Kadena information

[LT4Life]

If I go rotator or C-5/C-17/whatever, how would my cats travel? Can I carry them on in FAA approved carriers or do they go in crates? (what's the flight time and are there any stops in between?)

The 11-2kc-135v3:

5.13. Transportation of Pets. Transporting pets (dogs and cats) on aircraft operated by or under the

control of AMC in conjunction with the sponsors permanent change of station is authorized. Other pets

or animals are normally prohibited, but may be moved according to DODR 4515.13.

[uhhello]

you may be right. I'm going to talk to the Moody vet next week when I take them in for the blood draw.

If I go rotator or C-5/C-17/whatever, how would my cats travel? Can I carry them on in FAA approved carriers or do they go in crates? (what's the flight time and are there any stops in between?)

You're more than likely going to go on the civi rotator piece of junk out of Seattle or they will just send you commercial. If you are going on the rotator make sure you tell everyone and their Mom that you have pets. There are very few slots allotted for animals on each flight and they fill up fast. TMO should be able to brief you on everything. If you have any more questions, just ask. I just came from Kadena and left with my animals.

[dmeg130]

You've got a couple options. First, take them on the plane with you, either as carry-on (my cat meows like a mo-fo when he's in his carrier, so that was a not an option) or as checked baggage. Airline policies vary, but you usually just pay an extra fee and they pick them up at the ticketing counter and drop them off at baggage claim. If they do need the extra quarantine time and you bring them later, you could have somebody fly with them (like your mom) or send them as cargo. Again, airlines vary, but you typically drop them off at the air cargo facility and pay a much higher price. There are services that will do this for you, including out of Sea-Tac. I would absolutely recommend a direct flight if able. Temperature out of Sea-Tac won't be a problem in the summer, but ATL will, and Delta and some others don't ship any pets in some months.

You can try these guys too:

FlyPets

Good luck. Our cat is staying at my brother-in-law's while we're in Germany. At least now you'll have palm trees to look at while you're sweating your ass off during preflight.

[Insubordinate & Churlish]

If you end up having to go on a C-5/C-17:

IIRC, besides complying with the FCG regarding immunizations, documents and quarantine, you have to provide a shipment container approved by the International Air Transport Association that is big enough to that your cat may stand up, turn around and lie down with normal body movements.

Edit: Reference DOD 4515.13-R, C.1.6.2.1.

Edited February 19, 2008 by Port Dog

[Guest JerseyGirl]

I really think that as long as all of your cats' paperwork and bloodwork is in order, you shouldn't have an 180 day quarantine. I would try to get in touch with someone at Kadena.

As for the actual flying over, like someone said tell everyone and your mom that you have pets for the rotator. The rotator didn't have restrictions, but the commercial airlines did - I think it was like June 15 until September 15 they wouldn't fly animals for sure. But, again check with TMO. Our friends couldn't get a slot for their cat on the way back to the States, so they were split up - active duty flew on the rotator (something about if there was room, he had to go on the rotator), and the dependent went with the cat on a commercial airline - courtesy of the AF.

Our dog went to Japan and back on the rotator in his crate. We also had some commercial flying in the States on either end. Its not too bad - we froze his water in his water bottle, but blankets down at the bottom to soak up any water or drool, and he was fine.

Good luck!

[Guest munson]

so, I've got a RNLTD of 30 Jun 08. My 2 cats will still have 2 months left of the 180 quarantine, so my plan is to leave them with my mom and then ship them out at the end of Aug so they don't have to hang out in a quarantine facility in Japan for who knows how long. Anyone know of a decent company that does this sort of thing well, and it doesn't cost an arm/leg?

Yes, the quarantine is 180 days as of 2005. Are planning to live on-base? When we got here 3 years ago you could do the quarantine in your house, but only if you liveon-base. You just needed to bring them to the vet office (no appt. needed) every 30 days for a 'health check', until the 180 days are up. Shipping pets to and from Oki by themselves is SPENDY! Our friend paid $2000 to send his dog home. Here's the vet website if you haven;t seen it already, it has a link to all of the quarantine info. http://www.kadenaservices.com/vetweb/index.htm

People have made arrangements for friends on-base to keep their pets until the end of the quarantine if they live off-base.

Let me know if you have any more ?'s

[sirjrod00]

Officials mandate base housing for military families at Okinawa

7/7/2009 - KADENA AIR BASE, Japan (AFNS) -- U.S. military leaders on Okinawa approved a policy to require all incoming military families to reside on base beginning Aug. 1.

The change comes as an effort to save money as military family housing on Okinawa sits at just more than 50 percent capacity while families living off base are given an overseas housing allowance to cover rent expenses.

