Frequently Asked Questions: When will I receive an address to write my loved ones in Basic/Boot? You should receive an address anywhere between 1 and 3 weeks after arrival. This could be longer if there is some kind of delay at Reception. Will I receive phone calls? Every trainee who arrives to basic training will be provided an opportunity to make 1 Phone Call within the first 72 hours of their arrival here at our battalion. We dont dictate who they call, but theyll make one call to one select individual with which to tell them theyve arrived safely and that training is about to begin. Your loved one will get 2 Phone Calls during the entire 10 week training cycle. One within the first 72 hours and the second just prior to Family Day in Week 9. Also, please remember basing your expectations for a call on somebody elses experience may be disappointing. Remember they are an EARNED PRIVILEGED and NOT Guaranteed! When can I expect to see the first paycheck come in during BCT? This depends on when your spouse shipped out in relation to the cut off dates for bank drafts. You can usually expect a paycheck between 2 and 4 weeks after he/she leaves, but as long as 6-8 weeks if theres any complications. Soldiers will have an opportunity to do pay inquiries from this end. 2014 PAY CHART usarmybasic/about-the-army/army-pay-chart 2014 BAH RATES defensetravel.dod.mil/site/bahCalc.cfm When will I receive my ID and/or Tri-care information? Anywhere between 2 and 6 weeks after your spouse arrives at Basic/Boot, you will receive a form in the mail that you can then take to an ID card facility to have your ID made. Some facilities require a power of attorney for this. Obtaining your ID automatically enrolls you in Tricare Standard. If you wish to enroll in Tricare Prime, you may then fill out an enrollment form and mail it in/take it to your nearest Tricare facility to make the switch. ID card facilities can be located at the RAPIDS Site Locator dmdc.osd.mil/rsl/appj/site;jsessionid=6qyWQnLJznVxNjlQJlJn1mpFxGk56ly0RB7LTtnHkrh8SnY2K4XQ!-1611764546?execution=e1s1 Can we get married on Family Day/Graduation/Christmas EXODUS/leave after graduation/etc? As in will the service-member be allowed to, technically yes. The question is whether you will be able to find time to. Keep in mind that states have certain requirements to obtain a marriage license (blood tests and/or waiting period, whether or not both people must be present to apply), the service-member would need to be available during office hours to apply for the marriage license, if applicable, and the biggest issue being that no time off is ever guaranteed. You could make plans for a ceremony then have the service-member end up not being able to make it. Bottom line is to proceed with caution and dont get your hopes up, plus do lots of research. Can I live with my married service-member during their AIT portion of training? There is a standard minimum length of 26 weeks for a family to be able to move with their loved one while they are in school. However, individual commands have the power to change or totally eliminate this policy if they so choose. When the service-member receives their orders for school at the end of Basic, they should indicate whether or not they will be accompanied. When will the service-member receive orders for their first duty station? The Soldier usually gets their Official Orders near the end of AIT How do we arrange to move to our first duty station? How are we supposed to manage to be able to afford to move? There are a few options for relocating, and unless there are extenuating circumstances, the military will pay for any of them. The service-member can arrange for movers to come pick up your belongings (household goods, or HHG), you can move all your belongings (a DITY move), or you can have movers pick up some things and move some yourself (a partial DITY). The service-member will be briefed on his/her options and on the monetary allowances available for relocating. Do we have to live on or off post/base? Married service-members have the option of living off the economy and receiving Basic Housing Allowance (BAH) based on the duty zip code, or they may live in post/base housing if space allows. On post/base housing usually must be secured in person upon arrival at a new command. Can I relocate/live with my loved one if were not married? Typically, most commands will not let anybody lower than rank E-4 live outside the barracks, so it will depend on command policy. Even once the service-member gets permission to move out from the barracks, he/she will not receive full with dependent housing allowance if he/she isnt married. Also, if youre not married, the military will not pay to move your belongings. Therefore the decision to live together while not married often comes down to financial options, because some cant afford to move on their own dime or to live off post/base. So whats the deal with a Power of Attorney? A Power of Attorney (POA) is useful if your loved ones (spouse, parent, etc) will need to conduct any business on your part while you are in training or deployed. There is the standard general POA that can be used for most business. However, special POAs are needed for situations