elsalado said:
I also have a question related to this. I got a job offer for air combat systems officer and I start BMOQ in January. After BMOQ I will have to go to OJT before my actual ACSO course as there is always a long wait for this. I spoke to a guy who did the ACSO course (which is in Winnipeg) and he said that 90% of ACSOs do their OJT in Winnipeg before the ACSO course. Thus, I could be in Winnipeg for 2 years with my OJT and ACSO training combined.
He told me that because I will be in Winnipeg for such a long time, the CAF will cover the transport costs for moving my furniture to Winnipeg (from Toronto) and that I will be allowed to live off base in my own accomodations. However, my file manager said that I will be living in shacks and will not be able to take my furniture. So I'm being told 2 different things and I really need to know what to do with my furniture very soon. If I do indeed have to live in shacks for that long then I might as well sell my furniture because i will cost thousands of dollars to store for 2 years but if I do get to live in my own place and the CAF pays for the move then it makes sense to keep my furniture.
I'm assuming that the ACSO guy is correct since he actually has first hand experience, rather than the file manager who may not know in detail about what every trade has to do. Can anyone confirm this or add anything? Like I said I have to get my furniture sorted ASAP, whether to sell it or store it.
You will not be the one footing the bill to put your stuff in storage.
When you go to BMOQ, you will be posted "prohibited" to St. Jean. This means that the CAF will pay to break any lease you have / pay the cost of you selling your house, come to your house, pack all your stuff, put it in storage for you, and put you on a flight to St. Jean. They will keep your stuff in storage until you get somewhere permanent (relatively permanent anyway), and you will live in shacks while all your stuff is in storage. This is done because the postings during training are so short, they're not going to do full-cost moves for you to go somewhere on a temporary basis to finish training, knowing you will be posted somewhere else when training is done.
Then when you get posted somewhere relatively permanent (either you are done training, or, in your case, if you have to go somewhere for OJT and they can foresee that you will be there for a long period of time), you can get a "restricted" posting which then allows you go find a place to live and they will move all of your stuff from long-term storage to your new dwelling.
Talk to your recruiter about what's going to happen with your furniture and effects when you go to BMOQ and try to get the ball rolling... my experience with my recruiter was a very poor one that saw me moving all of my stuff from Alberta to Newfoundland on my own dime simply because my recruiter never told me about any of these things and I didn't know any better.
EDIT to add: Also, whether you get a restricted posting in Winnipeg while you're on OJT (in other words, get all your stuff moved to your new location) depends on a few things, which is why you're file manager can't say "yes, you will receive a posting to Winnipeg." But if your friend is in Winnipeg and telling you that people are waiting a long time to finish training and are getting postings there while they wait on OJT, then that is probably the current practice. Just be aware, "current practice" can change. Your stuff could be in long-term storage for a long time.... or you might get it as soon as you get posted to Winnipeg for OJT and secure a residence.
