Military Hotrod Club - got orders to Japan..

Called the detailer yesterday, and all I could get were ships in Japan :( Im currently a recruiter in Clearwater, FL and will be heading over about this time next year (leave recruiting in Oct and have a school enroute.). I will be home for Christmas and stuff though, so that is good.

What sucks is that all the stuff I am concerned about (housing, cars), can't be set up in advance. I am not bringing our vehicles, and will purchase one over there due to the cost of bringing it over.

Anyone ever been over to Yokosuka? I will be on a ship there for 3 years, so I am trying to decide if I want a place out in town or on base. My wife prefers on base because she will feel safer, but I don't even know what the size/cost of places are, or how much total I will get for OHA/COLA..

Living in Japan is very easy. I was up north in Misawa for two years. Bringing your cars over there is ridiculously expensive and not at all a good idea. Japan is a very safe country to live in. Most japanese are very trustworthy. I wouldn't be too worried about living off base. Cars over there are cheap. Skylines sell for 6-7k, or you could buy a cheap daihatsu or some cheap honda. Cars are cheap there so I wouldn't worry too much about it.

I've got a buddy stationed at 3rd MarDiv in Okinawa... send me a PM and I'll give you his contact info

I was stationed on two ships in Yoko. What ship will you be heading to?

Living on or off-base is not a problem. Both are safe. I enjoyed being on-base more because the house I had out in town had little to no insulation, low door jambs, shitty power breaker (too many appliances on at one time tripped it), hassle of separating trash for recycling, plus traffic going to base if you drive in. If you take the trains to work, it is easy, plus the walk from shiori station to the base is not that far.

The best part about living on base is the ability to save a butt load of money. All I had for bills was cable, cell phone, and car insurance once a year. I do not have to spend money on gas, trains, or tolls going to work. Plus riding a bike into work everyday saved me the hassle of finding a parking spot on-base. Cars there are cheap. They have kick ass stores such as Up Garage and Parts Off which are like automotive parts pawn shops you have to check out The on-base auto hobby shop kicks ass ass well.

I will be going the the Shiloh CG-67. On base seems much easier as far as getting to work and stuff, but off base seems like it would be fun because of the culture. I am hoping more for on base, but I don't know what the wait will be, and we are also bringing our dog too, so we might have to wait even longer due to that. I definitely don't plan on bringing our cars.

How long since you were there EW1?

I left there in 2008. I was on the Chancellorsville and Curtis Wilbur. When I was there, there were 3 housing areas Negishi, Ikego, and Yokosuka. Negishi is the easiest to get into followed by Ikego then Yokosuka. You will not be able to stay in the towers since you have a dog but there are townhomes you can get into. Negeshi is the farthest from base and is closer to Tokyo followed by Ikego.

Off-base is not really bad. Apartments are small as hell so definitely get a house. The housing office people are good but the Japanese realtors are way better and will find you a house that will fit you and your family.

Saw your avatar, are you a tech? Wish you the best on the Shiloh. 7th Fleet is a mother but you will learn so much out there.

yep, im a tech. I have been on two amphibs and am getting V3 school on the way out there. Im hoping to get Yokosuka housing since we wont have vehicles right way and it would be much more convenient, but I will settle for Ikego and I really don't want Negeshi due to the distance (when I was in VA I drove 45 minutes 1 way to the ship and my house now is 40 minutes away from my office, so im sick of commuting). My wife and I talked about on base for the first year or so, then getting somewhere off base until we transfer.

What were the average deployment/dwell times when you were there? Im trying to get an idea of what the schedule would be like..are all the ships out more than usual because of the location?

I was underway at least 230 days a year out there. The longer underways were 6-8 weeks and average in port times were anywhere from 1-4 weeks. I have never been stationed on a ship stateside but from talking to other guys, there are no work up cycles or stand downs after deployments when compared to stateside ships.

Being forward deployed, tasking can come up whenever. There have been times where we have gotten tasking notice the day off and had to get underway later in the afternoon.

The training cycle pretty much fits in wherever they can fit it and the only real downtime is when the ship is in dry dock. It is like trying to fit 10 pounds of shit in a 5 pound bag.

The Shiloh is a BMD ship so there is a bit more tasking, training, and equipment EW wise but I loved it. I could tell you one thing, you will be an EW God once you spend a year or two there.

I still have a couple of EW buddies there on the Blue Ridge, the Fitz, and GW so if you need anything or help there, they could hook you up.

I hope we aren't gone that much. Not so much for my benefit, but my wife's. That will suck if when we get there I am gone all the time and she will be alone with the kids.

How do cell phones work over there? What did you do for cell service?

There are 3 major cell phone companies that provide service there; AU, Docomo, and J phone. I had AU and they had really good service. When getting a cell phone, go outside the main gate into the area they call Blue Street becuase the cell phone people there speak english. This will lessen the headache of getting a phone.

i play ball with a bunch of guys from yokosuka and atsugi. personnaly from the AF standard the yoko base is better hands down on the main island. chilis is on the water front the NEX and all the other good stuff is nicer than yokota's or any of the other main island bases.
for cell phones go with docomo or softbank, you can get the droid with docomo or the iphone with softbank. docomo has better service hands down but softbank is no slouch either.
For cars dont let people fool you it can be very expensive to bring a car here but from the few people that i know that have it ranges between 2-5k. if i could do it all over again you bet your ass i would have brought my cobra here. skylines are f'ing everywhere you will be tired of seeing them within hours of arriving at narita if you fly commercial. Japan is awesome though you will like it.

Does your cell service allow you to call home to the states? What about using the internet on the phone? I have tried looking some of this stuff up, but the information isn't as easy to find as I would have hoped.

I thought about bringing one of our cars, specifically our Commander, but I don't want to deal with paying all the $$ to bring it over when I really don't need to. I love the car, and I am sure it would be unique over there, but its not worth the hassle/cost. Are there like car dealer websites I could visit to see what is for sale there?