Circa 1985: Stationed at Foot of 32nd St Naval Station, San Diego, CA. An officer aboard my ship had his own private coach as his residence. Base had to find a siding for him to park it on Base, make sure the tracks to that siding were in good condition so coach could be moved there without possibility of derailment (some had not been used since Vietnam War, or before), erect signs, paint parking spaces for vehicles, fence the area since it was now "housing" despite being in an industrial area of the Base, .... I transfered before he did but I think he was there for about 3 years. If I remember correctly, he transferred from Great Lakes, so Navy had to arrange the movement of his home along rail lines from there to San Diego. I transferred to another ship at 32nd St in 1991 and his coach was no longer there, but some remnants of the "housing" site were: fence and signs and parking spaces, which I really wanted to use but was afraid I'd be towed.

My USAF career Father liked mobile homes better than military housing and in the 1960s he made the Air Force move our "house" from base-to-base. It was actually easier than at typical move: everything stayed inside the mobile home, albeit boxed and on the floor, and when it arrived, after a brief inspection to insure no damage during movement, we moved in again and put everything back in place. They had to find us a lot and every time it was pretty nice. Parents used to wonder why more military families didn't opt for what we chose? Every couple of years, Parents up-graded to a larger home (sold the old one and bought a new one). Parents even got a "referral fee" if a family at the Base bought a mobile home, so they had "quiet" display and inspect parties to subtly sell. If they heard someone who had been at a party was buying a mobile home, they asked them to say they'd seen ours, but never mentioned they would receive a fee.

Like a railroad coach, our homes were filled with built-ins. To this day, I like (but do not live in) mobile (now modular) homes.  The only thing I hate is that seldom can modular home owners own the land under their homes: they often have to rent because many communities do not allow placement of modular homes on private lots within city limits, which is stupid. I have a letter I send monthly to representatives (different levels of government) advocating allowing modular homes be allowed to be placed on older lots, fill-in-lots, etc.  Which is worse: an empty lot with debris or an owner-occupied lot?