AECF Wives Club for our ET and FC wives

[Mary, Proud Mom of Nick]

There seems to be so many of you lately!!! It is wonderful that you will have each other's support while going thru the process together.

Thought I would start this thread so you can at least connect and share stories together. Seems like there is a fair amount of you in Great Lakes and just as many more trying to decide if you can more to Great Lakes.

[Mary - wife of a sailor]

Gurnee is a very nice, very safe place to live. I've been in Gurnee since Nov. and I love it.

[Mary - wife of a sailor]

I don't know where Woodlake or AMLI are located. I live at Deer Creek Condos.

[Jenn AECF wife]

yes that area is nice. Busy but nice and alot of restaurants and shopping

[Mary - wife of a sailor]

That area is a little busy during rush hour, but very nice.

[cricket926]

You have to have access to his LES (leave and earning statement). They're online, but you have to have the username and usually super complicated password. I didn't have access to them until after he got done with bootcamp.

[Jenn AECF wife]

yeah I didnt have access to it online until my husband moved over to A school. They set up the username and password themselves.He can get a copy at bootcamp thats what my husband did and then mailed it to me.

[iloveBrenden]

Each paycheck should be somewhere in the mid $1000s. So picture it like the sailors get paid $1000 for work, and $1000 for the BAH. $500 from each is what you receive each paycheck- does that make sense? Also, if your husband is a live ashore, he might receive the BAS I think it is. It gives them money for food, if they give up eating at the galley on base. It's about $300 a month I believe. Hope I made sense!

[Pat's Wifey (Ship 6 Div 934)]

Hi there everyone!!

Just a quick couple of questions... I've read through everything here and have gotten some great info, but I still need some clarification on a few things. Thanks to this lovely group, I've learned that my husband must fill out the Live Ashore request and get it approved before I can live off base with him in GL during A School. My questions are 1) Once that request is approved, will the Navy pay for the move of me and our stuff to GL? 2) Will my husband have time after he's graduated BC while he's waiting for the Live Ashore packet to be approved to go apartment hunting and work on getting a place set up for the move? Or can he not leave base and 3) Will he be allowed to have his truck after BC for transportation to go apartment hunting when he's not on duty?

I would appreciate any info or feedback you can give. I'm just trying to work out the logistics of this move as far as when I should start calling apartments, how much he can do from base after BC, etc. I feel like I'm less confused than when I started reading on this site, but still a bit confused on some things. Thanks for your help!

[Mistycb]

Hi Sara,

I have done a TON of research on this as we were intending to move to GL in June (me and my 2 young girls), we have since decided that the move is not going to be in our family's best interest. a VERY tough decision to make and I'm still not sure if it was the right one, but nevertheless, it is the one we made. I am happy, however to relay the information to you as it is all very valuable....

1) Once the live ashore chit is approved, your husband will need to submit a chit for driving on base to allow him to drive his truck. You also need to have your husband follow up once he submits his live ashore as things get pushed to the side or lost. Especially if he changes ships once he submits it. It should only take a two or three weeks for it to be approved.

2) Once the live ashore packet is approved, he will need to submit another request to live offbase and will need to submit a "dummy lease" for approval, otherwise, he will just be put in line for base housing.

3) It is possible for him to request a duty driver and look at some apartments, but it will be much easier for you to at least look online and pick your top 3 or 4 and either visit him (once he hits phase 2 and can have weekend liberty) to look at them or for him to request a duty driver and look at them-he won't have much opportunity to really look on his own. I recommend the website www.housing.navy.mil. and www.rent.com both are great places to start; and

4) This one is important (and needs to be done preferably before he classes up for ATT due to the scheduling conflict) He will need to attend a "briefing or class" at the Personal Propery Office in the housing building (ph: 800-637-5401 hrs: m-f 7:15a to 3:50p) in order to have the navy pay for your move. I don't know if he can take this prior to his live ashore chit being approved but I would have him try. If he doesn't take this class or briefing, you can submit your receipts and try to get reimbursed but the Navy is big on policy and it may not be approved if you don't go through the proper channels. You can find a lot of information out at www.smartwebmove.navysup.navy.mil especially regarding the different procedures for a PPM or personally procured move vs. the Navy moving you.

I do want to make you aware though, the navy will move you if your husbands orders are going to be longer than 6 months but not if they are less (which all AECF A Schools are), you may want to consider that as most AECF's will go to straight to C School (which is usually between 2-4 months) after A School and you will most likely either have to stay in Great Lakes alone until his Permanent Duty Station Orders come or move yourself back so make sure you make provisions for that. the navy does have an option where you can "borrow" the money and pay it back in installments but it is one of those things they don't tell you about unless you ask and you will need to request it in advance.

Hope this all helps. I like to be prepared and know all my obstacles before i jump in to something. the navy websites are very helpful once you find what your looking for, sometimes its just hard to get to where you need to be. Good Luck with the move! It is very difficult to be apart.... Let me know if you have any more questions.

~Misty

[Mary, Proud Mom of Nick]

AprilV, Is your hubby an ET or FC? It depends on how long their school is but I know every FC family from this group that went to C school - was able to move their families with them to that C school location.

Often the ET schools are shorter but they may get two or three in one area and orders to the ship at the same time and I believe in those cases - the families also moved.

[Mistycb]

as far as I know, in most cases they do try to schedule C Schools in conjunction with permanent Duty station's and as far as I know, they do give you both sets of orders at the same time. Usually (for ET anyway) C school orders are either to San Diego, CA or Norfolk, VA. I would HOPE that they would move the family if the orders are in the same place as the C School but I cannot tell you for certain. Perhaps someone on here may have had that scenario play out and can give you a definite answer, otherwise maybe you can call the relocation assistance office (800-372-5463).... I do know the Navy is becoming much more family conscious and they do try to keep them from moving all over the country especially right out of school

[Mistycb]

I can tell you that from everything I've heard, the navy does discourage families to move during A School, whether it be because of the cost they incur to move you or because they worry about the distraction you may cause while your husband is in school, they do not eagerly support the move... however, the information on this site is invaluable and the research is out there... The decision is ultimately up to you and your husband and what is best for you. The decision is hard enough to make without the discouragement you may get from others. The bottom line is, you will have many years as a Navy Family, many of which you will not be able to be together due to deployments, etc... right now, you have the option, you don't HAVE to be apart while he is in school and if you think you can make the move and not cause undue hardship-be it financial or other, to you and your family, then go be with your husband. If you feel that it is just not the best decision for you, then stay put, plan lots of visits (i can give you pointers on that too) prepare for some highly emotional phone calls-especially at first- and lots of adjustment as you learn to live somewhat seperate lives and support him so he can get through this part and come back to his life as quickly as possible. If you are like me, if he is okay you will be okay....