Any information on getting married in Goose Creek?

[tylerslynne]

Hey everyone! I'm pretty new to the site and I'm starting to get exhausted trying to find any kind of information by weeding through allllllll of these forums!

My sailor is stressed out beyond belief, so I told him I would ask around on here for some information to take a little pressure off of him.
For those who have been through this before and know what your man went through, what steps should he take in order to be allowed to marry me? Some discussions are saying we can just go to a courthouse while others say he needs to get his orders changed? ( I really have no idea what any of this means! Please, ladies!! I need all the help trying to understand this as I can get!)

I've already looked into the local "courthouses" and Berkeley County seems like the route we should take? This is the first marriage for both of us and we're both California natives. So, needless to say, the cross country move would be easier the more we both know.

We've both looked around at our housing options, and have decided that, if possible, we'd like to live in on base housing. How do we apply for this? Can we apply before we're married?

Please, girls, I'm so overwhelmed with all of this, but I'd like to find out what I can to make it easier on my sailor. He's still in phase one but has yet to start classes

[Anti M]

Welcome.  I know this has been gone over a lot.  So he's at Goose Creek?  Is he in indoc or has he started A school?  The school has all the information, he just has to ask for it.  In fact, he's supposed to let them know he is marrying, and go through the process on his end too.  I worry that he seems to know so little when there are so many resources and a process in place.  Has he talked to his COC yet?  He should.  Or did they tell him to wait?  

No, his orders do not "get changed".  He is already there and that's the extent of his orders at this time.  His dependency status will change is all.   His next set of orders will be the ones you are on.

You can't apply for base housing until you are married and he has you listed as a dependent.  The good news is housing seems to be available there.  They will also tell him how to do this.

I searched for the most active nuke group, better to have their first hand input.  When I got into that group, I went into the discussions, and there is s search box right above them on the left.  I put in marriage and got all sorts of results.

http://www.navyformoms.com/group/nukeschoolcharleston

Best of luck, and do let me know if that was helpful at all.

[tylerslynne]

Yes, he's in Goose Creek and still in indoc.. He said that he was told he wasn't allowed to get married until he was past phase one, but that doesn't make sense to me. Maybe he's talking to the wrong people? I'm sure he's not as in the dark as I make him out to be, I just feel so bad using up our limited phone time to nag him about this.

Thank you so much! This has been a really rough time for us, I appreciate all of the support on this site. I'll check out the other group you listed.

[Emily-aaronsgirl11]

Alright. First off, if he's in Indoc, he is Phase 1. And he can get married whenever... I talked to a girl who flew down and they get married a few days after he arrived in Goose Creek. 

Seriously have him talk to his Chief. He'll be able to tell him exactly what he needs to do and in what order it needs to be done. They may require him to take a class before he'll have "permission" to go get married. And every Chief Aaron ever had down there was extremely helpful when it came to personal matters. They really do care about the guys and they're there to help. I've even seen guys get special permission while in Phase 1 (and Indoc) to go off base during the week (usually not allowed until Phase 2) and get off work a little early so they could make it to the courthouse in time. 

It is possible. He definitely needs to talk to his Chief though to get the ball rolling.

[tylerslynne]

Thank you so much, Emily. This is all so new to me, even when he tries to explain what's going on, I'm still lost.
From what he's said, they are heavily discouraging him from getting married before he begins school and gets settled into his routine. I'm just finding it hard not knowing when. Thanks for all of the information ladies, it's really helped but me at ease with a little more knowledge.

Is there a certain.. "waiting period?" before he could get permission to leave early? I guess what I mean is it a daily question to get permission to leave early or should he apply(?) a couple weeks in advance? It'll be an expensive cross-country trip for me to jet over there and I'd rather know its going to happen! Like.. Is a few weeks in advance too early to ask?

I feel so obnoxious asking so many questions! I'm so grateful for everyone's patience on here.

[Emily-aaronsgirl11]

I could definitely see them discouraging him from marrying before he starts class. But first, they can't stop him from getting married. So if it's what you two really want and you're willing to make it work then it can be done. Second, (in my own personal opinion) if you're trying to decide getting married before A school vs. during A school, I'd say before. But if it's during vs. after, I'd say after. Not saying that during can't be done, they just have a lot on their plate during those few months. Especially if he's an MM. If he's an EM or ET their first few months are easier than the last few because they have time before they have to get their qualifications done. But MMs only have 3 months so they're pretty busy getting their watch qualifications done right away. 

