Agent00JP-
I can give some help here...
1. They will pay for you to move from P'cola to CC. It is really confusing to explain- let's just say- I would talk to the housing office to get the whole truth. I have still yet to completely understand it- but I can tell you from our experience- which just occured in August.
2. My husband did not have his orders in his hand until the last day of API!! Talk about short notice planning...
. However- he was given a notice that he would most likely come to CC. Then- the last moment Lt. SoandSo wanted him to go to Moody- but since we were married and I had already started making arrangements here- they let him come here. What I'm trying to say is that even though they may 'tell' you where you're going, nothing is 100% sure until you have the printed black and whites in your hands. I have known people that were told something- planned for it, and got their orders for somewhere COMPLETELY different.
3. I can tell you- you will only get DLA if you are married. As far as DITY moves- we did that- it was HORRIBLE! I can tell you detail: we had a truck with company A- then the truck came and company A couldn't give us the truck because the people that had it before us- never unloaded it before turining it in. Nice, huh? We show up at 8am and ready to go (this was the day before he was to 'graduate' from API and start heading here) and find out that the people that had our truck before had an emergency- and had to be put into the hospital. SO....we were truck-less. In a Navy town that has everyone- or a lot of people moving on the weekends- this was not good. We went around and called EVERY moving place in P'cola and finally found a U-Haul at the NEX. Problem there was- the only truck they had was a stick shift- and wouldn't turn on! Luckily- 6 hours later- we find out that another truck that was supposed to go out of that same U-Haul facility had been cancelled- therefore about 6-8 hours AFTER we were going to be loading we finally got a truck. My point to all of this- is go ahead and reserve a truck for where you honestly think or have been told you'll be going. Most likely if you volunteered for here-you'll be coming. Unless like scenario above that things change at the last moment without notice. Another thing I recommend is that you have another truck company in your mind lined up. If you go ahead and reserve a truck for CC and end up going to Moody- or Whiting- well at least you have one. If you wait too long- they will be all gone. Of course this was in end of July/August when we were doing this- and that is prime moving time. But- better be safe than sorry. As far as the $$ for moving- unfortunately you have to pay for that yourself. We had to use a credit card for that-
which wasn't great- but we actually made money on the move. More about that later.
4. We never looked for base housing here- we had always wanted to live out in town. Most do. I can give you great info on the good and bad parts to live. Base housing ranges from really old and being torn down- to brand new. The brand new are already being taken up by the people that lived in the torn down or really old. Honestly, I think living out in town is best- the base housing didn't do a darn thing for us when we saw it. Not great unless you're in the new. That is our 2 cents though. Check out another post in this forum- I have listed a lot of apartment locaters- and can give actual numbers for a locating service. It is free- and that is how we found our place. Rental homes are scarce- and apartments are hard to find sometimes as well. But start looking soon!!
5. As far as leave for the holidays- we haven't crossed that bridge yet ourselves. Wish I could help. You don't get house-hunting leave for this. It sucks majorly- but we had orders on Friday (last day of API) and had to be here by 11:59PM on Monday. That was all the notice we got. Another reason we really pushed to come here to CC- we didn't want to rearrange all of this for Moody.
Other tips-
* The sooner you find somewhere to live the better. The worse case scenario is that you lose your deposit. Better than losing a place to live! Most likely- they will work with you. Again, another reason to work with an apartment locater company. I can give you the info for the one we used. We spent 5 days in a hotel trying to find a place to live- and called this place in the AM of one of the days- and had a place by 3pm that day. They are GREAT!
* Save up for the move- you don't get paid for it until well after. We didn't get our travel $$ until about 6 weeks or more after we had been here (we moved here 8/1) and didn't get our move money until late last week!!! So, make sure you allow for the money- it cost us at least $2000 out of pocket. Not cheap. Another thing I can't stress enough
Keep ALL of your receipts!!! They are your ticket to getting properly being reimbursed. Before you submit them- make sure you make photo copies just in case you get into the he said/she said thing. That can happen.
* If you're alone- I'd find some people in your class that want roommates. Most of the single guys we know live with eachother or other guys here. People are usually always looking for roommates- and it is very common here to do that. If you have a wife/family- then start looking now! For dependents BAH here is $999. Of course- I am not sure if that depends on rank/time- but my husband is an O1E with 6 years- and actually will have 8 as of December. So, not sure if BAH is by rank- I don't think so.
I could probably write a book on this subject- just because of our crazy experience. But it was one of those what could go wrong did- and that made it worse. Don't forget that hotels, gas, food, anything that has to do with this move- and U-Haul or moving supplies- everything can be reimbursed. Tell people you are moving because of the Navy- and most places give you discounts. That was one nice thing we noticed. Also, make mention of it when you're looking for a place to live- some places even had a free deposit! If you need anything else email or PM me. I can help somehow! Good luck- and I hope your move is much better than ours!
Heather
