Seymour Johnson Air Force Base

Seymour Johnson. I giggle each time I hear this name.
SJ is home to the 4^th Fighter Wing of F15E’s and also is the only AFB in the country that provides training for this jet. It is also pretty cool to watch these things zip around and do their thing from time to time. I imagine these will be replaced by F35’s in time. SJ also houses KC135 refueling tankers used worldwide.
The base is an older one but is a town of its own. Like all bases, you could essentially never leave and be just fine as they provide all the stuff that a town would offer.
Two things stick out to me about this base. One, the bowling alley is the cheapest per game alley known to man and may be the best bowling alley I have been in ever as far as upkeep. Two, if Fourth of July fireworks are your thing, look no further. This display rivals ones you have seen anywhere at any time. This isn’t a joke. It is intense the entire time.
It’s a base. Uh huh.

I have yet to discover all of the amenities and benefits of this base but what I have seen/​used has been great. Im a veteran and my husband is retired army. We moved here from Arizona and Luke AFB was a bit of a drive for us so living here close to Seymour has been awesome!
I mostly come here for the gym which offers a variety of different classes, my favorites are Spin, PiYo and Zumba. They have basketball and racquetball courts, cross training, weights and cardio area’s.
They also have a golf course, track field, pool and running trails. I’m excited for the summer when soccer season begins.
I know they also have a vet center, thrift store, and library which I’ve been meaning to go to.
And of course they have the commissary and PX. I’ve probably mentioned all the things that all traditional bases normally offer but I haven’t been to very many so whatevs.
Even though it is an older base i still like it.

I don’t know if we entered through a side gate or something, but we had ZERO sense of where we were or where anything was, making it really hard for someone trying to get to the personnel section and in-​process.
We had no signs directing us where to go, until we finally had to pull over and ask an airman doing base appearance detail. Thankfully he was helpful and we weren’t late.
Once we found MPS, the layout of the common facilities seemed to stay on their main street, which was helpful. Got to check out the BX: smaller than I’m used to, but decent selection. Food court was sparse, and they had the typical florist, GNC, and barber shop. Bummer, because I was hoping to get my nails done (no salon).
My recommendation would be to add better signs to direct your base populous.

Nice, well stocked commissary. Otherwise, seemed like your every day nice well-​kept piece of government property.
NC was hot, humid and sticky when I went and I still didn’t see any dudes with their shirts off.
So much for the Air Force!