Try for FSTC or PCS as planned (Pregnancy)?

Svenja Grant — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 09:08:33 -0500

We are currently stationed OCONUS and are due to PCS (DEROS: Dec 1, 2022) of the year. My husband is reclassing and his AIT date is Jan 9 2023. Now we’ve just found out that I’m pregnant with our first child, due Oct 3.

This would only roughly give us 7-8 weeks to get all the paperwork done for the baby to be able to fly and I feel like this would be pushing it.

I really don’t want to stay back and we absolutely do not want to extend!

I’ve heard about curtailments making it possible to move the DEROS forward in certain cases. Would my no flight pregnancy window possibly count as such?
If so, I understand we’d need a doctors note stating this as well as a DA 4187 for the package. Anything else?

Thanks in advance!

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 4 at 2022 11:10 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 11:10:17 -0500

Your husband leaves for AIT Jan 2023, not you. He won't report to his unit until several months after that. You are not going to PCS to his AIT.

You would need go curtail to a June DEROS, which is a six month curtailment, for a July report date. Then, you'll be at your follow on assignment 8+ months before your husband arrives. Or, you can extend for about nine more months since postpartum females get 12 months of stabilization after birth.

Your husband cannot change his class date at all without serious risk of losing that class seat for good.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 4 at 2022 1:21 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 13:21:32 -0500

As the saying goes, “the army didn’t issue you a family” if he’s reclassing, you are staying where you are at until he’s done, and then you will PCS to the location. If you are due in October, then you don’t qualify for a curtailment as all major airlines will accept infants older than 2 weeks.

I read this post 3 times and I’m still having issues as to understanding what your pregnancy has to do with a report date to your husbands AIT.

If he’s reclassing, the Army will IFSTE him until he is complete and can return to PCS.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 4 at 2022 8:48 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 04 Feb 2022 20:48:08 -0500

I just realized that you're a dependent spouse, not a dual military spouse. You don't have a DEROS, so what I said about stabilization for 12 months, or curtailing doesn't apply to you.

DEROS does not mean anything other than the report date for your next assignment can't be earlier than that month. That's it. Nobody will kick you off the island after your spouse's DEROS and DEROS get moved left and right all the time depending upon report dates and leave taken. Your spouse's DEROS was moved to within 60 days of the class seat once he reenlisted.

Your spouse will travel TDY enroute to their AIT and then follow on assignment. You can't move six months early to his follow on assignment because he shouldn't have one yet, meaning there is not a location for you to move to.

He won't have a follow on assignment until right around the time you are giving birth. His follow on assignment should be CONUS. You don't need a passport to fly your child back to the states, but you will need command sponsorship and that will take some time. You may actually have to fly non-concurrent travel if you aren't ready to leave by the time of your husband's AIT.

As for changing the class date, that's just not possible. Class seats are a finite resource. Depending on the MOS there might not be another class seat for that MOS for another year. You can't just move it to a later date.

Your husband cannot change his DEROS date for a curtailment until he gets his follow on assignment. That will happen as early as six months from DEROS and as close as three months from DEROS. Your husband's DEROS MUST be within 60 days of his class start date for HRC to place him on a follow on assignment. If he is not placed on a follow on assignment then he can't go to school. He can't change his report date till he has an assignment with a report date.

What you can do is EROD home early to be with family but without your husband until he finishes his training.

So, here are your options:

1. Have the baby and hustle to get the command sponsorship done before your husband leaves for AIT.

2. EROD home this summer. The Army will pay for you to fly home, you'll have to pay to move to rejoin your husband.

3. Your husband requests a new class date and you stay at your location longer. He will most likely have to pick a different MOS or a location to reenlist to move to. Either way, that class seat is gone forever.