Fixing to be in Vilseck Germany!!! HELP!!!

Gayle M - posted on 11/02/2012

Hi I hope it's okay to use this site! My son is in the Army & he is 19 & I'm so proud of him. He has asked me to come to Vilseck, Germany to live while he is stationed there for the next 3 years. It's my understanding that we can't share housing. His wife is waiting as well to come over. So my question is his wife & I would like to come for Christmas to spend the holidays with him and also get the lay of the land. However, we can't find a reasonable place to stay. We would like to stay up to 3 months. Does anyone have any suggestions of special priced hotels or hostels or any place that we can stay that won't break us and make it impossible to stay for that long. I would be forever grateful for any help you can provide. My email address is gmdiaz1970@gmail.com. Thank you so much! A military mother!

Davyia - posted on 08/13/2012

Hi. My husband is in Germany now, we are just waiting on the command sponsorship to be completed so that me and my 2 month old son can join him. We will be taking our car with us, besides the snow tires, do you know what else we should have done to our vehicle in order to pass the German inpsection?

Ive - posted on 07/25/2012

So r u still there? How is it? I already been stationed in Europe and I already know the drill but I'm curious about vilseck cause that's where we r going next,I'm wondering if there's any online pics of the housing? I'm also wondering does all the post housing have American outlets.and do they have central ac? Is there a good gym on post?

Rebecca - posted on 08/03/2011

We have lived here in Vilseck for almost 3 yrs. I love the fact that we are surrounded by farmland! In the spring and summer it gets a bit stinky but it's really pretty here. We live in what's considered off post military housing (a duplex) and it's almost twice the size of the housing we had in Ft Lewis WA. My husband was E-6 when we got here. You need to go with your husband to the Levy briefing with your list of questions. Or you can also go to the housing office where you are and ask them some of those quesitons. I think armyonesource might be helpful as well. The Grafenwoehr home page may also help you. We brought most of our stuff and had no real problems. If you do buy stuff over here on the economy always bring your VAT form with you. It saves you 19%. You get those on Grafenwoehr. You will learn all about it onces you get here. ACS has a "Welcome to Bavaria" tour, take it. The people here are very friendly. I hope I have helped you a little.

Michele - posted on 02/27/2011

Ok my usband I got her about 5 months ago to Grafenwoehr, we had to apply for a sponsor over in the states and the sponsor they gave us was so unhelpful they dd not have lodging for us to stay in so we had to stay in the Hossel for almost 2 weeks wich was about 1150 euros wich was around 1500 us dollars would suggest you ship your vehicle as early as you can because it takes about 30-60 days to get her or longer depending on the boat, buy furniture in the states because everything is outragouse here depending on your rank they usually set you up for housing as soon as your husband inprossesses which is as soon as you get here, from my personal experience your husband should come first set up housing and everything for you and your kid then send for ya it is an easier transition for you and your kids tourist passports are $90 dollars a person now just to cross the boarders over here in order for you guys to drive you have to get a user drivers lisence which is over a 100 questions long Vilsect is in the middle of no where so you will be driving a lot to go anywhere, hope you guys have an easy transition Good luck

Bree - posted on 01/29/2011

After reading some of the other replies I wanted to make a few more points :) bear with me haha.

You might need this, I'll just get this part out of the way. vilseck.housing@us.army.mil

Depending on rank, you may not be able to live "off post" meaning finding and renting your own house on the economy. I know that's an option some places but at Graf/Viseck/Hohenfels everyone E6 and below MUST live "on post". I am using the ""'s because our house is considered post housing but we're not actually on post. It's government leased housing, we signed the same papers someone on post would sign, we don't see OHA or anything. They will give you either 3 or 4 bedrooms, which ever they have available.

When you sign for your house you will notice several strange things. Strange if you're used to being stationed in the states, of course. Your house will come equipped with a washer and dryer that are yours for the remainder of the tour. You will also be given furniture until your own arrives. For example, we got: 2 twin beds, 1 full bed, 2 chairs, 1 couch, 1 dining table, 6 dining chairs, 6 bedside tables, and 8 small dressers, coffee table, 2 end tables. If you do not have these things coming, you may keep them for the remainder of your stay. All of them. Though may I say, the beds...no so comfy. Fine until my stuff got here but a bit firm for my taste.
http://www.grafenwoehr.army.mil/pdfs/Lea...
That's got a good amount of examples of our housing. My house is the Ohio...I actually think that picture is my house haha it looks EXACTLY like that...the tree is in the same place in the yard and everything. It's one of the smallest and it's still, in my opinion, very large. There is a basement, main level, upstairs, and attic. The basement has excellent storage.

