The Move to Rucker

[01CelicaGTS]

Alright, I'm still 3 months away (97 days to be exact) from shipping out for basic, I am starting to wonder about the move to Ft Rucker afterwards. I'm going to be moving in a couple months (a month before I ship), so that my wife and kids can be with our parents and siblings while I'm gone. When it comes time to move to Rucker, what actually happens?

 

I will already be there, but my wife and kids will need to move down. Does the Army move all of our stuff and vehicles, and then my family just flies down? Do I fly back home and then fly with them? Or are we supposed to drive to Rucker? I'm sure all of this will be answered for me at some point, but we just want to get everything sorted out.

[Optamix]

You will have two options for the move. The first is that the military will come in and pack everything, load it onto a truck, and move everything down and your family can meet your stuff there. They will bring everything into your new house and unpack it. This costs you nothing aside from the upfront costs of the Airline tickets for them to fly down but you will be reimbursed for the money.

 

The second option is a do it your self move. The military will pay you 95% of what it would have cost them to have a moving company do it. You front the costs of boxes, tape, truck rental, gas, etc... You weigh your truck before you load it(at a truck stop) and weigh your truck after it's full. You will be given 10 days PTDY to go and move your family down after Basic(I believe that is what I read). You will do all the work. You will submit all your paperwork, it will be wrong, you will submit it again, and you will repeat this process until the Army gods grow tired of your begging then you will be paid.

 

I moved my family 3 hours to my new AF Base and made a little over $5,000. The longer the drive, the more money you make. You are also paid a per diem per family member and reimbursed for any hotel costs.

[d10]

I thought there were particular restrictions on the move from basic to Rucker, but if you are given those two options you can and should use both. Even if you're letting the Army move your stuff, buy your plane ticket, and you don't spend a dime out of your own pocket, there are things you can get paid for. There's no such thing as a full government procured move, just people who don't bother claiming the money they're entitled to.

[SemperGumby]

Those who went through Basic were flown in from their Basic training to Ft Rucker and signed into HHC. You can get housing either before or after WOCS. I would recommend doing it after WOCS since the housing office gives you a "gift" if you go on their housing tour. If you don't plan on using base housing then, you can ignore that although there are also tours offered for off-base housing.

 

For example, we got a 3 bedroom single family home as opposed to the two bedroom duplex had we tried to get it before WOCS. Also, when I went to transportation, I got an advance for the move. I actually had to pay some back because or some confusion on some things.

[01CelicaGTS]

OK, so I'll be moving from pretty far away (Spokane, WA), so I don't really want to drive my 10MPG Dodge Durango across the country with a 2 year old, and a 5 month old. Do most people just sell their vehicle and get another one wherever they are stationed if they are moving that far? Or, can I drive my vehicle and then have my wife and kids fly down after a few days? I think I'd rather just not have to worry about driving since it's 2550 miles! Google says its 37 hours of driving!

 

Also, it sounds like PCS orders come after WOCS, is that correct?

[electron_si]

My stick buddy drove his audi s3 down from alaska so it just depends on what you feel like doing.

[SBuzzkill]

I made the drive from Bremerton in 3 days. It's really not a bad drive. I don't know about buying a vehicle in the Rucker area, they seemed to be pretty inflated when I was there.

[tydaddy]

01Celica,

 

I have a feeling we'll be in the same BCT class...I should find out when I sign my contract on Thursday. I also have the same questions you have...although 1. I'm not married, and 2. My kids have 4 legs :-)

 

Where are you going for BCT? From what I've read, I'll probably be at Benning...but Jackson is also possible.

 

It'd be nice to get a thread started once we all find out where we're and when we're going...

[SemperGumby]

If I remember correctly, I wasn't given the option to move my household goods until AFTER WOCS. I lived out of my sea bag (otherwise known as duffel bags in the Army) until WOCS started and I didn't get my car until I was in BOLC/WOBC. Note: my car was shipped from Hawai'i. I didn't have to pay for anything. I had things shipped from Hawai'i and was all paid for by the Army. I didn't have to go through Army basic training but other than that, I think the guidelines would be the same. Can't move your stuff here until you graduate from WOCS and get your orders for Flight School.

 

Let's see if anyone else had a different experience with moving but, that was mine.