"The focus of this new military family housing assignment policy is to increase occupancy rates in our government homes on base," said Lt. Col. David Wilder, the 718th Civil Engineer Squadron commander at Kadena Air Base. The 718th CES staff manages the more than 8,300 military family housing units on-island.

"By increasing our occupancy in homes built for U.S. forces on Okinawa, we expect to save the Department of Defense about $30 to $50 million annually," he said.

The policy will not affect families already stationed on Okinawa, nor will it affect unmarried military members. Through attrition, the military's goal of 95 percent occupancy will be met. At that time, incoming families will be given the choice of living on or off their installation.

"We cannot afford to continue to pay off-base entitlements when we have homes recently renovated or constructed and available on base," Colonel Wilder said. "This shift in family housing assignment policy is not only necessary but essential in our effort to support our nation's defense commitments around the world."

This major shift in how the U.S. military manages and assigns military family housing units has been directed by U.S. Forces Japan officials and has been fully coordinated with all services on Okinawa and beyond.

"This policy is in progress with United States Forces Japan and the intent is to implement the policy Japan-wide in the near future," said Pamela Hann of the 718th CES.

In order to ensure the quality of life for all military families on Okinawa, the United States and government of Japan are working together to not only renovate housing already here, but also to build new housing. The projects will span about 16 years and are estimated to cost about $2.4 billion.

"The 18th Wing remains committed to serving the family housing needs of the entire joint services community on Okinawa," Colonel Wilder said. "The 718th Civil Engineer Squadron's housing flight is the designated representative to manage and operate the Defense Department's largest family housing activity."

Well this pretty much sucks...anyone know what type of house an O-3 with a wife and no kids/no pets is looking at? I am really hoping to avoid the towers...getting too old for the apartment style living. I am getting there around November and I'm already TDY enroute, so my HHGs are already shipped.

[Karl Hungus]

Well this pretty much sucks...anyone know what type of house an O-3 with a wife and no kids/no pets is looking at? I am really hoping to avoid the towers...getting too old for the apartment style living. I am getting there around November and I'm already TDY enroute, so my HHGs are already shipped.

Sounds like this could set the stage for other bases to follow. Not good.

[Whitman]

Since this is the Kadena thread.......

Apparently they are currently full up on co-pilots and the new co's are being told to only expect about 20hr/month of flying in the KC-135. Not to mention there is something like an 8 month waiting list for guys who want to deploy. Something to consider, that nobody talks about in UPT. Kadena is a great location but there is only 1 tanker squadron and they don't deploy. What do the other tanker guys get? I've heard about 700hrs/yr at McConnell or Fairchild with AC upgrade at the 1.5-2 yr point.

[Techsan]

KC-10 types get about 300 hrs per deployment, and most guys on average deploy 2-3 times per yr. So, right now most (especially co's) are getting about 800 hrs/year. We have several copilots now who have over 100 combat sorties...and thats before AC upgrade.

Most upgrade to AC around the 2 year mark.

[Scooter14]

Kadena is a great location but there is only 1 tanker squadron and they don't deploy.

Yes they do, albeit not as much as the CONUS squadrons.

There were two Kadena crews at the Died constantly. They also do a lot of PACAF exercises, RJ support, etc.

[skinny]

When I left in 06, at Grand Forks we were getting around 600-700 hours/year to include 3-4 deployments and a handful of AE and Coronet TDYs. In 5.5 years there I racked up 3,000 hours. They were sending COs to PUP pretty much as soon as the regs allowed them to. Can't recall exactly what the regs said. I know it didn't take long though.

[Scooter14]

What do you KC-10 types do doing these "combat" sorties?

Same things the KC-135's do.

Orbit over the AOR and provide gas to Strike Eagles, Hogs, Vipers, gunships...

EDIT to remove sarcasm born from being only halfway through a really long week

Edited July 9, 2009 by Scooter14

[Whitman]

Yes they do, albeit not as much as the CONUS squadrons.

There were two Kadena crews at the Died constantly. They also do a lot of PACAF exercises, RJ support, etc.

Fair enough, I must of mis-heard. I was a little shocked that there was a waiting list to go though.

[Scooter14]

No hate here. Just asking a question. Fuel is definately a weapon. It's a requirement for everything that we do. I'm just asking; what does a tanker do on a "combat" sortie that is different than any other sortie? You refuel jets on training sorties and pond crossings. You refuel jets in the AOR. Does the mission of your recievers dictate whether it is a "combat" sortie or not?

Again, no hate here. You can't man the VUL very long without tankers. You can't even make it to the AOR. But calling them "combat" sorites?

I see your point now. I thought you were being "that guy", which is not typically your style...

