Regarding orders *Update*

[Ashsmash]

How far out do you guys generally get orders? I know it's not the same for everybody but I'm bored/procrastinating so I figured I'd come here and ask. Apparently they don't need to give H his until 60 days out. So he should get them this week unless they've decided they really need him to extend a month or two. I'm really jealous of our neighbors, they're navy and already know where they'll be going in the summer of 2016. It's just not fair! lol

*Figured it would be better to throw an update in here rather than start a whole new thread.
H just got his orders today! They had promised our first choice if H would extend a couple months and they delivered! That means we'll be here until July instead of May but hey, at least we're lucky enough to get time for house-hunting.

[meltoine]

It really depends on the situation. The farthest in advance we've gotten orders is about 60 days. Once we didn't get orders until after the RNLT date.

[Deleted]

Last PCS I got notified of the assignment about 3 weeks before the report-no-later-than-date. It was an International move, so I requested a change to the RNLTD. My orders came in approx two days before the original RNLTD, maybe 3-4 weeks before the new one, and they were wrong. Finally got corrected orders maybe 10 days before my departure date.

This upcoming PCS I had orders about 5 months out.

All of the other PCSs have been somewhere in between. Usually about 60 days I think. I know in the Air Force right now a lot of people are getting them with less time than that because AFPC is swamped.

[Ashsmash]

meltoine well I hope it doesn't get that bad!

@villainv good to know at least it isn't just us! It seems like everybody who left the squadron recently have gotten their orders no problem. The guy is just dragging his heels with H's for some reason.

The other day he asked H if he would extend a couple months if it would guarantee going to our first choice. I'm really hoping we don't have to, neither of us really like it here lol.

[amaristella]

DH(Navy) often has his as much as 90 days out but he's also been given them for "tomorrow" on at least one occasion so a pretty wide range here. Not to mention that we often have a good idea what is going on long before it happens. I think it's just the nature of his small community.

I would consider anywhere from 30-60 days to be pretty average depending on what is going on.

[killercupcake]

lol

Um... It depends. H got his orders anywhere from 30-90 days prior to when things would be happening.

I think when he got his PCS orders from NC to CA, it was about 30-40 days out.

[Dory1988]

We're both Navy and DH got his orders in his last window/chance for his last PCS about 90 days out. They have 3 windows/chances for orders. The first window is a little over a year out. I can't speak for myself because I'm at my first duty station. My rate is undermanned though so I'd probably get my first choice. We had someone get orders in their first window but their orders got canked about a month ago plus she got extended so...

[brandienee]

Because of the nature of H's job, he will have 3-6 months notice. Which is nice, because I am a planner by nature. So I will have some time to process everything.

We were on the other side of the spectrum once though, where H got his orders and we moved 2 weeks later. 2 weeks!!! Aint nobody got time for that!

[Ashsmash]

So for the people who have ended up with only a few weeks or less how do you handle finding a place to live? Just start out in base housing?

[Deleted]

Mar 18, 2015 17:30:23 GMT -5 Ashsmash said:

So for the people who have ended up with only a few weeks or less how do you handle finding a place to live? Just start out in base housing?

Base housing is a good place to start if there's room.  You can also look at militarybyowner.com for rentals in the area available immediately. This last move (our short-notice one) we rented sight-unseen from some good friends of ours in the area.  If their rental hadn't been available, I would have probably picked out a few places and asked our friends to go see them for us and let us know if they were okay.   

[Ashsmash]

Thanks @villainv! Last time H PCSed he had at least 3 months notice, so I have no idea what to expect if it's a last minute move lol. I don't even know if we would be able to even get into base housing, from what I've heard generally the AF bases limit you to two pets and we have four.

[Deleted]

Mar 18, 2015 20:09:00 GMT -5 Ashsmash said:

Thanks @villainv! Last time H PCSed he had at least 3 months notice, so I have no idea what to expect if it's a last minute move lol. I don't even know if we would be able to even get into base housing, from what I've heard generally the AF bases limit you to two pets and we have four.

