PCSing... in record time!

One of the first things I'm learning as a new Army wife are acronyms. Like the rest of the federal government, the Army loves acronyms. There are a zillion of them. Learn them, and learn to love them, because they are not going anywhere. They constitute a language of their own and, borrowing the plasticity of full nouns in the English language, the acronyms themselves are easily turned into verbs. Hence the title of this post.

For the uninitiated, PCS stands for "Permanent Change of Station". It means that the Army has assigned your Soldier to a particular base for an extended period of time, typically three to four years. They are "accompanied postings" meaning that the Soldier gets to bring his/her spouse and family along. Normally, you find out which base you and your Soldier will be heading to about three month's in advance. That is, if your Soldier is being slotted "in cycle". My Soldier, however, was not slotted in cycle. Therefore, we had a little over a month's worth of notice.

Moving across a few states is a production, regardless of how much time you have to do it and whether you decide to do it yourself or pay movers to do it for you. Moving, however, is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to PCSing. When you're a military family, some of the considerations you take into account are:

• Where to live? On Post or Off Post? Both options have their benefits and drawbacks, and the choice, I'm told, also depends a lot on where you are going to be posted.


• If you decide to live Off Post, do you rent or buy?


• DITY move or pay for movers?


• Utilities: Finding out the utility options, teasing out the actual cost of utilities from the many promotional prices and bundle options, timing turning on utilities in new place.


• If you own real estate in the old post, need to arrange for it to be rented


• Compile the Change-of-Address list.


• If you have kids, you'll have to research the schools in the area. This will also impact your decision to live on or off post.


• And... employment for the non-military spouse.

This last point is a particularly challenging one when you don't have much time to look for a job, apply for a job and interview for a job. Like most military families, we cannot afford to be a one-income household. As soon as we knew our posting for sure, I started sending applications and resumes left and right. Everyone who may help, from former managers, to my brother-in-law has a copy of my resume.

My Soldier has been so wonderful. The lion's share of jobs I applied for were postings he found on the Internet. He helps me stay on task, be disciplined and keep my eye on the price. Even if I bristle at sitting at the computer for yet another hour, as I swallow the feelings of inadequacy at yet another rejection, as I tremble a bit at the irrational fear that no one in their right mind would offer me a decent job, my soldier has my back and supports me no matter what. Sometimes, that support is the only thing that allows me to believe that I can do this. I can find another job, I can help pack up all our belongings, I can help pack up a moving truck, I can move my family and my life to another state I've never set foot on.

This is probably not new to other military spouses. Most non-military folks will readily and rightly recognize our soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen for their service and sacrifice for our country. Sometimes, they recognize the role that service member's family plays in that service as well. While that's nice to hear, the support and recognition that makes a military spouse's heart sing comes from the service member themselves. Nothing gives me more strength than hearing my soldier say: "Thank you, honey."