14OCT08 OBLC - Fly or drive?

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My CPT informed me that I will be receiving orders for 14OCT-05DEC08 OBLC at Ft. Sam Houston, TX then to my duty station in Ft. Bragg, NC.

Would it be better for me to fly or drive to to OBLC? I currently live in California and would come back here to get my things before going to Ft. Bragg. Then this poses the next question: will I need a vehicle while I am at Ft. Sam?

Thanks in advance!

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Specializes in Critical Care.

Great question, I was wondering the same thing. My application goes to board next week, so I am looking at going to OBLC in Jan in possible. Reading through everything is making me wonder if I should drive so I can take all my gear.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

Hi Itsova,

I too will be attending OBLC October 14th. I am in Vegas and I am planning on driving to San Antonio. Since training is Monday-Friday with weekends off and two long weekends scheduled, having a car would be useful. I think one of the things I read somewhere recommended it, but I also read you could get by without one.

Are you all ready to go?

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optimuszprime,

I just found out monday night that I have orders coming in this week. I'm not ready to go atm.

One concern that I have flying/driving is having enough time to spend with family/friends before PCS'n to Ft. Bragg. If I flew I would get home faster and would have more time than if I drove.

My travel would be: Cali-Ft. Sam-Cali-Ft. Bragg. OBLC ends 19DEC and I have to report to Ft. Bragg 02JAN. It'll take a while to get to Ft. Bragg from California. I'll only have 16 days from the day we graduate to when I report to my duty station. Most of those days will be on the road.

I do see your point in using a vehicle during the weekends. It would be nice to go out and explore the area when we're not training.

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I have made my decision.

I am driving to Ft. Sam Houston then PCS to Ft. Bragg. After dropping my stuff in my new apartment near Bragg, I'm going to fly home back to California for Christmas.

Pros:

- Readily transportation at OBLC for weekends and evening

- Less driving (instead of california - ft. sam - california - ft. bragg)

- Travel all paid by the army (minus the flight back home)

- More time with family because time off will not be used to drive to and from duty station

Cons:

- No usable transportation on arrival back home (will have to rent/borrow vehicle)

The pros outweigh the cons in my situation.

Thanks for the tips everyone!

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

I was thinking of driving too, but it would take a little over 24 hours to get there from where I live. Then I would have to drive to where I'll be stationed, which would take even longer. So now maybe flying wouldn't be that bad of an idea for me. I might just rent a car when needed for those so-called fun weekends off.

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I plan on flying as I want to spend some time with my family before PCSing to Ft. Gordon. I know of someone else who will be going, however, she will be driving and her PCS will be at Ft. Jackson.

Question, why are you finishing up on 5 DEC, that is the end of our AMEDD training, but then we separate into our individual branches for add'l training. Mine is nurse corp, which means two more additional weeks. I am scheduled to finish on 19 DEC.

My recruiter told me there will be many who will be driving, to make friends :o)

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Question, why are you finishing up on 5 DEC, that is the end of our AMEDD training, but then we separate into our individual branches for add'l training. Mine is nurse corp, which means two more additional weeks. I am scheduled to finish on 19 DEC.

I corrected myself in a later post pointing out that training will end 19DEC.

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Sorry, must have missed it. I was just worried that you were not given the correct date by the recruiter. I did not want that to happen. I was told by a fellow classmate that her recruiter had told her that OBLC was done three weeks earlier than it was supposed to be. I am glad that you have the correct date, have a safe trip!

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I plan on flying as I want to spend some time with my family before PCSing to Ft. Gordon. I know of someone else who will be going, however, she will be driving and her PCS will be at Ft. Jackson.

I asked my CPT about flying out and he told me that if I choose to do so, I would only have 1 day to get to Ft. Sam and 1 day to fly out to Ft. Bragg after OBLC. I guess if you choose the flying route then you have to PCS by flying from Ft. Sam Houston to your duty station. Plus I was told from my former cadre that the army will not pay for you to go home (mileage or plane ticket) then PCS from your home address to your duty station unless you go home to do "hometown recruiting" such as GBR. Then the army will pay for you to PCS to your duty station after recruiting.

So we will all PCS from Ft. Sam Houston to our duty station (unless Ft. Sam Houston is your duty station). If you drove, to Ft. Sam, then you will drive to your duty station. If you flew, then you will fly to your duty station. That's my understanding from what I've been told.

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Im just finishing OBLC and I wish I had all the info you have before I got to OBLC. You have it down packed. You will be better off driving by far (I didn't bring my car and wish I had). Also I have a real good friend who is going to Bragg from OBLC next week. You should have an awesome time.

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Here's what I got in an email from my CPT regarding flying/driving mix:

"If you fly on the government's dime to OBLC then they will only pay for you to fly to Fort Bragg.

If you pay for the ticket on your own and tell them you drove then you're okay to fly to OBLC then drive to Bragg."

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