Possible PCS - need advice

[Disney8704]

Hey all. DH is active duty air force. DH really wants to get out of our current base. This is his 1st base he's ever been to since joining the military in 2001 (well besides basic and text school). Anyways, there's a teaching position open at Sheppard air force base in Texas. It would be for 4-5 years.

However here's the problem. 1st - his family. He has a brother and sister who live about 4 hrs away from Sheppard. Me and his family, DO NOT get along at all. 2nd - no leave time. He would not be able to take leave for the whole 4-5 years, which would really suck. So which means no Disney vacations for about 6 years. Last time we went was Aug 2008. Not only do I think I wouldn't be able to handle no vacation for 6 years (not just to Disney, anywhere really), I would probably go insane. Not to mention, DH loves to be able to take a week off here and there just to get away from his job. Even if it is just staying at home for the whole week.

Good parts are he would have a set schedule Monday-Friday 7am to 5pm (i think its till 5 pm, could be 4pm). Weekends off, all holidays he would have off. And the best part, no deployments at all for the whole 4-5 years. So what would you all do?

 

[KerriSue]

Have you ever been to Sheppard AFB? AWFUL!!!! You could not pay me to live there. PERIOD.

What does your husband do anyway? My husband is AF too My husband is in the medical fields and I know that they will be moving their school to San Antonio-or somewhere else can remember right now- in about a year or two.

 

[Disney8704]

No never been there, just DH. DH is a age mechanic. He works on all the equipment around base and drives flightline. He just recently put down on his dream sheet Elemendorf which is in Anchorage, Alaska. Im praying so badly we get that base. I heard its a very good base. One of the best. And that everyone there are really nice. But thanks for letting me know about Sheppard. Why is it so awful?

Have you ever been to Sheppard AFB? AWFUL!!!! You could not pay me to live there. PERIOD.

What does your husband do anyway? My husband is AF too My husband is in the medical fields and I know that they will be moving their school to San Antonio-or somewhere else can remember right now- in about a year or two.

 

[trip]

However here's the problem. 1st - his family. He has a brother and sister who live about 4 hrs away from Sheppard. Me and his family, DO NOT get along at all. 2nd - no leave time. He would not be able to take leave for the whole 4-5 years, which would really suck. So which means no Disney vacations for about 6 years. Last time we went was Aug 2008. Not only do I think I wouldn't be able to handle no vacation for 6 years (not just to Disney, anywhere really), I would probably go insane. Not to mention, DH loves to be able to take a week off here and there just to get away from his job. Even if it is just staying at home for the whole week.

Good parts are he would have a set schedule Monday-Friday 7am to 5pm (i think its till 5 pm, could be 4pm). Weekends off, all holidays he would have off. And the best part, no deployments at all for the whole 4-5 years. So what would you all do?

You might want to check on the "no leave time" If I recall correctly, most schools have set time off at Christmas and between new class starts. You may not have off when you choose, but I'm pretty sure you will be able to take leave at some point.

 

[traviesojmt]

We lived at Elmendorf for 3 years and absolutely LOVED it. If you luck out and get that assignment, feel free to pm me and I will tell you all about it. I'm afraid I haven't been to Dover, so I can't comment on that. I do have a question though. How can it be possible to have ZERO leave for that long? I mean, he gets 30 days a year and he is only allowed to accumulate so much before use or lose takes affect. I really am just curious. We have been in the AF, moved many times and I have never heard of something not getting leave for that amount of time.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

You might want to check on the "no leave time" If I recall correctly, most schools have set time off at Christmas and between new class starts. You may not have off when you choose, but I'm pretty sure you will be able to take leave at some point.

I agree. DH taught at West Point for 3 years and he was able to take leave during school holidays. He had to go out in the field during the summer but there were still times that he could take leave.

 

[Disney8704]

I dont know about the leave time. Im just saying what DH told me. He probably cant take leave because it would be hard to find another teacher to cover him. That time he has off between classes, probably isnt that long and I dont think it would be classified as leave time. Just him having the time off. I'll find out more about it, but as it stands now, I dont think we're going. DH just told me not to worry about it and that we're staying put unless we get Elmendorf. I know he wants to go, I techincally really dont wanna go to Sheppard. But its really not my call. Its his.

 

[KerryCM]

My son-in-law is AF too. He taught small missles at Vandenburg for years. He got leave every year. There is always time between new classes at Tech School for leave.

