Military Families
1st PCS - ? about cars
Hi ladies! I mostly lurk on here and have a question for you experts 
)
We are PCSing to Ft Bliss in El Paso and we're currently in Memphis. Its about an 18 hour drive. Since our twins nurse every 2 hours and the feedings take about 30 mins, we were plannning on shipping our two cars and rent an RV so we won't have to make as many stops. I was searching Goggle this morning and from what I read the Army won't ship cars because we're doing a CONUS move.
So how does the whole shipping cars/driving to the new station work? Any suggestions? We also have 2 other children (4 & 2), plus pets (2 dog2 & 2 cats). I was really excited about doing the RV thing as that would allow me to take care of the boys without stopping all the time.
TIA!
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Re: 1st PCS - ? about cars
True. They will not pay for you to ship a car for a CONUS move. Start looking up shipping your cars, unless you know some friends/family who may be willing to drive them down for you. If you look in the FAQ thread at the top of the page there may be some PCS advice in there for shipping cars. Sorry I can't help more. :
Side note. I love Memphis. And Nashville and well the whole TN/KY area. We hope to make Nashville our forever home some day. Jealous you live there.
CJ 05/29/2013
Hmm that's odd...the Navy pays to ship one car no matter if it's stateside or not.
Edit: After reading more comments below mine stating that the "Military" won't ship cars stateside I just have to say that's not true. I think it depends where you are because DH had his car shipped by the Navy from San Diego to Miami back in 2005 for FREE and we are having our car again shipped from Lemoore to Jacksonville this Sept. for FREE. We have to either sell our other car or pay to ship it our self but they definitely covered at least 1.
Also if you have a motorcycle they ship it for free but is added into your household goods weight.
OP I would call your house hold goods office and ask them what exactly they will and will not cover as far as shipping stuff.
PPs are right, the military will not pay to ship your cars.
In your shoes, I would have DH drive with the 4 year-old (and maybe the 2 year-old, though probably not) and stay behind for a couple of days until he gets to El Paso. Then I'd fly with the twins (and maybe the two year-old, though the idea of flying solo with 3 kids is already giving me anxiety for you).
I'd either ask a family member or friend to drive the second car with YH (and buy them a plane ticket back from whence they came) or pay to ship the second car.
Ditto this. I've done the TN to El Paso drive, and it's miserable. If a family member can fly with you, I'd take advantage of their help.
Here is the link to the legal authority for POV shipment is 10 USC 2634(h), 10 USC 2634, and 37 USC 406(h).
POVs in conjunction with many overseas assignments (and, of course, can ship them back to the CONUS, upon completion of the assignment). The military services can apply restrictions on this entitlement. For example, for assignments to Korea, military members must be "command sponsored" (allowed to be accompanied by family members), or must be in the grade of E-7 or above, in order to ship a vehicle.
Members may also be authorized shipment for a replacement POV during any 4-year period, while assigned overseas.
Members are also authorized mileage reimbursement when driving the vehicle to the authorized port for shipment, and when picking up the vehicle from the authorized receiving port.
There is only limited authority for POV shipment within CONUS. Shipment within the CONUS is authorized only when medically unable to drive, homeport change, or not enough time to drive.
*Now that does not mean that a base Command could not find money to assist with the shipment of a POV within CONUS. But the odds, given the current fiscal uncertainty, are slim.
Thanks for all the responses and suggestions ladies!
We are doing a DITY move and DH told me this morning we need to have a friend/family member help us with our drive. Since we don't live anywhere near either, we're going to have to fly someone out here to do the drive with us. :-/ Now we just need to find a volunteer. Everyone either works or has small children.
I hope for the next PCS we'll be in a better finacial place and be able to just pay to have our cars shipped.
I don't think that renting an RV is a good idea. DH and I had an RV pre-kids, so I know a bit about them. Car seats can only be installed on seats that are parallel to the front of the vehicle. Considering you need to install four car seats, that limits the kind of RV that you can rent. An RV is still a moving vehicle. If you wouldn't pull the kids out of their car seats to nurse in your car, you shouldn't do it in an RV.
I think you should fly. One way tickets on Southwest are usually pretty reasonable and you can add the cost to your travel claim. It could very well be cheaper than renting an RV, especially with the cost of gas. We did a DITY move with a 17 month old and a 2 week old. DH drove the UHaul, with the two dogs and my car behind it, from Norfolk to San Diego. I flew with the two kids.
The Navy is the only branch, to my understanding, that gives you the choice to fly or drive. But other branches make you drive, so either ship your cars which will be VERY expensive or you will need to drive and just take frequent stops, it will make the journey much longer but that may be what you do!
Or one other option is to ship/sell one car, then to tow the other behind the RV and do like you planned...
Good Luck! we just did a VA to CA driving move Feb. 2011.
Started TTC in 2006, LOTS of trying, and trying, and 7 rounds of IVF with 13 embryos, 2 perfect little boys and 5 loses....
All finished with babies, started to make diet changes, Keto, to be MORE for my kids, lost 30 pounds, still going, and 3 months in, I had a natural cycle, and then ovulated... Hubs and I are going to see what happens now... Maybe a natural pregnancy? After everything we have been through? Or just a return to normal hormones? We shall see what the future holds!
Baby Dust To All!!!