The 4 Ps of a PCS
It’s all fun and games until you’re surprized with a mandatory full PPM a week before your pack date.
Over the years, we’ve been through a military PCS or 7. Some were smooth, some were a disaster, and each one taught us something new. You can only control so many things, but there are ways to help control the chaos and improve your chances of drama-less PCS.
purge
I love a good purge, and getting that shiny RFO is the perfect opportunity to clear out the clutter and lighten (quite literally) the load. After all, nobody wants to spend time and energy unpacking items that they don’t need or use at their new house, and nobody wants to hear that they’re over their PCS weight limit. So, get that purging feeling, clear out a corner, and work room to room and closet to closet, setting unused and unnecessary items in the get rid of it corner. Once you’ve made it through the whole house and the garage, get to work getting rid of it all. Here are some options.
Good Ol’ Fashioned Garage Sale - Check to see if your installation or neighborhood has a community wide garage sale. Those tend to bring in the crowds.
The Thrift Shop - Most installations have a thrift shop that would happily accept your gently used items. They’ll sell what they can and use the proceeds to benefit the local military community, and many will donate what they can’t use to local shelters. Macklemore would be proud.
thredUP - thredUP is an online resale shop that takes items on consignment. Request a thredUP Clean Out Kit, fill a box or bag with clothes, shoes, and accessories in good condition, add the shipping label, and drop it off at any USPS or UPS location. When items sell, thredUP will send you credit, cash, or gift cards to parter stores. The last time I did a thredUP Cleanout, I picked up the kit at an Athleta store and received a gift card to Altheta in return. Win. Win.
Goodwill - Drop off donations at your local Goodwill during business hours and get a donation receipt for tax purposes in exchange. Do good. Reduce your taxes.
The Base or Post Lending Closet - Most installations have a lending closet that lends household goods and furniture to new residents while they wait for their household goods to arrive from their last installation.
Furniture Banks - Some areas have furniture banks that help people furnish their new apartment or home as they transition from unhoused to housed.
Food Banks - Local food banks are typically happy to take shelf stable foods, and they may be able to take fresh and frozen foods. Give them a call.
plan
Plan everything. Plan your route to the new installation, places to stay and things to see and do along the way (hello, mini roadtrip vacation), temporary lodging on both ends, and pet boarding if needed. Then, plan a back up plan to everything you planned. I can’t stress that last part enough. Things will go wrong, so have contingencies ready, and buy some road maps. Here are a few things to consider.
If you’re doing a partial DITY (or PPM as they’re now known), you’ll need to find a truck scale and make a plan to weigh your car before and after you load it. If you are driving to your new location, do a partial PPM. Don’t transport the items in your car for free.
If you’re going through mountain passes, you may be required to carry tire chains, even if you have all season tires. Check websites and download pass apps so you can easily keep an eye on pass conditions as you approach them.
Where are the hospitals, pharmacies, and vets along the way? Can you get an extra supply of medication and medical supplies to cover you as you get set up in the new location?
You’ll likely be traveling through changing climates, so bring clothing layers.
If you have pets, how do they travel? If they’re anxious travelers, ask your vet for some sedatives and/or invest in a thunder vest to help them feel secure.
What will make the trip more comfortable and enjoyable?
prep
Everyone that has been through a few PCS moves has a story about the movers packing something that should not have been packed. Our buddy in San Antonio wasn’t able to attend his IPAP graduation because the movers packed his Class As, a friend in Virginia got to their new place and found a bag of trash that the movers packed stinking up everything in the truck, and there are urban legends of the friend of a friend of a family member who lost a cat…only to find that the movers packed it. Prepping before pack day is essential, and you might want to kennel the pets for the days that the movers will be at the house.
Completely clear out a closet or bathroom that you can live without for a few days. Put everything that you don’t want the movers to pack and load into that closet or bathroom, lock it if you can, post increasingly menacing signs on the door to let the moving company know to stay out, don’t pack, haunted room, portal to a hellscape, etc. You can come up with your own signs and have fun doing it, but here are some suggestions on what to put in that room and carry with you when you move.
The Trash Can - I’m not even kidding. Put your trash in the locked room. Do not leave it out. It will get packed.
Important Documents - orders, birth certificates, shot records, wills, marriage certificates, social security cards, passports, vet records, etc…
Medication & Medical Supplies - prescriptions, daily vitamins, daily supplements, your son’s robotic pancreas supplies, etc…
Electronics - laptops, tablets, cell phones, headphones, and chargers for everything.
Small, High-Value, Sentimental Items - jewelry, small family heirlooms, urns, things that you can fit in your car and that would devastate you if they were lost or stolen.
Your Luggage w/ Extra Clothes - Everything that you want/need to wear between point A and B, all of your toiletries, razors, and blowdryers. Your household goods will almost certainly be delayed, so pack more than you think you need.
Creature Comforts - Cooler for car snacks & games, books, pillows, blankets, or anything else that will help with comfort during the journey.
Pet - Supplies, leashes, food, toys, pets themselves, etc…
pray…that the moving company shows up
Kind of funny, but also not. When we were all set to move from Fort Knox to JBLM, we got a call a week before our pack date that crushed my soul. Transportation informed us that, due to the mass tanker move, they were unable to secure a moving company for our PCS. We suddenly had the ‘opportunity’ to scurry for packing supplies, pack up the whole house, load a rented moving truck, and drive it across the country for a full PPM in under a week.
So, pray, but also go back to the second P and plan, make a backup plan, make a backup for your backup, and then hurry up and wait. May the PCS season be kind to you all!