 

[KerriSue]

I dont know about the leave time. Im just saying what DH told me. He probably cant take leave because it would be hard to find another teacher to cover him. That time he has off between classes, probably isnt that long and I dont think it would be classified as leave time. Just him having the time off. I'll find out more about it, but as it stands now, I dont think we're going. DH just told me not to worry about it and that we're staying put unless we get Elmendorf. I know he wants to go, I techincally really dont wanna go to Sheppard. But its really not my call. Its his.

You are wrong about this. It really should be your choice too. Thankfully my DH has made it a point throughout the years to make sure that I am happy. If my living situation is good, then he is good.

I think an Alaska assignment would be fantastic. I have only ever heard wonderful things about them. We just moved back from the states from England. We were there for 6 years, and I have to say we had the best time ever. We traveled and traveled and traveled. It was wonderful!!

I know that they have something of a job opening list come out at certain times of the year. These are really helpful since they give you an idea of where your husband can go with the opening and such. Another option is he could always volunteer for a deployment or remote. These usually guarantee a change of station, then you have a little more control.

Kerri

 

[Disney8704]

Oh I know it should be my choice to. But DH wants to desperately get out of here. He's miserable and he's told me several times he feels like he is suffocating here. He knows I really don't wanna go anywhere. I'm so sick of moving. Have moved onto base housing 2005, moved again 2007 into the new house on base housing. Plus I moved around a lot growing up. Plus my family is here. Really don't wanna move away from them, especially my parents. My parents aren't doing very well financially and medically. I wish they could move with us, then this would be a lot easier on me.

But anyways, yeah I've heard nothing but wonderful things about Elmendorf. Nice and down to earth people. Which is exactly what I need to be around. Its not all rainbows and sunshine here. DH can hardly stand working with the people here and he's so sick of his shop. He has put down VA and FL on his dream sheet as well, but the chances going to those bases are like pulling teeth. Elmendorf might have a better chance. A guy that DH used to work with had it on his dream sheet and got sent to Elmendorf. So lucky for DH, he can get into contact with the other guy to see if there are any openings. And if there is, we might just get lucky. Then again, they are so under manned right now in his shop that they need all the people they can get, so that could hurt our chances going to Elmendorf as well.

DH talked to his flight chief about maybe doing a special duties assignment of some kind, and the flight chief told DH that he wouldn't sign for it and he was gonna see about him working on a different side of the age shop. That's how desperate they are trying to keep people around. DH is thinking about doing his 1 yr in Korea, cuz from there it would be almost a guarantee that we could go to Elmendorf, provided there are openings. That job listing thing you were talking about, that's how he found out about the position for teaching. Wanna know whats weird though...he was looking at the job listing and Korea wasn't even listed on there. So he might not even be able to do Korea right now. Our deployment rate has dropped a lot to. Normally there are 2 or 3 people who go on a deployment in Jan, May and Sept each year. So far, no one has gone on a deployment yet this year, and if someone was gonna go this month, they would have gone already. 3 guys just came back from over seas, so if someone was gonna go, they would have gotten there before those 3 came back home.

So its almost like we are stuck and cant find a way out. DH is gonna get into contact with the guy in Elmendorf. And all we can really do is take it from there and hope for the best.

You are wrong about this. It really should be your choice too. Thankfully my DH has made it a point throughout the years to make sure that I am happy. If my living situation is good, then he is good.

I think an Alaska assignment would be fantastic. I have only ever heard wonderful things about them. We just moved back from the states from England. We were there for 6 years, and I have to say we had the best time ever. We traveled and traveled and traveled. It was wonderful!!

I know that they have something of a job opening list come out at certain times of the year. These are really helpful since they give you an idea of where your husband can go with the opening and such. Another option is he could always volunteer for a deployment or remote. These usually guarantee a change of station, then you have a little more control.

Kerri

 

[KerriSue]

It sounds like you are chasing every avenue, so that is good. Keep your head up, things can only get better.


kerri

 

[Disney8704]

Thanks! I keep getting a feeling something big and good is gonna come our way. I keep telling myself good things comes to those who wait. So hopefully my gut feeling will be right.

It sounds like you are chasing every avenue, so that is good. Keep your head up, things can only get better.


kerri

 

[Goofyzgurl]

wow, you guys are looking into everything. You said that he didn't see any remotes to Korea, was there remotes anywhere else? Also, I know his flight chief said he didn't want to sign off on a special duties assignment, but he can take his paperwork to the shirt and tell him that he already talked to the flight chief. But if he has anything negative in his PIF then I wouldn't go any further with it.

