New to army life.

[makapaka]

Hi.
My husband is just about to join the army and I was wondering if anyone could tell me what life as an army family is really like. Any tips would be great.

HI Kylielou, my DH is RAF, but can answer some of your questions about quarters. When you get married you are allocated a quarter according to rank I think. My DH is an officer so I have no idea about what size quarter you would be entitled to and wouldn't like to guess!

But the kitchens are fully kitted with units both floor and wall. Most older quarters have loads of storage cupboards and all kitchen have cookers, although you can buy and fit your own if you wish.

You pay for a furnished, part-furnished or unfurnished quarter. That means you can have all your furniture supplied by stores and on the whole it's not bad, apart from the sofas (yuk). But there will be curtains and carpets in every room. If you have a few things of your own you can pad out the rest with military furniture, or have the place empty and go mad down at Ikea. It's great when you're starting out as you can put up with their stuff while you save for things that you want.

The bathrooms are OK, not all have showers, dark ages I know. Buy your own loo seats & shower curtains, worth while investment I think! No ick factor.
You will need crockery/cuttlery/pots/pans etc I think, but can borrow stuff from stores if you have nothing to begin with. Try to be comprehensive with your wedding list or get vouchers very cheeky suggestion there!

Hope that helps a bit.

Sorry just realised you're already married (thicko)...

quarters are your own house, you wont be sharing with another family.

the y are just what you would exxpect from any other house (or you might get a flat depending on where you are posted).

the number of bedrooms depends on your family size, we had 2 bedrooms when we had i child then were moved to a 3 bedroom when dd2 arrived.

we have recently been given a new fitted kitchen/boiler and windows.

you can do what you like to your quarter (within reason) we have painted ours and updated our bathroom cabinets/toilet roll holder/towel rail etc. just dont go knocking any walls through!!!!

in my opinion it is worth giving up everything else for, not that you are really giving it up though you will still get to see your old family and friends.

the social life can be really good, we dont have many babysitters (neither do our frinds) so we take it in turns to go to each others houses at the weekends then stagger home at daft o'clock with the children in tow

because we all stay on the same estate we all stay close to each other, not like in civvie street where your friends are scattered around.

Also on the social side you instantly have at least one thing in common with your neighbours (ie DH job) so there are no barriers to break down as in civvy street. Everyone in the same boat if you like! Also in 8 years everywhere we've lived has had a mixture of Navy, RAF and Army so lots of different perspective.

Wow Thanks for all of your help, people have told me it is the worst life you could ever possibly want, but it isnt! i'm liking th fact that everyone is so close and everyone is inj the same boat so everyone can help each other out!

It sounds like an exciting life to lead, i will keep you updated!

I really appreciate all the help to be honest i was really scared!

Thanks Kylie

i take it the people who told you its the worst life to lead have never experienced army (navy or raf) life.

yeah they havnt experienced it, but all of my friends keep saying that i will be mniserable and stuff like that, but i just want a new experience in life, how long have you been a army wife then Kerry? do you enjoy the army life?

been married to dh for 7 and a half years now.

i love my life.

very proud of dh and what he does.

i love all the functions that we go to and seeing him on parades.

it is a bugger when he is sent away so much but worth it when he comes home

KylieLou

Firstly - brilliant re your AAT exams. It's a really good idea to have a qualification like that. You would always be able to get a job when you move around UK. You of course could end up living abroad - Germany, Cyprus or other exotic locations

Try and ignoe what your friends are saying about your life being over - that's rubbish.

As other people have said it's a good life. Of course it can be hard when dh is away - chance more than not that he could go away to Afghanistan or Iraq. That's why I think it's important to have your own interests too - such as studying, a hobby etc!

I have been married for 13 years and have lived all over the place (including abroad) - but I have always been able to work (Civil Servant).

Married Quarters (MQ's) are generally fine - they can be a little outdated/not so many mod cons - but the rent is cheap. Some can be on an Army camp (behind the wire) or outside the gates.

You will have a good support network with a Families Officer who can help with any personal problems/give advice - but only when/if wanted.

You will make very good friends (for life) and when your dh is away they will all be around.

There can be quite a few social things going on - parties/bonfire nights etc. Any excuse!

You will tend to move every 2 years. You get to see new places - but you have to be quite resilient/independent. I have seen a few wives over the years who moan about being miles from family - unfortunately that is the life - and you know that when you marry a soldier!

The pay is good too!

Please ask anything you like. We are nice here!

Thanks for all of your help, you have all made me feel more confident about the army life, thanks for the support.

My Fiance is not going into the army as a soldier, he decides after his 14weeks training.

I wont be getting married until i pass my AAT so then i can be with him but also have my independence to.

Everything sounds exciting not like normal civvie life where your always in the same place.

With the marriage quarters i dont think it matters what they look like because you can put your own personal touches to (thats what i have been told)

I think that everyone here is so nice and helpful, i will keep you all updated on my Fiances next moves.

could anyone tell me where the basic training camps are?

For over 17's the Army Training Regiments (ATR's) are in Pirbright, Surrey or Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire or Catterick, Yorkshire.

It depends what regiment he wants to join - it will be Catterick if wants to be Infantry.

KylieLou - I meant to ask if your fiance is not going to be a soldier when he joins the army what is he going to be?

KylieLou - his YO's training course should be Bovington/Lulworth we live literally outside Lulworth camp gates so if you want any info about here then more than welcome, if you don't want to move here when he is doing his course (if its here) then we run a B&B (not touting for business honest)

No my fiance is noy going into be a soldier at all, if is either doing computer logistic or medical he has not decided yet,

Thanks for the info so far everyone much aprreciated

Thanks KylieLou - everyone, not matter what rank, what job, is a soldier

Hello again, quick question, how much are marriage quarters? like rent and bills? would apprecaite all the information that anyone could give.

thanks

kylielou

It depends on what type of quarter you get. We have a 4 bedroom officers MQ equivalent in Brussels for which we pay £382 rent, £24.00 garage rent, Council Tax contribution £148.80. We also pay a combined charge for heat, light and water as we are overseas.

I would imagine that your quarter would be cheaper, but you will be liable for the utilities bill separately, but you will pay a contribution for CTAX rather than actual CTAX.

Being Navy, we also have our own home, which is rented out whilst we are abroad. I would consider having your own bricks and mortar as well as a quarter if you can afford it at some stage. Dh leaves the RN in 5.5 years, and we will have somewhere to live of our own with most of the mortgage gone. We won't be trying to buy from scratch with a pension and lump sum, like some do, and not getting very much for the money.

Most building societies will let the Forces rent out their homes without having to have a buy to let mortgage, and won't alter the interest rate either. The only one who wouldn't was HBOS, and look what happened to them. Looks like they'll have to change their ways as C and G (who are part of Lloyds who have taken HBOS over, DO allow it!)