CONTRIBUTED BY KANDY
HUGE thanks to Kandy for all of her writing over the last year. From her very first post about sink drain gadgets, I've been fascinated by the way she has unraveled the secrets of Okinawa for us in To Live! Information on things like cleaning your A/C as well as understanding how to run it, Furoshiki, getting your driver's license, poisonous plants, and of course, the dozens of examples of off-base and on-base housing available on island. We will miss you, Kandy!!
Kandy left us one last post that I'm guessing is going to introduce a BIT of controversy!!! Might as well go out with a bang, Kandy!!
Military life is always full of changes. That's no surprise. But its still not easy being caught in the cross-wind. When we do things the same way for so long, it can take some adjustment to follow a new set of rules. Well, that is what seems to be happening with the Marine Corps stationed in Japan. Right now, Japan-wide (including the mainland) there are changes in the wind regarding off-base housing. American families stationed around Japan had the opportunity to live off-base. That may change soon.
I heard through the grapevine, the opportunity to live off-base may go away. So I visited the Housing Office to see what was rumor and what was reality.
Right now, way up in the chain of Marine Corps Command, Japan-wide, there are talks and assessments over where Marines and their families will reside. They are talking about making it mandatory to live on base first before just moving off base as soon as they arrive. Also, there was a Pet Towers survey taken to learn from the residents how pets affect quality of life. Also, for the Marine Camps that do not have any or adequate housing, exceptions to any new policies will be handled on a case-by-case basis. After all of these factors are taken into consideration, there will be new rules.
People with existing OHA benefits will be grandfathered in and allowed to remain off-base. As of right now, some commands may start making it mandatory for newcomers to live on-base. Still, a couple of months remain before anything official comes out changing the existing housing policy for Marines Japan-wide. And it doesn't affect the other branches, at least, right now. If you have any questions regarding these new changes, it would be best to ask the housing office.
EDITOR'S NOTE: According to this Stars and Stripes article, "Starting Aug. 1 [2009], all inbound military personnel with families will be required to live in base housing [emphasis ours], the 18th Wing announced Tuesday. The Air Force manages all military housing on the island."
For more information regarding this policy and any possible exceptions, please contact your chain of command for the most up-to-date word on this policy.
That might help for rents to come down and building to slow. It’s getting crazy here in Yomitan. If I would have tried to move out this year instead of last I wouldn’t have been able to afford it.
There are a lot of other changes in discussion, but too early to talk about here. I agree with Daniela though, maybe it will slow things a bit, I doubt rents will come down much if at all though.
I can see the cost of rent possibly coming down, especially if there is a glut of `American` houses out in town but few Americans to live in them (and pay those high rents which the average Okinawan family could never afford), the power in negoiations will shift from the landlords to the tenants. This move may also help to ease the public option and sentiment amoung the locals. However as it stand now, onbase housing just isnt a viable option for all, i`m happy we never lived on base and would feel cheated of the experience if we were forced to.
I am extremely unhappy about this and so is my husband. Our morale is completely in the gutter now regarding this whole move and our movers will be showing up in a matter of hours to take our express shipment. The whole reason we took these orders was for the experience and we had already decided that it was time to venture off base. We have lived on a military base for four years now and have hated it. We were ready to break free of it for a little while.
I’m disappointed, but my husband is downright angry about this. Not only does the Marine Corps have the lowest weight limit, we just lived in an area for 4 years that had no air-conditioning and temps that reached 115° because A/C “wasn’t in the budget”…and now we are being treated like this? For what? We had been so excited. We’re not asking for much, just freedom of choice when deciding where we will live since we don’t really get to choose where we get sent to. There’s no other way to say it – it sucks. We’ll try to make the most of it, but we’re unbelievably bummed out knowing we likely will not get to choose where we live. Thanks, Kandy, for getting to the bottom of all the rumors out there. They’re talking about it here, too: http://www.japanupdate.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12464
Only they’re being rude over there…as usual.
So just to add to the rumor mill. I have heard that on base housing is only 40% full so until they reach 80% capacity then they will allow you to live off base again.