[stearmann4]

If you're already on AD then yes, you can move all your stuff. You have orders on hand just coordinate it through your losing commands household goods office. With those PCS orders you will also be authorized airline tickets to move your family via SATO or Carlson Wagonlit. All the rest, moving van, etc will be reimbursed when you fill out your travel voucher as part of your pre-WOC inprocessing at building 5700

 

If you're a civilian then it might be more difficult since you won't actually have an ID card and follow on orders until you get out of basic.

 

Mike-

[01CelicaGTS]

01Celica,

 

I have a feeling we'll be in the same BCT class...I should find out when I sign my contract on Thursday. I also have the same questions you have...although 1. I'm not married, and 2. My kids have 4 legs :-)

 

Where are you going for BCT? From what I've read, I'll probably be at Benning...but Jackson is also possible.

 

It'd be nice to get a thread started once we all find out where we're and when we're going...

 

Yeah, I'll be at Benning at the end of May

[tydaddy]

Quick question. I'm swearing in tomorrow. What did you guys wear? My recruiter mentioned some ocs candidates wear a tie. Lol. I was going to wear a suit but dont want to be "that Guy". Advice?

[electron_si]

if you are swearing in at MEPS with other enlisted people they are going to be wearing ratty clothes, or they were at least when I was there.

 

that being said if you want pictures from you swearing in I would wear what you want

[tydaddy]

Ehh. I think I'm just going to wear khakis and a Polo. Sorry for the thread hijack.

[akscott60]

I wore a tshirt and pants.

[Rob1237051]

Pants are usually a good call in the Western world.

[Lindsey]

Pants are usually a good call in the Western world.

 

Nahhh.

[electron_si]

Just to get back on topic for you guys making the move down to rucker.

 

If you are looking at housing before you get down there, stay away from Daleville unless you are single and looking to save a bunch of money (it's pretty rundown)

 

Ozark is ok, but It's not close to any classes/pt/flightline (well hanchey and knox kind of) but there really isn't a whole lot there.

 

Enterprise is probably the best place to live, there are a bunch of new town homes close to outside the gate, which is like 10 mins from academics and 15 mins from the PT field, 10 if you cut through the back way by Lowe.

 

Stay away from Realty Executives Meade and Associates, they were black listed when I was down there for bad business practices and they are a scam, they will take 60-80% of your deposit. We left our townhome looking nicer than we moved in and were charged 600 dollars for carpet/tile cleaning/replacing the blinds which didn't work when me moved in/hot cold water tabs on the sinks that were broken when we moved in. The list goes on and on. We spent almost a week deep cleaning before we left, I even windexed lightbulbs and we were charged 180 dollars in additional cleaning.

 

Also, they charged us a $300 pet deposit, which we were told would be put towards any cleaning when we moved out, NOPE, they called it a "pet fee" when we went to move out and it would not be applied to any charges that were due. The owner, Hugh Meade came to look at our place to do a pre damage inspection and he is a dirtbag.

[SBuzzkill]

Becky Hancock did the same thing to me...

[electron_si]

Yeah there are a bunch of people down there looking to take advantage of young/inexperienced soldiers. Luckily I knew what was happening, and prevented a lot of it. I went through and spackled and touch up painted and when they looked at our place they were surprised how there was not damage. they just decided to screw us on cleaning knowing that we were packed up and moving following the cleaning inspection.

 

It's mainly all a scam down there. "watch ur cornhole peter"

[Rob1237051]

That's precisely why I live in Dothan and stay away from Enterprise Ozark and Daleville.

[zion]

With all rental properties everywhere is very important to complete any pre-existing damage paperwork in GREAT detail with pictures immideatly upon arrival and have the property manager sign each page. Secondly, NEVER allow the property manager to complete the final walk through without you.

 

C.Y.A.

[Hellfire]

wow! thanks for the warning... looks like there are a bunch of rentals trying to mess you up, eh? I would rather not have to deal with these a-holes.. so what about living on post? I have read it is not bad at all.

 

What are the requisites to live there? I am single, no kids, no dogs. could I live on post by myself?

[rob.]

I've enjoyed living on post, mostly because it's so close to everything. Being single, you'd get a duplex in Allen Heights. They look pretty old on the outside but have been remodeled inside and are nice enough. If you found a roommate you could pocket some BAH too.

[electron_si]

That's precisely why I live in Dothan and stay away from Enterprise Ozark and Daleville.

 

If I was down there for any course other than IERW I would have lived in Dothan, its so much nicer. But being 30 minutes away and not being able to run home for anything would get old. There were a few times when I would have a 3-4 hour break and I could go home to eat lunch and see my family which was nice.