Getting permission to leave class early doesn't happen a lot. If he happens to have a study hall at the end of the day they sometimes let the guys leave early for stuff like paperwork that can only be done during certain hours. (Ex. things like the ID office and the housing office mostly close at 4 and they don't officially get out of class until 4, sometimes later).  *Most* Friday's they get out early especially towards the end of A school as I remember. 

In my opinion, getting married during Indoc would be easier than getting married during A school. Unless the courthouse does Saturday weddings/licenses (I don't know about the SC courthouses, I just know the don't do Saturdays in Ohio), he would have to rush from class to the courthouse or wait until he gets out of class early someday (best bet is Friday and he probably shouldn't ask to leave early unless it's a study hall and his stuff is done and his grades are good). In Indoc, they're usually done by 1 everyday (at least when Aaron did Indoc they were) and it would be a matter of asking for permission to leave base on a weekday to get married. 

As far as leaving base goes they go through 3 phases. 

Phase 1 they aren't allowed to leave the base on weekdays. Must be in uniform at all times. Allowed off base on weekends (starting Friday at 4 pm and ending Sunday at midnight). Curfew of midnight everynight. No alcohol. Can't drive a car. 

Phase 2. Allowed off base on weekdays in uniform. Must be in uniform at all times during the week. Allowed off base on weekends. Curfew of midnight every night. Alcohol if of age. Can drive and have a car on base. During this phase they can put in a chit to stay off base on weekends if family/friends are in town and their grades are good and there are no behavior problems. 

Phase 3. Only have to be in uniform for class/duty. Curfew of midnight on school nights. No curfew on weekends. 

Each phase lasts about 4 weeks once they start A school. They have to have good grades and pass a PT test to phase up. 

I hope this is helping and not just confusing you more. haha.

[meagan5220]

Going off what Anti M said even though my husband was in Pcola I am sure it holds the same across most of the schools. My husband kept getting told that he didnt have to do any paperwork. Then a week before we were going to get married his Chief found out he hadnt filled out the paperwork. He got pulled into his office and him and all the guys who told him not to fill out the paperwork (LPOs) got in trouble. We almost didnt get married because his chief was going to make it where he wouldnt get to leave to go to the courthouse and he was going to tell him no. And then when we were starting to get our move set up no one would help. So now I will tell him a list of questions and he comes up with some and he writes them down. and I tell him go find someone who is supposed to know this and do not leave their office until they call you. lol I tell him I dont want to hear from him until all my questions are answered. So far that has worked. He has done that in 3 different situations and that has finally got us what we want and the info. So tell him to go in and not leave until someone helps him. Getting married gets orders changed you dont have to do anything about it :) other than update his page 2.

[Emily-aaronsgirl11]

Tell him to talk to his Chief. And tell him to do this now. If he's in Indoc then he can learn all this before classes start and if he's already started classes then he can learn it before things get tough. 

I've known a lot of girls who got married down in Goose Creek and it didn't seem to be a big deal at all. 

You can't apply for base housing until you're married, but the "wait list" for housing down there is nonexistent. So right after you get married, he can fill out his page 2 and Deers and you can get your ID. I believe you have to be on page 2 before you can apply for housing. But from what I've seen you will have a house within a matter of days after you apply... possibly same day depending on when you apply.

Anti M knows a lot more about the marriage process than I do. But if you have any questions Goose Creek specific and what life down there is like and how the schooling goes, I'd be happy to answer those for you. :)

Oh, and if you need a place to stay until you get into your house on base, definitely check out the Villas. They're on base (right in the middle of housing) and are a great option. They're old houses and come with washer, dryer, linens, and a kitchen with basic dishes/silverware/pots/pans. We paid about 60 a night for a 2 bedroom and there's no taxes. I believe they do offer weekly rates if it would be that long term which I doubt it would be. 
8437642120 is the number for the ITT office which your fiance would have to book through. He could also go in person. The office is located in the same building as the uniform shop (right across the street from the Dive).