Preparing for my first true PCS, what to know?

[DanMa1156]

Thought this could be helpful for all future new Ensigns and first-comers to the site - up until this point, my moves to Pensacola and Corpus Christi have been TDY Household Good moves that have limited me to 600 lbs and basically meant I had to move all my stuff and the Gov't would take my pro-gear which was typically only a couple boxes.

Now, I finally get my first full PCS move. My plan is to do a partial-DITY where I take as much stuff into my car (I have a 4 door Elantra, so I can't get much more than 800-900 lbs of stuff to fit in it) to get re-imbursed and the remainder I'll give to movers - including all my furniture and the rest of the clumsy stuff that I can't fit into my car. From what I understand being a single ENS I get 10,000 lbs of allowance to move minus pro-gear should I exceed that (I don't think I will, I'm estimating probably less than 5,000 lbs, maybe 4,000...).

A couple of questions, since I often run into a ton of different answers from the Personal Property folks and I'd like to go in armed with at least an educated idea of what I'm getting into:

1) Is anything above incorrect?
2) Can I put stuff in boxes beforehand, not taped up, like "these are my picture frames, these are my winter clothes," etc. before the movers get here, or do they actually have to put everything in a box themselves?
3) Can I tell them to deliver it after a specific date, and can I specify the address at a later date? (I'm moving to NAS Whiting, but I'm not sure where I'm going to live yet...)
4) How do I get TLE? Is this the 10 days of leave you get for "house hunting?" If not, do I get reimbursed for some amount of the hotels I stay at along the way?
5) If TLE is not the "house hunting" leave - how do I get that, and do I get charged for it? I'd like to use it this time so I'm not hoping and praying a random place on the internet works out for me (which so far, I've been 2 for 2 on, so I know my luck has got to break sooner or later).
6) Is it customary to tip the guys or is a pizza and some iced tea fair?

I appreciate the answers!

 

[FlyBoyd]

1) looks right but I don't know what the O-1 weight limit is
2)If you choose to box something yourself don't seal it as you said but.....We just organize things in piles so we can unpack boxes at our own pace and we basically know what's in each box. We also set aside items that require bubble wrap/special handling. We take apart everything (beds, electronics, etc) and keep the hardware oursleves. Funny how hardware disappears so they "can't" put it back together for you. Aslo, on the receiving end...we unpack. When they unpack it comes out of the box on the floor. Some cities have places that will buy used boxes from you too. We made approx $75 after a move.
3)Yes and yes but....realize if they get to the destination and your desired delivery date is later or unspecified they will put your stuff in storage...which means they touch it again...and again to put on the truck to bring to you...this will be a different crew and there is a better chance your stuff will be handled roughly as each moving team can now say the other broke your stuff.
4) You are entitled to 10 days TLE and it is filed on your travel claim. Pay out of pocket and keep your receipt for the claim It is 10 total so you can split it up with a portion at each end if need be.
5)You are entitled to house hunting but the TWs quite often don't "let" you take it. I have always thought it was crap. The JFTR says you are entitled so you should get it. It is up to you if you want to push the issue.
6) Moving etiquette discussion here http://www.airwarriors.com/community/index.php?threads/moving-etiquette.29100/ Check out Post #10 & 16...you might recognize that SNA

Good luck!

 

[squorch2]

If you pack it, it's marked as "customer packed materials" or somesuch thing. If what's in that box is damaged, you may have a harder time getting your claim approved than if the movers boxed everything. I go with the piles idea, or just leave everything as is when I was living there.

Make sure everything of value has a serial number on the side of the box that it was in and that the same serial number is on the bill of lading.

On the back end, make sure that YOU are the one doing the marking off of the boxes.

When I did my partial DITY I submitted the claim via email. Never got a confirmation that they ever received it, but I did get the money. YMMV.

 

[Brett327]

I'm not sure if house hunting (PTDY) is an entitlement (I.E. you "rate" it), at least not within the scope of the JFTRs. CO's may authorize PTDY IAW the MILPERSMAN, but it's not a requirement, more of a professional courtesy. I know TRACOMs are notorious for not giving PTDY, but that's usually driven by timelines imposed by RAG class dates or other intermediate activity restrictions. With that exception, I've used PTDY for every PCS in my career.

Brett

 

[SynixMan]

House Hunting Leave, was, when I left TW-4, a function of your class up date for advanced. If you had the time in-between, go ahead and take it. If not, you were SOL. Seems to be similar for wingers out of the HTs. Remember, you're a product.

