Deployment information 3 December 2009 at 1:06AM in UK armed forces MoneySaving 7 replies 1.3K views

kellyd83

My Husband is in the army, he's based in Chester.
I don't live on camp as we have our own property about 50miles away.
A few days ago all the soilders had a briefing regatring there deployment to Afghan, also that day there was a seperate briefing for wifes, which i knew nothing about!!!!! and wasn't invited to!!!!
Does this mean that because i choose not to live on camp that me and my daughter don't count!

My husband has only been in Battalion a few weeks i don't know where to get information from?

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated!!

Alias_Omega

Kelly,

Welcome to the forum.

I think the the two briefs would of been completely different.

Your husbands brief would of involved such things as what to take, what not to take, where they are going, what they are going to do, what animals to watch out for, usual deployment stuff. Things family members dont need to know about & some secret (shhh) stuff.

The partners brief would of involved such things as where they are going (roughly), why they are there (roughly), how to contact them, what to do if there is a problem in the uk, who to contact at the unit if there was a problem etc. Welfare issues.

You could ask your husband to see if he could get an information packup for partners from the admin section.

I think you may always be on the 2nd burner, if you dont live on the camp or live local. I live 42 miles from work and commute each day. So my wife has never been to any events / briefs on station.

Anyway, whats wrong with living on Dale Barracks. Its not far from Chester City Centre & Cheshire Oaks. The Zoo is just up the road too..

Regards,

Alias

13Kent

I'm afraid that sort of thing will happen whether you live on camp or not!!

If your husband goes away you should be assigned a contact person who you can contact if you need any help whilst he is away. My OH has been away a few times, and I have never been to any sort of brief about it! It may have been about how you can keep in contact - phone cards are issued to your OH every week, sending blueys and parcels and who to contact in an an emergency, but all that info your OH should be able to tell you anyway.

Sometimes units have special things like coffee mornings, or trips for the wives and families when the OH is away - the families officer had the contact list for that the last time my OH was away, but I had to actively make sure that I was on the contact list to get the info - and I was living on camp!!

Do you know any of the other wives that could let you know what was in the brief and could keep you in contact?

EmmEve

I often think its out of sight out of mind with the army!

Your dh's unit should have a welfare officer who should hold all the information you need. If you can get your dh to get the number for the welfare office they should be able to give you all the info you need. You could ask them why they didn't feel the need to invite you to the briefing . They should be able to give you a rundown on what was included and a lot of them give out information packs. These include things like who to contact in an emergency, addresses to send your dh post to, how the tour may affect you both etc. Oh and how to check your car for water and oil, and how to look after the house by yourself whilst they are away :rolleyes:. Just in case you are a 1950's housewife who can't do anything for herself i suppose

kellyd83

Thank you all for your very helpful comments, i will track down the welfare department first thing tomorrow!!!
With regards to Chester im sure it's a lovely place to live, our daughter has recently started school and we want her to continue to be educated through welsh, plus we have bought our own property, and the housing market is very slow here so could be waiting a long time to sell up!!! thank you all once again x

13Kent

Check out the HIVE You may also be able to get booklets and packs especially for children whilst Daddy is away, with pre printed blueys for them to draw pictures on and send.The Hive also do a thing where Daddy can record a story and they add sound effects etc, and your little one can have it whilst daddy is away. I think it's called 'storybook soldiers' (We did our own dvd with Daddy telling a story and then saying goodnight - it was a must most nights when he was away!)

You can also send e-blueys for free you just need to set up an account - your letters are printed out the other end and given to your OH -(rather like a pay statement - all done by computer so no one else reads them) and they can arrive in less than 24 hours. - check out e-bluey.com - these allow you to add photos too - my OH had his wall plastered in them.

Good luck! If you have any other questions feel free to PM me.

13Kent

EmmaEve - I was given a booklet that said make sure your husband leaves you his bank card and shows you how to use it!!! ;-)

EmmEve

13Kent wrote: »

EmmaEve - I was given a booklet that said make sure your husband leaves you his bank card and shows you how to use it!!! ;-)

:eek::rotfl: