BOLC with husband and two

[Sayac]

Hello!

My husband is going to BOLC this January, and our two young kids and I are planning on going with him. I know it's rare, but I've talked to a good number of others who have done it. Most of those I've talked to were there for more than 6 months and ended up in normal housing, but we will be there for 5 months. We're not sure what to expect until we get closer to our BOLC date when it comes to housing, but I thought I'd try and reach out and see what information I can get here. If anyone has specific info or experience with housing for a situation like ours, we'd really appreciate it!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Capt MJ]

Hello!

My husband is going to BOLC this January, and our two young kids and I are planning on going with him. I know it's rare, but I've talked to a good number of others who have done it. Most of those I've talked to were there for more than 6 months and ended up in normal housing, but we will be there for 5 months. We're not sure what to expect until we get closer to our BOLC date when it comes to housing, but I thought I'd try and reach out and see what information I can get here. If anyone has specific info or experience with housing for a situation like ours, we'd really appreciate it!

Thanks in advance!

If you’re new to military spouse life, one of the first steps is to browse through the host military installation website. Look at the tabs at the top - there will usually be a Newcomers tab, a Services tab, and others with plenty of info on housing. Here’s an example for Ft. Lee, VA, home to 3 branch schools:
http://www.lee.army.mil/

- You can always call housing and ask. This cycle of new officers/young families/school pipeline/housing has been going on for years and years.

- Search Facebook for a spouse/family page for the BOLC/Base of interest. You can always learn the ropes from those just ahead of you.

- Search here on SAF. These threads pop up every year. I just did a search - here’s an example:
https://www.serviceacademyforums.com/index.php?threads/housing-during-bolc.36619/

And no doubt others will pop up with insights...

 

[Pima]

I am not sure about the Army, but for the AF, you cannot get on base housing unless it is considered a PCS. PCS's are 6 months or longer.

As an AF wife of a now retiree, I wouldn't go for multiple reasons.
1. Finding housing off base can be exhausting.
~ If you decide to go, look into www.militarybyowner.com This site is great because they do rentals too. Plus, since they are military members that own the home, the houses are typically in an area that military members reside.
~~ IE at Elmendorf/Ft Rich, military members that rent or own jokingly call Eagle River the base housing of the North (North of the base/post) Your car breaks down and someone on your street or around the corner can take you to work. This was also true when we were at Bragg and Seymour Johnson. Many of these developments can have 30%+ that are military.
2. Imagine packing and repacking within 5 -6 months.
~ Think about it. Packing out will take at least 2 days. You may have to wait a couple of days to get your household goods delivered. Boxes and boxes of dishes, linens, clothes, etc. will be delivered. You probably have about 7K pounds to pack out and unpack. Look around your home. Start looking at taking down everything off the walls, and spackling the nail holes. Look in your fridge because unless you can move there door to door, all of that will be pitched because you can't take it with you. Depending on the mover, they may say you can't take any liquids, open dried good or spices too. That includes everything from shampoo/soap/olive oil to oregano to Captain Crunch cereal.
~~ Repeat 5 months later. That is a lot of work or money if you have to replace everything.
3. He will be very busy with BOLC.
~ If you live close to home, spend time with the family and make memories. You will be traveling the world soon enough.
4. Socialization.
~ Many spouses do not go because of points 1,2, and 3.
5. Do you work?
~ Finding a job for 5 or 6 months might be hard.
6. How old are your children?
~ School, pre-school age? They have friends and moving to them is upsetting. You move them for this TDY, and now they have to make new friends all over again. If they are young they bounce back, but they don't understand why within a yr they have to do it again. Keeping them in their schools with their friends makes it an easier transition in my opinion since it is only 1x instead of 2x. That and see number 2 where they want a certain toy or video while you are packing and unpacking...it could be 2-3 weeks in boxes during transit.

In the 20 yrs he served, I went twice for a 5 month or less assignment (TDY in AF terms), both times we had no kids. Once the kids were born, I never went. Reasons why are what I listed above, but the top ones were #4. Spouses didn't go because of #1-3. The 2nd was #6.

I hope this helps. In the end you need to do what is good for you, your marriage and your family. This was just my personal experience.

 

[txpotato]

Which BOLC? Son #2 is currently at IBOLC (Ft Benning) with his new wife (no kids). It concerned me at first because I was concerned it would be a distraction. Quite the contrary. Her presence has been such a blessing to him. And finding housing was a breeze. They were quite used to short-term leases.