I don't know anything about pets in base housing.  But remember that you can stay in TLF (most bases have pet-friendly TLFs, but they may also have limits on numbers of pets, I have no idea) until you find a place.  If you can't keep all your pets in TLF with you, you may need to board them until you can get into a house. You should also get two weeks of house-hunting leave when you arrive.  Usually the member has to at least check in and file a travel voucher, then they can be released for house-hunting.  Bosses know that you need time to get settled before you're any good to anybody at work :-)  

[Ashsmash]

What is TLF? I suck at acronyms lol. I did not know about the house-hunting leave, that is very good to know! H forgets that I don't automatically know all this so thanks for filling me in!

[amaristella]

I always have a hotel reservation for the first day or two and if I can get a good rate sometimes I will make the reservation even longer. I also look around for temporary housing options, furnished usually. AHRN is a good site to look on. The have long and short term rentals listed. I can't really do much more than look from a distance so I'm used to getting into town with nowhere to live and just going hard core on searching when I arrive. I often find that housing has wait lists and won't let you on the list until you check in anyhow.

[G22]

Mar 18, 2015 20:09:00 GMT -5 Ashsmash said:

Thanks @villainv! Last time H PCSed he had at least 3 months notice, so I have no idea what to expect if it's a last minute move lol. I don't even know if we would be able to even get into base housing, from what I've heard generally the AF bases limit you to two pets and we have four.

You are my people! We have 5 pets. lol 3 dogs, 2 cats. We've lived off base everywhere so far and surprisingly not had too much trouble finding places to rent. We have had success with AHRN and finding housing for all 3 moves. 

I do worry about PCSing overseas with all of them later this year for the first time. Partly because I wonder how they will do with flying. They are pros at road tripping, but flying is a whole new ballgame for us/them. Also because I do worry this will be the first time we run into trouble finding housing. But one day at a time, I know it will work out. It always does

As far at orders, I don't remember when we got them in the past. Its been a few years since we've PCSed. Right now, we know H's "arrive no later than date" for the new base, but no official orders. We are still 6 months out from that.

[amaristella]

Mar 18, 2015 21:47:43 GMT -5 G22 said:

Mar 18, 2015 20:09:00 GMT -5 Ashsmash said:

Thanks @villainv! Last time H PCSed he had at least 3 months notice, so I have no idea what to expect if it's a last minute move lol. I don't even know if we would be able to even get into base housing, from what I've heard generally the AF bases limit you to two pets and we have four.

You are my people! We have 5 pets. lol 3 dogs, 2 cats. We've lived off base everywhere so far and surprisingly not had too much trouble finding places to rent. We have had success with AHRN and finding housing for all 3 moves. 

I do worry about PCSing overseas with all of them later this year for the first time. Partly because I wonder how they will do with flying. They are pros at road tripping, but flying is a whole new ballgame for us/them. Also because I do worry this will be the first time we run into trouble finding housing. But one day at a time, I know it will work out. It always does

As far at orders, I don't remember when we got them in the past. Its been a few years since we've PCSed. Right now, we know H's "arrive no later than date" for the new base, but no official orders. We are still 6 months out from that.

I have to tell you this. Since you will have even more kennels coming off the plane then we typically do, you really have to plan ahead for them. Hawaii was a major PITA because they did not allow the animals out of the kennels on airport property which meant that your vehicle had to fit the kennels assembled. We were lucky the cat kennels fit in our rental car and that we had the guinea pigs sent to us the following day so we didn't have to pick them all up at the same time. One trick that has helped us when we don't have that stupid HNL rule is to take down some of the kennels and consolidate animals who get along into fewer kennels for the car ride portions. My cats actually get much less anxiety and are a lot quieter when they share a kennel in the car.

As to how your animals will do, whatever you can do to acclimate them to the airline kennels (check the IATA guidelines if you haven't already. The biggest things are the metal nuts and bolts and the hand releasable zip ties for the kennel doors) ahead of time, do it. And try to have the least number of plane transfers as you can.

