So what is it like preparing for an OCONUS move? When I read that question a second time, I start that movie-quality crazy laugh that normally means someone is destined for the looney bin...because looking back on it now, I wouldn't wish that headache on anyone! Bryan and I quickly took on the motto "it is all going to be worth it" and hunkered down to get everything done in time.
Below is our timeline from receiving the "soft orders" saying we were headed for Japan, to getting on the plane destined for the land of the rising sun. I hope it helps others, and I hope to one day look back on this and think "damn, we killed that." Because as I write this, I still feel the anxiety and stress of it all.
So here it goes:
December 21: Bryan spoke with his detailer and was asked to take the position as the Dental Officer on LHA 6 (USS America), based out of Sasebo, Japan. After talking it over with Katie, Bryan accepted the orders.
January 27: Katie took the pups to the Base Vet to begin the process of getting Hugo and Reynolds to Japan! During this first session, the pups both received another rabies and distemper shot, even though they weren't due for either. Japan requires documentation for the past two doses signed in blue ink, and we only had a copy from the most recent shots. Let's just say the Johnson pups are well-dosed against both! Our fur babies also had their blood drawn and a FAVN test completed, which would prove to Japan that Hugo and Reynolds had enough rabies antibodies in their system to meet their requirements. Their bloodwork was mailed off to a lab in Texas and we began their 180 days of quarantine.
Jan 29: Katie made a reservation at the Sasebo Navy Lodge with estimated dates of arrival. Since we hadn't received our official orders yet, we just guessed the dates and made a reservation. Our thought was, we rather they know we are bringing dogs and need a pet-friendly room, and later have to adjust the dates, than wait and possibly not get a pet-friendly room!
February 4: Bryan finally received official orders for LHA6 America out of Sasebo, Japan. We have to arrive by the end of June 2021. Here we go!
Feb 5: Katie contacted the Sasebo Housing Office and began the paperwork for our on-base housing options. Long story short, Sasebo doesn't allow you to get on the waitlist for housing until you arrive, so Katie spent the next several months collecting all the required documents and sending them via email so our packet would be ready when we arrived.
Feb 6: We emailed the DMO office to schedule a meeting for government passports. We got a meeting scheduled for a month later. (Oh, don't you love the urgency of the military....)
February 10: Bryan began completing his overseas suitability screening and getting dependent entry approval (DEA) to Japan for Katie. He also started filling out travel and flight requests with the hospital’s human resource department (HRD.) This was the beginning of a rather stressful journey of scheduling flights.
Feb 11: Katie had her Dental Overseas Screening completed at the hospital by one of Bryan's colleagues, Catherine! Because of COVID, this was the first time Katie was able to see where Bryan worked! While Katie knew all of Bryan's fellow residents, she did get to meet Bryan's program director, so it was nice to finally put a face with a name!
March 1: Katie met with the Overseas Screening Department at the Hospital. This meeting took literally 5 minutes. It consisted of her being handed a packet and then told to schedule another meeting to turn it all in. Katie would like to note that she arrived at said meeting with all the documents necessary to complete the packet. She was told she couldn't turn them in and instead would have to make a separate appointment. As she walked out of the meeting, she called and scheduled the next appointment at the earliest available time...nearly three weeks later.
March 8: Bryan and Katie met with the JAG office and got Katie a Power of Attorney (POA) for Bryan since we knew he would be deployed at some point. This gives Katie the ability to do lots of adult "things" in Bryan's name (like purchase a car, accept military housing, open bank accounts, and other "stuff.") At this same meeting, we had wills made. You know, worst-case scenario prep.
March 9: We went to the photography office on base and had passport photos taken for the government passports. While we were able to update our personal travel passports back in January, we were told we had to get official government passports specifically for PCSing.
March 11: We went to the DMO office and turned in all the paperwork for our government passports. We were told Bryan didn't need one, but we had them triple check because Bryan's command had told him otherwise. Long story short, they left with only Katie's packet being sent off for a passport. Inside that packet was Katie’s birth certificate, social security card, and marriage license. Needless to say, we really hoped that packet didn’t get lost in the mail!
March 25: Katie finally had her second Overseas Screening Appointment with the Overseas/Suitability Coordinator. This meeting also took 5 minutes and the lady said it was the most organized packet she received that week. Katie tried not to roll her eyes as she thought about the fact that this "organized packet" could have been turned in a month ago...but anyways. Now it was sent off for the medical department to approve.
March 27: Camp Pendleton had a bunch of COVID vaccines that were getting ready to expire, so they opened up the hospital to dependents to get the vaccine! Katie didn't waste any time, and went that day to get her first Pfizer shot!
March 30: Bryan received Katie's Dependent Entry Approval (DEA) back from Japan. This means that Katie can officially enter the country with Bryan in June! Woohoo! **I will put a note here that one of Bryan’s patients who worked in the hospital’s HRD was able to send off the DEA request early after Bryan confirmed that my Overseas Screening was going to eventually be approved. We lucked out that this request was forwarded without the official "ok" from the overseas screening department, but we were SO THANKFUL it was done because this DEA approval can take months to process and come back....we were very lucky here, and we know that this is rare.**
April 6: After not hearing back regarding our flight requests for some time, Katie called the Seattle MAC flight terminal and learned that there was no pet availability for flights going to Sasebo until July 7. Since we knew we had to fly before then, our only possibility for flying all together was on a commercial flight. Katie then spent several hours on hold with various airlines and found out that, because of COVID, the only airline flying pets to Japan was Delta. With all this new information, Bryan contactedHRD and had our travel request updated with a request to fly Delta so the dogs could travel with us.
