HM school in GL. Wife w/ Questions

[TB1983 (HM, A School, GL)]

Hi!  I'm new.  My husband just graduated RTC on 4/8 and was transfered over to HM school in GL.

Anyone else going to HM school here?

I have several questions.

1.  I live in Oregon, but we have two small children & Im considering moving close to him.  If we do that, is there any way he can live w/ us or does he have to stay in his barracks.

2.  Can someone explain the Phases for HM?  I know right now, he has to wear his uniform all the time but I dont really understand or know when he gets more freedoms.  Like overnight liberty- if we come visit.

3.  What happens after A-school?  Do they go directly onto C-School or do we get PCSd somewhere?

 

I hate the distance & want to be with him, and so far, have not been able to find out when we'll be able to do that.

 

 

[Mrs.B_Div 302_Ship9]

Hi there! I just went through a lot of this, and can help you out a little bit.

 

Your husband might be able to stay with you, depending on how long his school is. My husband is an MM, and his school was about 2 months long. When he was there, over night liberty was "secured" (no one could go overnight) except on the weekends. He will have duty every 4 days, and will have to be in the barracks then, but from what I heard, over night liberty is being offered again. You should have your husband talk to  his LPO and find out if he can get a chit for that. If you become his permanent liberty buddy, (there is a chit for that too) he most likely will be able to stay with you weekends, IF he doesn't have duty. And then sometime around 5 or 6 pm, he will get chow liberty and won't have to be back until around 8:50 pm (he must be back in the barracks by 9 or restrictions will apply).  You will be able to eat with him and spend a few hours with him.

 

But, like I said, you can ask him to find out if the chit is available to deviate from the buddy system and let you be his liberty buddy and get him over night.

 

Also, if you want a good place to stay with a relatively good price, that is in a safe place, you can call "Candlewood Suites- Libertyville, IL" Libertyville is about 15 minutes from base and is a VERY nice place to stay.. I was there from July 2010 to December of 2010. I really enjoyed it. I also had my baby while in libertyville, so yeah, I had a lot of experience around that area of town.

 

The phases are phase 1 and 2 (I think they're considering bringing back phase 3, but I'm not sure). Phase 1 is where he has to wear his uniform all the time and that lasts about 2-3 weeks and then after that, when they call liberty in the afternoon/evening, they can dress in civies and look normal...LOL.  He will do a certain amount of watches (duty) with another person more experienced (someone who has been there longer) and then he will be "qualified" so to speak, and then he will be able to go onto phase 2, which is where they get over night liberty on weekends (IF they don't have duty) and they can wear their civies.

 

And about A-school, it depends on if he has a C-school or not. Some rates do not have C-school If he does have C-school, they will transfer him there, but his C-school could be at GL's. You'll just need to ask him.  And then, once he is done with school, they will give him about 2 weeks off to go home, pack up and move. The Navy will come in and pack you up and load it on a truck and move it to your PDS, but you will have to drive to your new station, unless it is overseas.

 

Let me know if you have any more questions. I will try my best to help you!

[TB1983 (HM, A School, GL)]

Thank you so much! 

Right now, his contract is just for HM. no specialty.  He said he graduates at the end of July. At what point does he pick one & find out if/when he goes to C-School?  I heard that most HMs cant go on to C-School right away.  That they are stationed somewhere and then go later. 

 

If he is going to go to A & C-school in GL, I would move there now to be with him.

 

When you stayed at Candlewood Suites-- was it a temporary furnished type housing deal or just a hotel?  I was thinking of looking into something furnished.  All of our stuff right now is in Storage & we are living in his parents Guest House, so I would leave our stuff here and just come out w/ me & the kids.  How much does something like that cost?

And if I did move for a short period of time, would I still get BAH for where I live now or would it change to GL?  I'd like to keep our home of record b/c I'd need the movers to get all our stuff from there & move to where ever we are stationed. 

I hope all that made sense! lol.

[Angie]

Not everyone gets a "C" School.  IF they offer him a "C" School, it will be when they pick orders.

 

If he is in bootcamp and PIR in July his "A" School will not be in Great Lakes.  HM "A" SChool is moving this month to TX.

[TB1983 (HM, A School, GL)]

He just graduated boot camp.  His A-School is in Great Lakes.  He will be the last HM class to graduate from GL.

