Movement from BCT to WOCS (PS E-6)

[gravityrideseverything]

Hello all,

I’m a sister service PS E-6 currently in BCT. 3 other OCS trainees and myself (WOCS) are trying to get the best guidance on movement to next training locations. I’m currently the only one with access to my phone, so I thought I would reach out on here to see if anyone has had any experience with this before I request meeting with the 1st SGT or CO.

All 4 of us have documentation stating that we are allowed to bring our POVs to school, but we haven’t covered anything in our training as of yet. We are getting close to our graduation (3-4 weeks) and we all want to know who the best POC would be to get solid information or who can help us with the travel process. Most of the DS’s have said the gaining unit takes care of travel or they don’t know.
 

For me, my home is only 1 1/2 hours from BCT and at the same location of the major airport which would be cost effective for the Army.  I’m not sure where everyone else is from or if that would be a factor. I have heard both that I am eligible to drive myself and I have heard that I am not and will be shipped via best service available. My family is staying put as my wife is active duty sister service.
 

I have 8 days in between my graduation date for BCT and report date to WOCS and then another 11 days in between my report date and start date. My blackboard currently indicates only a 7 day quarantine. I believe my fellow OCS trainees have around the same amount of time as well. 
 

Any suggestions for best course of action is welcome. Thanks everyone!

[mike0331]

This was over a year ago — but I recall some kids in my WOCS class had a huge headache because the army somehow incorrectly setup their PCS as if they were moving from their BCT location to Rucker, rather than their home of record.

Rucker for IERW is a PCS move. You are supposed to “PCS” here prior to WOCS. I would reach out to HHC for WOCS and see if they can help you straighten it out. Some relevant info here, including contact info for HHC.
https://usacac.army.mil/sites/default/files/documents/cace/wocc/WOCS_Orientation_Packet_20190801.pdf

 

 

[KennyO]

Sad to see the ass pain never goes away. DS/recruiters never set WOCS students up for success. You've been in long enough to know they probably don't know what they're talking about (why you're here), but most people here probably don't have recent experience with the always changing process, especially mixing in covid. 

 

Second what Mike said, you're going to have to do a lot of work yourself to figure things out, but you can 100% bring your car. I can't see them shipping it conus to conus, so I'd expect to do a PPM.

[gravityrideseverything]

I’ll give HHC at WOCS a call as soon as I get a few minutes, hopefully today. I would rather use the time in between BCT and WOCS to get my truck to Rucker than the time I’m expected to find housing and move. The COVID thing definitely makes this process even more gray. I’ll let you know if I get any good information. 

Thanks Mike0331 and KennyO appreciate the input.

[gravityrideseverything]

Here’s what I was told:

I am authorized to bring a POV to WOCS. I have to request to use POV from BCT through chain of command. However, if I do not use “contracted” transportation my COVID quarantine goes from 7 to 14 days not including the 10 days of processing. That would mean I would have to arrive sooner than possible for me. I am going to wait and see if this changes in the next week or so and go from there. 
 

If anyone has recent experience to add please let me know.

[Jay3]

I’d ask to talk with the 1SG or CO. Ask them to inquire with S-1 to see what HRC says. A lot has changed due to COVID. If all else fails call warrant officer accessions (which I believe the POC is listed on your RFO) and see what they say. I assume you’re at Jackson?

[gravityrideseverything]

Above information was given to me from WOCC HHC.

Fort Sill is my location. 
 

I will ask for an audience with the 1st SGT as soon as I can. Thank you.

[mike0331]

Off topic — when do you graduate? My brother in law is at Sill until the end of September for BCT

[gravityrideseverything]

48 minutes ago, mike0331 said:

Off topic — when do you graduate? My brother in law is at Sill until the end of September for BCT

I graduate 01OCT20. Which Battery is he in?

[mike0331]

Ah he’s out of there 25 September. Alpha I think. 

[Knox67]

My son is at Fort Sill, in Bravo.  Was supposed to have already finished and moved onto Rucker for WOCS.  Due to a long quarantine, he's been delayed.  He was supposed to be in Class 20-19 that arrived in a couple of weeks ago.  He is set to graduate basic now on Oct 2.  Does anyone know what will happen with him moving on to Rucker and a class?  He has no way of contacting anyone about it and I'm sure no one will talk to me as a parent?  Any pointers or info would be greatly appreciated.