I called the housing office today to find out. We are sponsoring a couple that are arriving here in July and wanted to have the facts. They said “yes they have also heard this being talked about but nothing official has been ordered”
I hope this helps. Good luck!
Kelly,
don’t be discouraged.
Okinawa is still beautiful; living on or off base. The island is what you make of it.
Our first year here was spent on base at Camp Shields and I loved it. I even wrote a piece about my house and wondered why anybody would want to live off base!
We had a van and went beach camping every weekend we could. We went off base and explored as much as we could.
Living off base now eliminates the beach camping because (I live on the beach), BUT my first year here was fantastic! And that was while we still lived on base.
Off base living has drawbacks too as our drives to work are longer and it might be harder for the kiddos to make friends.
I suggest this: look the bright side. You are on a beautiful island. Living on or off base; the island is just gorgeous!
I always tell my husband and daughter how lucky we were to be living on Okinawa and have seen and experienced so much.
Hope this helps.
Does anyone know if this impacts (single) government workers? I’m hoping to come back to the island soon and the thought of packing my life in storage & living in the BOQ is pretty demoralizing. Based on info I was given previously I don’t qualify for any of the family housing so it’s either off-base or BOQ.
We will be arrriving in a few weeks and last week our sponsor told us we would have to live on base.
We arrive on the 20th, and are on the housing list and we are SO thankful. Weve been living off base for the past 2 years, and we are SO sick of it…we miss living on base with the family atmosphere and camaraderie that many often find living in that kind of neighborhood. I think people should have a choice though!
Living on or off base here is what you make of it. We are on base and love it. We have fabulous neighbors who we can talk to and understand and we get off base every single weekened. Just because you live on base doesn’t mean your Okinawa experience is any less than people who live out in town. I may not have a musical garbage truck but the only thing to prevent me from enjoying our time here is me.
I wholeheartedly agree with Daniela and Charity on this. It’s not where you live, it’s what you do where you live…I live off base and don’t think I do really anymore than I would if I lived on base and let’s face it, unless you are living way out away from the bases, you really don’t experience that much culture, it’s so westernized. It all depends what kind of person/family you are with getting out and about. I have met people off base that stay home or go on base for everything and vice versa. Some days I kind of wished I lived on base so my kids had more kids to play with. There’s pluses and minuses to everything…
That said why are the Marines always the guinea pigs? LOL
I totally 100% agree with everyone…minus the complete happiness of living on base…only because I’ve done it so much in the past….and I get a bit tired of so much neighborliness not being a *B* about it but some of you know what I mean. But really…we MARINE families just get the RAW end of the deal…don’t we???? I think we are allowed like 3500 lbs to come over to Oki…and my hubby has been in for 15 years now…we have been married 13 and we have accumulated 13 years of stuff. When we moved into our current house 2 years ago…we had 11500 lbs and we’ve had a baby since…so add another 2000lbs…And I have to consolidate my life to literally 1/4 of what I am accustomed to….while other branches bring as much as they’d like. It just doesn’t seem fair….and NOW again…to single out the Marine Corp…We don’t get the choice like everyone else to live out in town. I already plan on venturing the island on a daily basis whether I live on or off base…but the reason off base was going to be our choice is we have a dog and 3 cats…and unfortutly we aren’t allowed that in housing. So add one more issue and hurdle Ill have to figure out before/or upon arrival to Okinawa!
OUT OF CURIOSITY…………Anybody knows why the Marine Corp is always singled out and crapped on….ID LOVE TO KNOW?!?!?!? Hubby already wants to switch over to Air Force C-130s and retire with them….better everything….I keep reminding him you cannot spend all that time and not retire as a MARINE!!!! (No offence to any air force service members)
We are Army and the 25% weight limit applied to us. Needless to say that I have since acquired a complete household and then some.
I am sure we’ll have to pay for some lbs. or storage or both.
As for people with pets:
How would that work? What if you fly them over and your only choices are two tower units? Will they take that into consideration?
This is turning out to be a nightmare if you are attached to anything.
I was told at the housing office that not everything is set in stone. There will be exceptions to policy that will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Pets are also a factor in the decision making process which is why there was a survey given out to the residents of the towers this month. I hope that helps.
