When the possibility of fewer PCS (permanent change of station) moves was announced, the military community responded with both excitement and trepidation. While many agree that it could create greater stability for military families, there are also questions about how fewer moves might impact the service member’s career.
In late May, the Pentagon released a memo to the service secretaries asking them to submit plans for how they would “pursue a reduction in their PCS budget.”
“The Department currently spends approximately $5 billion annually moving military personnel and their families between assignments,” the memo states. “While these permanent change of station (PCS) moves support mission requirements, the frequency can reduce quality of life for Service members and their families, harm spousal employment, and disrupt functional communities, unit cohesion, and long-term talent management.”
It calls for military departments to “determine which PCS moves are most critical to support operational requirements and key professional development,” while reducing “lower-priority PCS moves.”
Isabel Garcia Schmitt is busy as she prepares for her 14th PCS, but the Army veteran, military spouse and co-founder and president of LOGSA Mil Moves took time to speak with U.S. Military Publishing after driving to Fort Bragg to “neighborhood hunt.” While there, she also looked at high schools for her son, who has participated in nine of the moves. Her daughter, who just graduated high school, has moved 10 times in her 18 years.
“This would absolutely be beneficial to military families because it would allow us to create deeper connections into the communities that we serve,” Garcia Schmitt said. “Military children grow up one of two ways, right? They end up really resilient because of the moving — some people thrive in that environment — but then you have other military children who will grow into adults that do not have that resilience because of a lack of connection and establishing those deep roots in a community.”
On the other hand, Garcia Schmitt pointed out, remaining geographically stagnant can look bad on paper, especially when it comes to the service member’s promotion boards. She used the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) in Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, as an example.
“If you don’t go to Leavenworth and do the resident program, you’re seen as not being ‘worthy enough,’ and you are probably not going to promote past major or lieutenant colonel because if you’re not in the resident program and you took the box of books, you’re kind of looked at sideways,” Garcia Schmitt said. “Never mind that the guy maybe had, let’s say he had an athlete … at a school and just didn’t want to destabilize his family for nine months.”
A commenter on the Military Families Magazine Instagram offered a similar sentiment on service member career growth through PCSing.
“Fewer PCS moves might help with stability, sure—but there’s another side to all of this,” wrote @armywifewealth. “For many service members, especially junior enlisted, moving is a chance to reset. A new unit means a clean slate, which is crucial when stepping into leadership roles. It’s hard to lead peers you came in with, and respect can get blurry. A new duty station helps them fully grow into their rank without all the social baggage.”
However, research is required to determine the extent of that career impact. Shannon Razsadin, CEO of Military Family Advisory Network, said that her organization will be looking into that this year.
“I think it’s going to be a real exploration around, ‘How can we make sure the needs of the military are aligning with the needs of the family?’” she said in a Zoom interview. “And so that will require review of just what progression can look like in certain MOSs as it relates to moving or not moving.”
But she was happy when she first read through the memo.
“I was really thrilled to see this,” Razsadin said. “It’s something that we’ve been pushing for several years now, and as we look at how to support families and where gaps are in support, a lot of those gaps are around the moves and how we support people through a move.”
In addition to the destabilization of the family, the cost of frequent PCSing and the transportation of goods is stressful on military families.
“Yes, the military covers your PCS as far as packing and movers, but there are so many hidden, extra, recurring costs of each PCS that add up to a lot of extra money being spent every few years,” said Lisa Buchheim, whose husband retired from the Army in 2021. The Buchheims moved as a family six times in 19 years, including to Hawaii.
She added that moving two cars (the military only pays for one), plus any recreational vehicles that may be acquired over a 20-year career, especially overseas, can be a strain on finances.
“Also, the wear and tear on your household goods,” Buchheim said, “because while they may not be ‘broken’ so you can’t claim them, they have dents, scratches, missing pieces, etc.”
As far as career progression, Buchheim mentioned that shifting personnel within a post, when possible, would ease the stress of relocating an entire family.
“No matter what, it is a stressor to the service member to have to move an entire family of however many and can cause some tension in their relationship,” she said.
Garcia Schmitt sees both sides of the equation — the benefits for the family but also the impact on the service member’s career — and said there would have to be some major shifts in military culture and operations, including how promotion boards are handled and how to maintain troop readiness.
Razsadin agrees that changes will need to happen within the military to make a reduction in PCS moves successful for both families and service members.
“So much of the world has modernized, we have to take this moment to really look at how we modernize how people serve,” she said. “There is no scenario where the future of war fighting won’t change, right? It’s always changing. It’s always modernizing. So how we support and how military families navigate this life also has to modernize to keep pace.”
