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Forces sweethearts

If you have a family member in the Royal Navy, RAF or army, find support from other Mumsnetters here.

Original poster

What to expect from MQ

30 replies

curlywurlycremeegg · 07/03/2010 14:06

All a bit theoretical at the moment, DH is in the regular reserve having left the RE in 2005 after 15 years in. He has missed it like crazy and with a bit of encouragement is now on the path of re enlisting. We never lived in MQ, he was always "married unaccompied" as I needed family support to continue to work with my shift patterns etc. So the only experience I have had of MQs is contac houses. Also things are slightly different now as we have four children and at that time we only had one.

So my questions are what size accomodiation could I expect if I did move with him? We have three sons, 14, 3 and 9 months and one daughter who is 5. We are really lucky at the moment as have plenty of space in our own home, but do need this to some extent as out 14 year old has aspergers syndrome and often struggles to cope with interaction with his younger siblings. Obviously things will differ from posting to posting, but if anyone could give me an idea of what to expect with a family of our size it would reallt help me start planning for the next year.

TIA

OP posts:
luciemule · 07/03/2010 20:31

For soldiers quarters, it would depend on lots of things, such as age/sex of children (room sharing), availablity of quarters at the time etc. You could potentially get the number of rooms per child but not necessarily.
Officer's quartes are allocated by rank so 3 bed for Lt/capts, 4 bed for Majors, 4 bed + study for lt cols. However, that is dependent too on availability. Also, not all quartes are the same grade so you could have a small major's 4 bed and a huge major's 4 bed.
Your best bet would be to contact the HIC (Housing Information Service) nearer the time when you are putting in for a quarter or you could call the Army Welfare Service sooner with regards to asking about your son and needing space etc.

lifeslikethat · 08/03/2010 10:15

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Original poster
curlywurlycremeegg · 08/03/2010 10:18

Thanks for that, I am just feeling so up in the air atm. I am delighted he has taken this big step as he has been so unhappy in his civvie job, however things are much more complicted with the children now. He hasn't even decided whether to go for officer training this time, the careers office nearly snapped his hand off when he went back in to start the paperwork......just shows you the state of things now, but I guess his civve experience and has more "advanced" age , make him an atractive recruit now.

I think I may start hanging out here for a while to get a feel of how things are in MQ now. I won't be working so am a bit worried about fitting in and finding a new circle of friends if I do move, but I am not sure the kids would cope well wityh being seperated from DH when he wasn't even deployed IYKWIM.

Just one question, do you know if the officers housing size is set in stone? Would they really expect 6 of us to fit in a 3 bed house? (sorry that sound patronising as I know a lot of people don't have any choice iin the matter, but being so used to having a lot of space I think I would find it very difficult!).

Thanks

OP posts:
luciemule · 08/03/2010 11:10

Hello Curlywurly - it's all dependent really on where you are posted, what quarters they have availble and welfare- wise, with your son, what they will choose to do.
Say if there are no captain's quarters when you apply, but there is a spare major's quarter, then potentially, you could move in there. However, (could be slightly different becasue of your son's Asperger's) if a captain's quarter came up, then you could be made to move back to a smaller quarter. That said, when we were in Captain's quarters, they were always decent sizes and our first quarter had 3 large, doubles with large dining room and lounge and very spacious kitchen and massive garden (we looked after someone's pony one summer!) To be honest, you might be in a better position of there are no quarters, in that then, you could have a hiring and you can mostly choose the house from a list or even find your own I think. I really think, in the first instance, you'd be best to ask someone welfare-wise because rules might be different for SEN circumstances. Do you know where you could be posted - what regiment etc?

luciemule · 08/03/2010 11:23

Have just been looking on the AWS site but couldn't seen anything. Will keep searching.

luciemule · 08/03/2010 11:27

found this

luciemule · 08/03/2010 11:29

look at this page

On the right of this page, you'll see a photo pf Phyliss Gibson - she's the AFF health and additional needs specialist and so would probably be the best person to call. Her number is there I think. Hope this helps.

Original poster
curlywurlycremeegg · 08/03/2010 14:17

Thanks so much, we have no idea where he will be posted or even how long it will be before we find out, he should know a bit more on Wednesday. His last posting was Waterbeach in Cambs, however he is thinking of changing cap badge this time......maybe a midlife crisis!

A garden big enough to house a pony sounds great, I am very envious, it would suit my lot to a tee

OP posts:
Drusilla · 08/03/2010 15:39

Here is the JSP with all the houding entitlements in it, how many bedrooms etc here Go to pages 55 and 56. It says:
"Officers entitled to Type V SFA are to be allocated Type IV SFA if they have 3 children who are all aged 10 yrs and over. Officers with 4 or more children of any age are also entitled to a Type IV SFA and pay Type V charges."
If you scroll down further it has the details for other ranks as well.

jcscot · 08/03/2010 15:51

"He hasn't even decided whether to go for officer training this time."

