How often will I see my husband when he leaves for the Air Force?
Once he graduates Basic, he will go straight to Tech School. The length of the school depends on his job. Once he grduates Tech School, he will come back to get you! He will arrange the mover's come, they will pack you up and ship you things. All of you will go to his duty station. Where he is stationed depends on his job, he really has no say as to where he goes...could be Alabama, could be Alaska, could be Japan or Korea! Anywhere! You can choose to live on base or off-base. On-base is generally better for young Airmen since there is no rent, no utilities and it's close to work in most cases. Air Force housing is pretty nice. We've lived in Housing on Eglin for 5 years and it's prett decent! He will be woking all kinds of shifts...could be 0630-1530, could be 1500-2300 or even 2300-0700..just depends. He'll be home, all kinds of time at home. He can absolutely be deployed but not for his first year since he will still be training at hs new duy station. Most deployments are 4 months but can be as long as a year (not often). He will not receive any money until he is in Basic. So, no money before he leaves. It takes between 6-8 weeks for him to get his first check direct deposited, so plan for it now. Just remember, if you buy a gun and live on base, you cannot have it in your home. Private firearms are prohibited in Base Housing. My husband was gone for 13 months between Basic and Tech School...I didn't have or need a gun. Our son was 9 months old when my husband left. I wouldn't even worry about a gun! Most times, they cannot wear any jewelry of any kind in Basic. It's a safety issue. A ring can get caught and then oops..there goes a finger. My husband works on C-130P's and he hasn't worn his ring in years, heck niether have I..it's no big deal. The female recruits are absolutely separated from the male recruits. Believe me, he will be too tired to do anthing be train, eat and sleep. You need to get used to being alone now because at some point in his career, you will be alone. But don't worry, the AF has great support systems in place. While he's away, you'll get free childcare, ITT offers free day trips, all kinds of good tuff to keep you busy and stress-free. My husband has deployed 8 times in 5 years..
What are the Pros and Cons of a married couple both being enlisted?
I can actually answer this question with experience. My wife and I are both enlisted Marines and have been in since 2003. The financial benefits of being dual enlisted is great. First of all both of you will receive Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) and comrats pay. Which can be determined by the provided website. Some of the cons are that you will have a hard time trusting friends. Being you are in the service and knowing the way service members act around women, you will grow very cautios of who she talks to. Also, if and when you guys get split by orders or something, infeditity will always be in questions no matter how much you guys trust each other. Just because you know how other act around you. My best advice is to be ready for anything. Marriage is hard enough, but when you mix military into the mix it makes it ten times harder. Stress will build and tempers will flare stick through the hard times and you will be just fine. My wife was deployed to TQ, Iraq and I was deployed to Fallujah, Iraq at the same time. the whole time I was only 15 kilometers away and I never seen her. Anyways, I will stop ranting. Hope everything turns out for the best brother. BTW, the family care plan is nothing. It's just a little paper work you fill out that explains everything for your family in case you both are deployed or something.
Military allotments and being married?
Once you get married and are entered into the system (DEERS) you will qualify for getting a military ID. This will included being able to use the commissary, exchange and other base facilities. Now when it comes to pay, that is a different matter, the spouse never gets an allowance or an allotment or pay unless the AD member has the pay going into a joint account or sets up an allotment. The allotments that they do set up only are paid once a month on the 1st. Now with being married he can get BAH w/dependents rate which is the housing allowance. That amount depends on rate/rank, years in & location of the base he is stationed out of (or it can be your location if it is due to call up or unaccompanied tour) and Family Separation ($250 per month). There is always going to be things that you hear about out there, the best thing to do is to talk to Finance, Personnel or someone else about it before assuming it is true. There is also online websites like military.com, cinchouse and yahoo groups that have information, links or even people who can help you.
Is it true that only a fiance or wife can ask for a leave request for a US soldier?
False. Only the Soldier themselves can request leave (using the DA-31 Request and Authority for Leave). Soldiers automatically accure 2.5 days of leave each month, up to a total of 30 days of leave each year. Soldier’s can bank up to 60 days total, after that it is “use or lose”. Many commanders will actually force Soldiers to take leave after they’ve accured the 60 days if they haven’t used it already.There is absolutley ZERO money whatsoever required by anyone in this process, well outside that required to purchase airline/bus/etc tickets through whichever commercial vender you prefer, but that is not required to actually take leave. You can take leave and have a “staycation” in the barracks if you trully wanted to, or road trip to your destination, etc.There is a common scam, kinda like the “Nigerian Prince scam” where the scammers pretend to be a Soldier, meet someone through an online dating site, and after forming an online relationship, the perpetually deployed (often to some secret location) Soldier wants to take leave to meet their sweetheart (the person being scammed) but say their Commander or the Army in general demands payment they don’t have so you (the person being scammed) needs to pay up (nevermind the fact that a real deployed Soldier not only gets several bonus allowances plus no taxes plus they don’t have to pay for food or housing etc)Here’s an article from the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) about these sadly all to common scams: Online romance scams
Why does a soldier have to pay for his replacement soldier when he is granted a leave while on deployment?
Did you not read the answer I just sent on “special missions in Syria?”F R E EWhat is more, please think a moment.How, I mean process wise, would someone go about paying for a replacement? Where would they get this person? Some sort of temp agency?“Oh yes, our secretary is going on maternity leave, and a soldier who was on special missions in Syria, and disclosed it to a civilian with no security clearance, needs some time as well. Can you send me the resume’s for a few candidates?”Any soldier on “special missions in Syria” who disclosed it to a civilian (no, it wouldn’t get past censors, and yes they would know about it) wouldn’t have to worry about finding a replacement. The military would do it for him. And he wouldn’t need to take leave or worry about transportation home….or at least the nearest base where they could hold a court martial.I have been in the military. Mr. Ashmore has been in the military. My son is a serving officer in the US Navy (and he won’t say where he is, like special missions in Syria). My grandson just enlisted in the United States Marine Corps.You are being scammed!!!!!And if you send money, not only will you not ever see the money again, you will not hear from him, but will, probably hear from other “soldiers” who are also stranded after special missions.Listen, it is admirable that you are willing to help a member of our Armed Forces who claims to be in need. And if I thought for a moment it was genuine, I would not only applaud you, but ask where I could send a check to help out. Current members of the military, or former members, we like to look after our own.But ma’am, you are being ripped off by someone who will stoop so low as to prey upon your love of country and care for the well being of those who defend her.This person, if it is a person and not an automailer, is the lowest form of creature to crawl the earth.Do not fall for it, because if you do, it will encourage him, or them, to keep doing it, and trying to take advantage of more patriots.Please, don’t. Cut off all contact, block him on all social media, and if you can, report him as a fraudster on whatever social media you use.
Can my husband live in the barracks even if he is married?
My fiance (who is in the usmc) and I will be getting married soon. I am trying to finish up school before I move with him. That way we would be able to save money. Is there any way he will be able to continue living in the barracks for a while and still get full pay like he were living off base?