I think it depends on the base and the branch (I was in the Navy). I know in Virginia we regularly took cabs to the parking lot, but we had to show our IDs at the gate. In South Carolina we had cabs take us to the road right next to the base and it was maybe a hundred yards of open space from there to my room. In New York you could get right to the parking lot. However, in Connecticut no cars got past the gate with a civilian inside.

However, that’s been two decades and one of those was a training base. I’ll admit I could be way the hell off these days.