What is Command Sponsorship and why is it so vital? (aka going to Japan)

[Anti M]

UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE!

New regulation allows accompanied orders for E-3 and above!  Used to be cut off at E-4 and above.  Command sponsorship is still required, and the location must authorize dependents. (If I missed any changes in the body of the blog, please let me know so I can make edits).

https://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/reference/messages/Documents...

News article:

https://www.stripes.com/news/pacific/navy-offers-incentives-to-enti...

I am blogging about this because it is information every fiance or newly married Navy spouse needs to know. Anyone with first hand experience, please add comments, and correct me if I have incorrect information or have forgotten an important detail.

When a sailor gets orders overseas, and I include Hawaii in this, he will receive orders which are either "Accompanied" or "Unaccompanied". Basically, with or without dependents. In order for the dependents to move overseas at the Navy's expense, they must be command sponsored. This is the approval from the sailors new command to have their dependents with them. It is far from automatic.

I cannot address every overseas command, but I do have many years of experience as an ET1/E-6 and as a dependent wife in Yokosuka, Japan. 12 years in Yokosuka, I learned a few things. I can give you the skinny on that, and then you will know what questions to ask for other countries and regions. I have read the regulations as they pertained to my junior sailors who worked for me and Navy wives who needed help.

Command sponsorship in Japan is granted to the dependents of sailors who are E-3 and above. E-2s and below can put in for waivers, but those are not routine and take time, months in fact. It is unusual for E-2s and below to have their families with them there. If a sailor does get their dependents approved, their overseas tour may be extended.

What does Command Sponsorship provide?

On base housing for E-3 and above. E-2 and below do not qualify for on base housing in Japan unless their command signs off on their marriage overseas. If not sponsored, the sailor still will receive the with dependents rate for OHA. Junior sailors attached to ships will need to request permission to live off base.  COLA may be authorized, but it might not be.  Still looking for a current regulation on that.
(BAH = basic allowance for housing, overseas it is OHA)
(COLA = cost of living allowance to offset the expensive areas)

Travel: the Navy pays for the plane tickets for you, to and from. If not sponsored, you pay your own way. Concurrent travel means you travel with your sailor.

TLA: temporary lodging allowance. Pays for up to ten days of hotel rooms or Navy Lodge while looking for an apartment. Not sponsored? Nope, none for you.

Household Goods Shipment: to and from. This is important as single/unaccompanied sailors has far less of a weight allowance. Learn the term "geographical bachelor". That's what your sailor will be if you cannot go overseas.

EML leave: Travel back to the states to visit home of record. We had trips home between PCS orders even though we stayed in the same house in Japan.

Jobs: The on base jobs are offered pretty much only to command sponsored dependents. Off base you cannot legally work without a work visa.

Schools: dependent children who are not command sponsored must pay full tuition to attend DOD schools on base. It ain't cheap.

Visas: Command Sponsorship guarantees you are under the SOFA agreement for immigrant residency. Not being sponsored means you have to struggle with tourist visas and getting permission to reside in country.  Without this visa, you must leave the country every 90 days. If your sailor is in Italy, not only must you leave, but you must stay out of the EU for a minimum of 30 days.

Personal mail box on base... this changes, I need updated info if anyone has it.

Without sponsorship you will have your ID card and access to base facilities such as the commissary, the NEX, MWR, and medical. They cannot refuse to treat you at medical, but basically you are on standby.

You are not eligible to ship pets unless you are command sponsored.

Do you need a passport? Yes. The sooner the better. Don't wait until you are married, you can always do a name change.

Do you need to clear overseas screening? Yes, this is mostly health and debt and criminal background checks. And immunizations.

Can't I just go? Sure, if you think you can afford it and want to deal with being on a tourist visa.  A rental offbase cost more than an E-2 (or even an E-3) makes in a month.  Over $2,000, easily.

http://www.usui-home.com/navyus/

Hard cold facts about living offbase in Japan: You will live offbase in a tiny apartment. Nothing like you have experienced in the US, even the floors and appliances are different. If you find a place with appliances! We heated our tiny house with kerosene heaters and slept on the floor. Furnishing a Japanese apartment is not simple, you can't use your furniture if you didn't get a household goods shipment. You can't fit most American furniture into a Japanese apartment anyway. (Houses are few and far between, we got lucky). Rent and utilities are extremely high. Can you afford a car? Insurance? International phone? Internet? Not on the pay of a junior sailor! I promise you that. Gas was $10 a gallon when I left Japan. The dollar is low and weak right now (80 yen to the dollar, 2012).

I never met the wife of an E-2 or below who was happy trying to live on the economy. Never. One was nagging the chaplain to get her sailor a humanitarian discharge because she wasn't able to pay her rent and was lonely when he deployed. Another was sleeping on the couch of a friend. It is a hard life, no kidding around, straight up fact.

If there is room in on base housing, a sponsored family will not have the option of renting offbase.

I'm not pushing for kids to get married just to get on the orders, but it is food for thought. Also, a sailor can still be sent overseas even if they are married and the spouse must stay behind.

I'm bumping this because I've been asked about moving overseas by several new spouse and a fiance recently.  It is depressing, and more depressing is I rarely hear back from them with what happens.  Did they get their waiver?  Did it work out?  I wish all the couples the very best, and know they have huge obstacles ahead.

[Anti M]

Your situation is unique, so I really don't have those answers. I don't think where you marry matters, as long as it is legal and he can register you as his dependent.