For me, it’s just that we have so little choice with everything else in this military lifestyle, that taking this choice away in addition to everything else was the pinnacle of frustration for me.
I will make the best of it, as I do everything else in this life, but it is upsetting and disconcerting that instead of upgrading the current housing to encourage families to live on base, policy is mandated – and mandated only for Marine families.
That said, I am still thankful for the opportunity and know that what will be, will be, realizing that everything happens for a reason.
RE: other branches bringing as much weight as they’d like.
First off, this is popular misconception around island. EVERYONE, and I mean, EVERYONE, regardless of service or rank (military OR civilian) has a weight allowance. This is a DoD regulatio. Weight allowances are set by rank and with or without dependents.
That being said, Okinawa is a special case which as has separate weight RESTRICTIONS. This means that members are allowed to bring only a certain amount (25% usually) of their allotted weight ALLOWANCE.
Now, for Air Force, this RESTRICTION (not ALLOWANCE) has been lifted, which means that AF families are no long subjected to the additional RESTRICTIONS. However, this also means that Air Force families are no longer entitled to government furniture beyond a 90-day loner term. So, if an Air Force family wants beds, mattresses, a table, chairs, couch, etc, they MUST either bring or buy them.
I also recommend to ANYONE, regardless of how much weight they can bring, to really pare down. We (Air Force) moved under the weight RESTRICTIONS and still brought waaaay to much stuff, and live off-base in an apartment much larger than we would have gotten on-base. On base housing here is ridiculously small. Off-base housing is often small as well, though you can find larger places. Don’t bring everything. It’s only temporary-leave the knicknack collections, your past 5 years of Sports Illustrated issues and your encyclopedia set at home. Your house will thank you.
Nicole – That’s very informative and pertinent information to share with everyone. Most people do get confused by the terms “weight restrictions” and “weight allowances”. I did want to mention that not all housing is “ridiculously small” and I don’t think that it’s fair to generalize housing in that manner. For me, it’s frustrating when people say something about housing as if every option of housing is the same. I’ve heard that everything has linoleum floors, housing all has tiny yards, housing has no storage! And none of these things are true for all housing. I just want everyone to keep that in mind. Especially people who aren’t here yet.
It is true that not all housing is ridiculously small. HOWEVER…most housing for enlisted members is probably quite a bit smaller than what they have stateside. Our offers were both 3 bedrooms, both under 1000 sq feet. One was barely 900 square feet. Not so easy to shove a family of 4 into that, much less those that have a family of 5 and must make do.
The towers typically have more room as do some of the newer-constructed houses. Officer housing is of course larger. No matter what, chances are, you have way to0 much stuff in your statside home to fit into these houses.
Ill still never understand why officers families get better everything….bigger houses, better neighborhoods, etc. (Im referring to base housing, only) I think every family is important whether they are enlisted or commissioned. Why does a family of 4 with an officer for a parent, rate a better house and more room than a family of 4 who are enlisted? Nothing justifies it- it should be across the board when it comes to families and their living environments.
I should follow up that last comment with the fact that I am not new to the military by any means. Both of my parents retired from the USAF, and Ive been a military spouse for 20 years.
So, does that mean if you are Navy stationed at a Marine base (hospital on camp Foster) that you are subject to these same restrictions?
Or since we are navy this new rule won’t apply??
thanks!
To comment on LMNOP’s statement: “Ill still never understand why officers families get better everything….bigger houses, better neighborhoods, etc.”
I was offered and in fact lived in a mostly enlisted neighborhood in base housing for the first few months that we were on island. I was living in the same exact floorplan and square footage that enlisted members of my command were living in. The statement is not exactly true that officers get the biggest and best of everything. That being said, there are reasons why the most senior officers AND enlisted get the better housing options. Most E-9 housing at most bases is better than the O-5 housing. And I’m all for that. I think they deserve a nice house and their own parking spot at the commissary. They have usually served for 30 years or more, and I appreciate their sacrifices. The military, like civilian life, offers rewards and incentives for longevity and performance within an organization. A nicer house is one of those things. Pay is also one of those things. If we took away all perks and benefits, there would be nothing to drive people to seek higher rank, and our military would stagnate. I have been in the service since 1989, and over the years I have seen alot of the perks of being an officer disappearing. Unfortunately, the prestige and respect is disappearing along with it.
and the thread is officially derailed. Can we keep it on subject please? I am still interested if there is an official message or other words on this and I keep checking only to read posts that do not pertain.
