Girlfriends, Fiances,and Wives of Sailors

More on cars in Japan... it will cost you a ton of money to bring your own.  May as well buy a base beater from someone departing, it is cheaper than bringing your own car in and out.  

http://www.japanbases.com/forums/aft/468.aspx

thanks Antim for the info i have a newer lancer and my hubs has an off roading jeep so the jeep has a lot of after market parts on it really don't think they will let us take that haha but maybe be like" yea you own a mitsubuishi bring it on over" haha .. i was thinking it might be Yokosuka to. I am so thrilled to hear about the schools my son loves his school out here this was the best decision we had ever made is to leave the states cause the school where we were stationed at where horrible school, my son he hated to go to school till we came here.. I am wanting to live out in town cause i want my son to experience everything japan has to offer, we live on base here in guam only cause my hubs is deployed a lot i feel much safer on base but since he will e home for 3 yrs i really want us to live off of base. and oh yea the beaches are crazy beautiful here so clear like glass :)

sorry i wasnt able to reply sooner huge time difference 

We're in Japan, and I totally agree with Anit M.  In addition to all the other points she made, there's also the issue that, frankly, many American cars are too big to fit in a lot of the roads here (at least if you are in Northern Japan, up at Misawa). 

By the time you do all the stuff you need to do to meet the requirements to bring your car here, you will have spent as much money as you would on just getting a used one to drive while you're here....

Most of the bases down south have a policy that says that you are only allowed 1 car per family, because parking and space is so limited.  Also, the Armed Forces in Japan has a "base first" policy for housing, because between so many people living off base (and the base housing sitting empty) and the high cost of the OHA here and all the budget stuff, they said they were losing too much money...  Now, unless they don't have housing available for you specifically (as far as what you should have based on family size and rank and stuff), or unless the base housing is over a certain percentage filled (sorry, I don't remember what percentage), they require families to live on base.

But there are still a LOT of great things to do in Japan, and a LOT of great opportunities to get off base :-)  

lol - you will probably hear a lot of complaining about the base first policy for housing from families when you all get here, btw... Because it only applies to families, Single Sailors are still allowed to live off base...

When I first got to Japan I was single, and had to fight to get out of the barracks!  The housing list for the families was at least six months long. They've built plenty since then.  Lots of apartments.  However, a lot of families evacuated after the tsunami, and chose not to come back.  You'll likely go straight into onbase housing. 

Next time I got to Japan, I was married, but unaccompanied,  I found a cute little house, slept on the floor, used kerosene heaters in my unheated uninsulated home ... it is very different.  Lots of big bugs, but Guam has those too. We turned down housing and lived in one spot for nine years. When hubby finally did get there, the foorways were too low for him, he had to duck everyday all day.

After I got out, I subbed at the base high school.  That's why I know it is so good!  

LOL Anti M - I feel your husband's pain with the doorways!  Both my husband and son have had that problem several places out in town!  And the schools are really good :-)

Okay, so I just got a letter from my husband who is currenlty in bootcamp. He informed me that his a-school is now going to be 34 weeks instead of 22 weeks. Since it will be over 6 months, the navy should pay for me to more down there right? Does anyone know if there's something I need to do or someone I need to contact? Or do I just wait for him to graduate. We originallly didn't think it would be long enough for the navy to move us down so we didn't really talk about it or ask his recruiter for details.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

What program is he in?

So, I just got my PIR letter in the mail. I saw a copy of someone elses on the site... and I saw on their letter there was room for the recruit to write something. There was nothing like that on my letter ): It made me really sad, its what I was really looking forward to. Although its nice to know he has a graduation date. Anyone else have a letter like that?

KaywaaB- Don't be sad! I read somewhere a while back that when they are filling out the forum letter, that their RDC may or may not let them know they can write a note on the back. He is probably just following his orders and didn't know that it was allowed. My boyfriend didn't scribble anything on the back either. Your first letter should be coming soon though! Mine came about a week after the forum letter :)

@ IS Stephanie - my fiance went through the same thing and was also told that another job could open up before he shipped out. That is an undesignated position and there are forums on here to explain what all that means for both him and for you and also what all he wil likely experience in his first few years. My advice is to for your recruit to stay on top of his recruiter about checking in with MEPS about other job openings. My recruit's ship date changed on us so he ended up leaving a whole lot sooner and remaining undesingated , which has been creating highs and lows for us. Some great advice on this is to do your research on undesignated and also do not be passive, this is his life and career.  Being undesignated will ulitmiately make acheiving his goals a little more difficult and it will take a little bit longer for him to rank up. So please stay on top of his recruiter about changing his job before shipping out and do look into the many forums on NAVY 4 moms that are very informative about being undesignated. We went in blind to this and it's proven to have been quite the experience. Good luck to your recruit, whatever job he does choose, Big Navy will take care of him :) 

@ IS Stephanie - no he won't have to go through the entire process again. Thee is some sort of formal paper work to be filed for the change, provided that he is qualified for whatever other job he wants to go for. But mostly it's only a matter of paperwork . We had no idea that this could be done and my recruit was a bit too passive with not asking questions and staying on top of the matter, so I'm just now learning all of this through this website. Just know that it can be done and also his ship date can change. As I said, alot of our issue laid in the fact that what little we did learn before he left felll into a grey area because we had absooutely no time at all to implicate changes. So be aware that his ship date can move up quickly and that he needs to be very quick and determined to try to make these changes as soon as he possibly can. Also, we found that our recruiter was almost impossible to get the truth out of, so he can also go to the Chrief within his recruiting station and get better and more correct answers . 

