PCS Stress-less

I cringe a little every time I see a military spouse post something on a Facebook page that says something like, “Okay, ladies, first PCS here. What do I need to know?”

I don’t internally cringe because it’s a bad or inappropriate question, only that it’s so dang open-ended. Most seasoned spouses can give you hours of tips and advice on a variety of different parts of a PCS.

I internally lift a silent prayer for each of these spouses because there are two things I know:

1. No amount of information is going to really prepare you (especially when you run into unexpected snags).

2. No PCS is the same. They all present different challenges and stress.

One thing I know for certain—I’ve never gotten through a PCS, put every moving box out for recycling, hung every picture, and wiped my brow to say, “Whew! I’m so glad I slapped that move together and winged it.”

Organization and preparation is truly the key to making a move as stress-less as possible. It’s not to say that you won’t have hiccups and frustrations along the way. Trust me, you will, and more than likely, at some point, the frustration will boil over to an argument/fight with your service member (not that I know from experience or anything).

But I promise the light at the end of the tunnel is a little easier to see when you have your proverbial “ducks in a row.”

The best preparation I can do for a move is make sure I have everything I need in one central location. I have two systems I use. One for moves where we’re driving and will have our own personal vehicle and the other for moves like OCONUS. I’m going to share both of these handy systems with you and hope you can use them, too.

For a CONUS move:

Most of our moves have been CONUS, and we’ve been able to drive a vehicle, so we do a partial DITY/PPM—a Do It Yourself move or a Personally Procured Move. We move some of our own things and have the military pay a moving company to move the rest.

I bought this hanging filing cabinet 12 years ago at Target and have used it for every move to date. As soon as we know we’re moving, I pull this bad boy out and update the files inside. I have a section for military orders (I always make 8-10 copies—trust me on this). I always have folders for our housing clearing and any paperwork for the upcoming housing that we may need.

A folder is designated for moving paperwork (the movers should give you a copy of your HHG information) as well as the weight paperwork when you’ve weighed your vehicle. I highly recommend having the moving company give you, in writing, the estimated weight of all your household goods as well. It can be a very costly miscalculation mix-up if they make a numerical mistake on their end.

I have a hanging folder for any medical information for me and the children and, if you have pets, a file with all their veterinarian records. When we are doing a partial DITY, we also have a fire-safe box we carry that includes all our birth certificates, marriage license, titles, and insurance paperwork, as well as social security cards and our passports.

For an OCONUS move:

About a year ago when my husband received the email that we were slotted to PCS to Italy, my planning wheels started turning.

I realized that a hanging filing cabinet and a heavy fire-safe box just weren’t practical for carry-on luggage, so I needed to come up with a new system. My brain works in color-coding, lists, and calendars, so creating an organized system that was practical was key.

Let me first say as a word of warning—this binder will contain everything you need for an overseas PCS, and with that said, absolutely do not let this binder out of your sight. That means it doesn’t get packed with the movers or in unaccompanied baggage, nor should it be checked with the luggage stowed under the plane. It should go in a bag or backpack you plan to use as your carry-on, and it should never be more than an arm’s reach away.

Everything I’ve included in my binder you may or may not need, but I err on the side of caution. I assume I’ll need these things, so it’s convenient to have them handy now rather than stress about how to locate them later.

My dividers are:

• Important documents: These include birth certificates, marriage certificate, social security cards, passports and extra pictures, a most recent LES, and copies of both our American driver’s licenses and international driver’s licenses.
• Orders: Print 8-10 copies and, in this particular instance, I have both copies of the original orders and all amended orders.
• Wills and POAs: If you have children, you should absolutely have a will prepared anyway, but especially if you’re traveling. Please have a Power of Attorney and check with JAG to see if you need any Special (or specific) POAs.
• Auto: This contains any titles, insurance paperwork, shipping information, and pictures of the vehicle(s).
• Household Goods: Any housing applications, old housing clearance paperwork, any termination of bills and/or contracts with utility companies, the HHG itemized list of boxes, and worksheets of high value items, including pictures.
• Travel: Leave forms, flight and ticketing information, transportation to and from airports, hotel confirmation
• Contact Information: I created a document with all our family phone numbers and addresses.
• Medical: This is completely discretionary, but we had all civilian providers at our current duty station, so I requested all our medical and dental records to hand-carry. I also included the in-processing and EFMP paperwork for our command sponsorship and any other important paperwork I thought would be helpful to our providers at the next duty station (an example is my daughter’s allergy testing).
• School: Immunization records, school registration paperwork for the new school and disenrollment paperwork from the previous school, most current report cards, and testing information (where we are located, the school uses STAR and tests their reading level and math level. I requested both of these to carry so the new school can place the kids appropriately in their next class). If your child has an IEP, make sure to also have a copy of that information as well as any progress reports from those resource teachers.

I know it seems like so much, but on more than one occasion during this PCS process, my husband has thanked me for having everything organized and ready to go. We don’t need to scramble and search. It’s all right there.

I hope this helps some of you who find the process incredibly overwhelming (like I do) to have a little semblance of order in the middle of chaos.