PCS Move Checklist

Although PCS may not mean anything to most of you, all military families know what this acronym stands for – permanent change of station. At our first duty station, a fellow wife in my husband’s squadron referred a few of the other “new” girls and me as freshmen. At the time, I was somewhat offended. I thought, “what is she some kind of expert or something about this whole military thing?” I now realize that there was some truth behind her logic. After five years of experience being a military wife, I do see how one can become an “expert.” I would say that her conclusion of me being a “freshman” was accurate, but giving herself the title of “senior” was a little premature. If you want to put military wives in different classes, this is how I see it.

Every five years of service, you graduate to the next level, typically. The first five years you are a freshman, next five you become a sophomore, and so on. You are on track for graduation after twenty years, which coincidentally coincides with your husband’s optional retirement. Of course, not all wives graduate. Some drop out, some flunk out, and some just keep hanging around never moving up in the hierarchy of the “military wives society.” In addition, there are the overachievers who continue their education well past the twenty-year mark and become experts in a particular field.

So, that all being said, I am looking forward to starting my sophomore year this summer! In the midst of it all, we will also be PCSing and I if there is one thing I learned throughout my freshman tour was to make lists, lots and lots of lists. Therefore, in preparation for our move this summer I intended to make a thorough checklist of everything that would need to be done to make this move go smoothly. Once I started my list, I was overwhelmed with the complexity of a PCS move and did not even know where to start. I was just about to forget about making a list and just wing it like I normally do and then it dawned upon me, someone else probably has done this already. I present to you the PCS Checklist for your Move I found on Military.com written by Danielle Babb.