From what I understand, while this is more than “just a rumor”, it’s also still a plan that has not officially been established. The best way to receive accurate and timely information – as with any information that we pass along on this site, or through any means that are not “official channels” – is to speak to your command (or that of your sponsor). At this point in time, the Marine units are making these decisions, and can dispel or confirm any information that you have learned about here.
As Heather said, it’s not official “yet” but it is more than “just a rumor.” My husband says it is already in effect and that your command is making the decisions as of now, but, so you know, so far that I know of, everyone has been directed to live on base.
From what I have heard from our Family Readiness Officer it is almost a certainty they will be opening some towers to families.
Also, what *I* was told (I have no verification of this) is that if you want to live off base… technically you can. You just have to pay out of pocket. Not possible for many families, but I think something that may be worthwhile to a singleton or couple?
I know this sucks for all of us, but there is one thing to keep in mind. The Japanese government is currently footing the bill for all that open housing AND for our housing allowances. They simply don’t want to pay both, and this is the method they’ve come up with to deal with it. Any of you who have been to the housing at Kinser especially know how empty it is. The military is relatively untouched by the economic crisis, especially out here. I guess this is the one way we are being affected as everyone else tries to cut spending.
“The Japanese government is currently footing the bill for all that open housing AND for our housing allowances.”
This doesn’t seem correct. I was under the impression that the Japanese government pays for a percentage of our US military expenses in Japan, namely for the wages of Japanese workers on our bases, though Host Nation Support. Is the above quoted statement your opinion?
I posted this to separate rumor from fact and to encourage people to ask their housing office to get the most current information. This mainly affects families who are just arriving and this post was meant to help clarify the new changes. Please keep the comments relevant to that point so that the thread remains helpful.
And that is why I was asking earlier if it was known if this applied to Navy personnel as well…. we will be there (I have just found out) in just a couple of months, prob. beginning of september and we had already decided to live off base. So that’s why I was wondering if we would be subject to these new rules, just wanted an idea, of course no one can tell me anything that’s set in stone. We have three GROWING boys and I just can’t imagine living in 1,000 square feet with them (that sounds aweful doesn’t it? haha) We have 2,500 square feet now and sometimes it feels like the walls are closing in with three rowdy boys!!! So of course my heart sank when I read this post…. aahhh more stress!!! But thanks for posting this, I really, really appreciate this site, it has really made me feel more at ease with this new and very adventurous new move.
Also, we don’t yet have any other lines of communication, no host family or anything otherwise and I know that we should soon in the next few weeks, but having to plan for all of our stuff, school, cars, etc. is very stressful!!! So this area definitely affects what we will bring and our whole move in general if I know we have to live on base. AGAIN, thanks for everything guys, you really are super helpful to all of us newbies coming to the island!
First off – I’m so happy to have found this site! I’ve gotten more pertinent information here than I have trying to research different military websites about housing, pets, etc. Kudos!
Any info? And lastly, I’m seriously debating bringing our brand new W/D we just bought <6mos ago. Worth it? We’ve already opted out of NTS… and I’m a bit of a W/D snob =D so i was curious about that.
I am moving to Oki in August – how “peak” season are we talking? It’s only me, the hubby, & my furball so I know we’re definitely out of the towers (unless that survey mentioned earlier allows them now?) any guess-timates on how long to find housing? He’ll be at Torii station & i haven’t really read anything as far as housing near there
Thanks so much in advance for the input!
Just to add fuel to the fire word on the street is that starting 1 August all accompanied military will be required to move into base housing. This is regardless of branch of service.
