PCS Tips for Hawaii

Jcleppe

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Feb 10, 2010
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Not sure if this is the right place to post this question so forgive me.

Older son just found out this morning that he will be assigned to Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. Has anyone here PCS's to Hawaii before and have any tips I might pass along to him. Not entirely sure what Unit he will be with, he is a OH-58 Pilot. ( I should clarify, Soon to be OH-58 Pilot providing he finishes flight school and gets his wings)

Thanks for any information.

Oh, and he has already heard the "Your going to get Island fever" line.
 
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Jcleppe,

You should probably move this to life after the academy. I know there is a Mom of a Marine on this site that has a child in Hawaii right now.

Hawaii is a great assignment, it is considered an overseas assignment like AK. The one thing to remember is everything will be more expensive, especially cars.

My only advice would be if he has a beater car, he might want to buy a newer car before he leaves. Check with TMO to see how long it will take the car to be shipped and the ports he can ship the car from.

The other thing is to make sure he really thinks about what he puts on the truck and what he sends as his hold baggage. I know people that didn't put in their mind the climate change and it can take a month or so to get there. Truck to boat to post.

Also have him check out the TLFs, how long he is allowed to stay in them.
 
Not sure if this is the right place to post this question so forgive me.

Older son just found out this morning that he will be assigned to Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. Has anyone here PCS's to Hawaii before and have any tips I might pass along to him. Not entirely sure what Unit he will be with, he is a OH-58 Pilot. ( I should clarify, Soon to be OH-58 Pilot providing he finishes flight school and gets his wings)

Thanks for any information.

Oh, and he has already heard the "Your going to get Island fever" line.

The question is: are you going to get Island fever?
 
Off topic

I know a parent that bought a rental property in Hawaii because they were bitten with the island fever bug when visiting them.

They rented it out to cover the mtg., and when they visited them they had their own place.

It was a win/win. They actually kept the property for about 10 yrs, and it became the family vacation place every yr. where all of their kids would come and stay. All the kids had to pay for was the airfare to get to Hawaii.
 
My older DS is a navy nuke and currently stationed in Hawaii. The military was great with moving him and his wife's belongings. A moving company actually came in and packed up all of their belongings and shipped them to Hawaii where they were placed in storage until their housing was available. The military will only ship 1 vehicle free (based on weight of vehicle), but large SUVs and trucks which are over the weight limit will cost you some money out of your pocket. If you're planning on buying a new vehicle, be sure to buy it on the mainland and ship it...car prices are higher in Hawaii because of limited supply. Google MyPOV and you'll find the website about shipping your vehicle. They have a whole list of rules and regulations about shipping the vehicle such as a nearly empty gas tank, no personal belongings in the vehicle, etc. His wife sold her car before they left and DS shipped his vehicle at the start of 1 month leave. He was able to ship his vehicle from the St Louis POV which was an hour from our home. It took 5 weeks for his vehicle to get there.
 
Both my brother and I were stationed at Schofield and my sister is married to a Kamehameha grad and has lived in Hawaii for almost 25 years now. As long as you love the beach- Hawaii is a great place to live and he should love it and you should love visiting him, and they have invested a ton of money in Schofield/Wheeler over the last 10 years. But be prepared for sticker shock on anything off post. Don't bring Fido if he has one, as the dog winds up in quarantine for a long time at your expense. Other than that- be prepared to have a good tour! There are a lot worse places than Hawaii to find yourself for your first tour:thumb: The state appreciates soldiers- you get great Kamaaina rates for most things. Get away from the post, get to the outer islands and above all-meet the locals and he will have a tremendous tour.

hawaiian_shaka_symbol_state_flag_artistic_stickers-p217030760894583357bh8r1_400.jpg
 
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Not sure if this is the right place to post this question so forgive me.

Older son just found out this morning that he will be assigned to Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. Has anyone here PCS's to Hawaii before and have any tips I might pass along to him. Not entirely sure what Unit he will be with, he is a OH-58 Pilot. ( I should clarify, Soon to be OH-58 Pilot providing he finishes flight school and gets his wings)

Thanks for any information.

Oh, and he has already heard the "Your going to get Island fever" line.


Nice:thumb:
 
I did a tour at K-Bay. Great location. It was the first duty station where ALL of our family wanted to come visit us. As others have stated, be prepared for the sticker shock of post.

During our PCS we were allotted the following:

60 days of TLA.
4 checked bags per person
we sold our car and leased one there.
everything was sent in two shipments ( sorry I do not remember the weight limits): Household Goods (HHG) and Unaccompanied Baggage (UB)

Thanks tgp and everyone else, I'll pass along the info.

Son metioned they get a COLA, he looked it up and said it should help some with increased prices. Being single will help a bit as well. Two of his flight school buddies are going as well, they're already talking about sharing a house, now they just need to start looking.
 
Respect for the Locals

Common courtesy and respect for the locals go a long way. If you are not familiar with Island culture there's a lot to learn. So many military folks go to Hawaii and have little to no interaction with the kamaainas - being content to stay in the security of the base - maybe venturing out once in a while to go shopping or to the beach. Work on your tan...get some flip flops.....learn a little pidgin..lose the knee socks! If you approach it with an open mind and are not afraid to try new things...a tour in Hawaii can be a wonderful experience.
 
Not sure if this is the right place to post this question so forgive me.

Older son just found out this morning that he will be assigned to Schofield Barracks in Hawaii. Has anyone here PCS's to Hawaii before and have any tips I might pass along to him. Not entirely sure what Unit he will be with, he is a OH-58 Pilot. ( I should clarify, Soon to be OH-58 Pilot providing he finishes flight school and gets his wings)

Thanks for any information.

Oh, and he has already heard the "Your going to get Island fever" line.

AWESOME first post. :thumb: I imagine you plan to visit early and often especially if he ends up sharing a place with his buddies... there should be floor space at least. :cool:
 
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