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Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive May 2004: Any advice for Overseas PCS to Germany
Hello to all the momsview members, I just joined the forum today and I'm excited to be here!
I don't know about Germany but I recently had a friend PCS back to the States from Okinawa, Japan (our DHs are in the Marines). She took everything she had (living room set, beds, dressers, kitchen table etc....) They did not take their car however, they bought one there and sold it before coming back here. The housing in Oki was like that of apartment housing in N.Y. or something. 7-8 stories high and they werent too big. As far as your cat, i'm sure you can take him/her but first read up on the quarantine guidelines for Germany. I guess thats all the advice I can give you. I wish you the best of luck because that is one BIG move!!! And by the way, WELCOME TO MOMSVIEW!!! I hope you find yourself at home here!
Where in Germany will you be going? Will you have on post or off post housing? Quarters are very different, depending on where you are stationed and what your husband's rank is. We lived in Mannheim and Frankfurt and I still have friends over there. I'd be glad to help if I can.
Well we just moved to England and we brought everything with us. You can bring one car which i would suggest doing and then maybe get another car on base when you get here if 2 cars are necessary. Don't bring your cell phone it will not work. If you love your cat bring him. The military will ship all your stuff but it may leave way before you do or when you leave but then take a long time to get here so make sure you have anything you NEED packed to bring on the plane with you. The military will supply temporary furniture and appliances until your stuff arrives! Make sure you apply for base housing as soon as he gets his orders signed and in his hands. i call my mother almost everyday and my bill is only 20 bucks a month BUT you need to check for a long distance company associated with the military once you get there, ours is miltel. You definitely want internet access when you get there if you can afford it. It really helps when going through a transition like that!
Also wanted to add that Kristie (insaneusmcwife) moved here from Oki last year as well. Maybe she can give you overseas advice. Hopefully she will catch this post.
Thank you for all your input...I really appreciate it! I have no clue as to where we will be stationed, all we know to this point is we're going to Germany. We will definitely live in on base housing, I've heard the costs of finding your own place is really high. My dh will be a 2nd LT fresh out of the Officer's basic course. From the research that I've done, there are at least 5 different (or more) cities that we could be living in. As far as taking your pov, how much is car insurance over there? (I've heard it's expensive...??)
You or your husband need to call USAA. That's a military officer only insurance provider. They can give you all the facts and figures on insuring your POV Privately Owned Vehicle, over there. We've found them to be the best at accommodating the unique military way of life we lead. https://www.lc.usaa.com/inet/lcs_corp/Logon Paraphrased from Debby Guisti © I am a military wife - a member of that sisterhood of women who have had the courage to watch their men go into battle, and the strength to survive until their return. Our sorority knows no rank, for we earn our membership with a marriage license, traveling over miles, or over nations to begin a new life with our military husbands. Within days, we turn a barren, echoing building into a home, and though our quarters are inevitably white-walled and unpapered, we decorate with the treasures of our travels, for we shop the markets of the globe. Using hammer and nail, we tack our pictures to the wall, and our roots to the floor as firmly as if we had lived there for a lifetime. We hold a family together by the bootstraps, and raise the best of "brats," instilling in them the motto, "Home is togetherness", whether motel, or guest house, apartment or duplex. As military wives we soon realize that the only good in "Good-bye" is the "Hello again." For as salesmen for freedom, our husbands are often on the road, at sea, or in the sky, leaving us behind for a week, a month, an assignment. During separations we guard the home front, existing until the homecoming. Unlike our civilian counterparts, we measure time, not by years, but by tours - married at Knox, a baby born at Portsmouth, a special anniversary at Yorktown, a promotion in McDill. We plant trees, and never see them grow tall, work on projects completed long after our departure, and enhance our community for the betterment of those who come after us. We leave a part of ourselves at every stop. Through experience, we have learned to pack a suitcase, a car or hold baggage, and live indefinitely from the contents within: and though our fingers are sore from the patches we have sewn, and the silver we have shined, our hands are always ready to help those around us. Women of peace, we pray for a world in harmony, for the flag that leads our men into battle, will also blanket them in death. Yet we are an optimistic group, thinking of the good, and forgetting the bad, cherishing yesterday, while anticipating tomorrow. Never rich by monetary standards, our hearts are overflowing with a wealth of experiences common only to those united by the special tradition of military life. We pass on this legacy to every military bride, welcoming her with outstretched arms, with love and friendship, from one sister to another, sharing in the bounty of our unique, fulfilling military way of life.
As far as your furniture is concerned, we bought an air mattress to sleep on and kept a sheet and blanket for it. Then when it was time to go we just defalted it and put it right in a duffel bag and brought it on the plane with us and used it at our new place till our funiture came. We kept like one pot and pan to cook with and 2 towels, and we had one big duffel bag for that stuff as well. So when we got on the plane we had 4 bags, 2 with clothes and one with the air mattress and sheets, and the last had household stuff to get us through the transition.
Thank you everyone for the fantastic information...
Do some checking cuz they just changed the laws on quarintine. We left our dog cuz we did not think he could handle that long in quarintine and when we got here we found out that there is no need for quarintine if they have the micro chip implant which is painless and doesn't affect them at all! I would find out who the sponser is and email them to check for you.
The Transportation Office has all that information. They will also have the requirements on shipping animals as to cage size etc. Go there for information.
You won't have to carry bedding and pots on the plane with you. You will have hold baggage that will be in country when you arrive.
I am not sure what hold baggage is, i am assuming you mean the fast shipment of small stuff. That was nice but it did not help before we left not having this stuff. Our funriture left 4 weeks before we did so we needed this stuff to get us until we left. And the military actual lost ours, LOL it came 4 months after we were in our home and the rest of our stuff was already here!!!
I actually found that there are currently no quarantines in force for incoming domestic animals to Germany...thank goodness for that! Now I just need find out about how much it will cost to get her over there (my cat).
This was actually our second place. As far as shipping from there, you will probably get instructions on what to do about transportation, they mey have you go to one of those bases or they may just call you and set a time and date for furniture pick up. It really depends on how close they are and what works best for them. Now as for the prescool, it just depends on your post, some do and some don't. There is lots of programs though for your child other than preschool that you can put them in. Every where is different.
You may be able to bring your cat with you in an under-the-seat carrier. It would be the safest way to do it. Even if she must ride with your luggage it would be best that she be on the same plane.
I'm glad about the preschool--I know my son needs interaction with other children and the whole learning/social environment. He loves it!
We had concurrant travel. Since he was coming from an assignment in Korea, we were first on the list for housing. We flew on a military charter. Now that there are so few military in Germany, I would assume housing is easy to get. His orders will say if you travel together, or if you need to come later. All of this will be explained to you at the transportation office that you'll need to report to. Make sure you go with him. You'll have questions that he won't think to ask. Write down all the questions you have, and bring them along.
We traveled together and when you get there you will be put up in TLF (temporary living facility) for up to 30 days so you have time to either find a place to live or get your housing situated. Its just like a hotel, some have kitchens and some don't, just depends. We flew on a military rotator plane but they have just recently tokk that off our post so now we will fly commercial when we leave. No matter what you fly, there will either be a bus to bring you to base or your sponsor will come get you.
I can't tell you how grateful for all the great info you have shared with me....it is so valuable! I have to print off this thread and keep it with all the moving info!
Email me anytime, just put momsview in the subject line.
Do the same with me. Anything I can't answer, I can ask a few friends over there now
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I'll introduce myself briefly, my dh and ds currently live in the sunshine state, California but will shortly be moving on to greener (or not so greener) pastures!