So my advice is make sure you either have your sponsor bring an extra car or rent a really big vehicle if you don't think you can fit everything (and the massive amount of luggage) into one car.

[Ashsmash]

@g22 H thinks 3 dogs is too many so we stopped at 2! I agree it would be a good idea to try and get the animals used to airline kennels ahead of time.

Depending on where we go we may be looking to buy, and i know that won't be a quick process. I'm not really looking forward to finding a rental and settling in then finding a house and having to move again lol

[G22]

Mar 18, 2015 23:57:19 GMT -5 amaristella said:

Mar 18, 2015 21:47:43 GMT -5 G22 said:

You are my people! We have 5 pets. lol 3 dogs, 2 cats. We've lived off base everywhere so far and surprisingly not had too much trouble finding places to rent. We have had success with AHRN and finding housing for all 3 moves. 

I do worry about PCSing overseas with all of them later this year for the first time. Partly because I wonder how they will do with flying. They are pros at road tripping, but flying is a whole new ballgame for us/them. Also because I do worry this will be the first time we run into trouble finding housing. But one day at a time, I know it will work out. It always does

As far at orders, I don't remember when we got them in the past. Its been a few years since we've PCSed. Right now, we know H's "arrive no later than date" for the new base, but no official orders. We are still 6 months out from that.

I have to tell you this. Since you will have even more kennels coming off the plane then we typically do, you really have to plan ahead for them. Hawaii was a major PITA because they did not allow the animals out of the kennels on airport property which meant that your vehicle had to fit the kennels assembled. We were lucky the cat kennels fit in our rental car and that we had the guinea pigs sent to us the following day so we didn't have to pick them all up at the same time. One trick that has helped us when we don't have that stupid HNL rule is to take down some of the kennels and consolidate animals who get along into fewer kennels for the car ride portions. My cats actually get much less anxiety and are a lot quieter when they share a kennel in the car.

As to how your animals will do, whatever you can do to acclimate them to the airline kennels (check the IATA guidelines if you haven't already. The biggest things are the metal nuts and bolts and the hand releasable zip ties for the kennel doors) ahead of time, do it. And try to have the least number of plane transfers as you can.

So my advice is make sure you either have your sponsor bring an extra car or rent a really big vehicle if you don't think you can fit everything (and the massive amount of luggage) into one car.

Thank you for this advice! Most likely we will be flying separately and splitting the animals between us to avoid figuring out what to do with them all at once. Lots and lots of logistics to figure out. I've looked at kennels for the cats, actually ordered one last night to see how well it will work. They will need the most time to start acclimating to them than the pups.

To throw a wrench into things, I'm due Nov 4th. H's arrive-no-later-than date is in Sept, which means I may have to fly over before him in order to be able to even get there before its too late to fly in the pregnancy. I swear if I survive this move, I can do anything

[Deleted]

TLF = Temporary Living Facility. Basically it's like a small furnished apartment you rent by the day from the AF (usually about $65/day). They have some pots and pans, dishes, small kitchen.....it's enough to live on for a few weeks. Remember that you will still get BAH even if you are living in TLF (CONUS only, overseas works a little differently), so that will at least partially offset the cost of your TLF stay (or hotel or whatever).

[killercupcake]

Mar 18, 2015 17:30:23 GMT -5 Ashsmash said:

So for the people who have ended up with only a few weeks or less how do you handle finding a place to live? Just start out in base housing?

In 29 Palms, H stayed in the barracks for a bit, then we both moved in with one of his work friends until we got a house on base. It was his first duty station so he didn't know where he was going until about a week before. He got on the list right away. Neither of us wanted to live out in town because we were young and it was our first duty station. 

When H went to NC, we hustled and found an apartment that worked with military often. Base housing had a 2 year wait list. 

When we went to CA, H put us on the list as soon as he found out and we accepted the offer while on the road to CA. We generally stay in base housing. Though I found out yesterday we could have lived in an apartment downtown for less than base housing, and I'm pissed. lol ANYWAY. 

