Check-in Procedures

Your sponsor is here to assist you with in-processing and to help you get settled in to RAF Mildenhall and the local area.

On your first duty day (usually the day after you arrive or within 24 hours), you (with your unit sponsor) are required to visit your unit's Commander's Support Staff to begin in-processing. Be sure to have your out-processing package from the previous base to give to your CSS personnel. During this time, you will receive an in-processing checklist with details explaining your subsequent courses of action. You will also be given an Individual Duty Assignment worksheet, which is required to collect the needed information to be appropriately gained. Your sponsor is there to assist you with specific duty information. Upon completion, your CSS personnel will collect the IDA worksheet and the requested documents mentioned and provide further guidance on what to do next. If you have any questions after, you are welcome to stop by the Military Personnel Flight (Bldg. 436) Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., if available.

Ensure you are signed up to attend 2-day Team Mildenhall Newcomers' Orientations which are held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. For assistance, contact the Military and Family Readiness Center, in Building 460 and at DSN 314-238-3406 or commercial 011-44(0)1638 54-3406. These are mandatory briefings, and should be attended within a week of your arrival (in any order.) Newcomer briefings are mandatory for military members and Department of Defense civilian personnel.

Additionally spouses, dependents, and contractors MUST attend Thursday Newcomers' Orientation (which includes drivers' training and theory test) within 14 days of arrival if planning to drive in the U.K. Spouses are highly encouraged to attend Spouse In-processing Orientations, offered on the 3rd Wednesday of each month as a hybrid event at the M&FRC and virtually. This is an excellent opportunity for your spouse to connect with other spouses and learn about the RAF Mildenhall community, and discover what base agencies can offer.

Tuesday Newcomer Orientations include inprocessing information with 48th Medical Group, TRICARE, Finance, Military Housing Office, and Unaccompanied Housing Office.  For all new members arriving to RAF Mildenhall who are eligible for on-base Military Family Housing or housing within the local community, please register at https://www.homes.mil/HEAT.  Failure to complete this step will delay your in-processing with the MHO.  After submitting the Heat application look out for further instructions sent to the email provided.  Plan to start viewing local community houses after arrival, and visit at least two houses within the first ten days.  For any housing questions email: 48ces.housingassistance@us.af.mil. Ensure you understand Temporary Lodging Allowance (TLA) policies, and Military Family Housing (MHO) processes.

We want to ensure that you and your families are provided with the necessary information to avoid possible high out-of-pocket expenses or preclude you from being locked into an inappropriate or unfair rental lease. Do not sign a lease until after it has been reviewed by the MHO.  TLA is not automatic and must be justified. If you have dependents, the maximum TLA is based upon the availability of government controlled housing.

Your sponsor will assist you with setting up requirements before arrival, in-processing actions after arrival, and extra things such as house hunting/car buying, and becoming familiar with RAF Mildenhall and the local area. If you have not been assigned a sponsor, or have not been contacted yet, request one by contacting your gaining command or unit. If you have difficulties in obtaining a sponsor please contact the M&FRC for assistance at 100fss.fsfr@us.af.mil.

Before taking permissive leave for your house-hunting trip, ensure you complete the necessary paperwork with your CSS. If you wish to have some independence when you first arrive you may wish to get a rental car. Start saving for this before departing your current location, as a small rental car will cost from approximately 70 pounds a week. For more information see the RAF Mildenhall PCS & Welcome Site.

Temporary Lodging Reservations

Please ensure that you have a room reserved prior to departing your current location, and confirm your arrival date and time with your sponsor.  Check in is at 2 p.m. so if you know you will be arriving earlier than that, ask if you can check in early.  The Lodging Office will try to accommodate if possible, but this is not guaranteed.  Rooms can be booked well in advance and don't require orders at the time of reservation.  Please have a copy of your PCS Orders when you check in, as they will be verified by the Guest Services Representative at that time.  Report to the Lodging Office after arrival to check in to your room - Gateway Inn - Bldg. 459.  If you are arriving during non-duty hours, it's very important that you make sure your sponsor is aware of your arrival date and time.  If you did not make a reservation prior to arrival, a room will be provided if one is available.  If there are no rooms, you will receive an off-base listing of places to stay.  Check here for more details.  There are eighteen pet rooms available at RAF Mildenhall but these are likely to get full quickly.  Only two medium size pets are allowed in Pet Temporary Lodging Facilities.  Pet owners are responsible for any damaged caused by pets.  Housekeepers must enter all pet rooms daily regardless of  a 'Do Not Disturb' sign per AFI 34-135.  If necessary, the Lodging Office may be able to provide a list of local kennels or catteries off-base, however you will need to pay out of pocket expenses (approximately £15 pounds per pet each day).

Command Sponsorship

All dependents must be command sponsored and have a no-fee passport to accompany you on your tour. Your local Military Personnel Flight will be able to help you with the process for all appropriate documents needed to bring dependents into the United Kingdom To initiate this process, you must contact your local Passport Agent within 15 days of receiving the initial briefing in virtual MPF. On average, it can take approximately 120 days (six-eight weeks) to process no-fee passports.  In accordance with Department of Defense 1000.21-R, Chapter 4, Item D.3.b., if passports are not received by the departure date, personnel should not, under normal circumstances, be allowed to out-process and/or depart without the required passport. If you have not received dependent's passport within 30 calendar days of your report no later than date, then request a RNLTD delay.

