whats the married quarters really like?

[YouNeverKnowIMightFlounce]

dh and i both applying to join army. w e are married with 2 dds

what are schools and houses really like?

thanks!

variable lol. some great, some catastrophic.

really? when you say catastrophic just how bad is that?

and what do you generally pay in bills? all a bit new? i am applying to be dental nurse i hope! whats childcare like?

Depends where you end up. If you're both joining, you do know you might get posted to different places don't you?

do you not read the sun or watch the news?

i've seen lots of quarters with mould, but not to a great degree - families tend to be better looked after now but there are still some problem patches. some quarters look pretty ropy from the outside but are ok inside - what sort of thing did you want to know? schools are just regular local authority schools in the uk with the added problems that tend to come from being part of a mobile population (this is now being additionally monitored with the inclusion of a 'forces child' marker), and sce schools in germany are generally reasonable i think - but no recent experience of sce.

very brave both of you joining with 2 dds - most end up like that, rather than begin their careers that way.

no wasnt told that!! really?

well we dont have much to lose tbh.
we are dishcharged bankrupt, lost our home so now rent and where we work at the airport we are at risk of redundancy.
no savings, no pension, i have no career. i want stability and a future! i am 24 almost and dh is 32 so older to join!
when we were at office earlier we wasnt told of being split up

From my own personal experiences. any MQs on RAF bases (DH is RAF) have been great, hardly any problems. However, the Army ones seems bad and the Navy worse (live in Navy one now).
that's just my opinion based on my own experiences*

that sounded bit ignorant obviously should dh be posted away on tours etc we would be split up

It might mean one of you in an mQ somewhere and the other in the mess somewhere else. You will need to look at childcare in that case as well, and factor it in to any salaries you might get.

You could just as easily be sent away for 6 months on a tour somewhere

i didntthink that we would survive with just one wage?
mess? do u mean when in training? sorry all new!

really as dental nurse? i wasnt given that impression?

I think so far as possible they will try to keep one of you at home when the other is away on deployment, but I'd imagine different posting locations could be a strong possibility. However, as the Army go away more, then perhaps you could both end up away at the same time? I wouldn't believe the careers officers word on this if he says that you won't both be sent on deployment at the same time unless you get something in writing somehow.

What level are you thinking of entering at? Officer or Soldier?

What would you do with your children whilst you were doing your basic training (v.v.intensive if it's anything like the RAF or Navy - no personal Army experience)?

My experience of Navy and RAF housing have been that it's generally fine. As Romy says, the schools are just normal state schools in the UK, although you can get an allowance to cover a large amount of boarding fees (think 90% up to a certain level?) if you chose that route.

What about one of you joining as a regular and the other as a reserve?

Remember that all forces are 24/7 jobs. This would be hard if you were both in the Forces with no nearby family/friends to help. I know people whose children have been with childminders for several months at a time.

you would need to decide which one was having the MQ, and which was going to "live in" during the week in the accomodation block on the camp

Have you told them about the bankruptcy? That might affect your application sadly.

think i am getting totally confused!
i was told that as dental nurse i would be working in a practice on camp somewhere? when he spoke about married q there was no mention of me living in one part of wherever and dh living i another.
the training would be at different times.
maybe not a good idea at all
im really confused as being told so many different things by different people but want to know as much as i possibly can

I am a Army wife, who is a CM on the 'patch' I have had children often long term while both parents are away, so it can happen although they do try and do it so one is home.

The Army does if possible post you together, operative word 'if possible' its not always.

And yes as a Dental nurse you will get sent on deployment, one of my clients was a Army Hygienist, she was deployed.

It would be 14(?) weeks basic training at Pirbright (I think for Army, not sure) then another 14 weeks training for your dental side of things, don't know where that would be though. You probably know all this, why am I telling you?

no not as yet. we are dishcharged bankrupt though (feb 08) would that still affect?

lol yes knew that.
had no idea that i would be deployed dont know if both me and dh doing it would be too much?
god my heads in a spin now all seems so confusing all of a sudden.
i would not be happy for my dd's to be with cm while both are away

just putting daughters down to bed...

MQs aren't that bad - it depends on where you are posted. My husband is in the Army and we've had nice quarters and so-so quarters, sio it does vary from post to post.

As for separation, well it depends on your capbadge. You'll go through your training an then be posted to somewhere and your husband will complete his training and be posted somewhere - there is absolutely no guarantee that you will be posted to the same location, so please bear that in mind. You could be at one end of the country and your husband at the other. Naturally, you can express a preference to be located together but I'm afraid it might not always be possible.

Both of you may serve overseas on deployment but the Army does try as far as is possible to have one parent at home.

What capbadge is your husband planning to join - that will affect things as well.

Well if it's any help, there was a couple at our old place - they had a 14 month old. The child went to stay with his granny for a year, becasue the mother was posted somewhere for 6 months and becasue the DH did shifts, the child went to granny, then when she got back, the DH went off to Iraq for 6 months, and the mother was on shift work, so child stayed there for a year. Do you have parents nearby who could help you out

Saltire, the same thing happened to good friends of ours (one Artillery, one a Medic). They overlapped on six month tours so their daughter stayed with grandparents for ten months.