Q. We will be experiencing our first PCS move in a few months. Although we do not have orders yet since my husband is still in training for his job, we expect that he’ll be done by June.
I live in the same district as my mom and had thought about saving some money by moving back in with her for a few months, however, I’m concerned with the rules in moving my HHG in storage.
If we opted for the Military to move us, or do a partial DITY move, will the Military move my items out of storage, or do they have to be in the home I reside in? I understand that they must be the ones to pack most items in boxes, and I likely will not be compensated for any storage rental fees which is fine, but I just need to know if they will move it out of storage vice my home. Thanks, Lilly (USMC Spouse)
First, let me say (and I am assuming this because it is your first PCS and your hubby is in MOS School) welcome to the family =)
The Military will move household goods (HHG) from the location(s) you list. If you have HHG at the place you are living and in a storage unit, they will pick it up from both. Military members are entitled to this extra pickup. So yes, the military will move your HHG out of storage.
You will need to contact your base transportation office (for the Marine Corps that would be the Personal Property Shipping Office) for the specifics. They can answer any and all questions you may have regarding household goods. Something to keep in mind, they are allowed to unpack and re-pack, or inspect, already packed boxes (boxes they did not pack).
Now most of the time, they will take your word for what is in the box, put their label on it, note it on the inventory sheet and move on. However, this is not always the case. If you have anything that might be embarrassing for outsiders to see, you might want to take that box with you and keep it out of the mover’s reach.
Good luck with your first PCS. I have survived 3 so far in my 12 years of being a Military Wife (which is rare, it should be more). The first one is always the most nerve-racking. Not sure if you have seen our PCS section on the site or not, but it has a ton of information that I have written and gathered over the years. Also within the blog, under the PCS Blog heading, I made several entries during our last PCS (although I did not blog nearly as much as I needed or wanted to).
We are HHG movers with North American and can tell you your move greatly depends on the driver who picks u up. We stopped shipping military last year because they lowered the rates and it just didn’t pay. We r now back under a new contract. Very unusual to have one soldier going to Rucker and three others separating. Now we have also noticed that all the bases are different in their packing requirements. Go figure, govt.