[amaristella]

Mar 19, 2015 9:31:01 GMT -5 G22 said:

Mar 18, 2015 23:57:19 GMT -5 amaristella said:

I have to tell you this. Since you will have even more kennels coming off the plane then we typically do, you really have to plan ahead for them. Hawaii was a major PITA because they did not allow the animals out of the kennels on airport property which meant that your vehicle had to fit the kennels assembled. We were lucky the cat kennels fit in our rental car and that we had the guinea pigs sent to us the following day so we didn't have to pick them all up at the same time. One trick that has helped us when we don't have that stupid HNL rule is to take down some of the kennels and consolidate animals who get along into fewer kennels for the car ride portions. My cats actually get much less anxiety and are a lot quieter when they share a kennel in the car.

As to how your animals will do, whatever you can do to acclimate them to the airline kennels (check the IATA guidelines if you haven't already. The biggest things are the metal nuts and bolts and the hand releasable zip ties for the kennel doors) ahead of time, do it. And try to have the least number of plane transfers as you can.

So my advice is make sure you either have your sponsor bring an extra car or rent a really big vehicle if you don't think you can fit everything (and the massive amount of luggage) into one car.

Thank you for this advice! Most likely we will be flying separately and splitting the animals between us to avoid figuring out what to do with them all at once. Lots and lots of logistics to figure out. I've looked at kennels for the cats, actually ordered one last night to see how well it will work. They will need the most time to start acclimating to them than the pups.

To throw a wrench into things, I'm due Nov 4th. H's arrive-no-later-than date is in Sept, which means I may have to fly over before him in order to be able to even get there before its too late to fly in the pregnancy. I swear if I survive this move, I can do anything

You can do it, I promise. There's always a way. Would it be possible to leave the dogs behind with hubby so that only the cats have to fly during warmer weather? I flew with my cats in July but the airline had a special program with air conditioned vans and from what I could tell they did fine. I remember worrying about having to fly later in pregnancy than I originally planned for but it was still second trimester (24/25 weeks) so it was totally fine. I paid to upgrade my ticket for an aisle seat because the Navy travel office only books the worst seats possible.

You can order airline kennels from basically anywhere but I really liked the way things were explained at catsnus.com. Cats are stupid tall with their ears and everything. I had to buy 200 series crates for mine. Although once I saw someone with a crate that was pretty tall for its length. That would have been better, and cheaper, to fly with.

[G22]

Mar 20, 2015 2:21:11 GMT -5 amaristella said:

Mar 19, 2015 9:31:01 GMT -5 G22 said:

Thank you for this advice! Most likely we will be flying separately and splitting the animals between us to avoid figuring out what to do with them all at once. Lots and lots of logistics to figure out. I've looked at kennels for the cats, actually ordered one last night to see how well it will work. They will need the most time to start acclimating to them than the pups.

To throw a wrench into things, I'm due Nov 4th. H's arrive-no-later-than date is in Sept, which means I may have to fly over before him in order to be able to even get there before its too late to fly in the pregnancy. I swear if I survive this move, I can do anything

You can do it, I promise. There's always a way. Would it be possible to leave the dogs behind with hubby so that only the cats have to fly during warmer weather? I flew with my cats in July but the airline had a special program with air conditioned vans and from what I could tell they did fine. I remember worrying about having to fly later in pregnancy than I originally planned for but it was still second trimester (24/25 weeks) so it was totally fine. I paid to upgrade my ticket for an aisle seat because the Navy travel office only books the worst seats possible.

You can order airline kennels from basically anywhere but I really liked the way things were explained at catsnus.com. Cats are stupid tall with their ears and everything. I had to buy 200 series crates for mine. Although once I saw someone with a crate that was pretty tall for its length. That would have been better, and cheaper, to fly with.

Possibly. Since we're still so far out from the PCS over to Germany (only 6 months, but we have a ton to do in that amount of time!), nothing is set in stone yet. Once we make it through this first PCS down to Texas in a couple months, then we''l have to start making some decisions. 

