help pretty please

[Navy_wife_829]

Hi my name is brianna and i'm really new to this whole navy thing.i'm not a nuke mom but i am a nuke wife... My husband and i have a baby due in 2 weeks then he goes to basic 2 weeks after and i have so many questions...so where to begin...how does the insurance paperwork work? When he finishes basic and goes to a school when can i move with him, can i move with him? I've heard the the navy will tells wat they want us to hear but wont deliver should i be worried? I'd really like some answers please and thanks

[Emily-aaronsgirl11]

Hey Brianna. I'm Emily. :) I'm a Nuke Fiancee. Aaron graduated boot camp back in March '10. I know most of the ropes... :)
As far as paperwork goes, since you're already married, I'm fairly sure that he'll do most of that in bootcamp. Then he'll send you what you need with instructions... You'll have to go to a military base near by where you can get your ID issued.  If you need lots more info- Check out the group of "Girlfriends, Fiancees,and Wives" http://www.navyformoms.com/group/girlfriendsfianceswivesofsailors 
A super awesome lady "Anti M" can help you lots with that technical stuff. :)

 

After he finishes basic, he'll most likely fly out on Saturday or Sunday. You can meet him at the airport and give him his laptop/cellphone/whatever else he wants. Once in Goose Creek, he'll go through a series of briefs including housing. He'll sign a housing contract, and if you do a DITY move (do it yourself), he can be on his way to pick up you and your baby and allll your stuff by Wednesday (normally). If you do a Navy move, you can head on out to SC. :) See this discussion for more info and links to lots of other info on moving:  http://www.navyformoms.com/group/nukemoms/forum/topics/phase-married

He'll have a few weeks before he has to start classes (most likely 2-4). And he should be around for most of that time...He may only have to go in for a few hours each day. :) 
I know when you have a baby while he's in the service, he gets 10 days of paternity leave.. He doesn't always get to choose when he takes it, but if he gets it (and i'm not sure if he will since you'll have it before he leaves for boot. This would be a good question to ask Anti M), he may be allowed to take it before he classes up for A school. :)

 

Welcome to the life of a Nuke significant other. :) And congratulations on the marriage and baby! :)
If you have any other questions, I can do my best to help you out. If I don't know the answer, I should be able to point you in the direction of someone who can. :) 

[Navy_wife_829]

thank you for your help emily i had another couple questions...I've been to the phase married group and such but i still have a few things unclear. Do we get base housing or do we find an apartment near by, are the places furnished or do we need to buy all of that?on the DITY move do we pay for it then get paid back or how does that work? is it better to do the navy move I've got so much planning to do and i feel pressed for time and don't like doing things last minute will my husband have time to help with the packing or will i be doing it alone? Thanks

[maryquitecontrary (1131 M)]

Goose Creek is awesome for base housing - there is usually an excess from what I've heard. Your hubby will get his housing orders and you will be able to get a house ON base. I'm not sure about the furniture, but I'm sure Emily or someone else can chime in. There are negatives and benefits to the different moves - for the Navy move they pack up every single thing for you, bring it down, and unpack it all. Might be easier with the new baby to not have to do so much of the leg work. I would check out the group Emily recommended - search the discussions in "girlfriends, fiances and wives" because it's definitely been discussed before.

 

Good luck!

[maryquitecontrary (1131 M)]

Check out this link: http://www.navyformoms.com/group/lovedonesinthenukeprogram/forum/to...

[Emily-aaronsgirl11]

You can get an apartment near by (at least I think you can)-- however, I would bet 99% of the married couples down there live on base. 1. It's less of a hassle. 2. There is absolutely no wait list. 3. The housing people (Balfour Betty, AKA "BB") really are great. They'll fix anything and everything at anytime of day. And they're generally pretty fair (although I have heard my fair share of complaints about base housing). 4. The houses are super duper nice!! Old, renovated, or new. They're all nice!

The places are not furnished other than a stove and dishwasher and fridge (at least I'm 90% sure on the fridge). I do believe there's a place on base somewhere that can loan you things until you have your furniture bought... or at least I heard that from somewhere a long time ago. haha. There's also this awesome company: FSI . Aaron rents his furniture for his apartment from them... It's definitely not worth it in the long run, but for short term fixes, it could be a good option.

On the DITY move, a lot of people get about half of their money for the move up front and are paid back the rest later (could take up to a month). DITY move is good for making money. 

Like Mary said, there are a lot of pros and cons on Navy vs. DITY.

