MovieChat Forums > The Rookie (2002) Discussion > moving because of the Navy

moving because of the Navy


I'm wondering why the movie producer allowed such an inaccuracy to a part of this film? -- The part in the beginning when they show the family moving from state to state, and how they're pulling a U-haul behind their family wagon and the family is unpacking their own stuff. I grew up in the military and yeah, we moved a lot, but the military pays for you to move. They get your family a big moving truck with workers who pack it up and move it into their new place, all with no cost to the military family. Well, the unpacking part once it's in your new place is the family's responsibility, but....

Has anyone else who grew up in the military noticed this in the movie and it bothered the crap out of you?

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I think it was pretty accurate. An E-7 (Chief insignia in the film) would have accumulated a lot of 'stuff' over the years (7 minimum, usually much longer, 12-15 years in the Navy), and the military only pays you to move a certain amount based on paygrade and time of service.
Anything extra you have, you either leave it behind, have a 'PCS' garage sale, or find some way to drag it along because you sure can't afford to pay the government for the 'overage'.

My father was career Air Force enlisted, and the last four times we moved it was dragging all sorts of trailers and extra cars, enlisting family members for help to drive our stuff to the new station.

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Usuualy, when a movie thaqt is supposed to be based on a true story, they usually do make up things for the movie, but in characters that never was around in real life, etc. Well maybe the Navy coun't afford to pay him to move, or just didn't want to, and I don't really see anything in the trivia section about this.

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While it is true that the military moves you, that can often take a fair amount of time. It is entirely plausible that the military moved most of their goods, but they packed up a trailer full of things that they needed immediately and hauled them on their own.

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Military families are given the option of packing and shipping their own stuff during a move. The military will pay the service member a large percentage of what it would cost the government to pay a moving company to do the same thing. This type of move is called a DITY (Do IT Yourself) move. It saves the government some money and while allowing the service member to make some extra cash. It is certainly a bit of a hassle to rent the moving truck and pack the stuff but the average underpaid military family can certainly use the $500 - $1000 (profit) that comes from making the DITY move. I made a couple of DITY moves early in my career because we could use the extra money. I could imagine the Morris family doing the same.

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what i dont understand is why the Navy would send this guy to recruit in Reagan County(what Big Lake is known by now). We play Reagan County every year in football(yes im from Texas) and this town is so small i dont know why they would want to station a recruitor there, especially when San Angelo is not to far away.

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