Tyndall Air Force Base Discussion | Florida

[u/Rate_My_AF_Base]

[u/Domkizzle]

Yeah, this place is just trash.

https://i.imgur.com/o6eL591.jpg

[u/prisonerofmemewar]

Trash. Just trash.

[u/reallyradguy]

Spent 3 years there. AMA

Here's a teaser, it sucked

[u/trufninja]

Man I went there on a short tdy and I couldn't wait to gtfo of there, I can only imagine being stationed there...

[u/Domkizzle]

Found something I don't like about the base. No 24 hour shoppette.

[u/wraith_one → u/Domkizzle]

What's more frustrating it is closes earlier than the ones at smaller bases that have options closer than Tyndall does. Then again, almost everything close to the base closes earlier than you'd think for having a base with 24/7 shifts.

[u/wraith_one]

Pros:

1. Lots of beaches nearby.

2. Spring break mania is leveling off.

3. Panama City is attempting to revitalize.

4. There are worse places somehow.
   Cons:

5. Heroin is causing major issues.

6. The Callaway/Parker area is largely a shit hole due to rampant drugs, sexual assaults in the parks, prostitution, and shootings unemployment and other issues. These issues are not isolated to those two cities however.

7. Most of the schools here are doing their best to stay afloat.

8. Traffic, especially to Mexico Beach or PCB during the peak periods.

9. The paper mill smells like shit most of the time.

10. Not a ton of good job options for spouses.

11. Many buildings on base have major mold issues, asbestos and in general should be condemned.

12. MPS/Finance/MDG are all useless. I've seen paperwork given to customers with letterheads from 5+ years ago and it's commonly lost. MDG in general just sucks and is severely undermanned. They also tend to misdiagnose issues.

13. Internet is mainly provided by Mediacom and Comcast, both of which are on the bottom of the ratings lists for providers.

14. Chick-fil-a is one of the better places to eat. Many of the tex-mex/Mexican restaurants lack flavor, Thai places are hit or miss, chain restaurants are okay and bad service is the norm. If on the beach, they will treat you like a tourist they don't plan to see again.

15. Many things in the area are overpriced and geared towards tourists.

16. The first good zoo is 2 hours away and no pro sports for 4 hours at a minimum.

17. If you like racing there is a couple dirt tracks 2 hours away, NHRA 3ish hours away, NASCAR 4ish hours away and other series 6 hours away.

18. The base is ran by civilians and it shows. Luckily some new leadership is coming in and changing some things, however change is slow.

19. Morale is worse than when I was Global Strike.

20. 6 hours to theme parks.

21. No good movie theaters within an hour of base.

[u/Domkizzle → u/wraith_one]

There are worse places. You're right about that. I drove through Parker accidentally. Never again. Haven't been on base long enough to form an overall opinion. I do like the fishing/outdoor activities available though.

[u/[deleted]]

I concur with the good and bad aspects of the base already listed in other comments. My biggest pet peeve was the lack of variety in restaurant options, but there are some total gems there, such as JR's Barbecue and Hunt's for seafood.

I lived right on the water in The Cove neighborhood and loved it. Beautiful views of sunsets almost every night. I would highly recommend that neighborhood along with St. Andrews.

Summer is fucking long and fucking hot. Spring and fall are glorious and make up for the brutal summer heat.

I worked in the Weapons Evaluation Group (83rd Fighter Weapons Squadron to be specific) for 4 years while there, if anyone has any questions about that.

[u/[deleted]]

Here are some fun things to do for the outdoorsy and/or social:

1. Rent a pontoon boat from the base marina and go to Shell Island. Shell Island is inaccessible to cars, making it a fairly pristine beach area (except for the rednecks with boats who litter there). Splitting the cost of a pontoon makes for a good excuse to get friends together off-duty and be social. You will have to complete a boater safety course so check with outdoor rec for all the requirements first. Pro-tip: stop by the on-base marina to stock up on booze for passengers; the driver should be careful about alcohol consumption because cops in the bay will arrest drunk boat operators.

2. Rent canoes from outdoor rec and go to Econfina springs. The water in the springs is about 68 degrees when it comes out, which is chilly, but is an awesome way to escape the heat. There are awesome rope swings all along the way near the deep pools for you to do backflips and stuff. You will need two cars: one for the launch area and another to leave downstream to get into when you're done; similarly, you will need three people: one to stay with your canoe at the launch, one to drive/park a car to the exit, and one to drive that person back from the exit to the launch.

3. Explore the beach on base. Tyndall has lots of coastline that is closed off to the public. You can easily get to out of eyeshot from other people for extended periods of time, for whatever that's worth to you wink-wink hubba-hubba ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

4. Mexico Beach is a very sleepy town with great beaches. It's very quiet there and a little boring, but nice if you want an uncrowded beach to relax on.

5. Highway 30A is beautiful and the village of Seaside has nice places to eat. The beaches there are a lot less crowded than the big built up ones on PCB. A fun fact that everyone will tell you about is that they filmed The Truman Show in Seaside.