[Ltwjm0206]

Hi everyone! I'm just reading about this and I didn't know that spouses could be stationed separately. Does this happen often? What ratings usually get stationed overseas? If one doesn't put an overseas base on their list, are they less likely to go overseas? Thank you!

[Anti M]

Almost every rating can go overseas.  If we have ships and bases, we have nearly every type of sailor stationed there.

Yes, it is possible for a mil-mil couple to be stationed apart.  They can put in a special form and request orders together, and the Navy will try, but the needs of the Navy come first.  My husband and I were stationed apart the first two years we were married.  

A sailor fresh out of A school can put whatever they like on their dream sheet, and the detailer tries to some extent to match dream sheets to the orders to be filled, but the job always comes before the preferences of the sailor.  

If they're married to a civilian, they are slightly less likely to go overseas because dependents cannot always go.  But again, the needs of the Navy come first.  If orders come up and there is only one sailor to fill the billet, that sailor goes, married or not, wanting to go or not.

[Ltwjm0206]

Anti M, I was not aware not mil-civilian spouses could be stationed separately. I did a lot of research before he enlisted and I never knew this. I don't think I would have agreed to this if I had known that we'd be a part for so long. Were you and your husband both military? 

[blackbirdmom]

If the sailor is still in A school, but has his orders, does it matter if he gets married while still in A school or waits until on leave before he reports to his duty station? The orders are for Hawaii, and the sailor does not really want to get married in A school (there will not be a wedding, just the JOP ceremony). He wants to get married, but just wanted to do it at home. I'm not concerned about the actual costs of moving, as they have nothing. They would not have anything to move if it were a stateside duty station. We can pay for the plane ticket to Hawaii. I just want them to be able to have a roof and eat while they are there. :-) From what I'm reading, if they marry while he is on leave, our FR has to check in and then ask for a waiver for command sponsorship because his rank is less than E-4. There is the screening process to go through after that. Our sailor is telling us he can't even get married until he gets permission from his duty station sponsor. If that is so, then how are others getting married while still in GL at A school? We are aware it could take months, or a year, or longer, to get a waiver, even if one is granted. Just trying to get all of our ducks in a row before, and do things the best way we can. I appreciate all the help!

[Anti M]

In this specific case, the A school marriage is too little, too late.  Once the orders are issued, it is unusual for the Navy to change them from unaccompanied to accompanied.  Might as well wait.  The timing on A school marriages is generally a minimum of four weeks before orders are expected to be issued.

Training and school commands do require a special request chit when a student sailor marries.  This is to screen for fraudulent marriages, security clearance issues, and to send the young sailor to a class or counseling.  However, once he is out of school, he is a legal adult and can marry without the Navy's permission.  He does NOT need to wait for permission from his new duty station.  They'd chuckle over him asking.  

He is only an E-1?  Congratulations and best wishes on his marriage, but bluntly and realistically, the young couple may be looking at a long distance marriage initially.  Lots of couples manage it, so they should have a plan in place in case the command sponsorship is denied.  My husband and I married when we were both E-6 and spent the first two years of our marriage apart, as we each already had orders.  Just know it can work out, as we've been married 30 years now.  Tell them to hang in there, sometimes it is not easy, and the wait feels like forever, but it is worth it in the end!

[blackbirdmom]

We know the orders won't change, and they are going to marry anyway. The rules for marrying right after BC or in A school make sense. They will get married while he is on leave, and then wait. I'll tell him about not having to ask for permission from his sponsor, but I'm sure he'll ask anyway. LOL  He likes to play by the rules and err on the side of caution. 

He will be E-2 shortly, I think. I'm not sure how that part works, so I could be wrong on his rate. They have been together for almost 4 years, waiting a little longer won't hurt them,  And I was looking for blunt and realistic. I don't want either of them to get their hopes up that she can be there in a certain length of time when it probably won't happen. He can start the process, she can do her part, and it will work out in the end. And we can visit in the meantime. Not as often as we could had he been stationed on the East coast, but we will still visit. 

Thanks so much for all of your help with my questions. 

[Anti M]

@ Ltwjm0206 ... dual military couples most certainly can be stationed apart.  It is to be expected at some point.  In fact, if you read the regulation, first term sailors are not even eligible for spouse co-location.  Oh, the detailer may try, but there are zero guarantees.  And if the couple are not in the same branch, then they are even less likely to be near each other.

My husband and I were both ET1 when we met and married.  We met on Diego Garcia.  He had orders to a ship out of Sasebo, I got orders to Yokosuka.  Same country, but outside liberty limits.  He could not come see me unless he took leave, and that was not possible often, given the ship was usually in the Persian Gulf.  Even when he did get orders to be near me, out schedules rarely lined up.  After two years, I was ready to re-enlist, but there were no billets for me there.  I would have had to go to California while he stayed in Japan for three more years.  I did not re-enlist, and became a dependent wife instead of a Navy chief.  I'm curious what research you did that was so positive.  Being dual mil is very, very hard.

[Anti M]

The Navy doesn't put married couples together unless there are billets open for them.  You go where the jobs are.  If there is nothing for your rate near your spouse, you will not be together.  My husband and I did the same job, so it was hard to be together.  Also couples cannot be at the same command and work together.  It is best if the two are not the same exact rating but also not so far apart as aviation and subs, for example.

[blackbirdmom]

Found out yesterday that his school has been pushed back 5 weeks. His original date for his orders was early Sept, but there is no way he can finish school 5 weeks later and be in Hawaii by early Sept. Plus, there may be a hold time now between sections of the school. He told us his orders could be changed because of that change in schooling. (Something about the program being re-worked and they added more instructional time to it) Do orders get completely changed for something like this?