I have been on Okinawa for the last 3 years and the first 2 and a half years were spent in New Lester Housing. I feel blessed I can give both sides of the story. Ofcourse, living off-base has been the “Okinawan Lifestyle” I have been waiting to live since 2006, but I would agree with other posters to say that on-base living is what you make of it. Get off base and travel around. Find out what is near you and conversely, what is out there. Simply because your home is on base does not mean you are unable to experience the foreign culture and its wonderful attributes. Enjoying your time here, is, as other posters have mentioned, what you make of it. So get out there and enjoy yourselves and what Okinawa has to offer. We did, and were better for it.
Jennifer, I would say August is still welcoming a lot of PCSers. All my friends and I arrived from Aug-Oct. If you are interested on living near Torii, you want to look at Yomitan. All of my friends live there and love it. I live a little further north in Onna, and still have only a 10 minute drive to Torii. If you really are wanting to look off base, do not look on, bc then your TLA will be terminated in 2ish days I think. One of my friends went and saw around 75 homes before choosing one. I would look at as many as you can handle, and negotiate with them! I say don’t bring your W/D. Many off base homes have them already, you can also borrow them from housing. Some might also only have japanese hook ups or something and f you find the perfect place that wont fit your W/D, then it would be sad to compromise one way or the other.
does anyone know for sure about the August 1st date?
Just to back up Josh. Hubby just announced it just came down that all branches will be living on base. Date not yet set in stone.
I met my husband’s new commander last night, and someone asked her about this. She told us that Aug. 1 is the date when this will take effect for all new people coming to the island. I’m not sure if this applies to the single soldiers (or other branches single members), too, though.
I have heard August 1, as well, but for married military only.
See front page of today’s Japan Update.
There’s an article in today’s Stars and Stripes newspaper.
Here’s a “Stars and Stripes” link that provides additional information:
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=63640
Now that we know about the policy change on military housing, does anyone have an update on the pets in Towers policy? Has it been changed or is it planned to be changed?
There are currently two “pet towers” that I know of. One on Kinser for Enlisted, and one on Courtney for Officers. This was put out a few months ago in the base newsletters. I haven’t heard anything more on the subject.
there was a base newsletter? I live on base, in a tower, on Kinser. I would like to have gotten that.
There is a chance that we could have orders to Okinawa. We are a USMC family. I am trying to get any information I can about housing and pets. I cannot find anywhere, the number of pets and if guinea pigs are aloud. I am aware of the process in order to move pets to the island. We would be coming from Hawaii. Any help would be appreciated.
Just an FYI – they are allowing people to live out in town now… they just never made an announcement about it. They’re even letting single guys move out of the barracks. If you’re new to the island and turn down both of the base houses, they will quietly let you live off base. I think if you’re on base you are stuck until your 1-year lease is up.
I was trying to get some information about onbase housing for MCAS Futenma. If you have any comments about where, what they look like, which floor plan it will be, how long the wait is, etc. I am a junior grade officer, married, have a dog, and am being assigned to MALS 36. Thanks.
@Mike-
There is no housing on Futemna. They will assign you to another base close by, or perhaps allow you to live in town.
I would not assume as per Kristin’s post that all families are allowed off-base now-the housing “rules” seem to change quite often. I believe right now, if there isn’t availability of the particular house you are entitled to, they are allowing some to move off base. Keep in mind though that PCS season is upcoming, which means lots of people will be leaving-and there will be lots of empty houses waiting to be filled.
Kadena housing is full I’ve heard from several sources. If you’re working on Futenma it’s likely that you’ll live on Kinser. I’m pretty certain that all USMC bases’ housing areas are NOT full. Air Force personnel (and/or those who would live on Kadena) are being allowed to look out in town, but it’s not military-wide yet. I’m hoping by sometime this summer because I’m really dying for new families to move in to our neighborhood! Have an easy PCS.
Right now its still a requirement for air force personnel pcs’ing to okinawa to move into on-base housing until they are at 90%. This also applies to folks already living here and wanting to move off base. My house is infested with black mold, I live on the second floor of quad housing unit with a huge german shepherd. Im not allowed to build a fence for her on the side of the house, so she is forced to spend her days couped up in side. I have to mow 80 feet out down a 24.9 degree hill in every direction because contratractors only mow hills over 25 degrees. I cant put anything in the front yard, but still have to maintain it. You only get a nice house if your e-7 and above or moved here last year into one of the remodeled super nice houses. I hate on base housing and the housing office. They dont like to work with people and everytime i go in there they have some new excuse as to why we cant move. even when we are willing to pay ourselvs.
