- Find your FRO (Family Readiness Officer) and get signed up for emails that let you know when events are happening. At our first duty station, our FRO was terrible. I never heard from them, and for a period of time there were never events to even be notified about. There was not much of a sense of community for spouses at that base due to no base housing or anything along those lines either, so it was a major bummer.
- If your spouse is in school or is signed up for an MOS that can be stationed over seas right out of the school house, go ahead and get a passport NOW. I had a friend that had to wait forever to move due to not having her passport ready to go, and her husband got orders and had to go without her.
- Get a Power of Attorney before he goes off to boot/basic/schoolhouse.
- Don't break your lease until he has orders. Your landlord cannot legally charge you to break your lease if you're on orders. I would give them a formal 30 day notice with a copy of the orders when you know you're going to be moving.
- Take photos of your furniture and belongings before the movers get there with a date stamp. This will help you if you need to file a claim for damages.
- So, something my husband's last PerSO told me was if you have movers, WATCH them move and pack. DON'T HELP. As awkward as that may be, if you touch things or pack them yourself, you can't blame them if they're broken. They'll blame you.
- Drinks/ snacks for them is always a good idea.
- Go to events, dinners, parties you're invited to, even if you only know your husband there. Try to meet his peers, their wives, and you may even find playdates for your kids. Meeting new people is a huge part of the military life and is so important for your sanity.
- Research Tricare Prime/ Standard. You may personally want something that the base hospital doesn't offer. See what works for you.
- Research all base housing that you're eligible to live on.
- If you don't have kids and don't plan on having them anytime in the near future, live off base! No sense in losing BAH and having a huge house that you don't need. We lived in a small apartment on capitol hill while we lived in DC and its one of my most favorite times I ever spent with my husband.
- Working on base is a good idea! You can meet other spouses this way and really feel apart of your new community.
- Learn the threat levels of your new base. Some days a simple check of your ID is OKAY, other days, they will scan it and question who all is in your car. Others, you can be on a lockdown and not even be able to exit/ enter your base!
- Always carry cash at the Commissary. The baggers work for tips ONLY, so they'll be expecting one. I always give $2. I don't know if that is over or under tipping, but its what I'm comfortable with.
I will update this list as I remember more.
