The PCS checklist

A PCS goes smoothly when you start the day you get orders, not the day movers show up. This is a working checklist. Your branch, your gaining installation and whether you're going overseas will change the details, so treat your installation relocation office as the final word.

The day you get orders

• Get the actual orders in hand. You can't schedule a move, request an advance or clear housing on a verbal.
• Schedule your household goods move in DPS (move.mil) right away. Summer is peak season and dates fill fast. If you want to move yourself, ask about a PPM (personally procured move) now, since it changes what you'll need to keep.
• Ask for a sponsor at your gaining unit, and actually use them.
• Tell your landlord or housing office. Check your lease for a military clause and the notice it needs.

60 to 30 days out

• Walk the house and photograph everything valuable, with serial numbers. Keep a separate list of anything high-value for the movers' inventory.
• Set aside what doesn't go on the truck: orders, IDs, passports, medical and dental records, school records, prescriptions, pet paperwork, laptop, a week of clothes.
• Know your weight allowance. It's set by rank and dependents. Going over is paid out of your pocket, so purge now.
• Ask finance about DLA, advance pay and travel entitlements (TLE in CONUS, TLA overseas). Rules and amounts change, so get them from finance, not a group chat.
• Kids: request school records and check enrollment deadlines at the new location. If you're in EFMP, start the family member screening early.

Going overseas (OCONUS)

• No-fee passports for everyone on the orders. They take weeks. Start immediately.
• Pets: look up the destination's import rules the day you get orders. Some countries need vaccines and blood tests months ahead, and airline pet space is limited.
• Vehicle: find out whether you're allowed to ship a car, where the vehicle processing center is, and what the destination requires (inspections, registration, emissions).
• Phones, banking and mail: sort international plans, notify your bank, and set up mail forwarding to your new unit address.

The last two weeks

• Out-process on time. Finance, medical, housing, your unit. Missing one stamp can hold up your travel voucher.
• Be home on pack-out days and read the inventory before you sign it. Write down damage and missing items on the paperwork, not later.
• Clean and clear housing or schedule your final walkthrough.
• Update DEERS and your TRICARE region once you have the new address.

After you arrive

• Sign in and in-process within the timeline your gaining unit gives you.
• File your travel voucher with every receipt. Lodging, fuel, weigh tickets for a PPM. No receipt, no reimbursement.
• Check delivery against the inventory. Damage claims have deadlines, so file them quickly.
• Update your car registration, license and insurance for the new state or country.
• Find your people. Look up the ENDEX chapter where you landed. New base, same community.

Official sources: move.mil for household goods, Military OneSource (militaryonesource.mil) for relocation help, and your installation's relocation assistance office.