How long until I can go live on base?

Question

Me and my boyfriend have been dating for a little over two years now. He just left for basic in Ft.Leonard Wood and we are planning on getting married when he gets back. I was wondering how long does he have between graduation and getting stationed somewhere. I think it is about two weeks but I'm not sure. I was also wondering how long do i have to wait until i can go live on base after we are married. How long does it take them to get the paperwork done?

Answer 1

Your husband should get around 10-14 days of leave. After you are married it wont take him long to get you enrolled in DEERS, TRiCare etc.... As long as he has your marriage license, SSN, DOB, etc...... Then at most Army Post you have a waiting list for on post housing, until then he will recieve BAH ( basic allowance for housing). Where we are stationed ( Fort Lewis WA) the waiting list for housing ranges from 6-15 Months. Best of luck and congrats. God Bless the both of you.

Answer 2

He won't have much time between BCT and AIT for yall to get married.  If his BCT is at Leonard Wood, more than likely his AIT is as well which means that he'll start AIT the next day.  Once he completes AIT, it matters how much leave he takes in between AIT and reporting to his new duty station.

If on his LES it states that he has 14 days or more then he can take 14 days, as long as he reports the day he's supposed to report according to his orders.  if he graduates on 29 Sept and has a reporting date of 10 Oct, then he can only take 12 days of leave because he MUST report no later than 10 Oct to his new duty station.

Since y'all didn't get married prior to him joining the Army, this move is coming out of pocket.  Once you get married, he can bring you on post and enroll you into DEERS and TRICARE.  You will need to have your marriage certificate, SS Card and birth certificate in order for him to get you registered.  

The day he gets to his new unit, he needs to take the original marriage certificate to his company orderly room and put in a DA Form 4187 for Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) and Basic Allowance for Substinance (BAS).  The reason why he needs to take the original is because the orderly room will make a copy of it and the company commander will certify it as a true copy of the original.  They'll only allow him to live in the barracks for a very short time before he must find a place to live (on-post or off-post).  

For on-post housing, he must (again) take his marriage certificate to the Housing Office in order to get his name on the housing list.  He might have to get his orders amended to show that he now has a dependant.  The wait period depends on how many housing units they have available for his rank.  More than likely, they'll stick you in a two or three bedroom duplex.  He'll probably still get BAH, but it'll automatically get taken out and paid to the Housing Office.

For off-post housing, make sure that you have a "military clause" in case he comes up on orders for deployment and he wants to send you home.  It saves you from having to pay release fees for breaking your lease early.

I think it's best to live off post in a 2-bedroom apartment as starter because if he has a BAH of $700 and rent is only $500, then that's $200 extra you have to cover bills that's covered by BAH alone.  If you live on-post, you lose out on that $700.

I know people here on Ft Hood are realizing that they're losing so much money.  A SFC that gets $1093 BAH for a 4 bedroom will end up paying more than a SSG who pays $1014 for the same floorplan.  It's really stupid...

Myself and most of my friends all live off-post because we can pay less for rent than what we're paid for BAH, so the extra money helps compensate for utility bills, which is how BAH is supposed to work...

If you know you won't be working for a while until you get settled into the community, then moving on-post will be more of an advantage to the both of you until you get a job.  If he gets Ft Hood, the housing wait is not very long.  They are literally BEGGING people to live on post!  So many people are either deployed OR have come back from deployment and bought a new house.

Now...the only caveat I have is if he gets orders for overseas.  In that case, you might want to go to Ft Leonard Wood on one of his long weekends that he has and get married while he's in training.  That way, if he has orders to go to Germany or Korea, he can get Command Sponsorship ASAP.  Otherwise, you'll be separated for a year or two....

Answer 3

entirely depends on his orders, where he is sent and the waiting list for housing..which can be 2 years long.  

for instance if he gets Unaccompanied orders to Korea: you can't go.  If he gets orders to Germany, he has to obtain command sponsorship for you and you must pass an overseas screening before his orders will be changed to accompanied.  

If he gets orders to say Ft Hood.. the waiting list to get in base housing will depend on his paygrade and bedroom entitlement.  

Answer 4

If he's still single when his orders are drawn up for his first PCS (the orders that send him to his first permanent base) then they will process him to live in the dorms.  Then all of that will have to be changed, which is time consuming.  The sooner you're married, the sooner you can get the ball rolling.  There may be a waiting list for on base housing, but you'll still live together off base and the Army will pay for it.

You can live together right away, just maybe not on the base itself.

Answer 5

To live in base housing you have to be married, listed in DEERS, have at least 6+ months at that duty station,  then get on the waiting list. The waiting list timeframes all depends on rank, qualified bedroom size, and location availability. Here is San Diego there are some 1 bedroom apartments available now and there are also 3-4 bedroom homes with a 2 year wait. It varies greatly.

Answer 6

Usually he will get somewhere between 2 weeks to 30 days of leave between graduating and going to his first duty station.  The problem is he will only have about 14 days of leave built up after 5 - 6 months in the Army.

If he tells the CO of his BCT/AIT company that he is going to get married, the CO will certainly allow him to 'go in the hole' the extra two weeks and take a full 30 day PCS.  Actually, in most cases, he can pretty much get that automatically unless he is a screwball.

But I encourage you not to wait.  The Army and its paperwork can mess things up for months.  You two need to quickly get married at the local courthouse in Waynesville, MO if it isn't too late.  Getting you added to DEERS as a spouse is a time consuming pain.  Additionally, you will not be authorized travel with him to his first duty station and he will arrive with the expectation that he will live in the barracks.

Save yourself some trouble and get a legal marriage as quickly as possible, perhaps on his pass between BCT and AIT.  Do a big ceremony later with all the friends and family, but get the legal marriage done quickly so the Army can start the paperwork.

And tell him to stay out of Daisy's...

Answer 7

When u get on his orders not sure but not that long  

Answer 8

Your Bf should get 10 days at home before reporting to his first duty station. He should get orders before he finishes AIT. The paperwork will take a while as most everything does , but you could go stay in a hotel on post for a while until your orders for housing or BAQ (basic allowance for quarters) which pays you to stay off post.