Self care question

C

Coleyf

PEB Forum Regular Member
I am a National Guard soldier that has been in the WTU for nearly one year. I was medevacked from Iraq Thanksgiving of last year for diabetes.

I live about 60 miles form Ft Richardson. for the first two months I was driving in every day to check the blocks in training and get the process started. Once this was done I was allowed to attend classes at the local (20 miles away) campus. In the mornings, I would call in to my squad leader and check in for accountability, then study, do homework, and PT on my own. In addition, I was preparing myself for life out of the military by looking into various business ideas I had had, and laying the ground work for some of those ideas.

As of Aug, we have a change in leadership. The new 1sgt and platoon sgt are requiring me to come in every day. I wake up at 0530, eat, shower, dress, and am on the road by 0645. formation is at 0830, but we need to be there 30 minutes early. I am driving for an hour and fifteen minutes in. I stand in formation for five minutes, then get back in my car and drive an hour and fifteen minutes back to get ready for school. This is Monday through Wed when I have afternoon classes.

On Thursdays and Friday, I drive in, stand in formation, then sit in my car all day until 1600 PT formation. One hour of PT then I leave at 1700 and get home around 1815 or so.
I am 43, and been in the army for 22 years. I am an E6. My medical appointments are about one every month if that. I have never missed or been late for a appointment, formation or mandatory training.

Now that we have had our first snow here in Alaska, my daily commute goes to right at 2 hours if the weather is bad. On 2 Nov, I drive 2 hours in stood in formation for 5 minutes and then drive home in an hour and a half. That is 3.5 hours and 120 miles for a 5 minutes formation. Not a very good use of my time.

Is there any kind of "home care program" for those of us in the guard who live so far away? I have been told I knew how long the drive was when I selected my home. My reply was that I was only making the drive 4 times a month then, not 20+. I have even gone as far as requesting a room in the barracks, but was told that if I do this, they will take my $1,400 a month BAH away.

Any help would be appreciated.

CF
 
ColeyF,

There is not a lot of options that come to mind. An important factor in any determination would be the type of orders you are on and what they say about entitlements. However, one thought that comes to mind is that since you are outside of commuting distance, they should PCS you to your duty location. Another is that you should be getting per diem. If they PCS you, they have to pay you all kinds of shipping, housing allowance, etc. Now, this would not be a "double dipping" situation where you would get both, but if you find a cheap enough place to rent locally at your duty station, it might make sense to pursue that. Better would be if you were able to get per diem if they do not PCS you (which they may not want to do).

It is a somewhat complicated issue and the best answer really depends on the orders.
 
Jason, thanks for the info. You have a really great forum here. Just reading it has answered so many of my questions.

I think the problem I am going to run into, is that I have a Wasilla Alaska home address. Wasilla is only 45 miles from Ft Richardson. I live 16 miles outside of Wasilla, on the far side from Ft Rich. I am guessing that all this is going to be based on my HOR address.

What do they consider "commuting distance"?

Thanks again.

CF
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top