How to Navigate Last-Minute PCS Orders

There’s nothing like being all prepared to relocate and receiving last-minute changes to PCS somewhere else. It’s frustrating and daunting to say the least. It’s incredibly stressful on military families, who are often already stretched to the max. But the military family is resilient and always prepared for the moments of change (even if they aren’t happy about it).These families know how to navigate the last-minute PCS orders and help each other out along the way.

Family reached out to Army spouse Kimberly Gardner about her family’s experience with last-minute PCS orders from a few years back. Kimberly is married to Captain Randy Gardner, who is leaving for an unaccompanied overseas tour while she and their two children-- Jordan (11) and Grayson (7)-- stay at Fort Leavenworth, KS.

When was a time you received last minutes PCS orders?

In 2017, we received OCONUS orders from Fort Leonard Wood to Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. Which sounds great! And in some ways, it is, but my initial reaction was frustration because we thought we were going one place. We were told we were going to Hawaii earlier in 2017. There are a lot of moving parts to going to Hawaii, especially when dogs and EFMP are involved.

When we were told we were going to Hawaii, we were just finishing getting my son registered with EFMP for his autism diagnosis. Plus, we had just adopted a puppy. To take a dog to Hawaii, a family has to make sure their dogs have their rabies shots completed 120 days out. There’s a window of time in order to ensure there are no issues once the pet reaches Hawaii. Otherwise, the dog would have to remain in quarantine for an allotted time. I had to move quick to get everything completed on our end.

First, I tackled as much of the EFMP paperwork that I could. The doctor always has to sign off before the service member can PCS with their family.

Next, I got all the rabies vaccines done for our puppy. Then I made arrangements for my parents to watch our dog on the mainland so they could ship him when his time frame was up and before the heat of the summer. They don’t fly them during that time because it gets way too hot.

Then, when my husband received his orders, they were messed up. In fact, they had to fix them four different times before they were correct. This left us only ten days! To add to this, I had just given birth four months before. I was not in shape to move a house or figure out how to get it to Hawaii. So, I had ten days to get movers, to get EFMP in Hawaii to accept our son, to get a hotel, to get us into as little suitcases as possible, to get the puppy to my parents and to get the house turned around and back to base.

What’s something you wish you had known prior to this that you know would’ve helped you?

Have all crucial papers kept in ONE folder. That way, you don’t have to go through all your things to find them—birth certificates, marriage certificates, and licenses, etc.

And the most important thing - take time each day to just breathe. It’s going to be hectic. Pay someone else to clean and take one thing o  your plate. And do a whole lot of praying.