[KennyO]

2 hours ago, Knox67 said:

My son is at Fort Sill, in Bravo.  Was supposed to have already finished and moved onto Rucker for WOCS.  Due to a long quarantine, he's been delayed.  He was supposed to be in Class 20-19 that arrived in a couple of weeks ago.  He is set to graduate basic now on Oct 2.  Does anyone know what will happen with him moving on to Rucker and a class?  He has no way of contacting anyone about it and I'm sure no one will talk to me as a parent?  Any pointers or info would be greatly appreciated.

As a parent, best thing you can do is read around (like you're doing). Making phone calls, emails, etc. never works out well for the family. Warrant officer websites, Facebook pages, etc. will be a good place to start.

These situations suck, but I can guarantee you he won't get stuck sitting around without a job/school for too long. Worst case scenario there will be a short delay, and when his leadership realizes they need to figure things out, they will do it all real quick and last minute. Your son will have a ridiculous amount of administrative stuff to handle that he is not ready for, but if he takes some initiative it will all get figured out.

HHC WOCS is always a good point of contact, though. If he runs into road blocks I'd suggest calling them. 

[Knox67]

5 hours ago, KennyO said:

As a parent, best thing you can do is read around (like you're doing). Making phone calls, emails, etc. never works out well for the family. Warrant officer websites, Facebook pages, etc. will be a good place to start.

These situations suck, but I can guarantee you he won't get stuck sitting around without a job/school for too long. Worst case scenario there will be a short delay, and when his leadership realizes they need to figure things out, they will do it all real quick and last minute. Your son will have a ridiculous amount of administrative stuff to handle that he is not ready for, but if he takes some initiative it will all get figured out.

HHC WOCS is always a good point of contact, though. If he runs into road blocks I'd suggest calling them. 

Thank you, I will try to do those things. 

[SBuzzkill]

I’m not sure how much it’s changed but in 2009 we had two options for getting to Ft Rucker from BCT.  We could ride the bus with the AIT students, or we could drive with our families.

PCS from home of record happened after graduating WOCS and was set up during candidate school.  We crawled all over BLDG 5700 doing our in-processing stuff and arranging our leave/travel.

Folks coming from elsewhere in the Army were allowed to store their POVs during WOCS, but IIRC that did not apply to BCT candidates because we came under different orders.

If anything this might provide some context for your meeting with the 1SG, or it might be too old and a complete waste of your time.  Anyways, good luck!

[gravityrideseverything]

On 9/7/2020 at 11:18 AM, SBuzzkill said:

I’m not sure how much it’s changed but in 2009 we had two options for getting to Ft Rucker from BCT.  We could ride the bus with the AIT students, or we could drive with our families.

PCS from home of record happened after graduating WOCS and was set up during candidate school.  We crawled all over BLDG 5700 doing our in-processing stuff and arranging our leave/travel.

Folks coming from elsewhere in the Army were allowed to store their POVs during WOCS, but IIRC that did not apply to BCT candidates because we came under different orders.

If anything this might provide some context for your meeting with the 1SG, or it might be too old and a complete waste of your time.  Anyways, good luck!

Thanks SBuzzkill, appreciate the information. Nothing can hurt at this point. 1SG is a good guy, I think he’s going to use what is available but it also depends on the most up to date COVID stance. 

[Angrybirds]

Tl;dr: Everything will be settled when you inprocess ft. Rucker. 

Not sure if this helps but here's my recent experience:

Some drills don't know what they're talking about/too prideful to admit their peer trainee needs paperwork, signatures, and answers. The other half seem to sign whatever as long as you put in the work.  Since they rotated during covid, it took an act of congress to get to 1SG and CO through the stubborn few.

Another WOC and I rode the trainee van to Rucker (again, with peers) but no phones, talking, etc. Lol! 

We inprocessed HHC and Base and everything was easy peasy. No quarantine going from tradoc to tradoc. Got a couple of Barracks rooms until wocs. Both of us had family bring our vehicles. I came unaccompanied so I found a place during WOCS, he has a family and they PCS'd while in training. 

Since you have a family you can PCS to Rucker during the days you're waiting for WOCs. 

[Knox67]

Sill to Rucker is at least a 14 hour drive. To my knowledge, family can't drive them anyway.  Does anyone know if they fly them to the local airport and then taxi or uber to base?