 

[FlyBoyd]

I'm not sure if house hunting (PTDY) is an entitlement (I.E. you "rate" it), at least not within the scope of the JFTRs. CO's may authorize PTDY IAW the MILPERSMAN, but it's not a requirement, more of a professional courtesy. I know TRACOMs are notorious for not giving PTDY, but that's usually driven by timelines imposed by RAG class dates or other intermediate activity restrictions. With that exception, I've used PTDY for every PCS in my career.

Brett

I'll agree with you Brett. My JFTR reference earlier was from a few (unofficial) links. Take the following info with a grain of salt but they are good reads for the newbies.

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/travelpay/a/pcsentitlements.htm
http://www.militaryhomesforsale.com/military_pcs.html

Official sites here...
http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/faqpcs.cfm
Chapter 5 of the JFTR is what applies... http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/Do...es/Monthly/2010/JFTR/Change-288(12-01-10).pdf

Timelines aside...just ask. If you can't get it before you move, you can try and get some once you get there. It will save you a few days of leave. With some of the pools I've seen it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[villanelle]

Take anything and everything valuable with you, and have it in your car or some other place the movers won't have access to.

Don't bother packing it. They will either have to repack it, or go thought the box. Also, that means you have to buy the boxes, and it means that they won't haul away those boxes on the other end. Sometimes, they don't like to do that, but if you request it, they have to take the boxes when the leave. That means it is good to be unpacking while they are unloading, especially kitchen items, which tend to have the most wrapping.

Have a friend at the other end, if at all possible, so someone can be checking the boxes as they come in, and someone else can be unpacking shit, and directing the movers about which corner of which room the dresser should go.

Have all electronics cords labeled so it's a bit easier on the other end to find what goes with what. I've always unplugged everything and have the cords gathered and tapped to the back of the item, but I'm told that in theory they can ask you to plug shit in to prove it works. My movers have always had a second invoice with all high value items, and they wrote serial numbers, but I jot them down ahead of time, just in case. To be extra CYA about it, you can also take photos or video of electronic items on and working.

Take pictures of everything. Walk around your house with a video camera. Open every drawer, pan slowly through every closet, etc.

If there is anything you want to be treated specially, let them know. Repeatedly. It's a fine line because you don't want to piss them off by treating them like they are incompetent, but, well, they can be pretty apathetic.

Watch them. It's uncomfortable, but you need to keep an eye on the, both because things disappear and because you want to see what they are doing so you can make special requests (Can you keep all that stuff together? Would you please wrap those things so they don't scratch?).

If the weight is going to be an issue at all, you have to be aggressive with making sure the movers acknowledge the pro gear. I weighed it myself ahead of time, and took a picture of the box, open to show contents, on the scale. It ended up not mattering, but it was pretty clear the movers didn't give half a shit about the fact that I was telling them that box was special.

 

[Gatordev]

Here's a tip that I never thought would have mattered before my last move...

Make sure they inventory your Pro gear, specifically your flight gear. I had both my helo vest and fixed-wing vest in a pile with my two gear bags and three helmets. Everything made it here except my fixed-wing vest, which is very strange. On the inventory, it just says "Pro Gear."

What's crazy is no one wants to take responsibility for the government to get recouped. Everyone just says to claim it in DPS and when I say that's not really legal, they say to survey it, which isn't how it really works. Kind of frustrating.

 

[DanMa1156]

6) Moving etiquette discussion here http://www.airwarriors.com/community/index.php?threads/moving-etiquette.29100/ Check out Post #10 & 16...you might recognize that SNA

Good luck!

I couldn't find that thread! I knew it existed somewhere - thanks!

To everyone else - thanks for all the advice and tips. I understand the house hunting thing seems to by command, but something I'm still curious about is - are the hotels I stay at along the way able to be claimed? In my previous two moves I wasn't allowed to claim them at all.

I saw this:

4) You are entitled to 10 days TLE and it is filed on your travel claim. Pay out of pocket and keep your receipt for the claim It is 10 total so you can split it up with a portion at each end if need be.

But I don't quite understand the terminology I think - is the TLE my 10 days of house hunting leave, or is it 10 days worth of per diem? I'm just a little confused here...

 

[RadicalDude]

TLE is for lodging only, I believe.

 

[Swanee]

I couldn't find that thread! I knew it existed somewhere - thanks!

To everyone else - thanks for all the advice and tips. I understand the house hunting thing seems to by command, but something I'm still curious about is - are the hotels I stay at along the way able to be claimed? In my previous two moves I wasn't allowed to claim them at all.

