Alright, this question goes out to all the military personnel. Will be going to BMT in a few weeks, Air force. Just wondering, how difficult is it for you guys or gals to maintain your 7s? My dad was in the army, so I know what military life is like, but I'm sure you still have time to yourselves. Also, anyone in Japan? How much for a realiable, low mileage 7 there? Thanks for any input and Thanks for serving our country, I'll be joining you soon.

 

I say fd in the military is a harsh life for it well Army anyway. I think you 'd be asking for trouble, especially with early formations, pt or what not, or having to drive your car to some odd ball place out in no man's land. Considering how finicky the fd is and you got to have time for the car to warm up and then cool down from place to place I think it would be a hassle in my opinion.

I don't know about Airforce life could be a different story.

 

Since you are enlisted, you will most likely live in the dorms on base for the first couple of years. Sadly, that means no car port or garage, so you need to buy a nice car cover. But a good benefit is the base hobby shop. The car lifts are around $5 an hour to use and they have a ton of tools to borrow. You can also take the base shuttle or ride a bike to work, a few people who I work with do (even my boss who is a Lt Col).
Just like lopedl said, short trips in an RX7 are not really good for the car. The car should be warmed up thoroughly every time it is started. When you drive less than a mile to work, it may not be the best choice.
But if you are aircrew, it doens't what you get because you won't be home to enjoy it. Aircrews have been averaging around 200 days TDY (temporary duty) per year. Some airplanes have extremely high TDY rates (C-17s, KC-135s, and C-130s).
Have fun at Lackland.
Dan

 

hey i am active duty military i will tell you what you better budget your money well . i am an e-4 in the navy ( all e-4 in each branch gets paid the same, plus your extra duty pays) but one benefit is when you do go out for extended periods of time , like when i go out to sea, i come back with a nice fat paycheck in the bank, but depending where you get stationed you can get by, plus if you come to cali there are plenty rx-7s around plus shops. so good luck jimmyd

 

hey man...im an e-5 in the airforce and i will tell you that i am glad that i waited until after basic, after tech school, and after living in the dorms. your car would get trashed in the dorms. but this car shouldnt be rushed into. make sure you have time to do the maintenance and more importantly...can afford it.

 

Yes I agree with the above. As a E-1 to E-3 may be an E-4 with less than 2 years you won't be able to afford it . I was an E-5 with 6 years in when I got mine on shore duty (meaning I didn't get any other special pay) and I had a hard time keeping up with it. Now as a E-6 going for E-7 before 10 yrs. I'm in good hands. Thank god for rating exam

 

Hrm... I'm an A1C in the Air Force and life could not be better. I dont know what job you are going in with but I'm a loadmaster. The dorms here in Dover are pretty nice and actually our cars are much much safer on base. Dont worry about basic training its a piece of cake, just six short weeks. Good luck, any more questions just let me know!

Staton

 

well here at shaw afb...south cackalacki...things arent so good in the dorms...**** roaches like you wouldnt believe. thank God im outta there.

 

I was in the Marine Corps and stationed in Okinawa Japan for 3 years. First f all like Testaton said your basic is a piece of cake in the Air Force. Think of it as a summer camp ;-) Second, like everyone said here make sure you have enough money to pay for your car's maintenance and insurance. An FD in Japan will run you around $8000 to $10000(that was 3 years ago). You'll have fun with the FD in Japan. I had a GTS-t Skyline when I was an E-3 and I loved it. Goodluck...

 

First of all, I’m an E-4 in the air force and I’m pretty sure that if you budget your money you should have no problem with your FD assuming you’re not making huge monthly car payments already. Secondly, I just got back from Okinawa Japan a couple of months ago my first car over there was a Skyline GTS-T, which was a lot of fun and basically indestructible. But after six months I got an offer from a friend to buy his 93 FD for about $4000. The car had 88,000 km on it and ran great the entire time I was there (and I pushed the car while I was there). No guarantee that you will find an FD for $4000 while your there, but you will be amazed at how cheap cars are over there. And if you want to modify your car, parts are even cheaper. No matter what car you get over there as long as it’s fast, I guarantee you’ll have fun with it while your there. Good Luck (not that you’ll need it everyone’s right, air force basic is a joke).

