Expert: Rod Powers - 1/11/2007

Question
My husband is about to graduate in a week and go straight to AIT, then to Airborne, Is there a way that if I moved to where his training was that he would get night and weekend passes? I cant handle being away and our son is driving me crazy saying daddy all the time and i am six months pregnant and my health is suffering cause I cant eat or sleep with out him and all I do is cry. Please help. I know they wont pay for move but how do I know if they will give him passes. I live in Texas and training is in Virginia. Thanks in advance.------Sabrina-------

Answer
Hi Sabrina,

Passes in the Army, during AIT are generally based on the recruit's training progress and their particular phase of training.  For details, see my article at: http://usmilitary.about.com/od/armyjoin/l/blartraining.htm

If the length his AIT is 20 weeks or longer (at a single location), the Army will move you to that location at government expense. If it's less than 20 weeks, you can move to the location, but it's at your own expense.

AIT starts Phase IV of training (Phase I through III are basic training). During this period, he will generally be allowed to go off-post on Weekends and Holidays, but will have to return to his barracks room by 2200 (10:00 PM) each night. He will not likely be allowed to go of-base during the evening on weekdays, but likely you could meet him on base, after class until his 10:00 PM curfew.

Phase V begins after he's been at AIT for 4 weeks. During this phase, with permission from the commander, he will be able to stay off base, overnight during weekends and holidays.

Phase V-plus begins after he's been to AIT for more than 9 weeks. At that point, he can be off base at any time, when not on duty, as long as he reports on time for his class formation.

In some cases, if the spouse lives in the local area, his commander may allow him to live off base with the spouse during Phase V.  Understand that this is not a *right*, and is completely and totally up to the commander, especially during AIT lengths where the spouse is not allowed to travel at government expense. It also greatly depends on how well he's doing in training. If he's struggling at all, the commander is not likely to allow him to live off base.

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com