Completely new to military life

[silica1998]

Hello! My husband leaves for OCS next month (Naval Aviator). I’ll be at home with my 5 month old. I was just wanting to know if anyone has ever received BAH while your spouse is in OCS? I’m worried about keeping the bills paid while he’s gone.
I also was wondering if the military “moves” us to Pensacola whenever he reports there for the first phase of training? Or do we have to move ourselves (meaning we pay to move our things there)
Thank you for any information!

 

[Duc'-guy25]

Welcome! Your husband should be receiving E-5 pay and corresponding BAH as long as he list you and your children as a dependents. However, paperwork tends to get messed up every once in awhile and require corrections at the beginning, so have a plan for not receiving the appropriate amount for a few weeks. He should scrutinize his first pay stub to make sure he is getting the right amount.

The DoD will move your family from his home of record to his first duty station on Permanent Change of Station (PCS) orders. Every time he receives PCS orders, he is entitled to the military moving him and your family (as long as it’s not an overseas unaccompanied tour). Two ways are a self move (comes with reimbursement and usually you can make a little money off of it), or have the military contract a moving company to do everything for you.

I suspect his recruiter should have sent him an OCS packet or similar with more info, if not, I’m very certain it can be found via google or he needs to reach out.

Military OneSource has some good info on moves of well.

Best of luck!

 

[IRfly]

Good info above, would just add that sometime around or past the half-point of OCS, once there's a high likelihood that his graduation date is known, he and his class will fill out all of the required paperwork for the PCS move to Pensacola.

Also, in case it hasn't come up, please be aware that his planned graduation date going in might not be his actual graduation date. Some percentage of candidates (maybe 10-20%?) "roll" into a late class, usually due to injury, so he might end up at OCS 3-6 weeks longer than originally anticipated.

It's been a while for me, so someone else can chime in with more current info if required

 

[villanelle]

While he will get BAH, sometimes it can take a while for pay to get set up correctly. It sounds like you don't have much time, but beef up the savings as much as you can. He will get back pay eventually, but that can take time.

And yes, they will pay to move the family possessions from his home of record (where he lived when he joined, basically) to his duty station. Military moves can be... challenging. I highly recommend joining this facebook group and reading all you can about the process. (Please don't be one of the may jackholes that says, "Hi, we are moving. What do I need to do that?" The info is there; search and read. Then, if you have specific questions, ask them. To get you started, there are 2 types of military moves--military-procured or PPM (personally procured move, which you will also see called by it's old name, "DITY"). In the former, a crew selected by the miltary shows up, packs, loads, drives, and unloads you. In the latter, you are given an incentive payment based on the weight you move (you provide weight tickets) and a few other factors. That's a set amount. It is NOT a reimbursement. If your incentive is $10,000 and you spend $3000, you get $10,000. If your incentive is $10,000 and you spend $12,000, you get $10,000.

For someone new, and especially because you spouse may not be there are may only be home on leave for a short time, I'd recommend a military-procured move as it's less paperwork you have to figure out. But you have to stay on top of them, watch them carefully, read everything carefully before signing, speak up if you feel they aren't packing something properly, and generally stand up for yourself. So movers are amazing. Others are... not. The more you know, the better you can advocate for youself.

 

[MIDNJAC]

We always did military procured. I think because we hated the task of moving and are lazy. They broke some stuff over the years, and the 8 PCS moves we participated in......but I'd probably do it the same all over again. We didn't have really nice stuff, so it didn't really matter. If you have fancy things, some time, and a lot of personal initiative, a DITY is probably worthwhile for some. I'd say most of my moves, save my final one, were pretty short notice. I mean I knew I'd be moving soon, but the date was often a moving target until it was suddenly 30 days away, and I'd be working (or in a couple instances, deployed) right up until that date. Mileage may vary of course

 

[Flash]

I highly recommend joining this facebook group and reading all you can about the process. (Please don't be one of the may jackholes that says, "Hi, we are moving. What do I need to do that?" The info is there; search and read.

