PCS and Command Sponsorship

Okay, so as I said in a previous post, we tried to start getting the ball rolling to prepare us all and get approved to go to South Korea as a family, but were denied due to Matt not being active duty. He became active duty the day he reported to BOLC (June 12th). We still didn't know what we fully needed to do, but we knew we needed to apply for command sponsorship in order to ensure that the kids and I are approved to PCS (permanent change of station) with him. Everyone has to apply for command sponsorship when going over seas no matter what post they are being sent to. It ensures that the military approves of and will pay for the family to move and live over there.

It seems like an easy process, but trying to do it with the sponsor (Matt) and the spouse (me) being a long ways from each other made it very difficult. Here's what needed to be done for command sponsorship for us:

• Fill out the application and have it authorized by the right person. I don't really know who that was, but Matt figured that out down in Texas. 
• BEFORE BOLC, get all powers of attorney you may possibly need. 
• Make sure you have regular passports for all family members ASAP.
• Enroll kids in DEERS, which puts them in the military system. 
• Get all the EFMP (exceptional family military program) stuff done. That is pretty much just a comprehensive physical for all family members stating what kind of health we are in. The military has to make sure they have the resources and facilities to facilitate any medical problems family members may have before they can be approved to move there. 
• Matt then had to send all that paperwork in to JBLM so they could make sure we had everything we needed. 
• They sent it back to him
• He had to give it to someone at BOLC to send it to Korea. That just happened 2 days ago. We hope they are quick in approving us. 
• Once approved by Korea, new family orders will be given to Matt (supposedly that same day) stating we are approved to go and then we can get the ball rolling on all that. Hopefully it's sooner than later because Matt already has his flights to Korea. I don't really want to travel with 2 toddlers alone all that way. 
• Meanwhile, we are living just over an hour away from Fairchild AFB (the closest military installation to us) and I have had to go there to get no-fee passports for the kids and I. It's been a nightmare of a process. Luckily we don't have to have those in order get into Korea because they take 6-8 weeks. We will need them within 90 days of arriving though. They basically grant us permission to live there for up to 5 days and allow us to get visas as soon as we get there. 
• We also have to set at least two appointments (at least that's what I was told) in order to make sure our household goods are shipped to Korea. That should've been done already, but since we don't have command sponsorship, it makes it difficult to do so. The first appointment is to see what needs to be shipped with the second being the one where they pack up and send your stuff. Ours is all in a storage unit so it shouldn't be too terribly hard. We sold the majority of our furniture and big things before leaving Seattle last December, so it all almost fits in a 10x10 unit. 

So, like I said, it doesn't seem like a hard process, but when families are separated, it gets difficult. Prepare for that, if possible, and try to get it all done together. We almost paid to fly the kids and I down to Texas just to get it all finished quickly, but it was too expensive. Now, it's just the waiting game for us.