Help! Ensign moving for first time after commissioning ...

[J/J Mom]

Hi everyone!

Our son was Commissioned in May & has orders to report in November.

Most of his belongings are at our home.  He only has a small amount of his stuff at the apartment where he is living while being "stashed" by the Navy before he reports.

Did any of your Ensigns have their belongings packed up & moved by the Navy from YOUR home after they were commissioned?

Do you have any tips or suggestions for me to help this process ... for example, how to ensure they only pack his stuff & not any of ours; where & how (boxed, bagged, piled?) would it be best to "collect" his stuff for the packing process, etc ??  

Is it true that even if he packs some of the stuff (for instance, clothes that will be stored; hobbies stuff; tools in tool bags ) the Navy movers will unpack & re-pack it all??

Anything else i should know??

thanks for your assistance!!

peace & joy to you all

[chergui53]

Our son went through ODS 2 yrs ago and had to report immediately after ODS graduation.

Before reporting for ODS, all he did was go through all the things he wanted.  All of his belongings that he wanted to take to PCola, he put in his bedroom.  Extra furniture was segregated in the garage.  The movers came and packed all of his things, plastic wrapped all large, soft furniture like sofa and love seat.  Wood furniture was wrapped in those thick, quilted pieces of fabric.  The movers then packed all boxes and furniture in wooden sea crates and hammered them shut.  I went to PCola for the move-in and unpacking.  The van arrived at his patio house, they unloaded the sea crates, took the crow bars and opened them up, moved everything inside and unpacked boxes we wanted them to.

The sea crates are wonderful!!!  Virtually impossible to lose a cardboard box when it's hammered into a sea crate.  All of his belongings arrived safe and unbroken...nothing missing.

We had several contacts with the movers before they came.  They were very good about telling us what to do, how to prepare, and what to expect.

Hope this helps?

[td309]

My son had his things moved by the Navy in July.  He contacted someone on base who gave him a company name and phone number to contact.  It did seem to be true that though some of his belongings were already packed in a box, they did unpack it and re-do it themselves.  They said they were responsible for the contents of the box and couldn't be if they were unaware of what was in there.  The moral of the story seems to be what my son told me to begin with-gather up everything into a central location but nothing more. It will be fine if the furniture is in a different location as everything else; just be sure they know which things they are taking.   The company arrives with PLENTY of bubblewrap, tape and blankets to pack your items.  We even had a kayak and a unicycle that was wrapped that way and the items were not going overseas!  They told me they wrap the same for a 300 mile trip as they would for a 10,000 mile trip.  The process went very smoothly.  Also, the company will unwrap and place everything where instructed on the other end.  Good luck!

[J/J Mom]

Thanks for the info!

I had heard from someone that the movers are "mover crazy" and you gotta watch them like a hawk or they'll pack YOUR stuff along with the kids' stuff, etc.

Both these moves sound way more controlled & casual than that (can something be controlled AND casual? lol)

peace to you all  <>/p>

[Anna]

Jn/Jf Mom,

I will give you my experience on both of my sailor daughter's moves.  One enlisted, one officer.  My enlisted daughter had her stuff moved by the Navy from  her home of record, after she finished A school and got her first duty assignment to WA state.  We had her stuff all packed and stacked up in the apartment where I was living.  They came in and repacked most of the boxes into their boxes and off they went.  She did loose a couple items to damage but it wasn't too bad.  Officer daughter had her stuff packed and in a storage unit near her brother.  She met the Navy movers at the storage unit so she could let them know what was hers and what was ours.  They also repacked most of her stuff and she also lost some items to breakage.  Having his stuff gathered together would be a fantastic idea because the movers are usually in a hurry and won't go all over the place to pack things up.  The Navy subcontracts movers and they are not always the brightest bulbs in the package!!!!!

Hope this helps!!!!

[ChrisyDVM(Chris'sMom)]

My son was advised that it's cheaper to move yourself and that's what he did. He rented a U haul and pulled it with his truck packed to the brim and I drove my minivan packed full also from OH to Norfolk! The Navy reembersed him; that was over 4 years ago so I don't remember how much.

[chergui53]

We did not have to pay one penny for our son's move.  The Navy covered all expenses:  movers, packing, storage until he arrived at his duty station, unloading, unpacking, and hotel while he looked for a place to live.  That was 2 years ago.  I don't know if it's different now, or if it was different years ago?  We live in Denver, and the move was to PCola.  

[ChrisyDVM(Chris'sMom)]

I don't remember the details but Chris actually made money by moving himself. There was some hassle though trailering through the mountains was a pain though as was carrying all of his belongings up 3 flights of stairs to a crappy and dirty apt his roommate picked out!

