No base housing option? My wife is an Air Force brat and she grew up in base housing. And it allowed her dad to save for 20+ years for a house. He retired and moved to a small town in Texas where the cost of living is low. Even today, the 3 bedroom, 2 bath 1,500 square foot house he bought is only worth $110,000 according to Zillow.
My daughter's payment with insurance and taxes is just under $1,000 a month. She bought half a duplex in a neighborhood with dozens of identical duplexes that rent for $2,000 a month. She qualified for a 5% down mortgage so her down payment was $12,500 so basically after the first year in the house she was money ahead owning instead of renting. But rents are nuts here.