Posted: 2/17/2009 9:56:20 AM EDT
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OK...having some PS troubles here and need some help.
basically I am PCS'ing from fort benning GA to Eglin AFB, FL. I amalready cleared from my unit and post as I am TDY-enroute. I am TDY to a school in redstone alabama, and my family is still in govt quarters at Benning via an exception to policy. the problem I am having is that the housing office Eglin wont allow you to even get on their active waiting list for housing if I am signed for govt quarters elsewhere. They tell me I cant go down early and reserve housing either. Their only plan of action for me is to clear my housing here, and show up at eglin with 4 kids and a uhaul and expect a two to three week wait on housing. My current quarters are commerically run, while Eglin housing is military run. This means they cant talk to each other and help me resolve this issue, and I also will be having to pay a months rent out of pocket for one of them until my BAH unfucks itself. the 1SG of the unit I am assigned to at Eglin has told me personally that all married soldiers will live in govt quarters, off-post housing is not authorized. So I am forced to resort to having to deal with this housing issue. to add to this gaggle I am not able to take permissive TDY upon signing in to the unit at Eglin, I will have to take it upon signing out at redstone. So when I go to sign for the house I will not even be formally attached to post. so WTF am I supposed to do? |
| I'm unclear on.....are you PCSing.....or are you TDY? You're TDY in route to school then moving on to Elgin? If you're TDY to a school.....wouldn't your family be staying at your previous duty station until you finish said school and actually move to your next duty station at which time you'd be authorized housing and gov. move? |
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Quoted:
I'm unclear on.....are you PCSing.....or are you TDY? You're TDY in route to school then moving on to Elgin? If you're TDY to a school.....wouldn't your family be staying at your previous duty station until you finish said school and actually move to your next duty station at which time you'd be authorized housing and gov. move? I am TDY enroute, which means I had to clear my unit and post to go to phase one of the school, which is TDY at redstone, now I have completed it and am moving on to phase two, which is a PCS move to eglin. my family stayed at benning for the TDY phase, now I am trying to move them to eglin for the PCS portion. they are telling me that I cant sign for a house until I clear my previous quarters, yet they wont even let me reserve one. I was just told that I dont even go on the active waiting list until I am cleared from quarters at benning and am signed into post. this leaves me with no option but to show up with a UHAUL and my family, and getting told to hang around because a house might open up in a few weeks. Ive been told that a good portion of the govt quarters in eglin are condemmed, and the rest need serious maintenance before they can be taken. that was also the impression I got from the people at housing, who told me they dont have enough houses in rentable shape. The 1SG of the school I am attending confirmed this to me, but still denied any requests to live off-post. |
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You are in a no-win situation. You should clear the housing ASAP so your spouse can get you on the waiting list. Young soldiers often make this mistake thinking it will be easier to just request a waiver until the TDY enroute is over.
I can't understand what your 1SG's problem with letting you reside off post, but until you can get on the waiting list, you have no baraining power. What does he expect you to do while you are on the waiting list, reside in the BEQ and your wife stay in the local economy. There is always the IG to help you out. If there is no available housing on Englin you should get a stamp from the housing office allowing you to reside off post until gov quarters become available. GL Jay-R |
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You are in a no-win situation. You should clear the housing ASAP so your spouse can get you on the waiting list. Young soldiers often make this mistake thinking it will be easier to just request a waiver until the TDY enroute is over. I can't understand what your 1SG's problem with letting you reside off post, but until you can get on the waiting list, you have no baraining power. What does he expect you to do while you are on the waiting list, reside in the BEQ and your wife stay in the local economy. There is always the IG to help you out. If there is no available housing on Englin you should get a stamp from the housing office allowing you to reside off post until gov quarters become available. GL Jay-R I was thinking the same, but I am also wondering where they will stay when they clear until they get housing? its going to be a mighty expensive venture on my part just to prove there is no housing available. I forget how many days in a motel or guest house they reimburse, but I know it isnt many. the real problem is how I am going to turn in the UHAUL? I pretty much have to do a DITY move because transpo wont even talk to my wife about a government move without final orders. my orders have a projected date on them and were just to clear my unit. the dates dont match up. I wont be getting final orders until probably the day I leave. |
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I almost forgot one thing. If you pay a recognized company (recognized by the Benning Housing Office) to clean your quarters that you are in I believe they will stamp your papers as cleared thus allowing you to get on the Eglin waiting list.