Okay. I think that's all. If you have more questions I will either know or find out, darnit!! :)

Bree - posted on 01/29/2011

*They do pay for your lodging as long as you stay on post. Once you get your sponsor they should make you a reservation at Vilseck Lodging. If they don't, go ahead and have your husband call and do that. The only thing you will have to pay out of pocket for is lunch and dinner (if you get up and go, they do free breakfast!). When you check out the only thing you'd have to pay for is pets, if you have them. I think it's $10 a day or something. We stayed in lodging for 2weeks. Again, we did not pay one penny out of pocket for the actual room and we still made money in the end because they settled up with us and paid us per diem for food for the 3 of us. The rooms are a decent size as far as hotel like rooms go, there is a little kitchen and everything. I would not recommend waiting and letting him set things up, it would make the flight and the bus ride so much more stressful on you to have to do it alone. I replied to your post on the other board you posted it on, but I'm going to copy it here.

Hi Cheryl, I'm Bri. We are stationed at Grafenwoehr. I'm going to try to address your questions in order lol
Housing. You can't get on the housing wait list until you clear housing at your current post. Then you can fax them your clearing papers as well as your orders. If there is any wait, regardless of if you fax them or not they will count you on the waiting list from the date you cleared the old place. Housing at Vilseck isn't something I am completely familiar with but I do know that Netzaberg is about 40minutes from Vilseck. It's 30minutes of driving, 10 for all of the 3 gates you'd have to go through to get from one post to the other. There are little pockets of housing all through the area, each one has housing nearly exact in floor plan to the houses in Netzaberg, and many of them are way closer to Vilseck. There isn't much of a wait but since you won't have a car right when you get here it's best to stay in lodging for the entire in-processing.
Shopping. There are tons of little places to shop all over between here and there. Then you have the PXtra on Vilseck, the commissary there as well. The PX is on Graf as well as a larger commissary. There is a bus that runs from the Vilseck PXtra to the Graf PX. We took that bus many times just for something to do on the weekends while in-processing. There are malls in the bigger cities and department stores as well. This is a very rural area though there is a little driving to get to most of them, not far though.
Child activities, it really depends on what you're looking for. My daughter is 9 so between school and the extra curricular stuff she does at the school, we're only left with weekends. There are parks and right now so much snow that we do sledding a lot. There are amusement parks within a couple of hours and just so much to see all around. Right now there are some reindeer outside of Vilseck, that's pretty awesome for kiddos.

Tamisha - posted on 01/29/2011

Hi Cheryl. Your hubbie should get all the command sponsored done through his command there. I remember having to do an EFMP screening for all of us and getting our miltary passports (they are free) if you want to travel after you get here you can apply for yall traveling passports which if the price haven't change it's 75 for you and 85 per child. For us it was better to get furniture here in Germany they have beautiful things. Check out the bazzar in Grafenwhor nice. All the housing stuff is pretty much taken care of once you get here. We live in Schweinfurt when we first got here we in the hotel for like a week. And they had a house for us. We live off post. Don't be nervous about living off post I love it. We've been here all most 3 years and we leave in March but my family have enjoy our time here. Hope this helps.... Tamisha :)

Julia - posted on 01/21/2011

Hey guys! I`m in the opposite situation, my husband was stationed in Baumholder, Germany and that was where we met! He recently got hurt and retired from the Army, so we moved back to the US! I MISS Germany soooo bad, people say there is more to do in the US but I def think that there`s more to do in Germany! I would recommend buying furniture in the states cause its kinda expensive in Germany with the Euro! :( Also Vilseck is really pretty area! :)

Adrienne - posted on 01/21/2011

Cheryl I'm so glad you posted this. My husband just got order to Heidelberg Germany for October 2011. We have 2 year old b/g twins, and I've never lived outside of the States. This will be my first military move, and I'm stressing on what to bring and what to just leave in storage, as I have been reading that a lot of household appliances shouldn't be used over there because of voltage. So I will definitely be keeping up with your posts :)

Tamitha - posted on 01/21/2011

I agree with Alexandra - I've been living in Germany (Spangdahlem) for the last 18 months and LOVE it. This was also our first base, so I didn't have a whole lot of experience on how things work. My son (2 1/2 at the time)and I came over with my husband on Command Sponsorship and lived in a hotel for 5 weeks - however, where we were, we had a regualar hotel room for 1 week and then they moved us (within the hotel) to temp housing. We had two connecting rooms that were each like a studio apartment with bed, tv, kitchen ect. You do pay out of pocket, but get all the money back, and we got to take our time finding a house OFF base that we love.
Off base housing in Germany: all the rooms are smaller and individualized. There are no large open spaces - each room is it's own, so if you own large items, I'd leave them in storage. We are using a washer/dryer (american vs german) 4 wardrobes (no closets) fridge, kitchen hutch, and microwave from FMO long term. FMO also does short term items like beds, couches and tv's for while you are waiting for your stuff to arrive. our took about 2 months from packing stateside to arriving here. We chose to live off base - we actually make money on the deal but still live close to base to go shoping or hubby to get to work.
We got our USAREUR driving manual from our sponsor - you will have to take the test BEFORE you can drive. Our base (if not country wide) requires an 85% or better to pass. Once you get that you can also apply for a international drivers license - about 15 euros, so you can drive anywhere in europe.
Traveling: AF paid for tickets over there - it's a long flight, depending on the wind 10 - 12 hours. So pack lots of snacks for the little ones. Also the AF packed us, and we were just given a weight limit and allowed one car. We were living in a small apartment and didn't come close to our weight (5,000 pounds) so moving didn't cost us anything.
Good luck with all of this - I know it's stressful on this side of things, but once you arrive, you will love it here! :)