He'll have to be under 29 to go for officer training in the Army as that's the cut-off for entry to Sandhurst.

jcscot · 08/03/2010 15:53

Of course, if he had held a commission prior to leaving in 2005, then I don't think he has to repeat Sandhurst so the age restriction wouldn't apply.

Saltire · 08/03/2010 16:12

Sorry to hijack the thread, but have DE changed the rules on non married couple occupying MQ's?

Drusilla · 08/03/2010 16:15

No, you have to be married or in civil partnership

Original poster
curlywurlycremeegg · 08/03/2010 16:15

jscot, thanks for the link, I have been looking for this sort of thing and going round in circles! He has been told he can re enlist up to the age of 52 and as he has gained additional quals since leaving he could be considered for officer training now, not sure how true this is, he is now 32. Is a NCO still a commissioned post? I feel clueless, my life was so far removed from his when he was at Waterbeach, I used to get letters saying "whilst your partner is away we will help you with your weekly shopping trip" etc etc which used to make us laugh as we couldn't see anyone making that 60 mile round trip to take me to Tesco!

OP posts:
Original poster
curlywurlycremeegg · 08/03/2010 16:18

Saltire, everything I have looked at so far says married or civil partnership.

OP posts:
Saltire · 08/03/2010 16:19

That's what I thought, but across from are a couple who aren't married. Now she ahs a child who is 4, from a previous relationship, so the quarter is obviously hers, but he lives there too. They are getting married in August

herbietea · 08/03/2010 16:25

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jcscot · 08/03/2010 16:26

NCO is a non-commissioned post (NCO stands for Non-Commissioned Officer).

AFAIK, to get a commission (and by extension an officer's MQ!) you have to enter RMAS prior to the age of 29 unless you are getting a Late Entry commission (which is for senior NCO's who rise through the ranks). I know of a couple of colleagues of my husband who went to Sandhurst, served a few years and the resigned, only to re-join a few years later and they didn't have to repeat their year at RMAS. So, unless your husband already held a commission (as a Lt or above) it sounds as though he wouldn't get through.

Of course, the recruiting office is the right place to ask and they will have all the correct info as I may well be wrong.

I wish your husband (and you!) lots of luck!

Saltire · 08/03/2010 16:31

herbie - how's it going, have you settled in ok?
We are having problems getting DE to agree to putting in an extra bath/handrail for me in the bathroom, apart from that, so far so good

Saltire · 08/03/2010 16:31

Sorry OP I keep hijacking your thread

Original poster
curlywurlycremeegg · 08/03/2010 16:32

Doh, I feel stupid, I knew NCO stood for non commissioned yet asked if it was a commissioned post......good job I am not going back to work any time soon or I would be very worried about my patients!

Thank you for the good luck wishes, I think I am going to need it

OP posts:
luciemule · 08/03/2010 17:22

Waterbeach was where that huge garden for the pony was Curlywurly! I loved waterbeach (especially being sooooo near to Cambridge!)

madwomanintheattic · 08/03/2010 18:01

i suspect he won't be accepted directly back in for officer training right now, but would re-enlist at current rank and follow the normal path to le if appropriate. (no shortage of captains and majors lol, in fact those taking pvr have their hands bitten off as army trying to shed numbers to make savings) - unless he has a particular specialism and they currently have a specialism-sized hole lol, anything is possible...

as noted earlier, size of mq will be down to children's ages and availability. i wouldn't bother contacting phyllis unless you have a problem when you are actually allocated a quarter - when your dh gets his allocation form you can put down the details on your request for accom (ie child x requires own room due to as). it is mostly irrelevant however, as he'll get his own room due to his age in any case. there may be an argument for (some of ) the other children to share due to their ages, but a lot will depend on where you end up and what housing stock is available.

you may want to look up the additional needs info on the aff website though - is your ds statemented? are you aware of the pitfalls of transferring statements etc? once dh is back 'in', you might want to contact ceas at upavon and ask about registering ds. (i assume he is not registered from before). your dh will also need to register himself as having a dependent with additional needs with his desk officer in glasgow.

herbietea · 08/03/2010 18:05

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madwomanintheattic · 08/03/2010 21:28

handrails took 18 months in our last quarter. we extended for a year so she'd actually have a chance to use them lol. in this one they put a second rail up the middle of the flight of stairs, but not at the top or bottom. i do wonder...