Embassy Duty Questions

[MrsNix]

Oh! And this is a very spouse-ish question, but I'm a spouse, so it tracks:

I have a houseful of furniture and my car (that I love) in storage in California from when we got sent here. If we leave directly from this home to ANOTHER foreign post...what will happen to all the stuff we have to leave behind in Okinawa?

Will there likely be paperwork bovine feces to put up with when we DO get back to the U.S. and have to convince them to somehow share their notes and get belongings from Cali, Japan, and God knows where else?

This is what I worry about...the logistical stuff.

[commdog7]

Each embassy will have its own medical facility, but it is only for minor medical issues- pretty much the same resources as a school nurse would have. Each country should have some type of local hospital available which you can go to as well. If you are lucky, you might be stationed in a country with a U.S. military base nearby (such as Germany or Japan), and you can go there for medical treatment.

I have been in some pretty rough countries, but I rarely see much violence. I actually have not seen any violence worse than what you would expect in the States. As for your dog, you can bring him along as well. Each country has their own procedures for allowing pets in, I think England is the strictest (I heard they quarantine all pets for 90 days before allowing them into the country). But you will likely not have too many problems with that. Once your husband finds out where he will be going, he will be able to look up the post report which will explain all the logistics. Every country is different.

You will be authorized TMO as well, so you can bring all your household items with out. I do not know the exact weight for det commanders, but it should not be a problem. But once you are out at post, do not expect to see it for a few months, it takes awhile for it to ship out. Yes, you can take your vehicle with you as well.

[MrsNix]

Thank you so much, Everyone, for all this interest. I have been looking for a community like this one for a long time. I hope I can be useful to people as often as I am being helped by others.

Glad to have found the site...and VERY glad to have been given a bit of a direction about this next chapter we're going to be writing in life soon.

Thanks much.

[UsmcMotorT]

Can someone correct me, but I thought you couldn't be married or anything for MSG duty. If that's the case I'd love to do that and bring my family with me

[KawiGunny]

Can someone correct me, but I thought you couldn't be married or anything for MSG duty. If that's the case I'd love to do that and bring my family with me

Get promoted and you can. SNCO's only.

[JMoe]

I have been in some pretty rough countries, but I rarely see much violence. I actually have not seen any violence worse than what you would expect in the States.



Commdog7,

When u made this comment, it made me think back to when I was in Colombo Sri Lanka, they had allot violence while I was there. They were still fighting a war between the LTTE in Jaffna and the political group there who was vying for office.

I won't say too much here but our Embassy was on a local street where many other restaurants were located. Our cameras could zoom in fairly well across and down the street. There was numerous times that we saw a person with a long coat on in 95* degree HEAT and walk into a restaurant where local politicians were meeting and next thing you know....BOOM, EXPLOSION, caught on camera with glass and a nice (not really) red midst all over the windows, sidewalk, etc. I know I am a little crazy but it was so freekin sweet to see it actually happen on camera from Post 1. Then of course, the Embassy was locked down for a minute.

On another occasion, one of the politicians was giving a speech on stage and a suicide bomber unbelieveably walked down the aisle looking for a seat and when he got close to the stage, he blew himself up. They found the politicians head on top of a building 50 ft away....come to find out the bomber had strapped himself with 5 pounds of C-4.

These are just a few of the things that happened while I was there, I could tell more but I'm not sure if everyone wants to hear the rest but if u wanna know, PM me.

Which Embassy are you at in Africa, my best friend who was in Sri Lanka with me was in Kampala, Uganda. Boyy, did he have some stories from there.

Well, just thought I would share a few memories.

SSgt Moseley

[FistFu68]

My younger Brother was a MSG MARINE he was a Cpl.in Vienna Austria,then while in Tunis Tunsia he was promoted too Sgt./E-5.He was on active duty from 75-85.Then the school was at Henderson Hall.They just put an Award he recieved in a case at the new school,I guess it's at Quantico???Heres 2 ya Sgt.G-Man wherever you are now baby brother!!!

[DocGreek]

Mrs. NIX.....I propose Iceland as perfect Embassy Duty! NO SUNBURNS!!!....DOC

[LawWithAppeal]

I have mixed feelings about the MSG program. I met my fiance his first time on the program as a regular marine in Madrid. Obviously a great place to be. All the luxuries other people talked about are there. The Det may not be as friendly with the ambassador and dignitaries that come to the embassy to visit as they would be in a smaller post, but there are so many things to do, trusted schools, safety, trusted food, shopping, etc. This time around he's been placed in a hardship duty, the worst in his region. Luckily I have a year of law school to finish before I move with him, but after visiting his post, I'm not sure if I'm going to go for his last 4 months or wait for his second post. Where he's at now is as much of a third world as you can get. As an almost spouse, I spent my visit with little to do. For him it's okay because there is constantly work for him and something going on, but for a spouse it's hard. There is legal work to be done luckily, but it's the living part that was hard for me. I spent the majority of my stay sick. You're not guaranteed anything. The lure of places like Western Europe, Thailand, and Australia bring people to the program but are displeased when they are places in Central Asia or Africa. As long as you prepare yourself for the best and worst you are fine. Just be prepared for the best and worst case scenarios. You're as likely to end up in Tanzania or Uzebekistan, if not more so than you are to end up in France or Japan!