The military considers this a local area move. Most often it’s done when a member and their family is moving into and out of military housing but that’s not the only time you can utilize this type of move. If a family is PCS-ing and government quarters aren’t available when the military member arrives they are also able to utilize a local area, or courtesy move. In the Navy, it’s easy to stay in areas such as San Diego and Norfolk. Those are huge Navy towns and often Sailors bounce around commands in the same area. Any time they are given PCS orders they can utilize this local area move. And if your military member is using this type of move as their separation move, or final PCS move, then they are even able to do so as early as 6 months out from their separation date if their family wants to move ahead of time for whatever reason.
Members need the same paperwork to start the PCS process that they use for any PCS move. I can tell you from experience that the move.mil website we are required to use isn’t known for being overly user friendly. But it was completely worth the frustration with the computer program to have a WONDERFUL moving company come pack up our house, load the trucks, and move my very oversized couch up a set of stairs to our new place.
For more information on local area moves please check out the Military One Source website. They have tips and tools for making your PCS a little more stress-free, no matter how far you may be traveling.