Eligible dependents of U.S. military are exempt from immigration control and no longer require visas to relocate to the U.K. Please review the general entry requirements for the U.K. on the FCG website or visit the Military Personnel Flight page for more information. Arriving in the U.K. without the appropriate documents, could result in your family being denied entry. There are also consequences for unaccompanied dependents (those who are in-country where the sponsor is NOT assigned). In accordance with the Personnel Services Delivery Guide Family Member Travel Dependents Travel to a Designated Place – Follow on (DTDP): when applying for the DTDP, the sponsor is required to complete the application and sign and understand the U.K. fact sheet. The fact sheet lists logistical support that dependents will be authorized while in the country without the sponsor. The active duty member is responsible for informing their dependents what entitlements they are and are not authorized. For command sponsorship information please contact the MPF Customer Support Section at DSN 314-238-2222 or commercial 011-44-1638-542222.

Arrange Travel 

All members PCSing to the United Kingdom are required to travel in civilian attire.

If arriving from the United States you will be booked on the Patriot Express rotator unless it's full.  Additionally, see the RAF Mildenhall PCS & Welcome site for details on how to book travel if arriving from overseas as it contains information regarding transportation from the airport at London Heathrow. 

Consider pet travel requirements early as this can be a detailed and costly process.  Follow this information if you are booked on the Patriot Express rotator and will be bringing pets onboard.  It is recommended for you also to do your own research to ensure you have the most accurate and up to date information!  Access details for documents required to bring your pet into the U.K.  Another resource for detailed instructions on what needs to be accomplished before bringing your pet into the U.K. is the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) website. 

The completed health certificate MUST be endorsed by the United States Department of Agriculture after the tapeworm treatment (dogs only) has been done. This should be documented on the UK health certificate by a veterinarian. The easiest way to get this done is to use a military veterinary treatment facility and If you are not near a military vet, then the forms will need to be sent to the USDA for certification via the USDA website above.

MUST DOs:

• Within 5-days (and no later than 48 hours) before arrival, members booked on the patriot express with pet(s) must send their pets documents (see link above) as separate attachments named under the “pets name” and “owners last name” over to ltn@animalaircare.co.uk.
• Animal Aircare LTD will review all documents as a pre-inspection before departing to the UK and will also provide feedback to any documents they deem incorrect
• Once Animal Aircare LTD approves your paperwork, they will email you with a payment link to pay for the UK pet entry fee of approximately £275 per pet

If you have any questions regarding the above information, please email the Traffic Management Team at 100lrs.pax@us.af.mil or the RAF Feltwell Veterinarian Clinic at usaf.lakenheath.48-mdg.mbx.vet-clinic@health.mil.

Pets must be registered with the RAF Feltwell Veterinarian Clinic within 30 days of your arrival in the U.K. if residing in Base Housing.  Registration entails providing the health and medical history records of the pet. For more details contact the RAF Feltwell Vet Clinic at usaf.lakenheath.48-mdg.mbx.vet-clinic@health.mil or call DSN 314-226-7097 or 011-44-1638-527097. Registration does not require physical inspection of the pet, and the documentation can be scanned and emailed to the clinic.

Please ensure you have a way of contacting your sponsor on the day of arrival in case any last minute problems arise with getting transportation after arrival in the U.K.  If there is a problem contacting your sponsor or unit on the day of  arrival please call Command Post at commercial 011-44-1638-542121.  

You are a very important person to us. We look forward to welcoming you to RAF Mildenhall!

If you get married before PCSing from your last duty station or enroute to your next duty station, CONGRATULATIONS! 

To assure you and your spouse/dependent(s) are taken care of, the following information is per DAFI 36-2110 Total Force Assignments: 

Para 7.11.1.6.  Change of Tour Election After Departure on PCS, but Before Arrival Overseas.  In Summary:  You must contact the nearest Military Personnel Flight (MPF) to initiate the acquired dependent's clearance for overseas travel, generally completed at your losing base before departure.  The MPF will assist Airmen who are enroute PCS as follows:  complete a tour election change, request approval from the overseas duty station for travel of dependents (unless concurrent travel is automatic), process dependents for overseas travel (obtaining shots, dependent medical clearance, passport/visa processing, etc.), obtain additional service retainability or additional active duty service commitment, if necessary, and any other necessary actions.  Please note that your dependents are not cleared for travel unless they meet medical requirements AND are approved on your orders, which states: "Dependent(s) are medically cleared for travel on ____."  Having a MyVector notification alone does not give full approval for your dependents to be here, and may cause financial issues when trying to complete your travel voucher.  Airmen who marry another military member (with or without dependents) and military couples who want to be assigned to the same location should not wait until arrival at their next duty station.  An Airman may request a change to their projected departure date / RNLTD to await medical clearance and concurrent travel approval.  However, requests based solely on the receipt of a passport/visa may not be supported.  Note:  If an Airman is considering moving dependents at their expense (including to the overseas area), the Airman should be counseled by the FSO to determine if, per the JTR, the Airman is entitled to reimbursement for expenses before issuance of written orders authorizing the movement of dependents at government expense.

Para 7.11.1.7.  Change of Tour Election After Arrival Overseas.  In Summary:  A request for change of tour election from accompanied to unaccompanied is approved according to the guidelines in Table 7.3.  Typically, the MPF can approve a request when dependents and/or household goods have yet to join the Airman in the overseas area at government expense.  A request for a change of tour election from unaccompanied to accompanied to secure command sponsorship is included as part of an Airman's request for command sponsorship as shown in paragraph 7.11.2.

Note:  If requesting command sponsorship, please complete the documents in this link before stopping by the MPF Career Development Section. 

For additional reference:

Table 7.1. Determining Type of Overseas Tour

Table 7.2. Tour Election Changes Prior to Departing Losing Base

Table 7.3. Tour Election Changes After Arrival Overseas

Note:  Consider the military will not pay for travel and housing of your spouse if you do not follow proper procedures. Also, if you were married enroute please let your sponsor know and follow Gateway Inn procedures to check-in to a lodging room. You will then follow information from the RAF Lakenheath Housing team in regards to finding a house.