Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Home from AIT & doing HRAP

Well Pachenko graduated from AIT and is home for 10 days doing HRAP he was told at Ft Eustis that he couldn't have leave and that the only way he could swing coming home would be to do HRAP of course like 90% of everything he was told at Eustis it was WRONG...so now we know and I share this info with all new wives your husband needs to request leave..anyways it was nice having him home we did go spend one night in a jacuzzi suite I love getting away just the two of us I love my husband and the man he has become..I am still blazing my way through the command sponsorship process..I will definitely blog about the BS of CS..

Friday, April 9, 2010

A new adventure for our family

I am excited to say that the end of the first chapter of our initiation into Army life is coming to a close. My husband Pachenko will be graduating AIT on April 20th he is graduating honor grad we are very proud of him. I look back at when he first left for BCT time just flew by for us and I am grateful for how the time apart strengthened our marriage.

As that chapter ends we are now starting the PCS~ING process first off my husband received orders to Germany oh yes an overseas pcs~ing. Now for all you wonderful Army wives who have already done an overseas move you know what that entails the dreaded EFMP paper work, Command Sponsorship as well as nofee passports...SIGH...I am very excited and am grateful that we are going to have this experience what a wonderful learning adventure for our daughters as well as ourselves. I have of course already made a list of all the places I want to visit and explore you would be crazy to not take advantage of the opportunity of being in the center point of Europe. Life is a little chaotic and extremely busy we have EFMP physicals and Nofee passport appointments scheduled next week, then the following week Pachenko will be home for a short leave before he heads over to Germany and my poor calendar is covered in to do lists.
At first I was irritated that we would not be flying over at the same time as my husband the idea of my first time flying as well as my daughters first time flying being me in a plane with 5 kids by myself for a 14 hour flight was enough to make me think hmmm stateside would of been better. However it's just not in my personality to be negative so out went those thoughts and in came the reality of the situation there is too much to do to just up and move in 30 days or less. We have a life here in Montana, a house we rent, children in school it wouldn't be impossible to just pick up and leave but I am sorta relieved that I don't have to stress and rush to get things done. Even though I am counting the days until I can wake up on a daily basis next to my husband the organized, list making addicted planner that I am is taking advantage of the delayed travel process and getting as much done as I can to make our PCS as smooth and un-stressful as it can possibly be.
I would love to hear about your ladies experiences with a first PCS to overseas as well as any tips you might like to pass on and of course I am always up for making new friends in my soon to be new home...

Auf Wiedersehen Damen

No Army Wife Left in the dark...

Well my husband and I are PCS~ing to Katterbach Kaserne according to my husbands orders...PCS-ing overseas is a process all onto itself :D The minute my husband got his AKO orders I was into research mode of course leave it to my luck to end up getting the most with the least lol yes mostly what information I managed to find on the actually Army post is out dated..As I browse social networking sites I have the same problem I am starting to fear that we are headed to a ghost town...Where in the world are all the Army wives representing this area??? Well all I have to say is I am on it I have decided to make it my mission to saturate the internet world with all the 411 any soon to be PCS-ing wife will want to know about my soon to be home..

There are some things that I can already share that I have managed to find out..

1. Obviously you need Command Sponsorship for your family to PCS overseas on the Armys Dime..They are not moving your family over there without CS approval and a new set of cut orders with your families name on them.

2. Yes you have to do the EFMP physicals to even apply for Command Sponsorship

3. Without CS approval and new orders your soldier CAN NOT get on the housing list or schedule your HHG move unless he wants to schedule your HHG move as a single soldier no dependents..

4. You need the new orders with you and your family members listed on them before you can apply for Nofee passports

 5. NoFee passports are a must have to even get transportation to schedule your flights over and they usually take 8 weeks to process and they can not be expedited however you might get lucky and they might show up early..

6. OHA overseas housing allowance is paid in the exact amount of your rent (so you will not be pocketing money)

7. Pretty much what I have heard is that you have to live in on post housing or off post military housing unless there is NONE available..

8. To drive your POV in Germany you have to get a German Drivers license written and driving test required I heard the license is like $20. however you have to have a valid stateside license to get it for $20 if not then you have to get a German license at full price which is $1,500 yes you read that right...

I will add more as I learn more and you can follow along on my personal blog or FB page..if you have any info I'd love to hear it..