[Mrs.B_Div 302_Ship9]

He will just stay a HM until after he has his PDS and then later on, he will choose if he wants to go to C-school. It will be offered to him at a later date if his command sees fit. My husband was going to be a HM, but changed his rating to MM. (Machinist Mate)

 

Candlewood Suites was a furnished temporary hotel/housing. It was really nice! It had a nice TV, couch, lounge chair, table with chairs, stove, microwave, dishes and a big bathroom. They had two different kinds of rooms. One with a bedroom, where there was a dresser, small built in table and bed. And then the other had the bed in the regular room and it was smaller. I started out with the bedroom and loved it, but then money got tight after we had the baby, so we went to the smaller room. It was still very comfortable and I thoroughly enjoyed both. If you call the lady at Candlewood Suites, ask for Ellen. She is the manager. She'd remember me, if you told her Mrs. Birkbeck with the baby that was born there. LOL. She gave us gifts and took really good care of me. The customer service there was awesome and I felt really safe there. They came and cleaned once a week and brought new towels, etc. They would even clean your dishes for you, if you had them in the sink. :) 

 

Here is a link to the Suites there; the pictures really do it justice. That is exactly what it looked like when I was there, except there was snow. LOL  I would suggest you call Ellen and talk to her about the pricing and see what kind of deal she can give you. She helped us out a lot and I think she would do the same for you, especially since you would be staying there so long.

Candlewood Suites

 

Your BAH would most likely stay for where you live now (that is what we did) and that way your HOR would still be where all your stuff is, so they will move it. Oh yes, don't bother packing anything up; the Navy will do that. If you pack stuff up, they will unpack it and re-pack it. Haha. I found that one out, after I'd stayed up night after night ( 1 1/2 mo after having a baby) to pack everything up.

 

You can also ask your hubby to talk to his LPO and see if he can get travel advance. They will give you money to drive from OR to wherever you are stationed. They gave us a whole lot more money than we needed, and we were able to cover our drive from IL-TX (where our HOR is) and then from TX-CA where we got stationed. You'll want to wait and see where they station you to assume you'll have enough money with travel advance, to make it home to get your stuff and then to drive to where you are stationed. But I would still assume they would give you enough to make it from IL to OR and then to wherever you get stationed. They gave us a little over, $3,000! LOL...they'll make sure you're covered.

 

I hope that all helps. Like I said before. any more questions, feel free to ask! 

 

[TB1983 (HM, A School, GL)]

awesome!

I'll def look into the candlewood suites.  That sounds really nice.  Right now, I am working full time & saving my entire paycheck each month, so I'm not sure when/if I'll move.  I looked online at the availability, its said its like $75/day.  For a monthly rate, thats really expensive! Its like $2250/month.  Renting an apartment is cheaper.  Is that what you paid?

 

Do you know the answer to this:  Right now, most of our stuff is in a storage unit.  We live in my ILs guest house, so we only have our clothes & basic stuff there.  When they come to move us, will they pick the stuff up from our house & from storage?  Or does it all need to be in one place?

[Anti M]

All in one place.

[TB1983 (HM, A School, GL)]

dang.  So-- I would need to put all the stuff I have at my house into my storage except what I would take w/ me?  That sucks. 

[Mrs.B_Div 302_Ship9]

What I did, was pack everything I wanted into our car, for my baby, my husband and myself and then just had everything else in our house, ready for them. If you wanted, you could move whatever you don't need into storage before you left for IL and then that way it would be all in one place.

[Mrs.B_Div 302_Ship9]

Ellen gave us a deal. It was kinda one of those things she said to "not talk about" haha, but I know she would give you a deal too! We paid a lot less than that. 

 

I am not sure about your stuff being in storage or not; I think they would pick it up! They told us they would go to our storage unit and get it for us, but you will need to make sure that the storage unit you are in accepts huge semi-trucks (the 18 wheelers). Anyways, I am pretty sure they will get your stuff wherever it is, but I'd ask the moving office (your husband will know about all this; I was completely overwhelmed with everything and was SO glad my hubby knew it all.)

 

I'm sorry I don't know for sure though.

[TB1983 (HM, A School, GL)]

Thanks so much! 

[Anti M]

LOL, I was born, raised, and married Navy, I know this stuff.  They only pick up at one location for insurance reasons.  You will sign a manifest and watch them seal the truck.  Two places means this wouldn't happen.  It does suck.  

 

You can call the PPO (personal property office) at Great Lakes and ask them for specifics.  Things can change all the time, so it is good to verify information from the sources.   Google the number, should be pretty simple to find.