I’ve been kind of dragging my feet writing this post, but we’ve received a lot of questions lately regarding our move to Korea and where we are in the process. Rather than split hairs and address the questions as they come, I figured I’d give a little life update and share what things look like for us right now. Honestly, moving OCONUS is a totally different beast than a stateside (or CONUS) PCS. When we moved to JBLM, we had the ability to arrange things once our levy brief was done and we were on Ryan’s orders as his dependents. With an OCONUS move, things are largely out of our hands for much of the process.
Our Move to Korea
A few weeks ago, I shared a post about what the OCONUS moving process looks like. We received Ryan’s RFO in late January, and as soon as we received his hard orders, we got to work on our EFMP paperwork, which is essentially a physical and psychological screening of all family members. We collected all our documents, we did our EFMP interview, and our paperwork was submitted to Camp Humphreys and 8th Army in South Korea. Once submitted, that paperwork – and the process – is largely out of our hands.
Where We Are in the Process Now
Simply put, we’re in command sponsorship (CSP) purgatory or limbo. We’re still waiting. We were advised by the CSP office at Camp Humphreys that once a soldier’s CSP application packet reaches South Korea, it has multiple touchpoints in which it has to be approved. This includes EFMP, Housing, MSC, and 8AG1. From what we hear, it’s been signed off by three offices, and we’re just waiting on the 4th office to sign, seal, and deliver their approval – and send it back to JBLM.
What Does This Mean for Us?
Like many things in the military, moving OCONUS is very much a hurry up and wait sort of process. You have to move quickly to submit paperwork, but then you’re basically on their time. We’re meant to report to Korea in June. The last thing we heard was that we’re still waiting on one office’s approval (as mentioned above), and if we don’t hear anything in 30 days that we should contact them again.
Honestly, the planner in me has been losing my ever-loving mind because if we do have to wait another 30 full days, we’ll be cramming an overseas move for a family of five into the span of about 30(ish) days…max. That’s insanity, but it’s also not unheard of. I won’t lie; it’s been extremely hard to stomach the utter lack of control we have over this process, but I’m trying my best to focus on the positives. Each day we are here is another day we can tackle our original JBLM bucket list. It’s another day we can hike and explore. It’s another day with our friends and our people.
The bottom line is this: our move to Korea will happen. Where we are in the process may be infuriating, and exhausting, and emotionally trying, but we’re determined to make the most out of this situation, as evidenced by our photos and adventures. All in good time, right?
Tell me – would this process drive you insane?!
