I am an active duty Marine Corps Infantry Officer currently stationed out of Tallahassee, FL on recruiting duty as an Officer Selection Officer. I have orders to attend PME from June-November 2026 out of Ft Benning, GA before heading back to the fleet. Seeing as Tallahassee is a short 3 hour drive to Benning, I am exploring the option of geo-baching; attending school during the work weeks in Georgia and spending the weekends with my wife at home in Tallahassee. This would save us from executing 2x PCS moves within 6 month's time.

Sounds great on paper, but the Marine Corps (and Army I suppose) in all their wisdom does not provide on-base housing for transient students attending PME courses on Fort Benning. If I continue down the geo-bach path I would be forced into paying both my mortgage for the house in Tallahassee as well as a place to stay in the Fort Benning area.

All I really need is a place to rest my head for a few nights a week while in school. Any contacts for Marines or Soldiers in the Fort Benning/Columbus, GA area that may have some advice or a cheap spot to stay would be greatly appreciated. I'm not above setting up a bivouac in the bed of my truck, but a little reprieve from the south Georgia mosquitos wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.


Gig 'Em and Semper Fi!

Your need sounds similar to all my relatives who work in the trades.
That's why they drive these ridiculous F-350s and tow travel trailers around from job site to job site.

If you are cool with showering at the gym and sleeping in your car, there are a bunch of folks doing the hashtag van life stuff on YouTube. One of my childhood friends and his wife are living in a big 4x4 van in Southwest Arizona after retiring from a job in Oregon.

For camping, personally, I prefer a tent (obviously when the back deck of an Abrams tank isn't available) but, I met a guy off-roading in Big Bend who drags a small travel trailer behind his Bronco and he and his wife use that strategy for enjoying their retirement.

Here's their YouTube Channel from when they were adventuring with their Pinto instead of the Bronco they have now.
https://www.youtube.com/@thewanderingpinto5979

None of these solutions are ideal but... probably less expensive than paying rent while also paying a mortgage.

Or, you could get on a couch surfing web site and take your chances with randoms.

I recommend you speak to somebody at base personnel or whatever it's called now.

Geo bachelors save money for the military, and at one time there were protections for them. I cannot believe the Marine Corps won't provide/permit you a room at the BOQ in exchange for skipping the expense of an entire PCS move: it'sinsane, and I don't think you should accept no from the bean counting elite. In any case, good luck!

Sounds like the Captains Career course or something of the like? If so, when you report I promise you there will be others there looking for roommates in a three bedroom rental house or apartment. You may have to live in a hotel for a week or so, but you will definitely find a place to live.

Also, enter your course name and school date into Facebook and you might be surprised to find out that there is already a Facebook page up and running that you can ask questions and others in your situation will be posting looking for roommates. If one does not exist, make one and you will definitely get hits.

There are apartments that actually cater to those of you in this exact situation, with three to four of you in an apartment with a common area, with each room having its own bathroom. They will also try to put you into an apartment with those of the same rank and at the same school.

ETA: this link will take you to an Army page with a number to call for rental info. Maybe it will help.

https://www.benning.army.mil/infantry/199th/2-16/ABOLC/Housing.html

If it's something like MCCC, you're looking at a PCS move. Is that the stumbling block ?

Very strongly considering this route as an option, just trying to find the best/cheapest setup that I can get by on. I've got multiple friends that executed this strategy and saved a good amount of money. Appreciate the link to their channel, always looking to learn a thing or two!

I figured the same thing, especially with the recent reductions in PCS moves occurring across the DOW. But I still continue to get the answer of no BOQ existing on base. The most recent communication I've gotten from base personnel is that I would have to fully apply for on-base housing, the cheapest of which would still cost me the equivalent of a small second mortgage. I'll keep pressing the issue but no luck yet.

It is MCCC and I do technically have PCS orders. But I know many friends who have gone the geo-bach route for this school in particular to save family from 2 back to back moves in a condensed time frame. Most of them ended up living in a van by the river so that's probably my most likely COA at the end of the day as well.

patehughes17 said:

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It is MCCC and I do technically have PCS orders. But I know many friends who have gone the geo-bach route for this school in particular to save family from 2 back to back moves in a condensed time frame. Most of them ended up living in a van by the river so that's probably my most likely COA at the end of the day as well.

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I did laugh.

Only because the first time I ever saw that was when I was about 6 years old by Mineral Creek in Valdez, Alaska.

My dad told me that the people living in the van (1970s custom van) by the river were hippies and they smoked dope and that I was to make sure I stayed the hell away from them.

I never thought about Military Officers living in a van by the river. Ruined my visual image.

I had a similar situation in 2013 when I was stationed at Quantico and living in Fredericksburg with my family. I got orders to the corporate fellows program for ~12 months and my top priority was not having to PCS the family twice in the space of a year. I was fortunate to get assigned to Norfolk Southern when their HQ was still in Norfolk instead of one of the companies on the west coast.

The JFTR prescribes that this should be a PCS move but I pled my case to the CG to allow me to do a workaround. I drafted a SOU that waived any claim to per diem M&IE for the duration of the fellowship but allowed me to depart Fredericksburg early on Monday morning and stay in the BOQ at Norfolk Naval Air Station through Thursday evening and then commute back to Fredericksburg on Friday afternoon. There were a couple of times when I had to stay at the visitors' questers at another base like Little Creek or Chesapeake but there was always something within a 20 mile radius where I could stay in government lodging.

I got reimbursed for the mileage to and from Norfolk on Monday and Friday and for the lodging cost at the BOQ visiting quarters. I filed a travel claim once a month and managed to keep the entire 11 month fellowship cost under $8000 which is far less than a household PCS move.

This arrangement made sense for my family and for the government from a financial perspective. Of course, the PersO at IPAC and the HQBN G-1 said no but fortunately my boss who nominated me for the fellowship prevailed on them to change their mind.

The drive from Tallahassee to Columbus is about 25 miles farther than the commute I made from Fredericksburg to Norfolk but it's in the same ballpark.

BTW, your CG BGen Ahmed Williamson, was also on the Corporate Fellows program with me in 2013 (at Microsoft). Send your petition for a workaround to him via the chain of command and tell him I said that letting you commute and stay in temp lodging at Benning is a great plan and for the good of the Corps.