Moving to Mountain Home AFB, Idaho help wanted

[AF Honor Guard - Spot 1]

Just got orders to be stationed at MH and I know absolutely nothing about it and I don't consider myself an complete outdoor person but I think that might have to change...any info on off-base housing, elementary schools, things to do, entertainment, weather, closest civilization/Walmart, anything that will help me my family appreciate the wide open spaces of Idaho would help.

[some gal]

Mountain home is a bad place for AF kids. There are a lot of drug and gang problems from adult gangs based out of Nampa and Caldwell. The schools kick them out as quick as they can. Good place for hunting, bad place for raising kids. The parents don't know each other, or know who their kids are with. No funding for kids programs.

[Welcome to Mountain Home]

My husband and I moved here in June, we just moved on base really bad exp with in town renting make sure you have a military clause in your lease if you plan to live off base just to protect yourself if renting isnt working for you.Not to mention we lived right next door to a police officer and we had problems with people steeling our gas from our cars twice, and an attempted break in, all in only 4 months.
For the outdoors my best advice to you is find friends who know idaho,they can take you to really nice spots. And if your looking for good food and fun go to Boise, you dont find any of that in mountain home. They say it grows on you. I'm Waiting for that moment.

[Niki OReilly]

Wow! I'm sorry you were greeted with such negative comments about Mountain Home. By now you are here and I hope your experience has been much nicer than is was for the people who answered you. As with many other retired military in the area, my husband and I have been stationed all over the world and the U.S. and chose to retire in Mountain Home because we love it here. The country is beautiful and the people are warm and friendly. Check out and take advantage of MWR and the Outdoor Adventure programs as well as the Housing Referral Office on base. If you make the effort to seek it out, you will find there is a wide variety of things to do in town, as well as in Boise and the surrounding areas. Here's hoping you have a great assignment here.

[Brian]

Wow. I too also want to greet you with a much more positive note than the first two respondants. I moved here 4 years ago with my wife and 2x boys (then 3 and 6) and we have really enjoyed our time here. We bought a home and put our oldest in public school. North Elementary has been great with individual attention paid to our son when he needed it. The town is small, but very Norman Rockwell-esk. As with any assignment it is all in how you approach it. Be positive and take advantage of what life in a small town has to offer. I hope you enjoy your tour.
-Brian

[Coming rond de mountain]

I too, am relocating to Mountain Home AFB in February, just 4 months after losing my husband, and only a year and a half in Nevada.
I am a single mother (widowed) with 3 children.
one son has been diagnosed with ADD and my other son has Aspergers. My daugher who is the oldest at 13 is very edgy about once again having to change schools, and had gotten used to the schools in Vegas and now is troubled once again about being the new kid.
Please tell me about any programs in the area for children and I would like to know about the schools and if they allow children with disbilities to attend the public schools.
Thanks for any info you can give me.
I appreciate any input or ideas. Thanks!

[My opinion]

I just got here and I absolutely love it! EVERYONE is so, so friendly and I love how clean and picturesque the town is. The base is nice and the school has been great so far to my oldest baby. We have yet to know our way completely around but we are enjoying it so far. I hear there is a really good soccer program off base and I'll be on my way to sign my child up. It's always hard to move and we are planning this one to be our last. A few years for us to retire...

[flightwitch]

My husband and I have just moved to Mt.Home after being over seas for two years and we're finding the town to be very friendly, if your looking for a place to rent, there's plenty, if you want to buy the time couldn't be better. There is a Walmart but you might want to take a look at some of the smaller businesses, this is the town that huge chain stores forgot. The street names can be confusing so take your time looking around the town. Well if you need to know more send me a Reply. My husband nor myself had a sponsor when we came here so we had to find some stuff out on our own

[jenn_here]

Well this is my OPINION...the population here is a little over 11,000 of which almost 7,000 of that is Military. Some people stationed here live in Boise, off base, or on base. Living on base has its ups and downs...mostly freedom is a downfall but security is GREAT! The base is about a 15 minute drive from the actual town of Mtn Home. There are some great houses here! You have to drive around to find them! Take back roads i mean. The town seems run down and is very small. We have no big name restaraunts. A McDonalds(2), subway, wendys,jack in the box, KFC and Arbys...We have a walmart(1) a maurices which is a womans clothing store. A dollar general, dollar store a sears APPLIANCE store and jc penny APPLIANCE store...not ur typical stores. a couple of movie rental places. a radio shack. pauls is the grocery store theres albertsons. pretty much everything just to get by. a dominios and a pizza hut...which pizza hut does not deliver on base...theres a diner called grindes diner which is pretty good...everyone here obviously knows everybody(well the people from here). the dmv consists of 3 waiting chairs and no taking a number...very small town here. Theres a few bars here. The rodeo, which has a mechanical bull and is pretty fun. 2 pool tables...not really a dance floor but has a couple of stripper poles and is really fun if you go with a group! for some reason tho, not a lot of people go there. You can usually find everyone at Charlies...it has a dance floor, pool tables,2 bars...and its downtown so you can walk to kurleys bar and go between the two...theres a lot more to do in Boise obviously, and you will "eventually" get use to the one hour drive from base...you can find restaraunts, shopping malls, basically everything youre probably use to. They have hockey games at the quest arena, BSU games at the stadium...They have a ski resort bogus basin which is pretty sweet and has great military rates...moving from alaska to here was kinda a joke bc everyone chaulked this place to be great for the outdoors but comming from AK how much greater does it get :) I agree with another person that said as with any base, its how you look at it going into it. If you have it in your head that it sucks, then its gonna suck. My only advice is get out and see everything you can at each base no matter how bad you may think it is...it is what you make of it!!! Good Luck to everyone out there and Thank Every Military Personal out there for what you do!

[Command Chief]

Contact your sponsor or me the Command Chief we will help.

[New Officer]

I too am moving to Mountain Home in August. I'm excited and can't wait to check it out. This is my first assignment, so I don't really know what to expect. Thanks for all the input!

[Panick]

AF Honor Guard - Spot 1 wrote:

Just got orders to be stationed at MH and I know absolutely nothing about it and I don't consider myself an complete outdoor person but I think that might have to change...any info on off-base housing, elementary schools, things to do, entertainment, weather, closest civilization/Walmart, anything that will help me my family appreciate the wide open spaces of Idaho would help.

My Family and I moved to Mt. HOme in April, yes this place is desolate and the job market sucks. We actually live on base, they have a lot of new housing and I actually ended up in the older housing that used to be officers quarters and they are rather nice. The area, not so bad, My son goes to school in Mt. Home and he catches a bus in the mornings. He doesn't have any issues with people and seemed to like school. If you drive about an hour to Boise, there is actually a lot to do there being a college town. Just depends on what you make of it. Good Luck and try to enjoy!!

[MJJ]

I've lived in Alaska for 15 years and my husband has lived between Nome, Alaska, and Anchorage his whole life. We have 2 daughters, 1yr &7yrs. Seriously considering moving to Mountain Home. Very nervous. Overall, is it a good place to live and have a family??? You're right, for outdoors it doesnt get much better than Alaska but I am sick of the cold, the lack of seasons, and the darkness. Is it really similiar to Alaska as I've heard, minus the dark and 4 seasons? As much info as you can give is SOOOOOO helpful!

[Lvninparadise]

Well, some of you have very bad reviews for MH but i lived in the area for about 20 years and it is not that bad. Crime rate is about normal for any place these days and the schools are great. I prefer North Elementary as their parent involvement seems greater than the others. There is plenty to do there and in surrounding areas. The people are very friendly and helpful. I hope you all have a wonderful stay and can call it home!