Is there an article on how to “fight” the housing office to get what you want? If not, that would be a great source of info. For example – processes, procedures, and rules to use to your favor, points of contact, who is/isn’t helpful (to avoid) and other info on how to get the house/area you want would really be a great source of information to newcomers. Great site overall!
Nic, it is not mandatory for air force to live on base. We were offered two places (with actual move in dates) and denied both of them. They then did the papers for us to live off base. There are several other families that I personally know have done as well. You need a valid reason as to why deny. We simply stated the offers were sub standard. I talked extensively with housing (we arrived may 19 and moved off base June 15 by the way). The % changes on a daily basis. If they fall below their required % then you are given on base (unless you politely raise a stink to get your way). If they are at their % then they give you the option to live off. Chip, request to speak to manager. They have more leeway then the desk people everyone deals with. That’s about the only thing you can do. Explain to them your reasoning, but it can’t be something that could be portrayed as selfish. Not wanting to live in mold is selfish apparently.
You can go to your command and ask them to help get you a letter that allows you to live offbase. You just need to have a reason that they’ll sign off on. My physician was willing to give me a letter stating that the mold was making us sick to get us out of our unit. I’m not sure if that would have just led to another unit onbase but it was an option. It, however, came too late and we were already getting ready to move at that time. One way to try to get an area that you want is to specifically know which units are vacant. That’s how I got into our second unit. We were pregnant and they kept insisting that all of the units on our base were full. When I came in with a list of open ones, they gave one to me. Just remember though, the people that work in the housing office deal with a lot of not-so-nice customers which can easily sour anyone’s manner. So, give em some sugar lol. You may just get what you want that way.
We’re in Kishaba housing on Foster. There are currently two empties and soon to be a third (TMO was there today) within my little block. I’m sure there are a lot more throughout the entire housing area.
This string is contradicting to the point of nausea. We are moving back to Okinawa and would be very disappointed to move off base. Are there any more exceptions to be able to move off base. A running list of exceptions would be nice…. Also, clarification from a reliable source would be most helpful.
1) Sub Standard Housing
2)
If you need a reliable source, then you should contact the main housing office on Kadena. Google them and you should have no trouble finding contact info. If you really want to live on base your likeliness of getting housing there will depend on when you get here and what housing you rate. There is also a great deal of variation of occupancy rates depending on what base you would be housed on. Kinser still has quite a bit of 3 bedroom housing available, but from what I understand Courtney is pretty full. If nothing is available when you get here you can always sign a lease out in town and then closer to the end of that lease you can get on a base housing wait-list.
First and foremost, to get the most info for housing is here: http://www.okinawamfh.com/
Second, we are still mandated to fill in housing on base across the board. The problem is that there are simply not enough 2 bedroom house left and KAB is renovating alot of them. If you are eligible to get a 3 bedroom house, expect to be told to move on base.
We arrived July 13th, & currently in the process of writing the ‘Exception to Policy’ letter & approval/disapproval process with the Housing Office. We want Kadena Housing (husband O-4) & we have 2 children. Does anyone know the names of the newer Kadena Housing neighborhoods or any newer neighborhoods centrally located?? I’d like to have a list prepared from doing my own homework of which empty units there are in those areas for leverage when they either deny our request or approve to be centrally located (KAB, Foster, Lester) but give us the ‘sub-standard’ older units described by many above. Thanks so much anyone with info!
Hello all,
My family would be moving to kadena in NOv does anyone know what the policies are for living off base we would be eligible for a 4bdrm? Is there a waiting list for a 4bdrm? We have heard mix info from the occupancy % to their rules. So if anyone knows some concrete details that would be great. Thanks
@Jennifer-
You simply will not know until you get here. Occupancy changes daily. There are definitely fewer 4 bedrooms, so it’s hard to say.
thanks i didnt know it could change daily like that.
