Military life is often full of adventures and one of those is an overseas move. You’ll commonly hear of a move called a PCS or ” Permanent Change of Station”
This process started in March of 2023 and continued till November of 2023
One dreary March morning as I was waking up, I took my first sip of coffee and settled in to practice morning meditation before I had to run off to work. Simultaneously my husband was going through his work email, as he did every morning.
Turns out he wasn’t and I was elated. I started crying immediately because, for the past three years, this was all I wanted. It was to get back to Europe and be close to people I loved and I just felt a pull to Europe, that I can’t explain. I grew up in Germany and lived there for most of my childhood so any chance I could go back. I was all for it. Also, we left Poland in 2020 in such a weird and rushed fashion because of COVID-19 I wanted a chance to do the ending right for my peace of mind. I also had ZERO desire to go back to the United States. Go figure right?
“Oh my gosh, we are going to Italy,” he said from the kitchen. I stopped mid-sip of that glorious energy juice and said “Are you kidding me? you are joking”
It was a long few months from the time of finding out we were headed to Italy to departure in November. For a moment I told myself it wasn’t happening. We also ran into a lot of issues with the brigade/battalion in Italy not even realizing we were coming. So it didn’t feel like this was happening.
USAG Italy has a wonderful guide to PCSING and the requirements needed to get to Italy, but I have found from talking to others who have PCS’d here, that sometimes the process is a bit convoluted. So here is what I went through coming from Korea. However, feel free to access it here
Military Life: Medical Screening
For any overseas move, you’ll need to complete a medical screening and evaluation to see if the gaining installation can accommodate family needs. I had already made an appointment in December of 2022 for March of 2023. There was a 6 month wait for any appointment at the time. So I turned this opportunity into a way of getting my overseas screening done while in the office with my doctor. She was the case manager or someone who oversees paperwork for anyone who needs approval for these types of things. So I lucked out.
Military Life: No-Fee Passports
As soon as I knew we were going to Italy, I remembered my No-Fee Passport was set to expire and one of the items I wanted to take care of was renewing it. No-fee passports are required for overseas duty stations. Military.com has a great article on what a No-Fee Passport is here
This is SO important, you’ll want to make sure when you do get the assignment instructions you start chipping away at the most important things. I knew because we were already overseas I would need to get on this right away. Fortunately, I worked at Osan Airbase and found their Passport Office the most helpful. You are more than welcome, as Army personnel to utilize their services. I found Camp Humphreys Passport office didn’t want to help me/us out. They claimed I didn’t need to renew my passport. This was false news. I consulted the Osan Passport Office via email at work one day and the kind airman in the office immediately responded ” Let me help you!
From start to finish the process of renewal took about 8 weeks.
Military Life: Missione Visa
This is one of the best parts of moving abroad with the military, different countries have different rules as to how dependents are allowed to travel and live abroad with their service member. Italy is much different than Germany, Poland, and Korea. Italy asks that dependents of servicemembers apply for what is called an “Italian Missione (D) Visa” It is advi d that you MUST have this in your passport before arrival or you’ll get turned back to your original destination. This freaked me out and I am not one to push the limits. I’ve never been one to “F**k around and find out” when it comes to anything with Visas.
The passport office on Osan Airbase advised me I could apply for a Mission Visa in several different ways. I could apply by sending off my Passport to Ft. Belvoir and they work some magic and VOILA!
Military Life: Visa Appointments
Making visa appointments at the right time can help you tremendously. Here are a couple of important things you should know
- Make sure orders are published and flights are in order before your appointment.
2. To make an appointment: Prenotami
3. Follow the Checklist below and make sure you print off the correct form for the Visa!
CHECKLIST FOR VISA FOR MISSION-USA ARMY
미군 공무 비자
장기 체류 비자 신청서
Application form for National Visa (D) – Long stay
My visa came back within 2 weeks and I took time off of work to run up to Seoul and get it.
One thing I want to note is that for any appointment you have at the Italian Embassy in Seoul, they make you wait outside the doors. It’s in a large building in Yongsan and you’ll have to ring the bell to get into the office. You’ll check items in a locker and go through metal detectors. They only let 1 to 2 people in at a time. If you have kids you can bring them in with you!
Military Life: Prepping Dogs
This was my least favorite part of the whole movie. We started the process with the veterinarian at Camp Humphreys. The EU has specific guidelines that the vets should be up to date on. For reference, the timeline went like this:
- June Rabies Vaccination to make sure that they were all good to go for their titer test.
- July– Make sure thirty days after your rabies vaccination that the vet does a blood draw for the FAVN test that is required before departure.
- August– We went to the travel office and got everything squared away for your flight for you and your pets. We had to fly into Rome because Venice Marco Polo serves smaller regional flights that couldn’t fit our dog’s crates in them. We bit the cost (thank goodness for having a job right?) and got a rental car as well.
In September of this year, we chose to contact Gina Nam from First Class Pet. Gina runs a great boarding facility on Camp Humphreys that we sent our dogs to fairly often. Her services include a Pet Escort to Incheon Airport on the day of the flight, a 2-3 night stay at the boarding facility on Camp Humphreys, and a member of staff who will take your dogs to the Pyeongtaek port for the REQUIRED Health Certificate!
You can check out prices and services here: The First Class Pet
Gina and her team helped us out tremendously! She’s a great person to go to when you feel like you may not have all your items together. She noticed something off about our dog’s paperwork and she immediately called the vet to rectify the situation. Plus, if you are nervous about the language barrier, this service helps out so much!
Military Life: Household Goods Packout
You might be asking yourself ” When is a good time to pack out my household goods?” We decided that the earlier the better. We had been in Poland prior to Korea and we saw what a delayed pack-out could do. Trust me when I say, the earlier the better!
September 18th is when the moving crew showed up at our doors. Initially, the crew told us that the RDD or “Requested Delivery Date” was going to be January 19th, 2024. That is a long, long time to be waiting without items, especially during Christmas.
Sending our items out early really paid off because our items made it to Vicenza on December 5th. My advice is to put AirTags in your shipment to track your items. However, note that AirTags will not start working until they leave Korea. It drove me crazy, but it was fun to watch where our items went! They went from Japan>Straight of Singapore>Malta> France> and Vicenza.
Military Life: Car Shipment
We shipped ou Mazda September 22nd. Our Vehicle is currently sitting in Bremerhaven Germany waiting to get on a transport vehicle. My recommendation to you, ship early! I say this because on the european side cheap cars are a bit harder to come by!
Life on the other side
It’s only been about 2 months since we have gotten here and most of that was spent in Caserma Ederle Lodging. I am so thrilled to be in Italy and back in Europe. It was an emotional three years in Korea where I worked hard, so I am going to slow down just a little bit and enjoy this season of life.
Should you have any questions please feel free to reach out to me!
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