PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION (PCS) 

 

                                      

 

OVERARCHING

  • The Army is aware that Permanent Change of Station (PCS) moves can be a stressful time in an Army Family’s career, and we are committed to addressing the current challenges Soldiers and families may be experiencing during the peak season this summer, caused by COVID-19 related resource shortages industry- and nationwide, as well as current conditions of the housing market. We have been planning for and addressing the PCS summer surge season holistically – assessing options across issuing PCS orders, managing movement of household goods, facilitating housing at receiving installations, and assisting Families with child care and spouse employment requirements.
  • The Army’s efforts to streamline PCS processes and policies the past two years to provide a safe, quality and user-friendly way to move Soldiers and families are paying dividends in the current challenging environment. Updates and changes include paying for 100% of personally procured moves, providing orders 120 days in advance, streamlining the process and making it easier to make a claim, increasing quality assurance checks, enhancing safety procedures, and launching the Army Permanent Change of Station Move App update.
  • While our intent is that every Soldier and family have a seamless, positive experience with their PCS move, we are managing more than 60,000 moves this summer. Given industry-wide labor and lumber shortages across the nation, we anticipate more challenges than normal. We are providing additional resources and information through the Chain of Command to mitigate these challenges as much as possible.
  • In the competitive housing and labor markets of today, information is the primary tool to empower our Soldiers and Families to transition as safely, quickly, and inexpensively as possible. The Army PCS Move, Digital Garrison and My POV Apps are now available for free downloads on Android and Apple devices. The Army PCS Move App provides information for planning a move and has a live chat feature. The Digital Garrison App lets users explore up-to-date facility information and other “quality-of-life” services at almost 70 installations. The PCS My POV App lets users quickly locate their vehicle and contact the destination Vehicle Processing Center for information and appointments. In addition, the Army has implemented a 24/7 hotline for PCS questions during the Summer Surge (833-MIL-MOVE).

HHGs

  • We recommend Soldiers who are PCSing make contact with their Installation Transportation Office their first priority. Our transportation offices are the first line of support for household good coordination and will provide necessary information for all information related to moves.
  • The current lead time for booking household goods shipments is four to six weeks, which is about three weeks longer than normal during the peak summer moving season. We are averaging 3,200 outbound shipments of household goods weekly, similar to most other summers, but are working to alleviate the backlog in booking lead times.
  • To alleviate some of the backlog in shipping household goods, movers are extending their hours, starting earlier, staying later and working weekends.
  • We are holding Transportation Service Providers accountable, and emphasizing that industry should only accept shipments they can support. While no-shows have been minimal, we recognize that they have the biggest impact on our Soldiers and families, and as such, result in an automatic suspension of the company. To date, 989 letters of suspension have been issued DOD-wide.
  • Personally Procured Moves are never a mandated requirement, but can be used as an option for Soldiers and families who want more control over their personal timeline. The Army will reimburse Soldiers for 100% of authorized expenses. To prevent out-of-pocket expenses, Soldiers are authorized to use their Government Travel Card to fund PPMs.
  • We are prioritizing packing and storage of household goods for Soldiers and families that have expiring leases or have sold their homes.
  • Quality Control and Quality Assurance remain a top priority. We have implemented standards-based quality assurance inspections and continue to place high emphasis on curbside quality. We continue to increase the number of QA inspectors, and are currently inspecting 90% of shipments prior to movement. We also simplified the claims process to speed reimbursement for damaged goods.
  • Soldiers who are unable to book household goods movements within 14 days of their PCS departure window should work with their Chain of Command to consider deferments and push report dates out 30-60 days.
  • The “Army PCS Moves” app is a great resource for Soldiers and families, providing real-time updates on location of household goods, arrival/departure from transitioning points, and storage locations for Soldiers and Families.

 Housing

  • Every Soldier and Family preparing to PCS has resources available to them to facilitate housing at their receiving installation. As a starting point, the Army's official website for Soldiers and Families to look for information regarding Army Family Housing (AFH), Unaccompanied Housing (UH), or Off-Post Housing - housing.army.mil - includes detailed reference information and quick links for Army installations worldwide. The website contains information about floorplans, waiting lists, and housing options among other things.
  • We recommend Soldiers who are PCSing make contact with their Installation Housing Office at their receiving station a top priority. Installation Housing Offices have robust outreach practices to inform and educate Soldiers and Families about how to locate available rental housing and how to access other services they provide long before the Soldier is scheduled to leave their losing installation. Customer service, responsiveness and constant communication with Soldiers and Families is a top priority for Installation Housing Managers.
  • As in previous years, most Army installations continue to have a 14- to 120-day waiting list for on-post housing. The competitive housing market off some installations is exacerbating this issue, but Housing Managers report they continue to successfully help Soldiers and Families locate housing when they seek assistance from the Housing Offices at the gaining installation.  
  • Installation Housing Managers routinely provide up-to-date information to area property managers, rental companies and real estate agents in the surrounding communities about the military’s housing and rental housing needs. They are able to leverage established relationships with property management companies and individual landlords to advocate for Soldiers and Families.
  • Garrison commanders and Housing Managers keep unit Chains of Command informed about evolving market conditions. When feasible, Army Housing Managers capitalize on Rental Partnership Programs that give first preference to military members when rental housing is available or when landlords prefer to exclusively rent to military tenants.
  • In some cases, Army Housing Managers can work with on-post Privatized Army Lodging managers to set room rates at Soldiers’ BAH rates when they are experiencing longer waiting times to procure rental housing.
  • While we have no influence on the housing market writ large, we do provide every Soldier with informative and up-to-date resources that, if used, give the Soldier and their Family a competitive advantage when searching for housing at their gaining installation.

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