How long after AIT ends should someone expect to have to wait for their orders?

Constalita Clark — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 01:15:17 -0400

My husband graduated three weeks ago at FLW and was told he was going to Germany. But unfortunately his paperwork was never put in before graduation. Now he's holdover and being told they're waiting for housing from Germany. How long should he expect to wait or how long does it take to get any kind of tangible information? TIA

Response by SSG Brian G. made Oct 23 at 2019 1:54 AM

SSG Brian G. — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 01:54:59 -0400

Depends on what his MOS is and what his the clearance required. These things take time. No one here can tell you or your husband how long. He needs to get with HRC to find that out.

Response by CW4 Craig Urban made Oct 23 at 2019 2:19 AM

CW4 Craig Urban — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 02:19:34 -0400

You will be put in temp housing. Your wife may have to wait for 30 days as an SSG I had to wait.

Response by LTC Jason Mackay made Oct 23 at 2019 9:54 AM

LTC Jason Mackay — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 09:54:17 -0400

Constalita Clark when you say "paperwork" what are you referring to? It's sounds like you are waiting for command sponsorship for movement of dependents. It is not "housing" per se. Housing is one of the checks. Did your family complete the evaluation for the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) and the medical preparation for overseas movement (POM)? This is usually one of the two stumbling blocks. Have your household goods been shipped? Vehicle?

Command sponsorship of families ensures there are adequate services, housing, school slots, etc to support your family on arrival to avoid financial and other hardships.

I am surprised they are holding him there and not sending him forward and have the family follow. That is pretty standard for initial entry soldiers.

Response by PO1 Michael G. made Oct 23 at 2019 11:20 AM

PO1 Michael G. — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 11:20:40 -0400

There could be any number of issues holding it up. I'm in the Navy but I've seen similar things happen; in fact, when I left "A" school (what the Navy calls AIT) my orders were held up for over a month because the detailer (who writes and releases the orders) was in the middle of a tiff over whether the orders were going to be funded by Atlantic Fleet, where I was transferring *from* or Pacific Fleet, where I was transferring *to.*

As you say, you're being told your waiting on housing now, but whomever is giving your husband that answer is probably getting their info from someone else, who might have gotten their info from someone else. It's possible that a pretty long game of multi-timezone telephone is going on.

You've probably heard this already, but the military is often a really big game of "hurry up and wait." You'll be told to get ready to go and then all of a sudden, "Oops, looks like your paperwork didn't process, stand by." Then you're ready to go and it's, "Stand by, waiting on housing to have somewhere for you to live." And you'll wait and wait and wait with no real information and then it will be, "Okay, you're leaving now." Every servicemember has stories like this.

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made Oct 23 at 2019 12:19 PM

CSM Darieus ZaGara — Wed, 23 Oct 2019 12:19:28 -0400

There are many variables. The best response can be had through your husband. Since he is not currently training he can easily go to his PAC and learn exactly what and why.

Response by PFC Ray Aquila made Oct 24 at 2019 3:59 PM

PFC Ray Aquila — Thu, 24 Oct 2019 15:59:44 -0400

I don't know if my era was different. I did my AIT at Ft Bliss TX in 1966. After AIT we were given about two weeks off before deployment to Nam. Don't know if this helps.