New to brewing and a little overwhelmed

Hey guys,
I am currently deployed for the U.S. Navy and to kill time out here I decided to start looking in to homebrewing. I have brewed my own wine before but I am much more of a beer enthusiast. Lurking around on this site has me very interested in getting started. I will do the basic kits at first but will probably want to jump in to all grain asap. That being said I bought the "How to Brew" book and have been looking at all the various setups on HBT. I have the blessing of SWMBO to pursue this and I was thinking of building a Brutus like system slowly but surely. The question I have is are there any brewers local to the San Diego area that have an all grain setup and would be willing to share their knowledge on a brew day? I have a general idea of what to do, however reading is one thing but actively learning is more my style. I would be willing to help out and be the gopher or beer ***** lol. Thanks for taking the time to read this!

Welcome aboard!

I'm using kits to establish my own learning curve.
More about the process and getting that part down before
attempting more complicated recipes.
I'd recommend getting a kit and getting going, then enjoy those as you move forward.

The hardest part is waiting for that first batch to be ready.
I took 6 weeks.
1 in the fermenter, another for clarification, then three in the bottles.
That's a long time but it is worth it.
Now I have 150 bottles worth in the pipeline and about to brew another.
And buying kits that are a bit more complex (IPA) and full boil.

I think I will be AG in just a couple more batches.

Just do it!

First, thank you for your service. My advice- learn to brew extract first, very easy brewing, focus on mastering sanitation, yeast starters, oxygen injection, temperature controlled fermentations. A GREAT extract brewer that knows how to ferment / bottle condition in a controlled way will make exceptional beer. These should be your spending priorities. Then, move to all grain, which gives you the freedome to literally brew any beer you could possibly want to. I am not convinced that the beer is all that much better than great extract brewing / fermenting, but it gives you great freedom, creativity, and capabilities.

Welcome to the addiction, the greatest pastime ever.