April 10: Katie's government passport came back in and Bryan picked it up after work that day! Luckily all those important documents we had to send off with it were returned as well. Another checkbox completed!
April 11: Katie went back to the hospital for her second COVID vaccine! Now both Bryan and Katie are fully vaccinated!
April 13: Bryan was finally able to pick up Katie's overseas screening packet. Everything was approved and Katie was cleared to go overseas. (If Bryan's patient hadn't sent off Katie's paperwork eariler, the DEA would have been sent to Japan here...but again, we were lucky this time around.)
April 21: Bryan went online to move.mil and requested our Household Goods (HHG) pickup.
April 24: HHG was confirmed and our moving company was assigned to us. We were given our first choice of pickup dates and now began the process of purging, cleaning, and prepping for movers.
April 28: Katie emailed the "Notification for Import of Dogs" form to Haneda Airport. This was step 1 in notifying the country that the pups would be coming with us.
April 29: The Japanese government requires a two week quarantine for anyone entering the country. Since we were going to fly commercially, our flight would land in Tokyo and we would have to quarantine (ROM) there. We were told we would be ROMing at the Navy Air Station in Atsugi, so Katie contacted The Navy Lodge in Atsugi to schedule our ROM stay for two weeks.
May 3: We received an email back from Haneda Airport approving our pups to enter the country. We just have to follow up and send a modification request once we receive our flight Itinerary.
May 17: Katie went to the Naval Hospital and received the first Japanese Encephalitis Virus (JEV) Vaccine dose. Truthfully, all Katie knows is the virus spreads through mosquitos and it is highly recommended that she get it before arriving in Japan. So there you go. May 20: Apparently the NAVPTO office in San Diego (AKA the people responsible for booking our flights) didn’t have enough manpower to book everyone’s PCS travel out of Southern California, so they had to outsource to other military installations. Ours was sent to Pensacola. The gentleman Bryan worked with was very helpful and easy to get in touch with, making us feel like we were finally getting somewhere with our flights! May 27: Bryan finally received our official flight itinerary for June 5th! As soon as he got the email, he called Delta to schedule the dogs on the flights and learned that the military hadn't purchased the tickets, but instead just had them on hold. He then had to call the NAVPTO agent in Pensacola, FL to get the tickets paid for so we could book the dogs on the flights with us.
May 28: Bryan got word back and we finally booked the dogs on our flights through Delta. **for anyone calling the airlines, instead of calling the general Delta Airlines number, look online for the direct line to excess baggage. Katie sat on hold for over two hours on the general line before Bryan looked up the direct number and got right through to a person!** Then we did a happy dance because our babies were going with us!
May 29: After sending in a modification request for our dog's flights the day before, we heard back from Haneda approving the changes. The dogs are officially approved to enter the country!
June 1: Katie went back to the Naval Hospital and got the second JEV Vaccine. Now she's protected against another virus.
June 2-3: Allstate Moving Company came to our apartment and packed up all our stuff, put it in giant wooden crates, and hauled it off to Long Beach for it to be loaded onto a cargo ship and sent to Sasebo, Japan! A few days later, we received an email saying our stuff should arrive by August 8...so here's to camping out in Japan until then!
June 4: Katie took the pups back to the base vet to get their Dog Health Certificates. These certificates are required for pets flying internationally, basically clearing them healthy for the trek. Both Hugo and Reynolds were cleared and the base veterinarians provided us with the necessary forms, paperwork, and documentation necessary for the airlines and the Japanese government to permit the dogs to travel. While Katie was at the vet office, Bryan headed to the hospital one last time to check out of the command. He was able to say goodbye to all of the staff at the dental department and he received his GPR certificate! After 22 years of formal schooling, he is happy to be done and ready to get to work!
June 5: We arrived at San Diego International Airport at 5am to begin the check-in process. After getting our luggage checked in, we followed an airline worker downstairs so the dogs' kennels could be checked by TSA. Then we loaded the pups in their kennels and watched as our babies were wheeled away. Bryan and Katie both lost it at this point. We'd been working to get our fur babies overseas for 6 months and here we stand, watching them get carted away and fearing the next 14 hours of travel. Once we got our mess together we headed back upstairs, cleared security, and got on our 7:10 flight to Seattle. We landed in Seattle about 10:30, and rushed to our next gate. Katie sat on the floor of the terminal watching the guys loading the luggage on the plane, while Bryan kept track of the dogs' kennels through the Delta app. Katie had the zoom lens on the camera and was able to snap pictures of both Hugo and Reynold's kennels as they were loaded on the plane destined for Tokyo! We also received a text from a kind worker with photos of our babies and a note saying they were both doing well! With relief, we got on our final flight of the day and were Tokyo-bound by 2:10pm.
We did it. We finally made it to Japan together.
The dog part made me cry.