69Nova355

Here's the scoop folks: Pope AFB is going to be given to Ft. Bragg and the 440th Air Reserve out of Milwaukee WI, so naturally that means a majority of us Pope people have to move to another state side base. That includes those of us that have been there over 4 years which means.........me.

As of now I don't know where I am going, but 99% likely it will be a conus to conus move. Keep in mind Pope is my first and only assignment so I've never PCS'd in my life.

I am thinking once I get my orders that just before I leave Pope I need to take some leave and go to wherever my new base will be and immediately start looking for a place to live, or perhaps even have a place already picked out so that when my wife and I do make the big move, we will have a home to go to, instead of living out of billeting/hotels for however long until we can finally set up camp.

But since I am new to PCSing/moving conus to conus I would like to ask of any pointers/tips on making our move as smooth as can be?

Also if it's of any interest we have a whole house of stuff to move, 4 vehicles....

Thanks!

AGRV8D

iTrader: (19)

just take it day by day bro, and pay attetion when you outprocess at all the briefings.

Fastbird93

iTrader: (10)

Ok......

You should know 3-4 months in advance of a PCS (I just PCS'd from McGuire AFB to Scott AFB last month).

By Air Force regs, you are authorized 8 days permissive TDY for househunting. Do that ASAP if you plan to buy, so you can close upon arrival at new base and not have to dork around with the TLF (PITA if you have animals or something).

We did a point to point TMO move, meaning they came in to our house, packed everything up, loaded it on a truck, and at the new base met us at our house and unloaded everything. Went REALLY smoothly, but it's hard to work like that. Odds are your stuff will go into storage, so you'll need to keep living essentials out for that transition period.

Do a partial DITY (Do It Yourself) move. Anything that you take with you is weight, and will add up to money in your pocket. We moved about 1500 lbs and pocketed over $3000 from our move, not including DLA or per diem or anything else.

Document and take pictures of ANYTHING of any value to you, you'll need that stuff in case of a claim against the shipper.

Get a sponsor, it helps.

Any questions drop me a PM.

Grave

iTrader: (4)

Also, if you do a partial DITY move, the AF will pay you for what you transport yourself, which means some extra $$$ in your pocket.


I did a CONUS/CONUS move from Barksdale to Cannon a few years back. We did a full DITY move. We packed all our household goods into a U-Haul truck and drove from LA to NM. I drove the U-haul, my wife drove her truck and towed our Camaro behind it on a trailer.

In the end, we didn't make much off of the full DITY move, but with a partial you should make out a little better. Just talk with TMO about your options. You may want to take your most valuable/fragile stuff and put that in with your partial DITY stuff, if you decide to go that route.

Fastbird93

iTrader: (10)

I learned that lesson the hard way too, when I moved from Travis AFB to McGuire AFB back in 2001. I rented a Penske truck and trailer, and was almost in the hole after it was all said and done.

the_hunted

I pcsd from FT. STEWART to FT. HOOD and i made an additional 3500+ in my pocket. I suggest getting your truck and and when you weigh it full, add some extra stuff to help max out your weight limit. Then the extra stuff you can ditch and you dont really have to hall that weight.

69Nova355

I appreciate the heads up. If I may ask TMO doesn't transport vehicles do they? (I'm guessing they don't) as I ask because we have 4 vehicles at our home. So we're trying to figure out how we're going to move them all, or if a few will have to be sold. (unfortunate if that should happen)

Fastbird93

iTrader: (10)

Not on a conus to conus. My wife and I have 4 vehicles also. We had a friend drive one out and the other is still at a shop (99 Vette, twin turbo install) so I still have to fly back to pick that one up.

Malicious

iTrader: (1)

Good reading here... I know I'll be moved by this time next year and have been a little nervous about it since Cannon was my first assignment, I've never moved anywhere but from home to here after tech school....not gonna try to milk the system for more money, just going to have TMO move our ****, pack up what we need to live on and with, and the dogs and go....

Grave

iTrader: (4)

Nope, they sure won't. They'll pay you mileage for the vehicles you drive, but that's about it. When we PCS'd, I rented a trailer for the Camaro from U-Haul, which was like $200. Oh, and keep your gasoline receipts and any hotel receipts, too.


My game plan for my next PCS is to do a partial DITY, pack as much **** into my wife's SUV as I can, put the GTO on a trailer and I'll drive my daily driver and my wife will drive her SUV.

Screw a full DITY, I ain't doing that again!

Compstall

iTrader: (5)

+100 on wrapping up the valuables. Our mover decided that the wife's grandma's 100-year-old sewing machine needed to be broken down and taken apart. "Are you going to put it back together when it gets to our next house?" "Yep, no problem." Well, you don't get the same guys that packed up all your **** to unload it. The guys hired to unload us had no clue how it went back together. 3 years later, it now still sits in boxes.

Additionally, something got shoved into it and there's a hole in the side of it, along with the ultra-fragile antique laquer finish being scratched in several places.

I went to a place here locally that refurbishes stuff like this. Quoted $600 to repair, received $300 from the AF. It never got fixed.

All they used was cellophane to wrap the sewing machine, but made sure to double cardboard wrap the $10 wall hangings.