Military Families
Husband's being moved to Japan..without me.
Im 12 weeks pregnant. About a month ago we found out that at the end of August my Marine husband is being PCS'ed to Japan...without me. We have no idea why I'm not on the orders and we were told that it will TRY to be changed...no guarantees. This is our first pregnancy. Im having a really hard time dealing with this knowing he will be absent for 2 years, so he will miss the first year and a half of our baby's life. I can't come to terms with this and can't understand why they are not putting me on his orders. Any advice or suggestions? I need help.
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Re: Husband's being moved to Japan..without me.
I have no idea if this is even possible, but it may be because of the pregnancy. I had to fill out like 6 forms saying that I wasn't pregnant before they would let me accompany DH to Egypt simply because they don't have the facilities to accommodate delivery here. Lo and behold I got pregnant nearly as soon as I stepped off the plane.
Talk to the USMC equivalent of AFPC (I don't know what the office is called) they should be able to shed some light. I've only ever heard of 12-18 month unaccompanied tours - not counting deployments. Had I not come to Egypt DH's tour would have been 18 months.
my dh was moved to japan without me but he only was allowed there for a year since I wasn't going. So the you not being on 2 year orders must have been an oops. I had a hard time with it as well. I hope things get better for you and those darned orders get changed
When you are assigned OCONUS there are certain restrictions on family members. Depending on the length and type of assignment the command will or will not sponsor family members. It is usually called a hardship or remote tour because you are seperated from your family.
The PP who mentioned your pregnancy may not be far off. OCONUS duty stations have limited medical resources. I.E. if you are a pregnant family member with your spouse at GTMO Cuba, you will be relocated to southern florida for the birth of your child - Why? Because while the base DOES have an GYN, they don't always have an OB/GYN available to provide to care.
It may not be the reason he rec'd unaccompanied orders, but it is possible. All of that being said - if it was an error they will need to correct it ASAP. So you can get your OCONUS screening completed.
Keep your chin up - grab those BGP's and hold on. I hope it works out for you.
It all depends on the post/mission/command. If he is in a sensitive position she will not be authorized to be there and if it is a short tour it would be a major waste of money.
IMO, sit tight and see what happens.
But that makes sense for GTMO. I know it is also the case for Bahrain, although that location is beginning to allow children - don't know about pregnancy and delivery though. Many OCONUS stations are great family locations and do have facilities for childbirth. DH is stationed in Italy right now and we have OB/GYN and Pediatrics. I have a friend who is a USMC wife and she delivered a baby in Japan, so my guess is that this was a mistake. I believe Japan is a pretty family-friendly duty station. To OP, I hope you get on the orders and it was all a mistake. 2 years seems like an inordinate amount of time for unaccompanied orders. I thought the norm was 1 year for unaccompanied.
Hi!!
I'm 12 weeks also and my husband is also going to Japan unaccompained. He got his orders before we got married though. He is going to be there a year, but we decided that instead of having them changed it would be best if he just did his 1 year alone. If I go over with him we will have to stay there for 3 years and we did not want to live there for 3 years and have our child born there with no family around. I will be on his orders for his next duty station. 
Orders are changing in Okinawa for Marines. 2 years unaccompanied and 3 years accompanied. Obviously this isn't a hard and fast rule and I am sure there are married SMs on one year tours.
Just wanted to add to LivinginOki's comment: Only those with SOFA status are allowed to stay in Okinawa. If you attempt to buy a one way ticket, the airline will not allow you on the plane unless they see that VISA in your passport (the SOFA status stamp). If you come on a round trip ticket without SOFA status, they will allow you stay for 90 days maximum. On the 91th day you risk being held by customs or jailed when you attempt to leave. I'm not kidding. You can ask for an extension but this is on a case by case basis.
Have your H talked to his command and if you are serious about getting the orders changed to accompanied. Keep in mind that while there are lots of pregnant women on Okinawa, that doesn't mean they can provide the correct care your child or you may need. As Okinawa is a small island and certain procedures are limited, they would need to fly you to Hawaii if anything dire arose. That being said, many women give birth here without any problems. You will need to go through medical clearance and an area clearance (this is Marine Corps only).
PS I normally post on MN, so sorry if you don't recognize the s/n.