Active military, moving to Washington DC area, have questions (areas, guns etc.)

[Lennyjoe]

Most military bases have unloading barrels and 4-6 gun safes at the main gate

Not on any Air Force base that I've been to.

Heck, I almost got arrested at the Botanical gardens in DC when I had a 3" pocket knife on me. I was TDY to Baltimore and decided to drop in to DC on an off day. Had a 3" Gerber in my pocket. While waiting to take a tour through the Capital building I had to take a leak. Didn't have a facility in the Capital holding area so I had to run to the gardens. Had to go throught the security checkpoint and as I emptied my pockets into a container they noticed that I had a knife. Detained me, called in my info, let me go and kept the knife.

Long story short, I don't think I'd ever take orders to DC. I'd retire first

But, I have that option at this point in my Air Force career, you may not. Seems yor doing your homework well and getting some good info. Hopefully your transition won't be too painful. Take care.

 

[G T]

I think Maryland stinks---and I'm from New Jersey! I have considered my 5+ years here to be akin to a prison sentence and the only thing that keeps me going in grad school and work is that there is an opening for me in the Florida office. Everything you've heard about Prince Georges (or PG) county is true: this place is New Jack County.

There is a pistol range called "Maryland Small Arms Range" right next to Andrews and it's decent. The nightlife in the area is pretty good because you can visit DC and Baltimore. Annapolis is a disappointment by comparison. Oh, and I hope you have a high BS tolerance: even when the Redskins have (another!) 4-12 season, you will still hear locals singing "Hail to the Redskins" as though they have Down's syndrome (Hail too daaaaaa resssskinsss....)

I'm sorry that you have to be here.

BTW, are you the same Dave88LX from Corral.net? I haven't been there in years but I remember the stories...

 

[tinygnat219]

GT is absolutely right about the sports situation here. The Redskins fans are blind followers, they still sellout despite a 4-12 season in a 92000 seat stadium no less and sell out 30 bucks for parking, 8 dollars for a beer and 5 dollars for a hot dog. The owner is a billionaire meddler who likes to involve himself in every decision and trys to figure out how to milk the fans for every cent he can. He's hated worse than Steinbrenner, or Jerry Jones.

However, there are some decent teams in the area:
Washington DC: Capitols (Hockey), Wizards (Basketball in the same arena), United (Soccer), and Nationals (Baseball, one of the better bargains out there right now).
Baltimore: Football (Ravens), and Baseball (Orioles).