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BLT20051
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If you have PCSed OCONUS
BLT20051
member
Can you provide me with some info that others might find helpful?
Did you ship your pets? How hard was it?
What about steps for getting a passport?
Preparing HHG for shipment?
Things for your LO to do on the long plane ride?
CJ 05/29/2013
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Re: If you have PCSed OCONUS
My experience has been an Army move to Germany. Take that for what it's worth--though, it has been since they implemented the requirement for those PCSing to Germany (except for Stuttgart) to take the Patriot Express from BWI to Ramstein.
Pets: Domestic animals are required to have a 15 digit microchip (most of those used in the US are not 15 digit). The animal must have the proper microchip and THEN a current rabies vaccination. This must be done at least a month (maybe more, not sure and my Internet is nearly dial-up slow as I'm hotspotting off of my cell phone) before traveling. The USDA certified health certificate needs to be done within 10 days of travel. What they don't state explicitly is that in some (many?) cases, the certificate must be sent to another city, to the state USDA office for certification. Don't wait until the last minute. And, at least the dual language English/German form is new. Our vet's office, which was familiar with the process was lost with the new form. They had to call USDA in Richmond for help.
Get a sturdy travel kennel for your pet. Make certain it has metal screws to attach the top and bottom. We sent two big bags of our dog's food in our unaccompanied baggage to ensure that we have enough until we find either a local source for his current food, or a time to find a suitable replacement (we are particular about what we feed him).
This is all that I can think of for pets. I'm going to hit "post" and then reply with another topic. . .
HHG: If you are able, ship your car early! It is less expensive to rent a car in the US than here in Germany. Plus, you will want a vehicle, be it your own or a rental, when you are living in lodging and dependent upon the shuttle bus and/or the kindness of others. We shipped ours five weeks before our move. It arrived about five days before we did.
We had three installments of our HHGs. The first is unaccompanied. These are your necessary items, the absolute basics. Include single sheet sets for all children and double sheets for a married couple for the loaner beds. Remember blankets, too! And towels. The basics vary from family to family. We had that go out about four weeks before our departure.
Next, to prepare, we weeded. And we sorted. And we purged. At least in Germany, most homes do not have built in closets. While our townhouse here is larger than our townhouse in Virginia, there is less storage. Plus, German appliances are smaller than those in the US. Your giant cookie sheets are likely NOT going to fit. My 9x13 glass casserole just fits in our oven. The voltages are different--leave behind all basics that plug in--like lamps, alarm clocks, small kitchen appliances--unless they are dual voltage. We brought our beloved Keurig coffee maker. We have had to buy a big, ugly transformer to be able to use it. New, the transformer costs about $200. We found a used one for $50. So, plan on bringing only your most beloved small appliances. The rest, store, sell or give away.
Our HHGs were picked up next. This is the one part that felt like a normal PCS--except nothing in our basement went with this shipment! As usual, watch the codes the movers use to record the condition of your items. They will mark your brand new kitchen table as dented and dinged, so that when they dent and ding it, they are not responsible!
Our last pick-up was our storage--or as they call it "non-temporary storage". The "you won't see it for YEARS" stuff. This included our washer and dryer and small kitchen appliances. We left our crystal behind. If you haven't used it since your last move, but don't have time to donate/sell/giveaway--store it. Don't haul it across an ocean.
Our original dates for HHG and Storage had us, basically, moving out of our place two days before we departed. In hindsight, our d-bag landlord did us a favor. He would not prorate our rent, so we moved our HHG and Storage days by 10 days. This meant we were done and out of our rental almost two weeks before we departed--allowing me time for a "farewell tour". I was able to spend time with friends without having to deal with moving out at the same time. In the end, it worked out well for us.
CJ 05/29/2013
If you are PCSing to Germany, coming through Ramstein--pack a snack, no, a meal, for when you land. We landed at 6:30am, local time. We did not get to our hotel (lodging) in Wiesbaden, until seven hours later. There are no restaurants in the Ramstein Air Base airport (that I saw, anyway). The USO provides some food, but none of it was appealing to me. The shuttle bus driver gave us the option, two hours into our ride to Wiesbaden, to stop for lunch. At that point, we all just wanted to get to our final destination. (The shuttle ride took nearly THREE hours as we went to two other posts. The direct drive time between Ramstein and Wiesbaden is about an hour.). Had I known what I know now, I'd have packed a TON more healthy snacks and a few more filling items. It was one of the longest days of my life.
And one more thing about the lovely shuttle ride. If you have a pet--it will be required to ride UNDER the bus. Yes, after enduring 9 hours in cargo, three more hours of waiting (still inside the kennel), ALL pets, even those who are itty-bitty and rode in the cabin on the plane, are treated to luxurious accommodations in the cargo hold of the bus. (Yes, that three hour bus ride. Can you tell that I'm still bitter after four weeks???) If y'all have a sponsor, beg and plead for him/her to, at least, come pick-up your pet. We were told that we had to ride the bus, we could not be picked up by our sponsor. Oh--and as the highest ranking service member on the bus, my DH was given the job of being "in charge". He had to sign the freaking bus driver onto one of the bases.
Sorry BLT, this has turned into a bit of a rant.