I have a question about military families

I taught next to a military base and we got a lot of kids with military parents. During the Gulf War, I had 16 kids with one or both parents deployed. With my experience (just as a teacher), the moving around for the Army branch has become less and less. I don't know if that is true overall.

Because there are bases were no one (or few) want to be for a long period. If everyone stayed long term where they wanted to be the unsavory assignments would be hung on someone long term too. Someone would get stuck for years away from spouse/kids or extended family, for instance, who do you know what would want to spend 20 years on assignment in Afghanistan or Iraq just because that is what was available when they first came out of boot camp? 

The frequent change over also means things are done "by the book" and by regulation without developing small local loyalties that could divide a national military.  

While there are down sides to moving frequently there are also upsides to it. My kids got to spend a few years in Italy that they remember without spending their entire childhood there. They also got to experience an assignment close to extended family. Both good experiences and both experiences I wouldn't have wanted them to miss out on one or the other.

All of this. Plus people either retire or get out of the military all the time, so others need to moved into those vacancies. There are avenues to take if a military member wants to keep their family in one place longer though, like for their kids to finish school, or having a special needs child that can only get services in certain locations.

Our shortest duty station was two years in Germany, and our longest was six years in Texas. I kind of wish those had been reversed . My husband also did two individual year-long assignments in Korea, where I and the kids stayed behind.

Not every job is at every installation. Within the Air Force, there are a large variety of aircraft, each with it's own special needs. While they can all (mostly) share runways, the wear & tear will be different say from a F-15 to a C-5. The local population & what's built around the base is also a consideration.

That's only with Air Force aircraft. We have survival training bases in different regions to simulate a variety of conditions. Training in the American Northwest isn't going to prepare for desert conditions So instructors will move between those bases to keep *their* training sharp.

My DH worked within the communications area his last 10 years. Just within that career field, certain bases have mobile communications, who deploy to war zones. Burn out could be fairly high, so you switch to another area of communications, which usually meant a move to another base with that type of job.

And the always present complacency. It effects us all so moving even within the vast U.S will keep you sharper. Also Volt makes a damn good point, being stuck somewhere you don't like is Hell.

Minot AFB in North Dakota is not a popular assignment.  There are a number of US bases that are less desireable than others.  We are a diverse country, and some bases are located in harsher climates in terms of temperature (hot OR cold) and humidity (swampy vs. so dry your glued furniture falls apart due to drying out). 

We have 10 moves in 16 years. We most commonly moved do to a promotion (job wasn't available for his rank) or a school (4). Plus, it builds experience. Since he can't do all jobs at one installation, moving has created a well rounded military member with varied experience.

From an officer stand point in a battalion there are lots of jobs for a LT many less for a CPT, only 2 for MAJ and one for an LTC and nothing for any ranks higher. We are at our 3rd duty station currently. DH has already PCSd to the 4th and we'll join him in the spring.

I attended New England schools as a military kid. My education there surpassed any I received in another location. I actually sat through the last part of 5th grade when my father retired to New York. Rhode Island was so far ahead of the curriculum compared to New York. I was learning foreign language and advanced math and science in Rhode Island. New York didn't we wouldn't even start till junior high in NY. They didn't know what to do with me for 3 months. Needless to say, I started schools in the South and I was a mess by the time I got to Rhode Island.

Permanent Change of Station.

Thanks!
I've seen this many times here, but never knew what it stood for although I kind of knew it meant a move.

Some families never have to move or maybe only once.  It depends on the military person's job, their desire to apply for other tours of duty to increase promotion potential.  Some people are stationed places they don't like and put in for other assignments to a more desireable location.

It depends on many factors but I have known many families who have been at one base the entire time and when/if the military member takes a remote tour they request to go back to the same base where they were where the family remained.

Other people have jobs that do require moving around.  But for example if you work with missiles you are only going to be stationed where there are missiles.  If you work on a certain plane engine you are only going to go where that plane is flown.  If you are a heart surgeon you are only going to be stationed where there are large enough medical centers to have a cardiac unit. 

LT = lieutenant 
CPT - captain
MAJ - major
LTC = lieutenant colonel

PCS = permanent change of station - in civilian speak, a transfer 

In terms of seniority from lowest to higher rank for officers in Air Force, Army, and Marines (different for enlisted and Navy) - lieutenant is at the bottom, then captain, then major, then lieutenant colonel, then colonel.

My dad was in the Air Force. We had moved 5 times by the time I was 10. Some places he was stationed at longer than others. He was a doctor, so that limited where he could be stationed. I remember how worried he was that we would have to move to Minot, ND, because they needed a dermatologist to fill a spot. Turns out we didn't end up in Minot, but he ended up going to Southeast Asia during the last two years of the Vietnam War. I think we might have preferred Minot. LOL