Millington is the town NSA Mid-South sits in — so if you want the shortest possible commute and the lowest cost, this is it. It's a small-town Navy community with a walkable core, annual festivals, and the unbeatable "roll out of bed and you're at work" drive. On-base housing is zoned to Millington Municipal Schools.
What it's actually like, day one
Millington is the affordable, convenient option: older, established homes and a lower price point than the newer eastern suburbs. The base is minutes away from anywhere in town. It's a genuine small town, not a big-suburb bedroom community — which is exactly the appeal for a lot of families, and a drawback for others.
The tradeoff
You trade the newest construction and big-suburb retail/school-system for proximity, price, and pace. If schools or new neighborhoods are the priority, families look east (Bartlett, Arlington, Lakeland) or south (Germantown, Collierville) — at the cost of a longer daily drive. Also plan for the Mid-South climate: hot, humid summers and a real severe-storm season.
Verify before you sign
Pull the Millington Municipal feeder school + its current GreatSchools rating for the address, run your BAH against local rent at /tools/bah, and drive your commute at your report time (it's short here either way).
Neighborhoods
Beyond Millington proper, families who want a bit more space head north up US-51 into Tipton County — Munford (~11 mi) and Atoka (~12 mi) are small towns served by Tipton County Schools, still a short commute to base. All keep the "short drive, lower cost" theme.