We have found out that Matt's curtailment was denied, which means that he will stay in Korea until the end of his tour (Sept. 27th) and that the boys and I will be flying back to the States by ourselves.
The ERD (Early Return of Dependents) paperwork for me and the boys was turned in to Matt's chain of command for approval on Friday and hopefully by the end of this week, we should have either an approval or a timeline until approval. Until we get ERD orders, we can not schedule our flights through the Army with the travel office or the pick-up of our household goods with the transportation department. If for some reason this paperwork gets dragged out until around July 8th, we will be purchasing commercial flights for the boys and I to get back. Regardless of how we leave (on ERD orders or of our own will), Matt will move into the barracks after we are gone.
We have no orders for our next duty station yet. Because Matt was Airborne with the 82nd, he has an Airborne identifier on his paperwork. Which basically means that if there's an Airborne position opening, he will be assigned that job. However, because of Matt's permanent profile, he is no longer capable of maintaining said slot and therefore can not be assigned a position with an Airborne unit. After talking to his Branch Manager (the guy that assigns everyone's next duty station), he will not give Matt an assignment until that identifier is removed. So this week Matt is filling out all the necessary paperwork and submitting it to his chain of command to try and get said identifier removed as soon as possible.
That being said, we will still not get much of a choice for our next duty station. I know that everyone is hopeful that we will return to Fort Bragg or move to Fort Campbell, but as of right now both options are HIGHLY unlikely. Once the Airborne identifier is removed from Matt's records, it is unlikely we will ever return to Bragg or any other Airborne units (Alaska or Italy). Regarding Fort Campbell, as most of the base just returned from deployment, there are little to no openings in Matt's MOS.
While it would be nice to hand pick our next duty station, we need to remember first and foremost, Matt will be placed where it best suits the Army.
It is also unlikely that we will have our next duty station orders by the time I leave Michigan. What that means regarding school for Gabe and doctor's appointments for me, I'm not sure. The very worst case scenario I can imagine is that we don't receive orders until shortly before Matt leaves Korea (end of September), Gabe starts school for 3-4 weeks in Michigan and I receive medical appointments from a civilian doctor for that time. Things could be much worse for us. We are extremely thankful that Matt's DERO's is around a month before this baby is due and he will be stateside for the delivery.
These next couple weeks and months will be extremely stressful for us and more than anything we will need the support of our friends and family. We ask that you be patient and understanding with us as we try to sort out our life. I am saying right now, I have no idea what our time in Michigan will be like and make no promises or commitments. I apologize in advance because I know we will not be able to spend nearly enough time with everyone or do everything we want to do.
Thank you everyone for being so understanding and supportive. We are doing our best to sort through this mess with our sanity in tact!
Genna
*As a footnote, I would like to include that all of this (as with every post) is merely MY opinion. This has not been read over by my husband and is no way a reflection on him or his opinions. If something I have mentioned is factually incorrect, I apologize, but please correct ME and not my husband.
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