Farewell to the Wild Blue Yonder

Well, it seems we are officially leaving the Air Force! Mike got his official separation orders last week- January 5, 2009. The only thing the military actually does quickly is kick you out! Officially an honorable discharge with severance pay and disability.

Mike has been having health problems for the past few years but they have gotten pretty bad recently. He had a medical evaluation board over the summer, but they had been so long getting back we thought they would just leave him in until this summer when his time ran out. I guess not. Instead it will be complete silence for months, then a 45 day notice that you will soon be unemployed and uninsured.

As much as I hate to see Mike so stressed out- nothing like a new baby, the possibility of upcoming surgery, finals, Christmas, and that little thing called finding a new job, to bring on the stress!- I think it will be a good thing. The timing could be a little better, but on the other hand there was an unexplained delay that allowed us to still be in the Air Force through the birth of the baby (insurance is a good thing) and the holidays (regular paychecks for Christmas are helpful). Another good thing- severance pay. Who can complain about a $20,000+ lump sum payment? Plus a monthly disability payment and free medical care from the VA forever, GI bill payments so Mike can finish school, free stop-gap insurance coverage for me and the kids... Yep, could be a lot worse!! The Air Force will also pay to move us back to Utah- that would be slightly more helpful if we had anything in Utah to go back to but the offer is nice.

However, I do have some questions for anyone out there who can help. Like:
When or hwo do we get the payments? Will be right away or will there some sort of 90-day wait while the paperwork is processed?
Where can we get medical care if they take our IDs away? What good is insurance if you can't access the building...
Will the disabilty pay or VA care cover prescriptions? That is one aspect of military care I will miss- free medicine. Esp for Mike, who takes lots of expensive ones.
How long can we keep the moving benefits in reserve? If we need a year to sell the house and get ready to move, will they wait that long?
Do I need to physically go to the clinic to get copies of all of our medical records? Mike does his in outprocessing but do I need to go get ours?
If he gets a job on base as a civilian contractor or with the agency, will we still get to use all the base stores and such?
And lots more, that don't surface quite right at 3 in the morning (will someone please teach this baby about night and day....)

Anyway, that is our new adventure. Changes, changes!