 

I agree with everyone else above. The one thing I would recommend you try and find is an affordable front drive beater. I say front drive cause it's a little easier in the bad weather and you don't really know where your permanent duty station will be. But if your confident in your driving, a rear drive beater will do. I've been in Colorado for 4 years and I don't drive the FD in the winter, had an old 2wheel drive pick up and now have a Tahoe. Makes maintaining the car that much easier when you don't HAVE to drive it everyday. I'm not sure what your job is but I'm going to guess you'll have a fair share of free time to enjoy a car like the FD. Just try to learn as much and do as much work as possible yourself cause this car can get pretty expensive to fix even if you do it yourself. But if you do it yourself you'll save a lot of money and it's fun to learn your car anyway. Good Luck and don't worry about BMT, only 6 weeks and done, Jerry

 

I've been in the Air Force for just over 8 years, depending on what job you have you should have all kinds of time to maintain your 7, most jobs do. I was also in Japan for 3 years, Okinawa to be exact, but I never really checked on 7's there. I bought an FC when I first got there but it had been used for drifting and was all banged up, and it turned out to be a bad starter for a project so while I was in the desert my buddies blew it up on the beach. I was bummed, not cause they blew it up but because I didn't get to see and it was my car. Don't get me wrong, I love 7's, but it was crap and I've never seen a car blow up in person. If you're going to Japan, just DO NOT GET A HONDA while you're there, you'll get laughed at. The illegal street racing and drifting is so much better than I've seen here, and they take big *** cars like luxury type cars like the Toyota Mark 8, Toyota Soarer (Lexus SC400) and stuff like that and make them way faster than Civics and Integras here. Military life in the AF, like I said depending on the job, is so easy. I'm in Aerospace Ground Equipment, working on the ground support stuff for the aircraft, and it's pretty easy. Do you know what job you're going into? When you get to choose your base in basic, try to get to Nellis in Vegas, it's a sweet assignment, I'm still trying to get back there. Tell you what, while you're in Basic I can look out for your 7, HAHA. Actually, I am looking for one if you have any leads. Sorry this post was so long.

 

No **** man, I was just over there too, left there in Nov of 03. What's your job?

 

I recently cross-trained from the intelligence field (1N3X1) over to comm (3C0X1). I spent my upfront chunk of my re-enlistment bonus ($20,000) on my FD. Although right now I'm stationed at Cannon AFB, NM, and the FD has been at a body shop in San Antonio for the last 9 months. I'm taking leave the first week of September to go pick it up. They didn't even finish the job, so I have to take it to another body shop here in Clovis, NM. Then it's time to save up for the engine rebuild. $,$,$.

 

how do you like comm? i am about to try to cross train outta sheetmetal and i need a cool job.

 

Thanks for the input guys. My job is gonna be special vehicle maintenance. From what I've been told, its working on Fueling vehicles and fire trucks. Does anyone have more info on my MOS? I really wanna get stationed in Japan or Korea. Was stationed at Taegu when my dad was in the army. My mom is Korean, so we all really liked it there. Can anyone recommend a base in Japan? Not 2 worried about basic, am a bit nervous, but people I know in the army and marines tell me I'll have "fun", not like basic for them. Haha.

 

Its AFSC in the Air Force not MOS. 2A671B here.

 

1N131 here....

at tech school right now... going to be away from the fd for a while

 

O-1 AF here and I'm stretched fairly tight with my 95. Definately get a beater first.

 

I am at Barksdale AFB. My AFSC is 2T351. General and Special Vehicle Maintenance. I wouldnt advise buying an FD unless you had a nice chunk of change before you joined the AF. I got a 300zx dirt cheap in Guam and rode that until I put on SRA (E-4). By that time I had plenty of money to get my FD cash. It is alot easier to save up money overseas. Plus you will learn enough your first year to do everything on your rx7 except engine rebuild and Power FC tune, so you'll just have to pay for your parts.

 

Hey angry, could ya kinda give me a quick description of your ASFC. Just kinda curious how a day in your life is like, seeing I'll be doing the same. Please say your happy....

 

that's pretty kick ***...what's your job and how long have you been in?
sorry about going off in a tangent.

 

2E632, cable communications and antenna systems. E-4 SrA. My tech school and BMT was a total of 8 months and so days, left my FD back home for the whole time. My mom would drive it ever now and then and start ever now and then, got home and everything is just the way I left it. I'm guard though too lol. I was in Sheppard and Keesler for tech school what about everyone else?

 

im an A1C (E-3) and have been in for a little bit over a year. im a 2m032 missile maintenance and got stuck in the middle of nowhere with my fd, not fun when it breaks down in montana... i have no problem paying for it but then again im married and my wife is back home going to college. so i got a roomate and im banking a good chunk of money every month. when i was in the dorms i could make my payments fine even though i pay 316 and 258 on inssurance. just have to budget really good and get ready for lots of chow hall food. basic training tips... dont volunteer, dont be dorm cheif, dont be latrine queen, try to be day room crew, and the most important trick... live out ouf your laundry bag an leave ur good folds in the drawer... have fun!

my basic and tech school was a bout 6months all together and i went to vandenberg afb in california

 

im pretty sure ur afsc is 2t3x1,2,3 ... when i was in the vehicles sections of my squadron we had to take lots of fords and chevys to you guys and from what i saw, i was the first one to ask what was their afsc... it looks tight in there... lots of tools and fun stuff goin on... ull be doin stupid maintenance sometimes like fixing a window or a door that wont open, un like my job i get to sit all day and sweep and mop for 20 minutes. its booring but i bet ull have a better time than me.