 

[Disney8704]

No there aren't any remotes to anywhere else, that I know of. Here at Dover in the AGE field they only deploy to Iraq, Balad and Korea and that's it. He doesn't have anything negative. They are just trying to keep people around as much as possible. In other words, they don't wanna send anyone on any deployments unless they have to. They have just lost a couple people due to different reasons. 1 got kicked out, 1 PCSed and 1 is about to go to Korea for a year.

There's only about a total of 30 people who work on both sides of the AGE shop. And about 20% of it is civilians, not active duty. They are just loosing to many people, and not enough are coming into this base. DH is sponsoring someone who will be arriving in a few days. But that's about it. So I highly doubt the first shirt would do much. The first shirt is on a rampage right now trying to get the AGE shop together and get it straightened out. So he has enough on his plate as it is. He knows what the situation is. He knows that there's to much work, and not enough people. As it is, they keep putting them on 12s and taking them off 12s and putting them back on 12s. They might even make it where they work 12 hr shifts, 6 on, 1 off. That's how backed up they are on the maintenance and everything.

But thanks for the advice and all. DH is still waiting to hear back from his friend who is in Anchorage. All we can really do right now is have him stay on top of it, and hope for the best.

 

[pilesoflaundry]

We lived there for 11 months and loved it. But could I do 5 years there, I don't think so. Also my husband is active army, not af and were only there while he was in school. I loved how quiet it was there but some people hate that there isn't much to do. Maintenance is much better on the afb compared to army housing IME. The housing is old but there is some new stuff. The school was pleasant but was a little behind other places we have lived.

My friend's husband was doing a mechanic teaching position there and he was miserable after a few months.

The not being able to take leave thing took it's toll and he was always stressed out preparing for class and dealing with young students. It seemed like he never really got a weekend or a break because he was preparing speeches or material.

 

[Disney8704]

Thanks for telling me your side. I will have to be sure to tell DH. Although, DH decided not to go with the teaching position anymore in Sheppard. But at least this way it will help ease his mind knowing he's not giving up something that's spectacular. Instead we are now trying out hardest to get to Elmendorf in Alaska. Last night however, DH got a message back from one of the guys that worked with DH and then PCSed to Elmendorf. Apparently they are in the process right now getting volunteers that are in DH's field to PCS to other bases from Elmendorf, due to a lot of their planes are leaving that base and going to other bases. So less work, less people they need.

Not sure about other branches, but this happens a lot to Air Force. They will get to many people, then they need a lot of people to PCS, then they realize they don't have enough people and need more people again. Here at Dover, we've been needing people for the past 5 years. So we are currently in that phase where we need people and then before long, they will need to get rid of people all over again. It's like a never ending cycle.

So in the mean time, DH is gonna try to get a special duties assignment here that will last for 4 years, and by then, Elmendorf will probably need more people again. If he doesn't get the special duties assignment, then he's just gonna stay on top of checking once in awhile about any openings for Elmendorf. He's also going to be checking to see if someone wants to do a base swap. If all else fails, then he's gonna put in to go to Korea for a year and from there hopefully we can get Elmendorf with the base of preference.

I really wanna go to Elmendorf. Believe me, when I heard that they are trying to get rid of people, I was very disappointed. The more I think about going to Elmendorf, the more I wanna go there. The past couple of days I've been doing a lot of research on Elmendorf and so far what I've read and talked to others about Elmendorf, it seems like a really awesome base to go to. We are eventually going to get there. Even if we have to wait to move there after DH retires

We lived there for 11 months and loved it. But could I do 5 years there, I don't think so. Also my husband is active army, not af and were only there while he was in school. I loved how quiet it was there but some people hate that there isn't much to do. Maintenance is much better on the afb compared to army housing IME. The housing is old but there is some new stuff. The school was pleasant but was a little behind other places we have lived.

My friend's husband was doing a mechanic teaching position there and he was miserable after a few months.

The not being able to take leave thing took it's toll and he was always stressed out preparing for class and dealing with young students. It seemed like he never really got a weekend or a break because he was preparing speeches or material.

 

[JDinCO]

Go for Elmendorf. I spent 4 years at Ft. Richardson, you will not regret it. My 1st 2 DD's were born at EAFB, at the old hospital.

 

[CF'er]

Congrats on getting your new assignment. At least you are moving to a base you both really want to be at.