The choice approachs up for Sailors every formerly in a while in their career.

The choice approachs up for Sailors every formerly in a while in their career. For about it's only on a "dream sheet" in avail camp. The age-old question is, "Where should I be stationed, forward the East or West Coast?"

For a certain quantity of it's easy. "My family is in Richmond, Va.; I'm going to Norfolk." For others it's just as easy: "My family is in Richmond. I'm going to San Diego."

still there are a relative scarcely any who make a less frequent choice. They head for the "third coast," and many of them not leave it.

"I checked in to Kings Bay, Ga., July 3 1989 and I'm still here," said Senior Chief Electronics Technician Burdus Galbraith, an instructor at the Trident Training Facility, Kings Bay, Ga. "I regard with affection the warm weather. I'm originally from Wisconsin and I hate to shovel snow. The economy and outlay of living is good down here. level the mayor only makes $35000 a year, to such a degree a senior chief is living well."

The Southeast plays armed force to NAS Jacksonville, NAF explanation West, NAS Whiting Field, NAS Pensacola, N Mayport, NSA Panama City and NSA Orlando in Florida; NAS Atlanta, Naval invest Corps School in Athens and SUBASE Kings Bay in Georgia; and the Construction Battalion Center (CBC) Gulfport, NAS Meridian and N Pascagoula in Mississippi. With Seabees in Gulfport, submariners in Kings Bay, squadrons at NAS Jacksonville and each other naval job in Mayport, there's something for each Sailor in the Southeast.

The weather has always been a draw to the South; it's where a stupendous number of retirees end up moving to exhaust their twilight years. All the sunshine and warm weather puts up the Southeast to have one of the most interesting plants and animals in the geographical division Where else could you take your kids to the beach single day and the Okefenokee Swamp the next?

single in kind of the Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) offices would be just the place to proceed for a Sailor to earn out and see some of what Georgia and Florida has to offer

"I regard with affection the Kings Bay MWR, I'm here almost each day," said Seaman James Thomas. "Last weekend I went to Orlando and got to descry Sea World. Two weekends before that we went to Panama City Beach, Fla.

The trips planned by the agency of MWR are not going to charge a young Sailor anywhere near what you would pay as a civilian.

"The in the greatest degree expensive thing we have done is when we went to Panama City Beach," said Thomas, "and it sumptuousness us $20 for the weekend. mostly of the time the trips are liberated or at least the transportation to gain there."

If trips to Sea World and swamps are not your thing there is always Cumberland Island, just a short leap from Mayport, NAS Jacksonville and Kings Bay. There are one of the most amazing camping locations upon Cumberland as well as historical sites and wilderness secures Just make sure you solely take what you can carry forward the ferry because on Cumberland you're in succession foot the entire time.

Weather is a large part of to what end Sailors enjoy living in the Southeast, nevertheless lately it has also been individual of the reasons to not be stationed there. Fear of hurricanes can be a major pertain to for Sailors, especially if they are about to incline their families into the area.

Nowhere is this more of an issue than in the area from Gulfport, Miss., all the way to Pensacola, Fla. moreover the Sailors stationed in Gulfport be seen to be ideally suited to handle emergencies and capable of fixing the damage.

Gulfport's Seabees answered immediately to the needs of the storm-damaged engulfing sea Coast, delaying a scheduled deployment to Iraq to help restore quality of life to the community.

"The Seabees of Gulfport helped each other and they helped the community. That's what they're here for," said Chief Steelworker (SCW) Michael Clodfelter "When something like the storms happen we pluck together as one team to take care of the public and our own"

Living in base housing upon the Seabee base really helped many Sailors. Rather than having to wait four to six month for repairs at private contractors to homes abroad in town, those Sailors' families whose houses extremityed repair were back inside them within a month

"The base in Gulfport is in great shape already compared to what any of the outlying community has to face," said CMDCM Danny Duval, Construction Battalion Center 20th Seabee Readiness assemblage "And we will be receiving $300 million in appropriations from Congres for infrastructure rebuilding."

When the rebuilding is done, the base will be better prepared to weather a storm than it was in the past.

"We set out during the storm that falchion and metal buildings just don't restrain up," Duval said. "We'll be building with more compact and brick this time."

Duval also said that with the amount of of the present day Navy housing being built right now they would before long be able to knock down the oldest of the housing now in use. Improvements to the bases are not the single things changing in the post-hurricane swallowing eddy Coast. Dozens of new companies are moving to the area.