Buying duplex or single family home before moving for job

[Phillip Mosley]

So I have been living in Atlanta for six years and recently was selected to be an air traffic controller. I am currently working at another federal agency while going thru the background check process which should be completed around April or May 2018. At that time I will have to relocate from Atlanta to Oklahoma City for three months for the academy and then relocate from there to another city that is unknown until after I pass the academy. I've been following BiggerPockets for two years and really want to take action now to purchase a buy and hold property in Atlanta to get experience with real estate investing, but when I've told family and friends about this they quickly tell me it's not a great idea because I'm going to have a long distance real estate investment. So I thought why not ask BiggerPocket members and followers what do they think?