I'll definitely check out that website. Thank you! I tried measure my cats the other day for dimensions, squirmy little buggers, I need a second person to hold them still. lol How much do your cats weigh? I have fatties, though weight wise they are about average-ish. They are around 12-13lbs each.

[G22]

Mar 20, 2015 14:12:47 GMT -5 Stan said:

meltoine did an OCONUS move with a dog, a really long one, similar to yours. I know she only had to deal with her dog one way because of special circumstances, but she might have good advice G22.

I do remember when she did that. I'll take any advice you've got Mel!

[meltoine]

Look into what the import rules are for animals where you're going. Some places are really strict, and you'll need lots of vet documentation. We needed prior approval from the Egyptian ambassador, basically a visa for the dog, before we could put him on the plane, and there were several pages of vet and USDA paperwork that needed to be completed before I went to the embassy to wait in line for the approval. Each country is different though, so look into your location specifically. It'll be good to do it now because it was expensive, almost $1k total for all the paperwork, and that was just for one pet. You may be looking at a big expense.

Are any of your dogs bully breeds? I know Germany has a blanket prohibition on bringing any bullies into the country at all. That tripped us up trying to get our guy home.

[G22]

Mar 20, 2015 14:48:41 GMT -5 meltoine said:

Look into what the import rules are for animals where you're going. Some places are really strict, and you'll need lots of vet documentation. We needed prior approval from the Egyptian ambassador, basically a visa for the dog, before we could put him on the plane, and there were several pages of vet and USDA paperwork that needed to be completed before I went to the embassy to wait in line for the approval. Each country is different though, so look into your location specifically. It'll be good to do it now because it was expensive, almost $1k total for all the paperwork, and that was just for one pet. You may be looking at a big expense.

Are any of your dogs bully breeds? I know Germany has a blanket prohibition on bringing any bullies into the country at all. That tripped us up trying to get our guy home.

None of them are bully breeds. I did see that in our research. Germany is pretty laid back on importing animals it seems. No quarentine, but the obvious update to date on shots and microchipped, which ours are already. I believe we'll need to get them "pet passports", but my understanding is that is a European thing, not just Germany. The nice thing is I have a friend who had PCSed from Germany to the US and is now heading back to Germany with her dogs. She has been really awesome at helping me know what all we need to do, which has been a lifesaver!

[Ashsmash]

Mar 19, 2015 22:57:21 GMT -5 Stan said:

We PCS'd in summer of 2013 XCounty with two large dogs, and like lunatics, we did a PPM. It was hard. And we didn't move to a base, so there was no base housing available. We found the only dog friendly motel in town, put out stuff in a storage unit (you also get 30 days or so reimbursed for a storage unit), stayed there for two weeks, found a house at the end of week one, and moved in ASAP. It was very stressful because we weren't going to a military town, and landlords were not chomping at the bit for us like they do in military areas. I'm hopeful that our next duty station will be our first choice and on this coast. If it is, we'll probably buy and I'll probably go up alone to make that happen.

I think we'll end up doing a partial PPM. The dogs are great in the car, the cats are the problem lol. When I moved here to be with H we had to drug them to keep them from scratching their noses off on the sides of the crate. Luckily all our choices are in military towns so that will save us some difficulties. 

Are you guys on the east or west coast? I don't think I could handle dealing with house buying on my own, I don't feel adult enough lol.

[ilovecandy]

in response to teh first question our first move we recieved ordera bout 60 days out. This time was 90. But he did early report so it was actaully 45 for us.

[Ashsmash]

Mar 20, 2015 16:21:37 GMT -5 Stan said:

Mar 20, 2015 15:45:43 GMT -5 Ashsmash said:

I think we'll end up doing a partial PPM. The dogs are great in the car, the cats are the problem lol. When I moved here to be with H we had to drug them to keep them from scratching their noses off on the sides of the crate. Luckily all our choices are in military towns so that will save us some difficulties. 

