Quote:
Originally Posted by
thewife
What should I expect when/if he gets back in?
Madness. ;)
My husband reenlisted after being out for a few years and it was quite a shock. While I knew him and we were dating while he was in service there was a lot more paperwork now that we were married.
Has he talked to a prior service recruiter yet? They are different than regular recruiters and you may have to do some traveling to get to one. They will do a physical exam on him but he won't have to go through Recruit Training again or anything like that. Being fit would really help because if not than he may have some trouble first starting out.
I'm not sure what will happen with him wanting to change MOSs. My husband liked and stayed in his MOS. Obviously your husband will have to go to a new MOS school and depending on its length you may or may not be able to go with him (provided the Marine Corps approves his new MOS).
You and your children will need to be entered into DEERS (Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System) and I would STRONGLY recommend you put EVERYTHING (birth certificates, marriage license, passport.. absolutely ANY pertinent information for you and your children) into one folder for him to take with him for the first couple of visits to the recruiter's office and other meetings. I can't tell you how much of a fiasco it was to have to drive an hour only to find out that they lost our marriage license information so I couldn't be entered into DEERS or get my ID card and having to drive an hour back home to get it and then another hour ... it was nuts. Just expect to have to take all of that stuff with you for at least a couple of weeks to be safe.
Quote:
Will we be older than his peers (he is 32, I am 30)?
This really has become a moot point. There are a lot of older individuals joining or coming back to the Marine Corps after a time out of service. It's not as unusual as you would think.
Quote:
He plans on changing his MOS from infantry and MP to intell. What are the chances that he will get his wishes?
My guess is that this will all depend on his ASVAB scores when he first enlisted, his service record, security clearance, etc. His recruiter will be the best source of info on that.
Quote:
How long will it be before he has to go to school from the time that he talks to the recruiter?
No impact, No idea. Your recruiter is going to have to be your info source on that one.
Quote:
How can I make the move easier for my family?
Be supportive. The last thing your kids need to see is you falling apart over this. Make this an adventure and hide your fears for your girlfriends or the mirror after your kids have gone to bed. One of my favorite sayings is: Behind every good Marine is a great wife. Being his cheerleader and his strength and support will go a LONG way to prepare your whole family for this new transition. Be positive and roll with the punches. There ARE going to be things that go wrong. There are going to be unanswered questions and sometimes you are going to feel like you don't even exist. Paperwork will be lost, it will be maddening, frustrating, scary and irritating, but nothing is beyond repair. Be tough, hold your head up, take deep breaths and go forward because there's no use complaining about what was or wasn't done when there are things remaining to be done.
Quote:
What are the chances he doesn't get back in?
Without knowing him and his service record I can't say. If he's in good health and served honorably having not had any trouble since his EAS then I don't see why there would be a problem.
However, if he is overweight with shoddy hearing and bad knees, has four NJPs to his record and a few page 11s and is awaiting a trial date for assault then he probably doesn't have a great chance.
His chances are all up to him and his prior service.
Quote:
What is the easiest way to make friends with other wives when we get to where we are going?
Go to the spouse meetings. Talk to your Key Volunteer (if they still call them that). Almost every base has a Yahoo or Facebook or MySpace group for the wives and some units even have specific groups. Marine wives can be some of the nicest women in the world. There are several instances where they will find you!
Quote:
Are there a lot of kids living on base?
I haven't been to a base that wasn't overflowing with kids. I especially enjoy seeing all of the post deployment kids all growing up together, the best of friends.
Quote:
What do you recommend for housing?
This is up to you and your wants/needs. I know a lot of people who are perfectly fine with raking the sand in front of their house at 29 Palms but others who think that it is the most ridiculous thing in the entire universe. I know some who really don't like being so ingrained into the military and enjoy having some personal space and they find that by living off base. Some like the convenience of living on base. Depending on housing availability and with your kids you may be on a waiting list and have to start out living off base anyway. It's all up to availability and the housing office.
Let's see...... anything else? Can't think of anything right now.
Hope this helps.