Alexandra - posted on 01/21/2011

I came over here to Germany (Kaiserslautern) on command sponsorship. We have a 2 year old, we were stuck in the hotel for weeks till we found a house. The army does foot the bill for the hotel its called TLA/FLA. But you have to pay out of pocket and they WILL reimburse you for rates and per diem.Thats one reason they will offer an advance pay before coming here. So there are pros and cons to command sponsorship. You get to help look for a house, spend time together, but you will be stuck while he goes to improcess you will have to find ways to entertain your kiddos in a hotel room, etc, if you come out later you get to arrive to a house possibly(depending on house hold goods) mostly unpacked ready to go... and furniture wise you can get some good deals on the economy if you can afford to shop around. We found some good deals at our local antque stores and there are a few IKEAS here. But I suggest for the basics couch, table, beds, etc.. get it there if you find what you like at a good price. Also, the military lets you borrow washer, dryer, refrigerator, wardrobes, microwave etc..it's calle FMO You should be able to go to your local housing office to ask them about wait lists or contact your husbands sponsor. Here the wait list is loooong. We didn't bother we went straight to looking on the economy, which also has. it's pros and cons from living on base. We like it though. Oh and something I did not know... You and hubby will have to get a USAREUR driving certificate which along with your stateside ID will allow you to drive over here you can google it and find the manual and practice test.I hope any of this was helpful :)

LaLasha - posted on 01/20/2011

leave your car leave most of your furniture and you husband can get you on the housing list. buy what you really need there and I have an open mind it is freaking europe! it really could be totally awesome if you give it a chance and try to learn some german it show respect and a willingness to be open minded.

Eva - posted on 01/20/2011

All I can say is, I wish I were you!!! We were stationed at Ramstein 2 times and my oldest 2 were born at Landstuhl. I absolutely loved it there, it is beautiful and you can do lots of traveling even over 4 day weekends. There are tours available on base which I encourage you to do. I know the base you are going to is smaller than Ramstein but I know some people that were there and they loved it too. As far as furniture, and other belongings, take what you need and if you can downsize now because once you get there you may want to buy things and the less you have when you get there the better. I made that mistake. We came back with a schrunk, cuckoo clock, grandfather clock, lots of Polish pottery, crystal. My husband and I always went together so I don't know about the husband going first or last or whatever. The housing list usually goes fast just make sure your husband puts ya'll on there as soon as he can. Living on the economy is also an option but I don't know that area very well. Your husband should also be able to get command sponsorship info from his shop or unit. You are very lucky and go with an open mind and positive attitude and you will love it there. I would much rather be overseas than in the states!! Take care and good luck.

Heather - posted on 01/17/2011

we will be going to asnbach which is about 1hr and a half away from where you guys will be.well i know its gonna be hard but like rosey lee said there going to send him first to get everything taken care of first which sucks.im going to have my hands full also cause i have about 3 suitcases carseat and stroller.ur gonna have to have family help with the airport and just try to minimize whatever u can and get as much as u can sent out with unacompanied baggage.So we just gotta be strong and wait til we get our orders ya know. ; /

Cheryl - posted on 01/17/2011

Heather, do you know where in germany you are going? And we have a 18month old and a 3 month old... so not fun traveling. We kind of have to travel together cuz I can't do it alone. lol

Rosa - posted on 01/17/2011

Well, Im in the military and went to Vilseck to train a few times. Its a nice base overall. I mean, I would say buy your furniture in the states becasue all u will have is the same px furniture and its not cheap. Make sure you dont buy alot of things or large furniture the house arent that big. Well you maybe luck to get one. Since you have 2 kids, I would say let your husband go first and make sure you guys get on the list, and they would find a barrack room to put him in. This way, you dont spend any money on hotel, cuz they arent cheap at all and you maybe there awhile. Vilseck nothing is near with 2 kids, so I hope you have a car. And make all the correction to it, because you have to pass inspection by Germany standard or you wouldnt be able to even get your car unless you pass. Its really nice, make sure you go on those trips they have. Any questions. let me know.

Heather - posted on 01/16/2011

well were are getting ready to go to germany the first week of february. i have a 4month year old daughter that will be coming also.my husband is already over there and when he got there thats when we he went to take care of the housing and put us on the list .We were 30 first then went back to check and stuff and we moved to number 14.i think u guys will be fine with housing .We happened to be going when everyone is leaving so thats what were waiting for the people that have been there for 4-7 yrs to leave . the army will send out unacompanied baggage first which will get there in about a month but the rest takes 90days.and the army will pay for all of that so i suggest u get furniture here cause my hubby has told me everything is expensive there .if housing isnt open yet u guys will probably have to stay until housing is open. it really sucks but i dont think army pays for hotel out there so thats why they make u wait until housing is available.good luckk with everything and if u have more questions just ask :)