PCSing to Husband's A School

[JenBo]

Hi there!

My husband has joined the Navy and will be leaving for RTC in a couple of weeks. His school is in Pensacola, FL at Corry Station and we have received confirmation that it is long enough to qualify us to PCS. He will of course be flown there by the Navy after graduation and I will be driving to meet him once he has the OK to live off base with me. I've looked into PCS entitlements but most articles refer to members moving with their dependents to another duty station rather than a dependent moving to meet an active duty member at their first station. We would like to be paid our travel expenses in advance (DLA, Per Diem, etc,) but we are unsure if that will be possible seeing as he will be in boot camp during the time frame that families usually apply for an advance. Does anybody have any knowledge or experience of how PCS travel pay works in this situation?

Thank you so much!

-Jenny

[JenBo]

Sorry for the late reply, I've been trying to get all the loose ends tied up and to spend all the time I could with him before he left. He's on his plane to Great Lakes as I'm typing this. I never imagined exactly how hard it would be to leave him knowing it would be the last time I saw him for a couple of months. We have been joined at the hip since we met in elementary school. We are incredibly close, which makes this so hard!

Anyways, ranting aside, he is a CTN. I am so fortunate for that, too, since his job is almost always shore-based. I'm so proud of him!

[sailorwifenmom]

Our son was going to be a CTN, but he git dropped 5 months into it (he had even passed the several day test that simulated being in the fleet, but failed one of the last sections. His instructors and his chain all approved a waiver for him to retest - needed because it would have been his 4th retest in the program, but the XO was new and said outright to him and his LPO and LCPO "this is the first waiver request I've gotten and I want to make an example on waivers - denied".)

It was a good thing that he did get dropped though, because he ended up going to IS school instead, and LOVES doing that. He and his dad tease each other all the time, one is a CTR and the other is an IS, and there's some rate rivalry there lol!

CTN is also a very good rate to be in, good career opportunities :-)

[JenBo]

Wow, that's rough! I'm glad it all worked out in the end for your son, though.

My husband is so excited to be a CTN, and I think it would be great for him. I know the schooling is supposed to be very intense and difficult, so we really hope it works out. His brain is so wired to understand mathematic and technical concepts that I'm sure he'll be fine. The career opportunities do make it all worth it. You don't get that kind of experience learning cryptology in a college setting. Not to mention, most CTNs stay ashore which is obviously a big perk for any Navy wife. 

[Anti M]

He'll likely be serving OCONUS instead of traditional sea duty.  It may be ashore, but be aware, not all shore duty is inside the continental US!   

[JenBo]

Yep! The OCONUS duty stations I've heard of are Japan and Hawaii. I've heard there are limited seats in those areas, though, so I'm not positive how it all works. It can sometimes be frustrating trying to research CT rates because everything is kept so secret. But, from what I know, he does one tour of CONUS and two tours of OCONUS.

[Anti M]

I had a CTO roommate on Diego Garcia, under the new CT rating system, she'd have been a CTN.  I'm assuming DG still uses CTs, but you are correct, finding concrete info is difficult because of the security involved.  

[sailorwifenmom]

This is true, N's almost always do a Stateside tour first, then overseas.  They will get more into why at his school and at his first duty station.  It's not classified, exactly, but it's not something to get into on the internet - lol, CT's are a pretty secretive bunch ;-)  

I joke with my husband all the time, we should sell those "do it" T shirts for a fundraiser, we could have one that says "CT's do it, but nobody knows" or "CT's don't do it, but they watch those that do".  With the twisted sense of humor that tends to go with the community, we could make a fortune for NMCRS :-)

We're pretty glad it worked out for our son, too.  He had the ability, but it just wasn't for him, so honestly, he had a hard time being motivated to do it.  What he's doing now is a better fit for him, personality wise.  

I'm sure your Sailor is going to do great though, from what you described his interests as, and the Intel community is a good one, it's a pretty small group and generally has really good promotion speeds :-)