Did you mean to include a link or am I missing something?

 

[taxi1]

a crew selected by the miltary

A truck driver and a bunch of sketchy dudes selected from a group hanging out on a street corner, was my experience back in the day.

 

[WhiskeySierra6]

We always did military procured. I think because we hated the task of moving and are lazy. They broke some stuff over the years, and the 8 PCS moves we participated in......but I'd probably do it the same all over again. We didn't have really nice stuff, so it didn't really matter. If you have fancy things, some time, and a lot of personal initiative, a DITY is probably worthwhile for some. I'd say most of my moves, save my final one, were pretty short notice. I mean I knew I'd be moving soon, but the date was often a moving target until it was suddenly 30 days away, and I'd be working (or in a couple instances, deployed) right up until that date. Mileage may vary of course

I went to the other end of the spectrum. Full PPM for every move. Admittedly, we homesteaded in Whidbey for 11 years so definitely non standard. We have traversed the width of the US twice (once during the height of COVID).

I always found being in control of every detail to be very beneficial. It allowed us to max flex several times when orders changed. I also was able to make money (sometimes significant amounts) on every move. You do have to out in the sweat equity though.

 

[gparks1989]

I found that PPM/DITY moves encouraged a healthy culling of unneeded personal belongings (aka lots of Goodwill trips). Fringe benefit of the do it yourself Uhaul method.

 

[taxi1]

I found that PPM/DITY moves encouraged a healthy culling of unneeded personal belongings

Amen

I could use a PCS to the other side of town and back.

 

[SteveHolt!!!]

The last thing I’ve wanted to do when moving is pack my pile of crap myself and deal with the paperwork. Government move all the way. Love having someone show up, pack it all for me, then unpack it when it arrives.

I’ve also managed to avoid any of the horror stories and had an easy time getting reimbursed for some broken items. Your mileage may vary.

Also I have unopened boxes with five move
Inventory stickers in them. The advice about ppm culling may have value.

 

[WhiskeySierra6]

The last thing I’ve wanted to do when moving is pack my pile of crap myself and deal with the paperwork. Government move all the way. Love having someone show up, pack it all for me, then unpack it when it arrives.

I’ve also managed to avoid any of the horror stories and had an easy time getting reimbursed for some broken items. Your mileage may vary.

Also I have unopened boxes with five move
Inventory stickers in them. The advice about ppm culling may have value.

Totally understand the bennies of a Gov move. It's a HUGE spectrum though and those horror stories you mention aren't just outliers.

 

[robav8r]

A truck driver and a bunch of sketchy dudes selected from a group hanging out on a street corner, was my experience back in the day.

When I PCS’d from Whidbey Island to Jacksonville, one of the packers was wearing a G1 flight jacket. I asked him about it and he said he was a prior A-6 BN and then life “kinda went south for him.”

 

[villanelle]

For everyone, keep in mind that the government changed the way they award the move contacts. Signs point toward this summer being a shit-show. The overall contract went to the lowest bidder, of course, and the rates they are offering to the people who actually do the moves are very low. Many moving subcontractors have said they won't do moves at those rates. So during busy PCS season especially, there may be trouble on the horizon. So even if you've always done a mil-move, you might want (or need, if you are a tight timeline and there are no movers available) to consider a PPM.

 

[Uncle Fester]

I experienced the full spectrum of movers during my career, everything from no-complaints-at-all to jaw-dropping-shitshow. My favorite was leaving Norfolk and the packers up and quit in the middle of the process because they weren't willing to work past 6 PM. As in, just got in their van and fucked off, never to return, no conversation with us, nothing. Mind, they hadn't even showed up until early afternoon and then immediately took a lunch break. Then-Mrs Fester and I were sitting in our kitchen in the middle of piles of half-packed boxes and suddenly realized it'd gotten awfully quiet. It was one of those "pack one day, load and move day two" deals, and the truck was due at 0800 the next day. Spent a couple of hours having very animated phone calls with the company and PPO.