Unaccompanied to Korea

DaveC · December 28, 2016

Just informed that I'll be doing an unaccompanied Korea tour. My wife would prefer to move back home rather than stay at my current station or follow on location using HAAP.

My understanding is that we'll pay out of pocket to DITY move her there, then another DITY to our next assignment and the Army will pay us as if we moved from our current location to my next duty station. Has anyone gone through this recently who can provide some input?

itsbigfootguys · December 31, 2016

Honestly, you just need to make an appointment with transportation at BLDG 5700. I can tell you that you will be filing MANY travel vouchers, and you'll probably get a lot of different answers if you ask people online or in your unit. Transportation will provide you the most accurate possible answer. Be sure to tell them you are going OCONUS, and they should be able to help you out.

You shouldn't need to pay out of pocket, this is a fairly common occurrence. Be sure to ask about non-temporary storage as well. Good luck!

MichaelRyanSD · January 7, 2017

When you get orders to Korea, I thought you got to pick whether it was accompanied or unaccompanied.

itsbigfootguys · January 14, 2017

When you get orders to Korea, I thought you got to pick whether it was accompanied or unaccompanied.

By default your orders will be unaccompanied. You can apply for command sponsorship before you leave, and thereby change your orders to accompanied and incur an extra year. So, you can't really choose, but you can apply. Doing 2 years is great for a new aviator. Doing 3 seems to be the point where everyone starts to hate Korea. Guys that do 2 years, especially accompanied, they don't seem to be nearly as miserable as the 3 year guys.

USCav19D · January 19, 2017

By default your orders will be unaccompanied. You can apply for command sponsorship before you leave, and thereby change your orders to accompanied and incur an extra year. So, you can't really choose, but you can apply. Doing 2 years is great for a new aviator. Doing 3 seems to be the point where everyone starts to hate Korea. Guys that do 2 years, especially accompanied, they don't seem to be nearly as miserable as the 3 year guys.

In your experience, which is certainly greater than mine, how attainable is that command sponsorship as a new WO1?

I'd love to go to Korea for my first duty station, but not being able to bring my family would suck. She's already stated, adamantly, that she'd love to go.

Creep0321 · January 19, 2017

I'm curious about that as well seeing as my RFO is for Germany. What we were told today in the levy brief though, is that if you request command sponsorship, and it is denied, you can deny/defer the orders and ask for new ones. Basically unless there is something holding your spouse or dependent from going, it should be approved. Please correct me if I am misunderstanding.

BM1 · January 20, 2017

For Korea - All of the information I have found leads me to believe command sponsorship for Aviators is extremely likely. The areas you get assigned to are not restricted for families and its actually encouraged. That being said if you do not get command sponsorship, it doesnt mean the family can't go. For us it will just mean that our kids would not be priority at the local school but still be able to be on the list. In fact so many spouses/families go over unsponsored that there is even a section for it on 2ID's website that explains what is and isnt covered with command sponsorship. Also you still get the OHA with family rate even if you family is not sponsored.

USCav19D · January 20, 2017

For Korea - All of the information I have found leads me to believe command sponsorship for Aviators is extremely likely. The areas you get assigned to are not restricted for families and its actually encouraged. That being said if you do not get command sponsorship, it doesnt mean the family can't go. For us it will just mean that our kids would not be priority at the local school but still be able to be on the list. In fact so many spouses/families go over unsponsored that there is even a section for it on 2ID's website that explains what is and isnt covered with command sponsorship. Also you still get the OHA with family rate even if you family is not sponsored.

Cool, guess Korea is going to take my top spot. Has anyone here ever taken pets overseas? We have three dogs, and that sounds like a hell of a headache.

itsbigfootguys · January 28, 2017

In your experience, which is certainly greater than mine, how attainable is that command sponsorship as a new WO1?

I'd love to go to Korea for my first duty station, but not being able to bring my family would suck. She's already stated, adamantly, that she'd love to go.

Very attainable. Every WO1 I know that asked for it, got it. Do your best to do it before you leave. There is a lot that needs to get done. Doing it quickly is the biggest challenge. I don't know any pilots that were denied Command Sponsorship.

For Korea - All of the information I have found leads me to believe command sponsorship for Aviators is extremely likely. The areas you get assigned to are not restricted for families and its actually encouraged. That being said if you do not get command sponsorship, it doesnt mean the family can't go. For us it will just mean that our kids would not be priority at the local school but still be able to be on the list. In fact so many spouses/families go over unsponsored that there is even a section for it on 2ID's website that explains what is and isnt covered with command sponsorship. Also you still get the OHA with family rate even if you family is not sponsored.

You can certainly go over unsponsored. I have a friend who did that. And honestly, you get a lot of the same benefits. I would caution against this though.

You can only get OHA if you can get approved to live off post. If you are unaccompanied, you will initially be placed in quarters. They are pretty nice, essentially a one bedroom apartment. Nice for one person, not a couple or a family. They will only allow you to go off post if occupancy is over 95% for senior living quarters (E7+), or if you can get someone high enough ranking to sign an exception to policy. All of these are very doable, and likely, but you can't count on it.

Why is this an issue? Camp Humphreys is currently undergoing the largest US Army construction project in the US Military [edit]. They are almost quadrupling the number of soldiers being assigned there, which means they have constructed a LOT of new housing. The process of moving entire units down to Humphreys is taking time, so as they open up new housing, that occupancy rate is going to get harder and harder to get about 95%, and commanders are going to be harder pressed not to approve ETPs.

It will be a gamble to head over there banking on the ability to live off post. You can guarantee your ability to live off post if you can get command sponsorship approved before you leave. Like I said, I don't know any pilots who didnt get it when they asked.

The only reason I would do an unsponsored move for your spouse is if you get married while you are over there, and don't want to extend your tour (Command Sponsorship adds a year to your tour). So, lets say your new wife wants to live with you, but you don't want to stay in korea another 18 months. then, yeah, bring her over, enjoy the sights of Korea.

Cool, guess Korea is going to take my top spot. Has anyone here ever taken pets overseas? We have three dogs, and that sounds like a hell of a headache.

Yes, i know many that brought pets. Three is a lot though. There may even be a limit to how many you can bring. The medical requirements are pretty strong, and theres a chance they can end up in quarantine. Check with the vet at your closest post and ask about the requirements. A couple appointments with your vet and your pets should be good to go for Korea. If you're at Rucker, the vet clinic is incredible,theyre always willing to help and they have a handout on the desk about OCONUS PCS with your pets.

itsbigfootguys · January 28, 2017

All that being said, Korea is nowhere near as bad as anyone makes it out to be. There are a lot of opportunities. You can become a PC if you stay 2 years, depending on your unit you could build a lot of time and even track on your way out.

Don't stay 3 years though. It seems the guys that stay 2 still like Korea, the guys that do 3 (or 4) tend to be miserable bastards

DaveC · February 7, 2017

Thanks for the info. I'm PCSing from a line unit so my process will be a bit different than coming out of Rucker, but it's good to know that the Army will pay for both moves.

We looked into an accompanied tour, but if I spend two years there the return PCS adso will go beyond my current one (I owe a little over two years at this point).

itsbigfootguys · February 12, 2017

Thanks for the info. I'm PCSing from a line unit so my process will be a bit different than coming out of Rucker, but it's good to know that the Army will pay for both moves.

We looked into an accompanied tour, but if I spend two years there the return PCS adso will go beyond my current one (I owe a little over two years at this point).

How is a PCS from a line unit any different from a PCS from Rucker?