While there are minor differences and a higher workload, a tanker "combat" sortie is orbiting and offloading gas to multiple receivers with real bombs and missiles (which is good, 'cause we ain't got none) on a longer duration mission flown out of a forward base over a place with a higher percentage of people who don't like you and would shoot at you except for the fact that AK-47 rounds, SA-7s and rocks don't reach that high.

The basic flight pattern is the same. It's just over bad guy land. The durations are longer, the missions are more dynamic and challenging (most of the time, sometimes they are mindnumbingly boring) and the opstempo is high...-135 guys time out by the end of the trip.

We log the time on the 781 as "combat." when we are overland.

[Guest Form 8]

No hate here. Just asking a question. Fuel is definately a weapon. It's a requirement for everything that we do. I'm just asking; what does a tanker do on a "combat" sortie that is different than any other sortie? You refuel jets on training sorties and pond crossings. You refuel jets in the AOR. Does the mission of your recievers dictate whether it is a "combat" sortie or not?

Again, no hate here. You can't man the VUL very long without tankers. You can't even make it to the AOR. But calling them "combat" sorites?

By the way Kadena rocks! Spent plenty of time there. Go eat at Sushi Zen, next to Eclypse. Have the Red Dragon Roll, excellent!

Some KC-135 crews setup a ROBE/Link-16 network and help fighters communicate on the "net."

Every sortie in the KC-135 is a "combat sortie" due to our climate control or lack thereof

Fair enough, I must of mis-heard. I was a little shocked that there was a waiting list to go though.

The people on the list usually don't have a lot of deployment time. The Pilot/Booms who PCS to Kadena or Mildenhall from an AMC unit usually aren't really quick to volunteer to deploy again.

[M2]

Kadena-related...

Inside the Wire: Beginning Aug. 1, all newly arriving military families at Kadena AB, Japan, will be required to reside on base under a new policy aimed at saving Uncle Sam a heap of money each year and filling the base's family housing units, nearly half of which are currently empty. "We cannot afford to continue to pay off-base entitlements when we have homes recently renovated or constructed and available on base," said Lt. Col. David Wilder, commander of Kadena's 718th Civil Engineer Squadron, in a Kadena release Tuesday. The unit manages the 8,300 military family housing units on Okinawa, Kadena's host island. Wilder said increasing the occupancy of the on-base homes and reducing the number of military families that receive overseas housing allowances to live off base will reap savings between $30 million and $50 million annually. The policy will not affect families already stationed on Okinawa, or unmarried military members. Once there is 95 percent on-base occupancy, then incoming families will be given the choice again of living on or off base.

[KEL]

Kadena-related...

Any word on when Kadena will reach 95% capacity. I'm supposed to PCS there in December and I'm hoping I won't have to live on base.

[Vertigo]

Any word on when Kadena will reach 95% capacity. I'm supposed to PCS there in December and I'm hoping I won't have to live on base.

Well considering it doesn't start for another 3 weeks I'd say not for awhile.

[isuguy1234]

Are married couples still required to live on base? Also, I understand they are building/remodeling houses there? Truth to that?

[stract]

yes and yes.

[Guest rob C5 ENG]

does anyone know if the tiiger shop there has a website???

[El Sloppo]

Hey everybody,

I'm not going to be PCSing to Kadena until Feb/Mar of 2011 (no RIP or orders yet), but I'm going to be TDY enroute the whole time up until then, and I had a few overseas questions:

-Good places/suggestions for a single guy to live?

-How does the whole cell phone/call back to the states thing work?

-For motorcycle riders: is having a cruiser bike going to be a pain in the ass? i.e. are the streets not suitable for that kind of riding?

Thanks a bunch,

Slops

[stract]

1. off base, out Gate 1 in Mihama, Sunabe, Minato areas

2. Skype or Vonage works like a champ

3. I've seen cruiser bikes on the roads, though not many. Know that being an island, lots of salt in the air = corrosion to your bike if you're not careful. Also, you'll have to take the local conditions course give by the MSF (PACAF requirement) prior to riding. And I THINK, but not 100% sure, that to JCI your bike you have to ship it to mainland Japan.

[GBock]

3. I've seen cruiser bikes on the roads, though not many. Know that being an island, lots of salt in the air = corrosion to your bike if you're not careful. Also, you'll have to take the local conditions course give by the MSF (PACAF requirement) prior to riding. And I THINK, but not 100% sure, that to JCI your bike you have to ship it to mainland Japan.

Not true about the JCI. You just have to find a place that will do it. Talk to Brad at Bike Shop Gixxer up north on Hwy 330 (I think). He'll hook you up. But, I have to "2" what stract said about the corrosion. If you aren't emotionally attached to your bike, just buy one there and sell it when you leave.