Maybe I'm wrong

[wrench3047]

i didnt notice where you were from or i would have known you were in army housing. duuuuuuu
you ranger or just there for jump school ?

Ft Stewart is 3rd ID we are the one's that took Bagdad. I'm a maintenance sgt on a wrecker.

[Blown S-10]

i would say that welding could be loosly considered auto mechanics. at least by the ignorant. but they could lump all blue collar type work together.

why don't you want to use the shop ?

[fun4now]

bummer on rent

they used to just take your BAQ alowance. oh well i would hope it is still less than off base.
i'm shoure they will call welding as part of auto work, prefabing parts no dought. go to the housing office and ask there and get it in wrighting if they ok it if you still want to try it there but you may be starting a fight you dont want. good luck

as for your trip to over seas keep your head down (when apropreat) ,and eys open, and gun clean always. be shoure to drop us a line when you get back.

[Gaslight]

There are people who go through life saying they were "within their rights", while sticking elbows in other people's faces, and there are people who try to figure out what is going to be the best for them. I personaly wouldn't have welded any time I knew there were a large number of people around. No way on Halloween. If there are any safety or other concerns, this is when they are going to be heightened. Heck I live in a nice area, and I'm still paranoid about too many people even knowing what tools I have around the place.

By owning and putting up a welding curtain, you are going way out there, as far as I am concerned, to ensure you are keeping others safe. I normaly just look up and down the street to ensure there aren't too many people around, and then I turn my back to shield them. That doesn't begin to take care of them the way you did.

One thing I am hoping to like about TIG in preference to my current stick, is that i will be able to use it indoors in my shop, due to the lower levels of sparks and such that might cause a fire with stick.

[wrench3047]

they used to just take your BAQ alowance. oh well i would hope it is still less than off base.
i'm shoure they will call welding as part of auto work, prefabing parts no dought. go to the housing office and ask there and get it in wrighting if they ok it if you still want to try it there but you may be starting a fight you dont want. good luck

as for your trip to over seas keep your head down (when apropreat) ,and eys open, and gun clean always. be shoure to drop us a line when you get back.

Well now they give you BAQ and you have make an allotment for the whole amount regardless of your rank (BAQ goes up with rank) to the contractor managing the quarters. Starting soon if you go over your allotted power consumption it comes out of your base pay.
During my trip I plan to come back in one piece with no extra holes. I might have a chance to drop in to the forum once in a while.

[wrench3047]

I personaly wouldn't have welded any time I knew there were a large number of people around. No way on Halloween. .

If I had known they doing Halloween I wouldn't have even thought of it, I would have been out there with my kids. It wasn't widely put out, it was on the back page of the local paper and on bulletin board at the Post Exchange.

[Tanker John]

Military housing is different, I retired from the green machine, most of it spent living on post, so you might say been there done that.

If the incident went no further than the MP patrol and your Commander is not involved, you are fortunate. Leave it at that and get your butt off base at the first available chance. If there is not a rule against welding, your pushing the issue is certain to get one put in place. Sad but true. They may also get you if you tapped 220v off the dryer, or on some safety or fire prevention issue. Push it and they will push back, you can be sure of it. Sorry.

Getting back to the housing issue, since you have been alerted for deployment, I might not want to move my family at this time...that would be my choice anyway. My experience is that new places always have bugs to be worked out and the last thing you need after a day of dodging hot lead is to get an e-mail that this or that is wrong in your house. I would want to live there for a while to get the measure of the new place and work some of those items off. It also gives you some time to train the wife on the systems like where the breakers and water main shut off are and how to light the pilot light. I do not expect that this is possible given the time available.

Unless you are overseas, living off post is smart. The BAQ that you would spend/give back can go on your house, thus building your equity. In the mean time I would confine my activities to the Auto Craft Shop or the motor pool with your Co's permission.

Good luck

John