Army secretary Harvey: Families will move from Europe to U.S. together

[lebkuchen]

For those not following this story, it's another Bushy 180, bottom-line evidence that they don't know what the hell they're doing.

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=29132

All Europe-based soldiers affected by transformation in coming years will move with their families, Secretary of the Army Francis J. Harvey said Monday, clarifying the Army’s position on the issue.

Harvey spoke to reporters following the 1st Infantry Division’s official homecoming ceremony at Harvey Barracks. The formal ceremony included the presentation of Silver Stars to seven Iraq war veterans.

Undersecretary of the Army Ray DuBois caused a stir at a news conference last week when he told reporters in Washington that the Army planned to move families while their husbands and wives were deployed:

“What we’d like to time is, the brigade is in Iraq, families are in Germany; the families begin to move back to the base where their brigade is then going to come back to, rather than have that double move.”

But Harvey said Monday that the Army never had such a plan. He said DuBois’ statements were “misinterpreted.”

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Here's the source. Not too many ways to "misinterpret" what the Bushies said:

“The goal is to take the families and maneuver them stateside, and then the soldiers will rejoin them back in the states as they redeploy from downrange,” said the official. “I think it’s still within Gen. Bell’s intent. (The families are) not with them anyway because (the soldiers) are deployed. It’s more of a benefit for the families.”

Spouses will have to pull children out of school, de-register and ship vehicles, manage pack-ups and clear housing, pay all final bills and repeat the process in reverse at the new duty station by themselves.

Asked to comment on that scenario, the spokesman said “I think that’s just part of being an adult.”

http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=29006

[ngGale]

1. They may be afraid after the soldier returns to...

Germany, the family just might not come back to the states. Hell, I wouldn't - this way they have the family of the soldier held hostage.
Call me paranoid.

[MADem]

4. They have to go, without command sponsorship they are cut adrift

It isn't a realistic option to stay, unless the spouse happens to be German and is working and living on the economy.

[wakeme2008]

2. Right the "families" will be stateside while the

soldier is "downrange" in Iraq OR Dumbfuckistan....

[MADem]

3. You know what is amusing about that 'adult' remark?

If you are a senior leader, the 'adult' spouses usually lean very heavily on aides to accomplish these "adult" tasks. I cannot tell you how many moves I managed for the spouses (wives, generally, in fact, exclusively) while their husbands went off about their business. Wouldn't it be nice if some of these adult spouses of more junior personnel had their own aides to help out with the move? For that matter, the single folks could use a hand, too--it is a pain in the ass, moving from an overseas post.

I have done it many, many, many times, and it only gets easier if you are senior enough to have your administrative assistants arrange for the various people on the check out list to come to you with the paperwork, instead of standing in line like everyone else does.

[Bridget Burke]

5. "Pack, Pay & Follow"

The duty of the military wife. At the end, she may get a nicely folded flag--as a compensation.

[Solly Mack]

6. I've done moves by myself....not pleasant, not pleasant at all

I don't envy anyone making a military move solo.

One of the criticism redacted from the Overseas report on base closing and troop movements was that the committee didn't feel the Pentagon(Rumsfeld) had given enough thought to moving the soldiers back to CONUS...regarding logistics mainly (which includes family logistics)and that Rummy needed to slow down the process...