This is how Fort Drum would work with soldiers, it may cost you a few hundred bucks but may be worth it in your situation. I just retired Dec 08 so I know a lil about helping soldiers, unlike your 1SG who seems to be the "new" Pepsi generation "norm" To answer your above question, Temp Lodging may be available and the rent is based on rank. (Not sure how the AFB does it, thats how the Army is) Jay-R |
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Here's a lil help:
Eglin Inn Entrance Eglin AFB Lodging: Eglin Inn, 404 N 7th St, Valparaiso, FL 32542 Orientation: Eglin AFB is located in western Florida, along the coast of Florida's panhandle and about 7 miles northeast of Fort Walton Beach. Eglin AFB Map Lodging: There are 171 Visiting Officer’s Quarters units, 151 Visiting Airman’s Quarters units, and 88 one, two, and three-bedroom Temporary Lodging Facility units. Rooms are equipped with the usual amenities. Limited pet rooms available. Reservations: (850) 882-2639 or (850) 882-4534 DSN: 872-8761 Front Desk: (850) 882-8761 |
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Quoted:
I almost forgot one thing. If you pay a recognized company (recognized by the Benning Housing Office) to clean your quarters that you are in I believe they will stamp your papers as cleared thus allowing you to get on the Eglin waiting list. This is how Fort Drum would work with soldiers, it may cost you a few hundred bucks but may be worth it in your situation. I just retired Dec 08 so I know a lil about helping soldiers, unlike your 1SG who seems to be the "new" Pepsi generation "norm" To answer your above question, Temp Lodging may be available and the rent is based on rank. (Not sure how the AFB does it, thats how the Army is) Jay-R to be honest, I dont even need anything stamped. I already cleared housing on my clearing papers. housing here is civilian, military housing already stamped me when I cleared the unit back in november. They told me whatever I do is between me and the civilians that run post housing and has nothing to do with them. thats what kills me, I could actually pay out of pocket to the civilians at benning for a couple days in between but eglin housing says I have to be completely cleared. why it matters to them when its not military-run housing I dont know. shit, if I went down there, signed for a house, and told them I already cleared, would they even know any different because Im coming from civilian run housing and my clearing papers have already been stamped? BTW, thanks for the help guys! |
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How do they know you are not cleared then?
I wouldnt tell them anything else. Just call the temp lodging and get reservations there and then hit the housing office, show them the clearing papers and get on the waiting list. 2-3 weeks isnt that bad, in some places it is about a year. |
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How do they know you are not cleared then? I wouldnt tell them anything else. Just call the temp lodging and get reservations there and then hit the housing office, show them the clearing papers and get on the waiting list. 2-3 weeks isnt that bad, in some places it is about a year. they know because my wife called while Iw as in school to try and figure this out. I suppose I can just drive down there, get on the list, and go sign for it whenever one opens. I dont really have to be down there for three weeks, that might be enough time for a place to open up. The civilans are going to cut me a check at the end of the month for my unused BAH (its on allotment to them), I suppose they will return what I didnt use and I will end up paying out of pocket for the couple days I was signed in both places. |
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As poorly as people do their jobs, the minute your wife got off the phone with them they forgot all about the conversation. Remember they deal with a lot of people every day and have no way of keeping notes on you since you are not in their database. yeah, if they are even 10% as screwed up as the rest of this process I have nothing to worry about. thanks for the help, I think I am going to plan a little trip to get on the list. |
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Quoted: the 1SG of the unit I am assigned to at Eglin has told me personally that all married soldiers will live in govt quarters, off-post housing is not authorized. So I am forced to resort to having to deal with this housing issue. That's not the first sergeant's call - it depends on availability - it looks like http://www.eglin.af.mil/housing_privatization/ Eglin is going through privatization. Also it would only be required if they have alarge number of vacancies - and if that was the case you could go right in so call me skeptical. Call them Phone: (850) 882-5530 |
| Bottom line, if the housing office can't provide a house they will provide a statement of non-availability, yes even at an AFB. With a statement of non-availability then what your 1SG wants won't really matter at that point. However more likely is that your unit has something worked out with housing to move students in your situation to the top of the list and somehow there's a miscommunication. If your 1SG isn't willing to work with you, I think it might be time to see the CO. |
Isn't Eglin an AFB? Those "condemned" houses are probably top tier in the Army. You'll be living like you've never lived before, CSM style.   Dude, there's no way housing remembers your wife calling them. If they're anything like every other post housing, have no worries about that. Lots of post housing is like that. You can't get on the list until you sign into post....and then the list is 12-24 months long. I think its ridiculous the Army has privatized housing. They get away with murder.
