A few Questions

[Dest W (wife of Brice, Nuke MM)]

My name is Destini, this is my first post on here!
My husband will be leaving for boot camp in the next two weeks and then will be headed to Charleston for Nuke school.
For the other wives out there, when did you choose to move out to Charleston?  I was thinking it would be easiest if I tried to get everything moved right before graduates boot camp, because I know he'll be so busy with school and then he doesn't have to worry about unpacking.
Does anyone have any links or info on how big the base housing is?  And can we get signed up for base housing while still in KS?  I'm trying to figure out how much room we'll have for our stuff, and I do have a one year old daughter, so I'd like to make as few trips as possible from KS to Charleston. 
Also did the Navy pay for you to move up front?  Or did you have to pay and they comped you for the $$ later on down the road?
I'm a complete newb with all this, and feeling a bit overwhelmed right now, lol. 

Any help or other advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Casey~ Ryan's Wife, Nuke ELT MM2]

Hi Destini :) Welcome to the Navy!

The first thing is, and I know you're going to hate this as much as we all have (and still do), but planning ahead of time is next to impossible in the Navy! Your post is something I would have written to the T if I were in your shoes!

He won't be able to get you guys set up with housing until he gets here to Goose Creek. Once he gets here, housing briefs are on Tuesdays (unless that's changed). He'll go through the housing brief and then go sign up for a house with Balfour Beatty (that's the name of the housing community. You can google it along with Naval Weapons Station Charleston to get more of an idea.) Have him ask for a new house if it's possible. The older ones ('70s era) are just fine, but the newer houses are definitely nicer. I live in an older house and while it does have some advantages, the new ones are definitely more user-friendly and not so industrial looking.

There are 2 br, 3 br, and 4 br houses. I know a couple who has a 3 br even though they don't have any kids. Sometimes it doesn't seem to make sense how they assign houses here. But you'll have enough rooms for your family, don't worry :) From what I understand, they make sure the parents have a room, and then if there are kids, they make sure there's a room for boys and a separate one for girls (so genders don't have to mix). We only have one little one so we are in a 2 bedroom which is working out great for us :)

HAPPILY, there is TONS of storage space. In our one little 2 bedroom, 1 bath house, we have a big closet (2 sliding doors) next to the front door, one in the hall, a deep closet at the end of the hall, a lockable shed attached to the house, and a screened in patio. Our bedroom has 2 separate closets, one smaller and one larger (I claimed the walk-in! haha) Ethan has another big 2 sliding door closet :)

Once he gets here and gets y'all signed up with Balfour Beatty, he can come get you and help you pack up and come back (you'll be here like 1.5 weeks after he gets outta bootcamp.) There are 2 choices when it comes to moving: the DITY move (do it yourself) and the Navy move. There's a whole discussion in this group about both of them so I'll let you read that. For the DITY move, he'll get 1 day for every 350 miles he'll have to go to get to you and back, plus 2 days. (DITY move is the way to go, I'll go ahead and tell you right now!)

A good thing about having to wait is that while he is in bootcamp, he gets BAH (basic allowance for housing) every month, even though he isn't on base yet. That's extra money in your pockets.

I hope this helps. If y'all do sign up with Balfour Beatty and don't live offbase right off, if you mention my name when you sign up, I get 200 bucks. I'd be willing to split that with you so we both win! haha.

[Dest W (wife of Brice, Nuke MM)]

Thank you so much for your reply!
So will school give him a break to help us move? And so soon after he gets there?
And if I have a power of attorney can I get us on the housing list? Or does it still have to be him.
Is there usually a wait for housing? Or do they usually get you right in?
I'll definitely let him know about mentioning your name as well :)

[Catie<WifeofGatlin*MM*>]

Your husband will go to a housing brief the Tuesday after he gets there, and then will leave to get you on Wednesday. There isn't a wait for housing, they give you whatever is available, whether it is new or old or old and renovated, but only your husband can do that. Basically the only thing you can do it pack up all your stuff and make arrangements for a DITY move, or if you have the Navy move you, you need to make arrangements to get to GC :)

[Dest W (wife of Brice, Nuke MM)]

Oh okay, his recruiter seemed to not know much about it, and was telling us we could get on a wait list for housing now, and it would be ready for him when he graduates boot camp. So its good to hear this so I know what to actually expect, lol.
Thanks again for the information!