Questions for me and my hubby - ocs class 08Jan12 - Ty!

[MalorieK249]

My husband was supposed to ship to ocs in Sept, but now it he was told his class starts on Jan 8th. We were recently married (May) and we have a lot of questions. I was wondering if anyone here might be able to offer some answers. Thank you!

1. His brother is stationed in Groton, CT. I am going to stay with them while he is in OCS so I can be close for liberty days and we can travel to first duty station together. If he drives out, will the Navy pay since they don't have to buy a plane ticket?
2. How long is SWOS? He was told 20 weeks but isn't sure if that includes the 12 weeks for OCS.
3. Once he completes his training and gets orders, will they pick up our personal belongings from a storage unit? Will they pick up from more than one location?
4. If his class convenes on 08Jan, when does he have to be there? Is there a report date? When should he expect orders?

I think those are all our quetions for now. Is it still awhile away but we are trying to plan as best we can. Thank you for your input.

 

[Lucy]

He should really be the one asking but here you go.
1. Yes, you get a travel allowance.
2. SWOS does not follow directly after OCS. Most likely he will go straight to his ship.
3. Your stuff will be moved, not sure about the 2 locations though.
4. Morning of, but better to be there a day or two early. Orders should arrive about two weeks out but that is just a should.
Good luck!

 

[eas7888]

Just to add to what Lucy is saying:

1. Yes, he will be allowed to drive, and he'll fill out a travel voucher shortly after arriving at OCS to get paid his mileage for driving.
2. SWOS does follow OCS. The Monday after he graduates, he will be in SWOS for 3 weeks, after which time, he will depart for his first duty station.
3. This one, I don't know about. . .My wife and I did a DITY (Do It Yourself) move. If your stuff is already packed in a storage unit, personally, I would go this route. You can make a few bucks off of moving yourself. My experience with moving companies is that they don't want to move things that are already packed (liability issue).
4. If He starts on the 8th of January, then he will likely need to be at OCS at least the day prior to OCS. I would suggest planning on getting there AT LEAST a day early, due to horrible weather at that time of year. As for orders. . .he will get those when he swears in to the Navy. That's part of being a "Final Select." He should be able to get that information from his recruiter.

I hope this helped! If you need any more questions answered, feel free to shoot me a line. If you have questions about the spousal side of things, I can refer you to my wife as well. Best of luck to you guys!

 

[millsra13]

3. There is a way to get your stuff moved from two locations, I did it when I first joined. They moved my stuff from "C" school (TAD) to my final duty station as part of a PCS move and then moved my wife and my belongings from home under a "home of record" move. This was 6 years ago, but I'm sure they still have the same thing. The home of record move is only a one time deal though and it had to be from my home of record on my page 2, so make sure he puts that location on his page 2.

 

[Lucy]

Ref 2- I was under the understanding baby SWOS had been done away with again, but maybe not?
And as further clarification, the 3 weeks after OCS is not the "real" SWOS, but rather an intro course. Your husband will go to real SWOS (I think it is 6 or 8 weeks) sometime between the 6-15 month mark on average.

 

[wlawr005]

3. You are able to move stuff from two locations. You will have to wait to receive your husbands new PCS orders (after completing OCS), and then you can set up your move online via www.move.mil

As a rule of thumb, there is about 3 pages of fine print at the bottom of your husbands orders that no one ever likes to read. When you receive them, take a look there and you will find answers to questions regarding medical benefits, housing, PCS moves, and additional instructions specific to your husband.

 

[Flying Low]

My last move included 2 pickup locations. One was my house and the other was a storage unit. However they would not move anything that was already packed so they actually unpacked everything in the unit and repacked it. You can also do a partial DITY move. This puts a little bit of money in your pocket but allows the movers to do most of the work. A partial DITY is when you move stuff you want to travel with. Basiclly things you did not want the movers to pack/move i.e. cloths, uniforms, photo albums, etc. Just weigh your vehicle empty (or trailer) and then weigh it with all your stuff inside. When you submit your travel claim you will turn in the receipts. I don't remember how much you get but it is based on weight. One you get PCS orders you should also be able to get DLA. This is quite a bit of money (around $2000 for an O-1). Not sure if you get it on your first PCS but it is something you should ask about.

 

[jtmedli]

3. Once he completes his training and gets orders, will they pick up our personal belongings from a storage unit? Will they pick up from more than one location?

This get's tricky. Seems like I remember the answer being 'no'. You're better off using the move to get the majority of your belongings from whatever place has the majority of it and then the rest of your stuff will be your responsibility from the 2nd place.

 

[ltedge46]

The movers will pick up from two locations. I've done it twice. Highly recommend you check out www.move.mil, you'll get answers to most of your move questions there. This document, http://www.transcom.mil/dtr/part-iv/dtr_part_iv_app_k_1.pdf, is a great place to start and has answers to most of your basic questions. Like everyone else has mentioned, full or partial DITY move will usually result in you making some money as the gov't will reimburse you for what it would have cost them to move it, but you can usually do it for cheaper.

Also, depending on the movers, some will re-pack stuff that's already packed and some will just leave it and mark it as "packed by owners" or something similar. That takes away thier liability for those items. If you want them to check it/re-pack it, then you should specify that at the pre-move walkthrough.

Good luck.