What's the process to find a place to live if I bring my family to Korea without command sponsorship? Will I get a housing allowance?

SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 19:28:56 -0400

We just found out that command sponsorship was denied for my family to go to Korea. I am wondering if I bring the non command sponsored what is the process for find a place to live and what kind of housing allowance am I actually eligible for? I’ve read that once they apply for the SOFA visa that BAH for stateside will stop. Am I eligible to receive OHA and the utilities expense allowance? I understand I will have to pay their way to and from Korea.

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 18 at 2020 7:34 PM

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 19:34:33 -0400

It will be expensive. You will have pay for your family’s tickets and all the expenses associated with their move. You need to contact you chain of command in Korea, because they are assuming that you will live in the barracks while you there.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 18 at 2020 7:53 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 19:53:34 -0400

You will not be eligible for any type of financial support whatsoever. They will be civilians living on the economy. They won’t be eligible for healthcare, transportation, base access privileges, or any type of OCONUS allowances. As far as the DOD is concerned, they are civilians on a long vacation that you’re paying for out of pocket. If you bring them out you alone are responsible for all their financial welfare. You will only receive a barracks room in Korea and the BAH for your family’s residence stateside.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 18 at 2020 10:36 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 18 Sep 2020 22:36:16 -0400

E-6 and below live in military quarters, usually two NCOs sharing a common area. You won’t be able to live off post with support from the housing office. They make all the arrangements for lease agreements, etc. highly recommend you leave them in the US, do your one year and head back to CONUS. Without Healthcare your Family could suffer from JEV, etc. TriCare won’t be able to help because they won’t be authorized in Korea. You’re risking their safety by trying to bring them without government support. I recommend you just don’t do it.

Response by CSM Darieus ZaGara made Sep 19 at 2020 8:27 AM

CSM Darieus ZaGara — Sat, 19 Sep 2020 08:27:10 -0400

While you have not stated there is a clear reason as to why it was denied. The expense, coupled with the realm of possibilities medically related, the language barrier, children’s schooling, and no access or support from DOD at all makes this a very undesirable solution. You may very well be confined to the base for any number of reasons further isolating your family as well.

Even if you do not have Family where they currently reside, it is familiar, they know the language, they have communal resources, and a base near by. Medical, schooling, emergency response, all there. I have known of a few folks who did this and they were married to women from Korea, the one I know that was not sent her and the kids home after 6 months, left again to fend for themselves, reestablishing everything on there own. Not a solid choice.

Response by 1SG Rick Seekman made Sep 19 at 2020 9:58 AM

1SG Rick Seekman — Sat, 19 Sep 2020 09:58:06 -0400

its only a year sport.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 19 at 2020 11:10 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 19 Sep 2020 11:10:25 -0400

I’ll be blunt. Your heart is in the right place but your plan of action is stupid.
You’ll put your family through significant hardship bringing them to Korea. Bottom line you are endangering your family.
You will be field training, you will be in garrison working, you will be busy.
You could have a chain of command whom acts negatively to you for bringing unauthorized family regardless if it’s within their realm of authority to punish you or not. That’s a shit stain you don’t need or want.

Response by Lt Col Jim Coe made Sep 19 at 2020 12:21 PM

Lt Col Jim Coe — Sat, 19 Sep 2020 12:21:46 -0400

Don’t do it. If your wife is Korean, fluent in the language, knows local customs and laws, and has taught your kids Korean then maybe. It will be expensive and leading a double life will be challenging for you and could ruin your career.

Response by SSG Watis Ekthuvapranee made Sep 19 at 2020 1:06 PM

SSG Watis Ekthuvapranee — Sat, 19 Sep 2020 13:06:12 -0400

You will not get a housing allowance for Korea. You will get the housing allowance for the supposed CONUS zipcode where your family supposed to reside, likely the last duty station. I don't know how it is in Korea nowadays, but when I was there. We were on lockdown most of the time due to North Korea, anti-American protest, and China. Especially now with COVID-19, Are you sure that is what you want your family to deal with? You will have to live on the local economy without official protection from the command. ... I remember when 9/11 was happening. We were recalled back to work. The bases in Germany were on lockdown. Many of the families live outside the base because there were not enough on-base housing, we were expecting more attack and wait for another shoe to drop. In the meantime, my wife and daughter were at home alone while I was on base waiting for what was next. Even with command sponsored my wife and daughter were left to wait not knowing what was going on. If there were another attack like how the extremists were hoping that Muslim men should do, what will you choose? Your duty or your family? Unlike back in the Cold War, there were no training or drill for civilian evacuation or periodic seminar on what to do in case of emergency.

The band of Thieve has a saying, "Men fight harder to protect their loved ones." That is if they are where you can protect them, of course. My saying is, "I fight harder if the monster I am fighting with cannot reach my loved ones."

My advice, "Leave them in the States. They can be with your relative. It is better to know that they are where they can take care of themselves, though other cons come into the picture, than having them there with you, especially with COVID-19. They would likely be ostracized by the Korean community and isolated from the base community.

Military service is about sacrifice. We answer the call of duty while foregoes what we want to have. I wish you luck for whichever hell you are choosing.