 

[Pima]

That's the thing txpotato. I went with DH when we had no kids. I would hope that he looks back and sees it as a blessing (especially since I got pregnant with DS1). However, there is a difference when you have kids.

We do not know the kids ages. I have a grandbaby that is 20 mos old. They lived with us while our DS was lately deployed. We recently relived what life is like with a toddler...waking up in the middle of the night because they are teething, screaming at 8 pm for an hr because they don't want to go to bed. I don't disagree it should be easy to find housing, but how about coming home after a loonggggg day and hearing the baby cry in the middle of the night for an hour or so due to whatever reason when you need to get up at 5 a.m?
~ I also don't know BOLC and what it is like, but if they need to do academics, and that is part of how they rank out of the school, than think about that impact on them also.

As I stated earlier, I did go when we had no kids. If you look at my posts you will see me referring to Alamogordo as OH MY GOD NO Alamogordo. Yet, I loved every second of being there. I also went to Mt. Home Idaho (50+ miles to Boise) for his schoolhouse where I got pregnant with DS1. Loved it there too.

I stopped when we had kids because I knew it was easier for me to be a single parent than trying to keep a 3 and 1 yr old quiet while Daddy was studying or needed to sleep since he had to be up by 4:30 a.m. Or even more packing up cribs and high chairs and unpacking them 2x in a 6 month period. That does not include loading up the car with their must have toys, videos, setting up cable/internet for the TV etc.
~ DIL that stayed with us with the grandbaby and 2 dogs, drove from TX to VA in a small SUV. Space bags were her best friends on the way here. After 6 months she drove away with a rooftop carrier too because when she arrived the baby was 14 mos old in the winter, and left in the summer and bigger sizes. She was not about to throw the clothes away so she took them back to her house in TX, hence now needing a rooftop carrier.
~~ Just saying when you have kids these are things to think about if you decide to do this option.

The fact is in the end of the day, the OPs life will be filled with long deployments, this is part of the military. They have to decide which path to take on their military journey.

 

[Sayac]

Fort Sill in Okla

Which BOLC? Son #2 is currently at IBOLC (Ft Benning) with his new wife (no kids). It concerned me at first because I was concerned it would be a distraction. Quite the contrary. Her presence has been such a blessing to him. And finding housing was a breeze. They were quite used to short-term leases.

Fort Sill Oklahoma for ADA. What sort of lease were they able to find?

 

[Sayac]

I am not sure about the Army, but for the AF, you cannot get on base housing unless it is considered a PCS. PCS's are 6 months or longer.

As an AF wife of a now retiree, I wouldn't go for multiple reasons.
1. Finding housing off base can be exhausting.
~ If you decide to go, look into www.militarybyowner.com This site is great because they do rentals too. Plus, since they are military members that own the home, the houses are typically in an area that military members reside.
~~ IE at Elmendorf/Ft Rich, military members that rent or own jokingly call Eagle River the base housing of the North (North of the base/post) Your car breaks down and someone on your street or around the corner can take you to work. This was also true when we were at Bragg and Seymour Johnson. Many of these developments can have 30%+ that are military.
2. Imagine packing and repacking within 5 -6 months.
~ Think about it. Packing out will take at least 2 days. You may have to wait a couple of days to get your household goods delivered. Boxes and boxes of dishes, linens, clothes, etc. will be delivered. You probably have about 7K pounds to pack out and unpack. Look around your home. Start looking at taking down everything off the walls, and spackling the nail holes. Look in your fridge because unless you can move there door to door, all of that will be pitched because you can't take it with you. Depending on the mover, they may say you can't take any liquids, open dried good or spices too. That includes everything from shampoo/soap/olive oil to oregano to Captain Crunch cereal.
~~ Repeat 5 months later. That is a lot of work or money if you have to replace everything.
3. He will be very busy with BOLC.
~ If you live close to home, spend time with the family and make memories. You will be traveling the world soon enough.
4. Socialization.
~ Many spouses do not go because of points 1,2, and 3.
5. Do you work?
~ Finding a job for 5 or 6 months might be hard.
6. How old are your children?
~ School, pre-school age? They have friends and moving to them is upsetting. You move them for this TDY, and now they have to make new friends all over again. If they are young they bounce back, but they don't understand why within a yr they have to do it again. Keeping them in their schools with their friends makes it an easier transition in my opinion since it is only 1x instead of 2x. That and see number 2 where they want a certain toy or video while you are packing and unpacking...it could be 2-3 weeks in boxes during transit.

