The March ARB guide

• Fly into Ontario International (ONT), about 24 miles and 30 minutes away via CA-60 east to I-215 south; take the Cactus Avenue exit and follow Cactus east to the Main Gate. LAX is 75-plus miles and can easily take two hours in traffic, so only use it if the fare difference is dramatic. You need a rental car here; there is no practical way to do this TDY without one.
• The Main Gate on Cactus Avenue is the 24-hour gate and the visitor entrance. The Riverside Gate and Meyer Gate have been listed as 0600-1600 daily, but Reserve bases adjust gate schedules around UTAs and staffing, so confirm current hours with 452nd Security Forces or the base's official site before you plan on a side gate.
• The Visitor Control Center is in Building 2370 on Graeber Street just inside the Main Gate, reachable at 951-655-3790. Published hours are Monday through Friday and UTA Saturdays, 0700-1600; bring a REAL ID-compliant driver's license, registration, and proof of insurance, and have your sponsor or orders ready if you do not hold a CAC.
• I-215 backs up hard in both directions during the weekday commute, and on UTA weekends the Cactus Avenue gate line can stretch for a while on Saturday morning. Give yourself 15 extra minutes on drill weekends, and watch base social media in the fall when Santa Ana winds and wildfire closures can affect the 60 and the 215.

• No on-base schools and no base housing, so school choice follows where you rent or buy. The base itself sits in the Val Verde Unified School District, and most Moreno Valley addresses fall into either Val Verde USD or Moreno Valley USD.
• Riverside Unified serves the city of Riverside, Perris Union High and Perris Elementary cover Perris, and Menifee Union and Temecula Valley Unified serve the communities farther south; check each district's boundary tool with your exact address before signing a lease.
• School liaison support runs through the Military & Family Readiness Center at 951-655-5350; ask for the School Liaison when you call, and expect newcomer orientation to be folded into the UTA Saturday newcomers briefing.
• There is a Child Development Center on base and the FSS advertises free child care programs for eligible reservists; for full-time care, register early on MilitaryChildCare.com because Inland Empire waitlists are long, and many families use off-base providers in Moreno Valley and Riverside.

• March ARB has no military treatment facility for routine care. The 452nd Medical Squadron and the aeromedical evacuation squadron support deployment readiness and flight medicine for assigned members, not family or sick-call care, so TDY members and families use TRICARE network providers in town.
• For emergencies, Riverside University Health System Medical Center in Moreno Valley (951-486-4000) is about 10 minutes from the gate and is the region's Level I trauma center; Kaiser Permanente Riverside and Loma Linda University Medical Center are other major hospitals within 30 minutes.
• TRICARE West Region, administered by TriWest Healthcare Alliance; customer service 1-844-866-9378, tricare.triwest.com.

Commissary

15150 6th Street, 951-419-6950; open seven days, roughly 0900-1830 weekdays with a late night Thursday and 0800 opening Saturday, confirm on commissaries.com

Exchange

The March ARB BX closed permanently on August 31, 2024; shop online at ShopMyExchange.com or use the big-box retail on Day Street in Moreno Valley

Fitness

Fitness Center at 1980 DeKay Avenue, 951-655-2284; Monday-Friday 0500-1900, UTA weekends 0500-1300, with 24-hour after-hours access for CAC holders

Dining

Hap Arnold Club with Back Street Grill, Sally's Alley, and Ace's Sports Bar; no full-time DFAC, so plan on cooking or eating in Moreno Valley midweek

MWR

Outdoor Recreation with equipment checkout, FamCamp and RV storage, ITT for Disneyland and SoCal attraction tickets, all through the 452nd FSS

Newcomers

Military & Family Readiness Center, 1261 Graeber Street, Bldg 2313, 951-655-5350; the newcomers briefing is held on UTA Saturday

1. 01Book the March Inn or your crashpad around the UTA calendar. The Inn is usually wide open Sunday through Thursday and packed on drill weekends, so if your orders straddle a UTA, lock in lodging the day you get them.
2. 02Watch the per diem season. Riverside County drops from $186 to $141 a night on June 1, so a TDY that starts in May and runs into summer needs to be priced against the lower rate for the later nights.
3. 03There is no BX. The March exchange closed in August 2024, so pack anything you would normally grab at the shoppette and use the commissary, ShopMyExchange.com, or the Target and Costco along Day Street and Eucalyptus Avenue in Moreno Valley.
4. 04Plan meals. There is no full-time dining facility; the Hap Arnold Club and its grill cover lunch on duty days, and a crashpad kitchen pays for itself fast on a 30-day tour.
5. 05Heat is the real hazard. Late-summer afternoons hit 100-plus regularly, and the base sits in one of the worst air-quality basins in the country when fires burn. Run or hike early, hydrate on the flightline, and check air quality before outdoor PT.
6. 06Santa Ana season runs October through December. Downed lines, freeway closures, and smoke on the 60 and 215 are normal, and base social media is the fastest source for gate changes.
7. 07Do not underestimate the 215. A 15-mile drive from Menifee can take 45 minutes at 0700, and Temecula commuters routinely budget an hour or more each way. Test-drive the commute before signing a lease south of Perris.
8. 08Register for childcare and school records early. With no base housing and no on-base schools, you are competing with the general Inland Empire population; MilitaryChildCare.com and each district's transfer window matter more here than at an active-duty base.

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