The reason there is nothing concrete or standard is because the housing office does nothing standard across the board. Talk to 100 different people and get 100 different policies that were used to either “get what they want” or used against them. We just arrived on island in May and had the most horrific experience at housing ever. End results were acceptable but that does not excuse the inconsistencies, lies and inability to follow their own instructions. And we made a concerted effort to effect change for those coming in after us and were officially blown off. IMHO it is just like gambling – you may come out a winner but there is a greater chance you’ll lose
All I can say is good luck and document, document, document.
@D-
I completely wholeheartedly agree with you.
When we moved here, we were offered absolutely disgusting housing. One house had spongy walls due to the mold. The other had dead bugs all over it, along with rodent and bug dropping all over the place-including the kitchen counters!
We requested at least one other choice-and were told by the manager of housing we’d get another choice and to come back later for a key. Of course, there were no witnesses to this….and when we came back-he quickly said, nope, I have no idea what you are talking about. Take the housing or leave it. We left it-and luckily, this was 3 years ago, so we could move off-base.
Another couple we knew got their offers at the same time-didn’t like one of the houses, and got offered a 3rd.
Moral of the story-get everything that everyone at housing says IN WRITING…and then, still, don’t expect them to honor it.
I have to disagree with Nic in one respect. My husband is an 0-2 and I live in the middle of a multiplex that is completely concrete and also infested with black mold. So just b/c you’re husband is a higher rank doesn’t necessarily mean you get a better house. In fact, most of the younger enlisted I know are the ones in the newly remodeled houses. It seems to just be complete luck of the draw. So yes, the housing office here completely sucks in the way they place people. And so far, as much as I’ve tried, there is no recourse or people to help you get the good housing. We’ve even attempted the “exception to policy” paperwork. So to anyone on their way in… Good luck.
I am moving to Okinawa in May/june my husband will be working in Camp Hansen. We have 2 inside cats who we are taking with use because there is no other option. These cats are more important to us than anything else. My family can not take them nor can his. I read in the some the comments that there is talk about getting more pet friendly places there. My husband is only a Sgt and we do not have kids. I will have a nervous break down if we do not get pet friendly housing. Is there a way I can appeal to the housing offices better nature to help me out with this. I don’t care where I live so long as I have my cats.
Tasha, don’t worry about it until you arrive. There’s really nothing to do until then with the exception of making sure your cats have met all of the quarantine regulations. My husband also worked on Hansen. We were given a unit on Camp Shields. They had a ton of two bedroom units there which is probably what they’ll try to give you guys. Most of our friends who worked on Hansen lived on Courtney and McT and they also had pet friendly units there as well. I would think it would actually be easier for you guys to secure one of the smaller pet friendly units b/c most of the families that go to Okinawa usually need a bigger place. So, that should help you guys out in that area. Also, you may get the option to live out in town as well depending on how full the base housing is when you arrive during peak PCS season. So, try not to worry too much. It’ll all work out:)
Thank you Suzy, it’s just because I’m a very “planning” type person and I’m so scared, but like you said I can’t really do much except hope. I’ve actually made myself sick with because of all the stress I have had with being scared about my cats being with me there. I guess I will just have to try and relax.
I completely understand Tasha. I’m a planner too! It just about drove me nuts. There were tears and rants while trying to get everything in order. It all went great though in the end…there and back even. We are now officially stateside and even through all of the difficult moments we had over the last few years, I’d absolutely do it again. Good luck with everything and best wishes:)
Does anyone know if an off-base housing subdivision for military families called “Morgan Manor”, likely off of Kadena Circle and possibly in or near Yomitan, is still around? I lived there in the late ’70s and am trying to locate where it was exactly. Thanks.
Lisa Bertotto Schmelz
Is there any law in this country of lawless housing unfair prices to American only?
This is so unfair. This is like occupying the American because they are Americans.
I need to find me a Japanese women and buy me a few houses and get rich off the U.S government too. Because what is going on here would never fly back home.
All this complaining ……sorry but Bobby lives in a room with a little kitchenette and a roommate because he’s a single soldier and E-4 or below, so all you in a house. Get over yourselves and consider yourselves lucky…you get much more space than an Army single soldier here.
Boo Hooo