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I called today and was told that 4BR houses are in short supply, and the ones they have available require 2-3 weeks of maintenance on them. It doesnt even matter since I cant get on the damn list until I sign in anyway, which will be after my permissive TDY...
The only thing I am really worried about is where to put my shit. I can get temporary quarters for the family, but I will have a full Uhaul I will have to return within a day or two of arriving. at best this situation leaves me with renting a storage unit, downloading all my shit, getting ANOTHER truck when housing is available, then moving it all once again. I still dont understand how I cant get permissive TDY once I sign in, and why i have to get it from my TDY station, which makes it almost pointless. I was told to just leave them at Benning and I could get barracks as a geographical bachelor and still keep my BAH, but once I am PCS'ed instead of on TDY my family will have no grounds to retain housing at benning. Just to make things even harder for you, the housing application for Eglin has to be filled out on a military computer with a CAC card. I dont even have access to a mil computer here, nor does my CAC have any permissions on it since I cleared the unit. I really appreciate the fact that they set the process up specifically so my wife couldnt deal with this for me. I really dont understand how they expect people to do this shit. 
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Are you at Redstone now? I have forgotten. Anyway the library or education office should have a computer with a CAC reader that you should be able to use. If you were closer to me you could put your HH stuff in my garage.
I believe if you have to put your items in temp storage you can get reimbursed when you submit your claim. I have done DITY moves but never used storage. The old statement of non availability should clear up the confussion in your 1SG's head. I dont even know him and already he's getting on my nerves. Sometimes 1SG's dont see the "big" picture until you face to face with him/ her so hang in there. Getting frustrated will only make things more difficult, try to relax. Remember moving is the most stressful time on a marriage so you and your wife need to support each other. I live a little south of Birmingham so if your passing though and would like lunch let me know. I am 12 minutes off I-65 Jay-R |
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Isn't Eglin an AFB? Those "condemned" houses are probably top tier in the Army. You'll be living like you've never lived before, CSM style. Dude, there's no way housing remembers your wife calling them. If they're anything like every other post housing, have no worries about that. Lots of post housing is like that. You can't get on the list until you sign into post....and then the list is 12-24 months long. I think its ridiculous the Army has privatized housing. They get away with murder.I'm actually getting a lawyer right now, well my wife is, because Picerne is trying to screw me out of $900. I hate those people, and will never voluntarily live on another Army Post. Ever. |
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^^ Yeah as an older soldier IMO the privatization of the Army housing will hurt recruiting once the word starts getting out. I only lived on Post Housing for 3 years out of my 25 years of service and that was in Okinawa. That was the high rise and had no problems, but the housing issues that have been going on with privatization is a whole different story. They treat soldiers like crap and even though they are "private contract" have no problem calling units with problems without trying to address the soldier first.
As PLTSGT I spent many hours going to soldiers homes to watch them cut the grass, rake leaves and police call. Jay-R |
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awesome, I was just told offline by some of the permanent party here that even though I submitted a leave form for permissive TDY they are just going to wait until the last minute, deny it, and hand me orders to report to eglin the next day. apparantly thats not uncommon.
while this hasnt happened yet and is pure speculation at this point, I will be totally fucked if they do this. |
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