hang out. My mom worked there.
Out Gate 2 was some amazing local shopping and where they would hold festivals like the giant tug-of-war. The island itself is nice and the locals were always nice to us. Great food too. I really, really miss good Japanese food. I also remeber some nice beaches and some great snorkling opportunities.
I hope you can find some folks who have been there more recently, but I don't think you'll hate living there. Its far, true, and you won't see family as much, but I am a firm believer in getting to see the world while you have the chance. Its a great opportunity. So if you get the chance to visit the mainland or go shopping in South Korea, go for it.
Check out Okinawahai.com
They also have a members society (free) and you can post questions, look at other opinions, etc.
With the order in place, you will be required to move into base housing if it's available and not over a certain percentage. They are attempting to remodel the units on the bases in Okinawa but they are doing so very slowly.
I'm not sure if you have a tourist passport, but please be advised that unless you are going back and forth to the states or on official orders, you cannot use your SOFA passport for leisure travel, say to China or Australia.
We are stationed on Oki right now. Of course, hit up kadena.af.mil for the official site. Also check out kadenaforcesupport.com. Another good one is mccsokinawa.com. That one covers MCB Butler, which is what all the Marine bases collectively are known as. If you are interested in Torii Station (the Army base), the site is toriimwr.com. Though, most people only go to Torii if they are Army or want to go to the beach that is part of the base.
If you are interested in the medical, I know that there are a good amount of medical things done on Kadena, but the all island military hospital is run by the Navy and the site is: www.med.navy.mil/sites/nhoki.
Okinawahai.com is very good, but be careful. I've found quite a bit of outdated information on the site, though they do try to be diligent about updating it. Just make sure to check the dates of the postings and if it's more than a couple years old, double check the info.
That should be enough to get you started at least. If you figure out some more specific questions, or even just general topics, please feel free to message me.