Fort Bragg- Reporting

Hello everyone!

    I'm so sorry it's been so long since I've last posted. As soon as I arrived to our Alabama apartment, we had to pack up everything we owned and ship it the next day... only to leave an hour after the truck took off. Imagine myself, my husband, a toddler, a dog, and a grumpy large tomcat all stuffed into two vehicles with our luggage and pillows. Yikes! That was a 2 day trip from Alabama to Fort Bragg with a stop on the way. Ever since we left, it's been a whirlwind and I haven't had a chance to update everyone! 

For any military folks who are following for information, reporting is SUPER confusing, but your orders will tell you on the first page where to report and by when. The military gives you a certain amount of days to arrive somewhere based on how far it is. They don't want you to drive more than 8 hours at a time, so my 1300-ish miles was a 4 day allowance. As long as you arrive by midnight on your report date, you're good! You no longer have to save receipts for gas or hotels, as they automatically reimburse you for those based on mileage and travel time. Let me tell you, you have to wait a while for that to hit the bank but when it does.... HELLO shopping trip. If you have dependents/spouse you get a family dislocation allowance which I'll let you look up yourself. I don't want to reveal how much I got to splurge :) Make sure you ask finance for help when you arrive to your station to make sure you filled out the paperwork correctly and get the money you're entitled to! Ask questions. 

Reporting

For enlisted folk, you're expected to show up in your uniform with orders and report to the reception company in a very official manner. "Good afternoon sir/ma'am, (rank) Last name, reporting for duty", or so I was told. Officers, ask your commander about what they expect from you on reporting. Mine knew I was driving all day and arrived at 2330, and he didn't mind a bit that I was in my pajamas. I was given a checklist at the reception company and I was expected to come in every morning to sign my name for accountability. BE IN UNIFORM when you do this. 

The checklist basically has you running all over God's green earth to see where all the soldier resources are. Finance, Legal, Medical one stop, the dentist, all those important places. Someone at each place will just take your paper, stamp, and give it back. Ask questions! Otherwise, they'll call up the next person. If you're at finance and you have questions about travel pay or your promotion wages, ask while you're there! 

The first week you finish up with the basic "Fort Bragg" portion of in-processing. After which, you will report to your unit and in-process with them. For me, this was mostly giving people my certifications, applying for a travel card, and making sure S1 (personnel) had all my paperwork and information put in the system correctly. Again, ask questions every where you go. "Do you need anything else from me?", or "What else might I need to come back for?" are helpful to ask. 

I am "Map" status, meaning I work at the hospital most days but I belong to a smaller unit that can pull me from the hospital to assist other units in the field. My surgical detachment can be moved around at any time if needed, so I also had to in-process at the hospital. Anyone who has ever worked at a hospital, just picture a regular orientation schedule. Getting your badge, background check, hospital orientation powerpoint day, nursing orientation, and setting up access to a million different machines. It took me 2 full months to have everything squared away. 

Housing

I live on base! mostly because we loved the idea of dog parks and playgrounds everywhere, and the fact that military families look out for their neighbors really well. We are trying this out for the first few years and then we may talk about changing it up. Housing is assigned by rank/dependent status. Since we technically claim two children and I'm married, we got a 4 bedroom 2.5 bath house that shares one wall with another family. Basically, it's two houses glued together in the middle, but we can't hear them much so we don't mind. Pets must be registered with the vet on base in order to be housed... you only have a short time limit to get this done before they fine you, so make your appointment early. 

After we get all of the furniture bought and settled in, I'll post pictures! Right now, my daily life consists of doctor appointments, errands, endless cleaning, and daycare for Maddox. Work days are just like civilian life, 12 hour shifts 3-4 days a week. I miss overtime! However, 30 days of paid leave a year is SUPER worth. We are slowly buying little things for the house each pay check since we sold everything before the move. If anyone has questions about the whole moving process, leave a comment and I'll answer the best I can! 

As always, thanks for reading. The days between training and starting my job were not very fun so I'm sorry I don't have anything cool to talk about this post! Stay tuned, I may be able to post some pictures next week before Christmas.