In the 20 yrs he served, I went twice for a 5 month or less assignment (TDY in AF terms), both times we had no kids. Once the kids were born, I never went. Reasons why are what I listed above, but the top ones were #4. Spouses didn't go because of #1-3. The 2nd was #6.

I hope this helps. In the end you need to do what is good for you, your marriage and your family. This was just my personal experience.

Thank you, this was very informative and helpful. Our kids arent in school yet (oldest is yet to turn 3) and I don't work currently, so I feel stuck between feeling this is doable and not. I will search out more specific information about his Bolc, thanks again.

 

[Sayac]

Hello!

My husband is going to BOLC this January, and our two young kids and I are planning on going with him. I know it's rare, but I've talked to a good number of others who have done it. Most of those I've talked to were there for more than 6 months and ended up in normal housing, but we will be there for 5 months. We're not sure what to expect until we get closer to our BOLC date when it comes to housing, but I thought I'd try and reach out and see what information I can get here. If anyone has specific info or experience with housing for a situation like ours, we'd really appreciate it!

Thanks in advance!

If you’re new to military spouse life, one of the first steps is to browse through the host military installation website. Look at the tabs at the top - there will usually be a Newcomers tab, a Services tab, and others with plenty of info on housing. Here’s an example for Ft. Lee, VA, home to 3 branch schools:
http://www.lee.army.mil/

- You can always call housing and ask. This cycle of new officers/young families/school pipeline/housing has been going on for years and years.

- Search Facebook for a spouse/family page for the BOLC/Base of interest. You can always learn the ropes from those just ahead of you.

- Search here on SAF. These threads pop up every year. I just did a search - here’s an example:
https://www.serviceacademyforums.com/index.php?threads/housing-during-bolc.36619/

And no doubt others will pop up with insights...

Thank you for the information! I will start researching.

 

[emwvmi01]

Sayac,
As someone who has been through and taught BOLC I would encourage you to go if possible. I know for Sill and Benning you can get on post housing which honestly would be your best option. People talk about BOLC being academically intensive but I think it really comes down to time management and the more mature folks can figure that out pretty quickly. My arguments in favor is that professional military education is about the most predictable time you get as opposed to the race of the LT/CPT years when it is deployments, field exercises and training center rotations. BOLC will involve field time but most weekends are free and if you're on post he can get home between PT and Class and maybe for lunch. Additionally, when I taught FA BOLC it seemed the LT wives had a pretty good cohort for play groups and outings. Finally for a lot of the courses it says 4-5 months but there are also follow on schools so you can be at the post for 7 months to a year for the infantry officers so that is another consideration.

 

[Lakelife15]

Hello!

My husband is going to BOLC this January, and our two young kids and I are planning on going with him. I know it's rare, but I've talked to a good number of others who have done it. Most of those I've talked to were there for more than 6 months and ended up in normal housing, but we will be there for 5 months. We're not sure what to expect until we get closer to our BOLC date when it comes to housing, but I thought I'd try and reach out and see what information I can get here. If anyone has specific info or experience with housing for a situation like ours, we'd really appreciate it!

Thanks in advance!

Hi!! I will be in the same boat this upcoming year and was wondering how it ended up working for you guys? Where did you end up staying? How was it managing course material with family? Any problems you ran into?

 

[AROTC-dad]

Hi!! I will be in the same boat this upcoming year and was wondering how it ended up working for you guys? Where did you end up staying? How was it managing course material with family? Any problems you ran into?

@Sayac has not been on the forum for 11 months, so it is unlikely they will see your post.

You may be better off starting a new thread on the topic and clarify which BOLC you or your spouse is attending, as some are TDY and some are PCS. Conditions also vary by the location of the BOLC.

My DS is currently at Armor BOLC at Ft. Benning, and as active duty it is a PCS. He is single, but several of his classmates are married and have spouses present. They live off post at an apartment complex that his primarily geared toward officers and is family friendly.

 

[Montana State Army ROTC]

TDY- no spouses
PCS- spouses authorized