Are you guys on the east or west coast? I don't think I could handle dealing with house buying on my own, I don't feel adult enough lol.

We're now on the East Coast. I promised H to be more involved in the full PPM this time, we really did bank a lot of money. One of our dogs gets car sick so that part is rough, but he does better in my car than whatever H is driving. 

I think you guys will be fine since you're moving to a mil area, and a partial PPM is the smart, sane way to go! As far as solo home buying, H doesn't care about where we live. I make budgetary decisions as is, and since he's likely to be (billet) promoted before we leave, he'll likely have to work to the bone until our last moment here. I think we'd both prefer he stay home with the dogs while I go make all the choices. Lol.  

Lol I'm a terrible decision maker, always second guessing! It doesn't help that after I make up my mind H keeps suggesting other options. Poor pup we made sure to take both of ours on long trips so we know how they'll do beforehand. One less thing to worry about, yay. 

[amaristella]

Mar 20, 2015 15:45:43 GMT -5 Ashsmash said:

Mar 19, 2015 22:57:21 GMT -5 Stan said:

We PCS'd in summer of 2013 XCounty with two large dogs, and like lunatics, we did a PPM. It was hard. And we didn't move to a base, so there was no base housing available. We found the only dog friendly motel in town, put out stuff in a storage unit (you also get 30 days or so reimbursed for a storage unit), stayed there for two weeks, found a house at the end of week one, and moved in ASAP. It was very stressful because we weren't going to a military town, and landlords were not chomping at the bit for us like they do in military areas. I'm hopeful that our next duty station will be our first choice and on this coast. If it is, we'll probably buy and I'll probably go up alone to make that happen.

I think we'll end up doing a partial PPM. The dogs are great in the car, the cats are the problem lol. When I moved here to be with H we had to drug them to keep them from scratching their noses off on the sides of the crate. Luckily all our choices are in military towns so that will save us some difficulties. 

Are you guys on the east or west coast? I don't think I could handle dealing with house buying on my own, I don't feel adult enough lol.

Cats are the worst travelers. We've had meds for both of ours. Put them in those wonky calming vests. Brought their beds in the car. Used the calming paste. Sprayed Feliway all over the car. Everything we could think of.

[amaristella]

Mar 20, 2015 9:03:12 GMT -5 G22 said:

Mar 20, 2015 2:21:11 GMT -5 amaristella said:

You can do it, I promise. There's always a way. Would it be possible to leave the dogs behind with hubby so that only the cats have to fly during warmer weather? I flew with my cats in July but the airline had a special program with air conditioned vans and from what I could tell they did fine. I remember worrying about having to fly later in pregnancy than I originally planned for but it was still second trimester (24/25 weeks) so it was totally fine. I paid to upgrade my ticket for an aisle seat because the Navy travel office only books the worst seats possible.

You can order airline kennels from basically anywhere but I really liked the way things were explained at catsnus.com. Cats are stupid tall with their ears and everything. I had to buy 200 series crates for mine. Although once I saw someone with a crate that was pretty tall for its length. That would have been better, and cheaper, to fly with.

Possibly. Since we're still so far out from the PCS over to Germany (only 6 months, but we have a ton to do in that amount of time!), nothing is set in stone yet. Once we make it through this first PCS down to Texas in a couple months, then we''l have to start making some decisions. 

I'll definitely check out that website. Thank you! I tried measure my cats the other day for dimensions, squirmy little buggers, I need a second person to hold them still. lol How much do your cats weigh? I have fatties, though weight wise they are about average-ish. They are around 12-13lbs each.

I'm a dunce. At first when I found I had to measure them I was like psh-ah. Easy peasy. Then I tried it and was like. WTF cats. But I think that website has a video that shows you how to mark the wall to make measuring a bit easier. For cats it's really the ear tip to floor measurement that you need. Nose to tail length and weight almost aren't even a factor. My cats are 7 and 12 pounds at the moment. Miss petite and Mr. Eats everything.