IS Stephanie,

So, is he 100% sold on being an IS, or is he open to looking at other, similar rates?  There are many rates in the military intel community, not just IS.  If he's not 100% sold on that particular one, he could look at all the CT rates.  Those rates are CTT, CTR, CTM, CTN, and CTI. 

My husband is a CTR, and he has worked very closely with IS's over the yrs, and I know that many of the CT rates are undermanned right now... 

Once he is out of A school and at his command (as long as he isnt doing training anymore) he can live off base. :) Married or not. But he will only get BAH if he is E5 or up I think, or married, or if they tell him to go live out on the town. But as long as you are married and he is done with school it will be yes. He has to be on time and might have a living space to keep clean and organized. :)

yes ma'am. As long as he has checked into his command or been released by his A school

you are welcome :) I had a lot of ladies help me out so I always like to pay it forward! :) and help others out!

Hey, I'm back from vacation.  We went to Vermont, I just loved it and the people were so friendly!  

Welcome back Anti M! We missed you around here! I am glad you had a good vacation!!! :)

I agree.... I am beyond irritated, sad, impatient, pissed right now.. My husband was originally supposed to be home May 2nd from this deployment... they got extended twice.. so they wont be back til late summer early fall... So instead of him being home in ten days its 4-5 months...

does anyone know of a reliable auto transport company? i'm hoping to have my car shipped from CA to Kings Bay, GA in 3 weeks when i move out there with my fiancee. I've gotten a bunch of quotes but I'm not sure how many companies are legit. thanks!

Welcome back, Anti M! :)

I always miss seeing you around here when you're gone!

Salons on base do hire locally,so you have a chance.  There may be state licensing procedures, but it should be simple.   Base gyms do offer classes, so you might be able to pick up work that way too.  Do you have some type of certification for either type of work?  You could look up what it takes to get yours recognized.  Check California, Virginia, Florida and Washington for the most common places for Navy bases.

B daniel yes most bases have zumba classes but I know a lot of them are through volunteers, not so much paid instructors. (at least the ones I have been too.) I have never used a salon on base bc I am super picky about who touches my hair so I pick people more than places to get my hair done. But I have heard some are good. A lot arent even on bases bc they are in the NEX and there are quite a few bases where the NEX is off base instead of on base.

They receive orders anywhere from halfway through A school to several months afterwards.  Many go to C schools also, and get their first set of orders either in conjunction with the C school orders, or like A school, in the middle or afterwards.  ETs and FCs, for example, are waiting months after graduation for orders.  In the meantime, while they are on hold, they usually are not granted leave.  When the orders come in, they come in fast, the sailor must be on hand to check out and move on.  That's when they can take leave, based on their leave balance, and their report date.  A few must wait until after C school to take leave.

A schools vary a lot in length.  What rate would you like to know about?

Health question. My sailor is in a pre-training like thing before indoc and he is running a crazy amount every day. He starts indoc in a week or so and he texted me last night and told me that he is starting to get tendonitis in his calves but on the inside instead of on the outside where most people get shin splints which means that, apparently he has it worse. He said that if he doesn't get it fixed it can turn into stress fractures very quickly which increases his chances of getting med rolled or DORing. He ran cross country in HS and he never really said anything other than that his legs were sometimes sore. He is icing them now, but I am worried that it will get worse and lead to him getting rolled or dropping if it gets bad enough. Any advice on dealing with inner calf tendonitis? I was looking at getting a T.E.N.S.-like electroshock unit and sending it to him because they help muscles recover and increase blood flow which also helps, but I don't know if he can have it or anything. Any experience or ideas? 

Sea Sick, I sent you a friend request. I think our guys are in the same school and i can direct you to a group for their school that will give you good information about what you are asking :)

Hey Ladies - Have a question that a depper I'm helping asked, and I am hoping someone will know the answer.  Here is the question:

"Dependent ID's - While at boot camp will I be mailing home documents for my husband to get ID's for himself and my step daughter or will they get those once I finish?"

I know they get all this stuff by enrolling int DEERS, but when does that happen?  At what point (week of training) does the family get the authorization (ie dd-1172?) to make it happen?  

Thanks guys, I will post this depper the info....

http://www.navydep.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2428

Use RAPIDS to find the nearest facility:

http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/rsl/appj/site?execution=e2s1

It depends on the rate.. some find out before training is done, some find out after they have been on hold for awhile.

Hell Week in RTC makes me chuckle, it really is more like Heck Week.  

Ok ladies, Im in need of some help! I'm SO very upset and beyond pissed right now!! My boyfriend and I have been together for 7 years and I had been told the best time to get married was before he got his orders at A school! He's going to school for AM and is in Pensacola. We have planned to go to the courthouse in Florida to get married well before he receives his orders so I will be on them! I have already booked my flight and hotel to go down there in 2 weeks! We are also already planning to try and have a wedding back home with our family and friends when he gets leave right after school! My boyfriend went to talk to the chief and he told him no!!! He said we couldn't get married there because his school is so short that we should just wait until he gets leave after school!! This is not what I was told!! I've heard many, many people getting married during A school and my boyfriend hasnt even started classes yet!! The whole point in us getting married so soon is so I will be on his orders. Why is this guy telling him this?? He is ruining everything!! Is there something we can do?? :(

Yes, there is something you can do.  Go get married.  The Navy cannot tell him no, his chief is just being an ass.  He should tell the chief he wishes to speak to whoever is next up on his chain of command, OR he should ask the chief to see that in regulation in black and white. ASAP.  Since his chief cannot legally prevent the marriage, your sailor cannot get into hot water over it.  

If he doubts this, tell him an ex-sailor who knows BS when she reads it says so.