I saw this:

But I don't quite understand the terminology I think - is the TLE my 10 days of house hunting leave, or is it 10 days worth of per diem? I'm just a little confused here...

No. and TLE covers lodging only. (Temporary Lodging Expense)

 

[KBayDog]

Take pictures of everything. Walk around your house with a video camera. Open every drawer, pan slowly through every closet, etc.

This cannot be stressed enough. It is your only proof that your XBox ever existed, or that your dresser mirror wasn't actually 4,359 shards of broken glass when it was packed.

In addition to taking pictures/video of everything you own, take pictures/video of your pad (not just the one you're leaving - the one you're moving into as well). Pay special attention to doors, hallway corners, door jambs, etc. The movers can...and will...bump into every wall on the way in and out of your house. (The driver is the one responsible for your move; the guys moving the boxes around are typically just local hired help, and really won't give a crap about your stuff or your pad.)

****As for where to stay, talk to your buddies. My recommendation, since it sounds like you're going to the HTs, is to live closer to NASWF than P'Cola proper. You're going to fly your ass off, you're going to have very long days (relative, of course, but probably longer than VTs...and most likely early mornings, especially in FAMs), and you're going to study your ass off. The 30-45 mins you spend commuting each way is time you can't be studying/prepping for the next day's flights. Additionally, the two main corridors to Pensacola are currently a hot mess. Avalon Blvd is under construction, and will be for some time, which backs things up a quite a bit if you're trying to get to I-10. Hwy 90 through Pace is just fine...if you like stoplights and dodging the locals on their way to WalMart. Since you're within spitting distance of the Wings you've been chasing for so long, I suggest you just use the next six months to buckle down during the week, and party like it's 1969 when you drive downtown or to the beach on the weekends.

 

[DanMa1156]

This cannot be stressed enough. It is your only proof that your XBox ever existed, or that your dresser mirror wasn't actually 4,359 shards of broken glass when it was packed.

In addition to taking pictures/video of everything you own, take pictures/video of your pad (not just the one you're leaving - the one you're moving into as well). Pay special attention to doors, hallway corners, door jambs, etc. The movers can...and will...bump into every wall on the way in and out of your house. (The driver is the one responsible for your move; the guys moving the boxes around are typically just local hired help, and really won't give a crap about your stuff or your pad.)

****As for where to stay, talk to your buddies. My recommendation, since it sounds like you're going to the HTs, is to live closer to NASWF than P'Cola proper. You're going to fly your ass off, you're going to have very long days (relative, of course, but probably longer than VTs...and most likely early mornings, especially in FAMs), and you're going to study your ass off. The 30-45 mins you spend commuting each way is time you can't be studying/prepping for the next day's flights. Additionally, the two main corridors to Pensacola are currently a hot mess. Avalon Blvd is under construction, and will be for some time, which backs things up a quite a bit if you're trying to get to I-10. Hwy 90 through Pace is just fine...if you like stoplights and dodging the locals on their way to WalMart. Since you're within spitting distance of the Wings you've been chasing for so long, I suggest you just use the next six months to buckle down during the week, and party like it's 1969 when you drive downtown or to the beach on the weekends.

Appreciate it the comments here. My plan is to live within 15 mins of base and yes, I'm going to the HT's for Advanced Helo's.

With respect to TLE though - how do I know how much my rate is per day (i.e. what hotel/s to pick along the way) and how do I claim it?

 

[villanelle]

One other thing. (And sorry for all those typos in the previous post. I wasn't even drinking, at least not that I recall.) It isn't just monetarily valuable things you should take with you. If you have sentimental stuff, don't trust it to the movers. They aren't going to steal that, but it could easily be in the box that just disappears. Trophy Hinge lost all his det coins, the only photo he had of his father, and a bunch of other irreplaceable stuff because that happened to be in one of the boxes that disappeared into the moving ether.

 

[MIDNJAC]

+1, I have always put all my important documents and keepsakes in boxes and trunked them in my car for the 4 PCS moves I've made thus far. Never had to worry about them, and generally speaking, a lot of that stuff is good to have handy when you first move to a place. Also, it pays to hang out with the movers while they pack and QA their thoughtfulness. My last move leaving advanced was really rushed, and the wifey and I had a lot of stuff to do while they packed......needless to say, some weird things ended up happening that defied common sense. One of the better ones was them packing all of our plants in closed boxes for the 2 week trip to socal. Lets just say that water didn't bring them back....that and they heavily damaged some new tables and furniture that we had just purchased prior to the move. If you have any plans to do this, I'd suggest keeping them boxed until you finish the move....that would have saved us some pain on the backside.