[BunkerQB]

1. Son went to OSC in Pensacola (when they still had it there). Upon graduation, we brought everything home. He accumulated a lot more than we thought possible. Be ready to go to Wartmart and buy large duffles (this is in addition to the extra empty suitcase we took with us to graduation). We flew home from Pensacola to Calif.
2. He drove with his stuff to Charleston, NC for Power School - his first trip cross country - loved it. He rented a furnished apt.  He didn't buy a new car - took our 15 year old BMW.
3. He then drove with his stuff directly to Ballston Spa, NY for Prototype. Again he rented a furnished apt.
4. He drove with the bare minimum directly to Newport for Sub training. He stayed at the officer's quarters. He sent the rest of his stuff home to CA. 
5. When he was done at Newport, he drove his car to New Jersey (for shipping to Hawaii). He flew home.
6. The movers came to our home in CA, packed all that he wanted in HI (including a huge TV and chair).  No big deal. Everything was done professionally. Nothing was broken. Didn't take anything that was ours. We have a fully furnished home.
7. By the time he got to HI, his car had arrived and shortly thereafter, his stuff arrived too.
8. He only signed six month leases on apartments (plus or minus). Got rid of a lot of his stuff in HI. Every time he went out on deployment, he got rid of his apartment, put things in storage.
9. The Navy shipped his old BMW back from HI to CA. He gave away whatever furniture he had and shipped 6 big boxes back thru UPS.

We couldn't believe how much money he had saved in 5 years. With the VA loan, he purchased his first home within 4 months after he finishing his commitment to the Navy.  Finally, a year later he traded that old car for a brand new one.  Thank God, this lovely girl married him and overlooked his flinty, frugal ways with the dollar. Now if only they would have a couple of grandbabies instead of lavishing all their love on a dog, I'd be a happy mama.

[J/J Mom]

Thanks, everyone .. that all is extremely helpful.  I think we will be "good to go"  when the time comes, as long as ds makes the proper arrangements for his move lol

hugs to all 

[RhondaLou]

Hi Jn/Jf Mom,

Our son had moved all of his stuff to our house before he left for OCS. Once he was Commissioned he came home for a few days and then left to drive down to Pensacola with a car full of "essentials". He arranged to have his "early attic" furniture that his mom had saved for him and the rest of his worldly goods moved down to his new house.

I had to stay home to show them where everything was staged, but they did a wonderful job and everything arrived in the same shape that it left. He was happy to have furniture to sit on and kitchen supplies again.

The next time he had to move everything himself because many of the guys got flooded and they had to all help each other move. What a mess. It a lot of work, but they all survived.

So when Big Navy moves you, it's a piece of cake. You will need to be there to make sure they pack only the correct stuff. No liquids and no firearms. I would take any important papers or mementos myself, but other than that they do a fine job.

They do pack everything as far as I could see and will give you a list of everything that got moved.

Best of luck to him.

Rhonda

[M's mom]

As ChrisyDMV wrote,  the Navy paid my son to move his own stuff.  He went to Virginia Beach to Intelligence School after OCS with just his bare essentials and rented a furnished apt.  After that he had three weeks to report all the way on the other coast to Whidbey Island Naval Air Station near Seattle.  He had a 4-wheel drive pickup, and he bought, instead of rented, a large pull-behind box trailer from a dealer there in VB.  He had to have it weighed empty, then packed his stuff from VB, then drove home here to Indiana, and filled it up with all his worldly belongings and drove to Washington.  He had the trailer weighed at Whidbey while full, then turned in the claim to the Navy.  They paid him so much per pound for his belongings and per mile for his mileage.  He then put the trailer in a consignment lot and sold it the next day for the same price that he paid for it, so he says he made money in the process!  Not everyone would want to drag a trailer across the country and through the Rockies  to make a  few bucks though, like my tightwad son.  I'm sure the Navy still paid him less than they would pay professional movers for a cross-country move, but my son thought it was a good deal for him since he was going to be driving his truck cross-country anyway.

[Paymaster]

Having moved many times myself and having to move the Navy son stuff from our house, here's what I like to do.  If you have the time make your own list of what you are shipping.  Enlist the help of your spouse or good friend(s) the day the movers come.  Have everything you want moved in one central place.  I used color stickers (one color) on everything that has to be packed.  Give your packing partner a copy of the list.  As the packers put something in their boxes, check it off on your list and assign the box a number on the list and on the box..  Write on the outside of what you put in it.  Once the box is taped, use a black marker and sign your name across the box including the tape, so if anyone moves the tape your child will know it when the boxes are delievered, because the signature will not match up.  Watch the packers like a hawk!  Don't be affaired to tell them that you want a smaller or larger box for something.  Don't be afraid to tell them that you want something re-packed with more packing, YOUR THE CUSTOMER!  Send your copy of the list to you child and your job should be done.  Good luck with this.  Let me know if I can be of further help.