Check out this info if you haven't already: DITY vs. Navy Move
If you have help from family (and the money to do it), I would definitely suggest a DITY move. Your hubby will get 1 day leave for every 350 miles of travel plus two extra days. So he will have some time to help you with packing. You'll make money in the end. And you'll get to spend quality time with the hubby and he'll get to spend quality time with your baby. Once you get to Goose Creek, I bet you could get a lot of help from your husbands friends (he'll have met some guys in bootcamp and he'll most likely have a roommate in the barracks the first few days he's there) and/or neighbors. If you offer them pizza and beverages (beer works if you/the friends are over 21), people are generally very willing to help. ;)

But if you feel like it would be impossible, you can do the Navy move. However just remember that it could take a month or more to get your stuff. So you'd have to be prepared for that. 

Last suggestion: Join lots of groups here and on Facebook! Once you know his Grad. date from boot, find that group on here. And join the "Recruit Training Command" page on Facebook. 

Also on Facebook looks for groups like these:

Awesome Navy Wives of SC - Lots of ladies here. Lots of drama tends to happen (which is why I left the group), but there are lots and lots of ladies there to help and give advice. And to become your friend. :)
Navy Nuke Girlfriends/Wives - Lots of ladies here, also. No drama-- I actually created the page and do my best to keep the drama off. Same ladies with lots of info. There are also a lot of seasoned ladies on here who have done more than one move and/or deployment. :)

There's lots others too. Basically because girls got kicked out of the first one and got mad so they created their own page. haha.

And I'll message you my full name so you can look me up on Facebook. I'm always up to making new friends!! :)

[Pam]

Brianna,

As soon as your husband swears in, you should have military benefits. Depends on him, on how long will it take for him to get the papers filled out. Once a upon a time ago. I was in your shoes. I was pregnant and was due late May. My husband went off to Bootcamp. This was 34 years ago. I am sure that a few things have changed since then!

What rank will your husband be after BootCamp? If he is an E3, he should be able to live off base with you and your future baby. I am pretty sure that he will NOT qualify to live on Base. But I could be wrong, The woman who really knows a lot about the Navy is Carla Street. I believe she is on the NavyforMoms site here. Also the Navy Budsman, can help you. Bascially what a Budsman is or does he or she helps with issues like these.

Your husband will go to "A" school at Goose Creek, South Carolina. My oldest son is a Nuke, and my middle son is a Fire Tech.

I hope I have answered your questions. Nuke School is about two years. It is the hardest School that the Navy has. However, The Nukes are treated very high with Respect.

Good Luck, Welcome Aboard! And Congrat's on your soon to be baby!

 

Pam

 

Proud Navy Mom to Christopher, and Joshua

Proud Air Force Mom to Eddy and Jennifer,

Proud Army Mom to Rebecca, and David

[maryquitecontrary (1131 M)]

She CAN live ON base with her hubby at Goose Creek :)

[Emily-aaronsgirl11]

haha. I just tried to like that comment, Mary. :)

And Brianna, Pam has a good point about having military benefits from the time he swears in... The swear in right before bootcamp. You insurance and pay will be backdated to that time. He'll do all the paperwork while he's in processing, and if he has any problems or needs any extra info, he'll be able to call you. The Navy takes care of its families. :)

[maryquitecontrary (1131 M)]

hahaha...i always get the urge to do that on here!!

[TN Navy Mom (Stennis Nuke Mom)]

My son and DIL live in "base housing" in Goose Creek and I just visited them 3 weeks ago.  He came home 1 week after arriving in GC and was given 4 days to move them to SC.  they did a DITY move and came out ahead on the $ AND with the Navy move, would have taken 2-4 weeks to get their furniture delivered.  We hired United and son and DIL had to leave on Saturday AM from our house, arrived in GC Saturday evening, slept on air mattress til their furniture arrived on Tuesday.  Got a DLA (Dislocation Allowance) and a portion of moving expenses up front.  Then when the moving company gave them their receipt for the weight of their belongings, then my son turned in paperwork to get the rest of the $.  They came out ahead on $ and didn't have to sleep on the floor for days and days.

 

Base housing is NOT furnished.  My son and DIL had only been married a month before boot camp and she stayed with us while he was gone.  Saved $$$$ and when we knew he was coming home, we had 1 weekend to purchase enough furniture to get them by.  One bedroom sett, one living room set, one dining table and chairs plus some lamps, odds and ends.  They each had quite a bit of personal stuff BUT the weight still wasn't going to come up to the minimum, so we shipped weight bench and weights, all of their clothes, in and out of season, plus gave them some heirloom pieces.

 

There are only 2 of them (plus the 2 dogs) and they got a 3 bedroom 2 bath place.  It is an older duplex but actually much nicer than the apartment he lived in while in college.  No waiting list for housing, 5 minutes to base.  Walking distance to NEX, library, gym, playgrounds everywhere in the neighborhood.

 

Recruiters may tell you what you want to hear, but most folks are straight shooters on N4Ms.  Once he completes bootcamp and gets to A school, things are a LOT different.  He is no longer a recruit but you are both part of the Navy family and the Navy family takes care of each other.

 

Good luck and welcome aboard!