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made Sep 19 at 2020 5:39 PM

SGM Bill Frazer — Sat, 19 Sep 2020 17:39:07 -0400

Look Cody, if there is no command sponsorship, then you are in essence abandoning your family to the mercies of the SK govt. No TRICARE, no Medical- except out of pocket, no allowances, etc. Why put your family thru that for a 1 yr tour- hell some of my deployments were almost that long.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 19 at 2020 10:26 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 19 Sep 2020 22:26:29 -0400

If you take your family to Korea on-command sponsored, you will not receive any entitlements, you will not be able to live off post, your family won’t have any medical or dental coverage. They will not have access to the base, the commissary or any of the military facilities. You won’t get OHA either or anything for utilities.

Bringing your family non-command sponsored is putting them in a horrible situation, not to mention you will be subject to UMCJ if your command finds out you screwed your family that way.

If the army says no you can’t bring them and you do it anyway, then you’re setting yourself up for serious consequences not to mention it’s very expensive with no entitlements and you won’t be able to reside with them. I highly suggest you rethink that decision, they won’t get a SOFA visa because the command sponsor was denied. I promise you, once you make that decision, you’re saying you are prepared to deal with whatever consequences that come your way.

Response by SFC William Farrell made Sep 20 at 2020 12:23 AM

SFC William Farrell — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 00:23:10 -0400

Good luck SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member. I was in Korea many, many moons ago at 17 years of age and loved my time there. I was on a little artillery base a couple miles south of the DMZ and loved my time in Korea. Can still speak a few words after 50 years!

Response by Wayne Soares made Sep 20 at 2020 6:49 AM

Wayne Soares — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 06:49:39 -0400

Way to be thorough Sgt. LaCroix

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 20 at 2020 6:55 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 06:55:37 -0400

SOFA only applies to U.S. personnel on authorized military orders. In the case of a tour to Republic of Korea, if your command sponsorship (CSP) was approved, your family members would be added to your official PCS orders. Since your CSP was not approved (either due to the lack of EFMP support in the area or a non-dependent friendly duty location), you would have to bring your family over as tourists, which does not provide them SOFA protections and benefits. Without CSP approval, you cannot get any of the additional military benefits of having your family there with you.

Now of course, they can absolutely visit you as tourists for up to 90 days or less at a time, without a required tourism visa. So you would have to look at it from the perspective of them being visitors. 90-day visitors don't usually lease apartments, they rent hotel rooms, which means out-of-pocket expenses can become extreme over a longer stay. I believe since they are still military dependents, they can access the installation (upon proper registration in DBIDS) and receive limited healthcare, but I can't fully remember. The healthcare part is very important to consider. Find out what normal Tricare coverage they have as visitors to a foreign country.

Overall, it would be risky for you to try to bring them for a long-term stay as tourists, especially when considering Non-Combatant Evacuation Operations (NEO), which prioritizes registered and authorized family members for immediate evacuation in the event of escalating warfare. I would suggest planning periodic points throughout your tour to either fly home to see your family, or fly them to you in Korea for a short leave period (make sure your leave is actually approved, so you don't waste your money). Korea is a great experience for family members (depending on where you get stationed), and there is definite value in having them visit. I know the 188th MP Company is very busy though.

Reference: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/international-travel/International-Travel-Country-Information-Pages/SouthKorea.html

South Korea International Travel Information

South Korea international travel information and Travel Advisory

Response by SFC William Farrell made Sep 20 at 2020 2:57 PM

SFC William Farrell — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 14:57:35 -0400

SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member, you're the only one we havent heard from since your original question. It looks like all the experts (currently serving) and others are all advising against it. I'm sure you're busy now but I hope you take their advice.

Response by SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 20 at 2020 3:24 PM

SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 15:24:15 -0400

Thank you everyone for the advise I’ve heard a lot of different answers and will obviously not put my family in a bad position. We have spent plenty of time away from each other (between deployments and unaccompanied tours overseas and would prefer to not do it again if we can avoid it which is why we are wanting to go together this time. I’ll continue to do some research and make contact with my gaining chain of command before we make any decisions. Thanks again

Response by SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Sep 20 at 2020 3:51 PM

SSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 15:51:45 -0400

https://api.army.mil/e2/c/downloads/492401.pdf

492401.pdf

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Response by CMSgt James Nolan made Sep 21 at 2020 5:08 PM

CMSgt James Nolan — Mon, 21 Sep 2020 17:08:06 -0400

I guess that I am assuming you are doing an “unaccompanied tour”. That used to mean that you didn’t bring your family. So I am assuming you would be eligible for exactly nothing, because they told you to have them stay at home. I am also thinking that if you go against that, you are setting yourself and your family up for failure. (And that isn’t meant to be a smart alecky comment).
I would consider going unaccompanied, and meeting back with them when you’re done.
Other thought-can you ask for a longer, “accompanied tour”? Seems like they might like having an NCO for 3 yrs vs 1?

Response by 1SG Mitchell Smith made Oct 26 at 2020 1:41 PM

1SG Mitchell Smith — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 13:41:20 -0400

In short....Don't do it! I had this situation as a 1SG and you will inherits all responsibilities for your faimly...medical, dental and school if you have children...NOTHING will be given to you but trouble for you and your family. DONT DO IT!!!!