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PCSing to Wiesbaden
Dh just re enlisted. DD and I have always stayed in our home town, close to my family. But for the first time, we are going to be with DH. He just got stationed at Wiesbaden, Germany. We are excited about this. So we have never lived on post, or moved a POV or shipped house hold. Once he gets our orders. Where do we start? Do DH arrange everything from there? What do I do once getting there? Its all so new to me because we have never had to worry about it before.
Any advice or suggestions on moving on post, especially to Wiesbaden would be very helpful.
Thank you in advance.
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Re: PCSing to Wiesbaden
I have no clue on the process, but just wanted to say that I just came from Wiesbaden. I actually met my DH there while I was working as a contractor and moved back to the US with him. The housing is different there...it's more like apartment style and most of the places are 3 bedroom apartments. You most likely will have to live in military housing. The places are older and unfortunately the walls aren't very thick. Since we got married in Germany and didn't go through command sponsorship, I lived in the economy and DH lived in the barracks. If you are able to live off post, most landlords will include all utilites in the rent. It's easier I think to just live in the military housing. The base itself is not all connected and it's pretty small. There is the housing area which is not gated in. The Commissary and PX are near there. There's the main Wiesbaden Army Airfield that is where all the offices/etc are located. That's like 7km from housing and then the Powerzone, toystore and a few other places are located like 14km from the housing area. The base is getting a lot bigger now b/c they are closing a ton of bases in Germany.
There is so much to do in the area as well. The christmas markets are so much fun. They have festivals all summer long in different little towns. Wiesbaden is like 20km from Frankfurt and about an hour drive from Ramstein. If you plan to get a job, you have to work on post. You won't be able to get a job on the economy.
Enjoy Germany and if you have any questions on the area feel free to ask. I really miss it there!
Any chance you are near another Post? First I will preface with I have not PCSed abroad, but know a lot of people who have. If you are near an base, or if you aren't have your husband do it for you, go to ACS (Army Community Service) or your branch's equivalent, they can give you a package of information on any base you might be moving to, it will have a lot of information on where you are going to. You will need passports/government travel papers. If you plan to travel within Europe I highly recommend getting Tourist passports as well as any Government travel papers. Your DH should get a briefing on what he needs to do going forward, so make sure you communicate with him about what he needs to do, and what you might need to do on your end as well.
Also if you are on Facebook there are lots of pages/groups for American Military spouses in Germany, so find a couple of those, and ask questions there.
Also, take all advice, and information with a grain of salt, not because people will misinform you, but because the regulations and rules change over time, so make sure to look it up for yourself, or get official information. For example: I have traveled between the US and Europe for years, and the airline rules/allowances change often enough that if I didn't check them, then I would show up with too much luggage, or the wrong documents etc.
Good luck! All my friends who have moved to Germany recently are loving it!
No clue about Wiesbaden, but I currently live in Germany. To come over here, you and your DD will first need an EFMP screening. If you have both recently have had a physical, they will just ask you some questions. This is just to ensure that you or your DD don't have any medical problems that can't be treated over here. Once that goes through, you can apply for your no-fee passports. These passports will have your SOFA stamp that allows you to live in Germany. If you want to travel outside of Germany though, you will need a regular tourist passport.
As for shipping household goods and POV, bring everything. I was told that the houses were too small for a king size bed, but ours fits perfectly. The houses are a little smaller, but not that bad. Shipping everything normally takes about 2 months. You will have 2 shipments of stuff, your household goods and unaccompanied baggage. Put things like linens, cooking and eating implements and anything your DD might need in your unaccompanied baggage (it normally gets there faster). Do you have pets? Are you planning on taking them? They need their own paperwork too.
Hope this helps.
Thank you all so much! Its exciting and a bit over whelming. Im just going to take it one step at a time and do as much research as possible.
Thank you again for your responses.
Wiesbaden is a couple hours from me. I've heard it's really nice up there. I have no advice on PCSing because this is our first station and we moved here with basically no furniture, kids, etc. And since my husband came here from AIT he did most of the stuff from Germany before I could go (I wasn't on orders and had to wait to get command sponsored), but I think you can do most of it before you leave if you are on orders. You should also be assigned a sponsor who will be a wealth of information.