like interacting with certain military offices (such as finance), some bank transactions, etc. It is important to note that no institution is REQUIRED to accept a POA. The service-member can obtain a POA by going to JAG (legal office) with their military ID - the person receiving the POA does not need to be present. Whats the difference between Tricare Prime and Tricare Standard? Please read the Tricare Choices handbook located here:dmdc.osd.mil/rsl/owa/home tricare.mil/mybenefit/Download/Forms/Choices_Handbook.pdf army-fitness/ Can I go up to post and see my soldier while he is BCT, if we have a birth of a child, death etc? NO you can not go see your soldier, you will be turned away by the DSs and most likely your soldier WILL get into trouble for it. In the event of family emergency then you need to call the Red Cross and they will get the message to your soldier. Red Cross: 1 (877) 272-7337 Have the following: Full name Rank/rating Branch of service (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard) Social Security Account number or date of birth Military address Information about the deployed unit and home base unit (for deployed service members only. What happens to the ones who have failed to graduate? For those that have failed, 1 of 3 things will happen to them: 1) They will be seperated. This is for those Soldiers who are in extremely poor shape have have shown little improvement. 2) Several might be newstarted to another BN. This is for the Soldier who has shown some progress, is a good Soldier, needs more time, and is motivated to stay at BCT. 3) Several will go to the Fort Jackson Fitness Training Unit (FTU) [Its a sub-unit of the 120th Reception BN]. This is for Soldiers who are close, are good Soldiers, can likely pass their APFT, and have met all requirements for graduation. At the FTU, Soldiers get 3 weeks of nothing but PT and then, if they pass they go on to AIT. *Sorry, its not quite a cookie-cutter solution because a lot of the decision comes down to the DS and the company COCs (Chain of Commands) opinion of the Soldier, the Soldiers potential, and the Soldiers attitude. So each PT failure will be looked at on a case-by-case to see which of the 3 options they fit in. ***Unfortunately, in all 3 cases (and for anyone else who has not met the requirements for graduation) they are not afforded the privileges of Family Day and Graduation activities, passes or visitations.*** How about Graduation Letter & information packets? Graduation Letters are mailed out around week 5 (BLUE PHASE). We fund one letter for each Soldier;They choose who it gets mailed to. It includes the graduation date & activities, a schedule, information about parking and/or lodging, and any other information according to command preference/branch specifics. Receiving a Graduation Letter has nothing to do with a Soldiers potential for Graduating. This is NOT a confirmation that your loved one is graduating - if there are any problems, though, they (the servicemember) will be told to contact you to let you know, in which they will be given the opportunity to inform loved ones via a phone call. Soldiers could be in good standing all the way up until Graduation Day and then do something stupid. We personally ensure that every Soldier calls his / her Family if theyre not graduating. How about AIT, when do they have to report and any passes given to them after graduation? SITs may have a later AIT report date, but they are briefed when they have to report & they are all shipped out by Friday(non-POV), the day after graduation. They normally wait it out until its time for them to officially start AIT classes. Similar to BCT reception. Any pass request are all at AIT COC discretion. A TYPICAL DAY at BCT for your soldier... remember that not all days are like this though, some are much longer with much more training. 0500 Wake-up (Wake up and perform personal morning tasks. For males, shaving is mandatory every morning.) 0530 Physical Training (PT) Line up in company area, perform morning physical training (calisthenics and running). 0630 Breakfast (Pretty self explanatory)…. EAT! 0830 Training Begin the day’s scheduled training exercises. (Go to the range, obstacle course, road march, whatever the training is for that day) 1200 Lunch 1300 Training: Continue the day’s training schedule. 1700 Dinner 1800 Drill Sergeant time: Time for drill sergeants to talk to the recruits about any subject they may think requires attention. Mail call is also performed during this time. 2030 Personal Time: Time for recruits to engage in personal activities, such as writing letters, doing laundry, showering, or simply relaxing. Recruits may also catch up on platoon duties during this time, such as barracks cleaning or wall locker organization. 2130 Lights out- GO TO SLEEP!! If a family emergency arises and a Soldier is needed at home or simply needs to be informed, contact your local Red Cross Chapter. The Red Cross will contact the Soldier’s unit and make appropriate notifications and arrangements. The American Red Cross 24-hour emergency contact number is 1-877-272-7337.
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 12:10:58 +0000
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