The PCS Reality Of Military Service : My Duffle Bag, My Family, My Soul

Another big issue is orientation. You wander the streets looking for the sandwich chain you just ate at last week. You are certain you are looking in the right direction, then you realize that the sandwich chain, you are thinking of, is in the city you were in last week. Thankfully, you have a smartphone so you can find the nearest food place, from where you actually are, but first you have to remind yourself where you are. You remember that unlike your father and grandfather, you have a GPS and you try very hard to realize how fortunate you are, even if what you feel, in reality, is lost. You really want to find this sandwich chain, because despite growing up in the military you like to eat real food. One of your entitlements, during a permanent change of station transition, is reimbursement for meals.

This notion changes when your child is five and your spouse wants them to start kindergarten and go through grade school without moving. By this time, you and your spouse can explain why her military parent moves around, sometimes on a moment’s notice, but she lives in one place with her civilian parent. You and your spouse have discussed, but are still uncertain, what will happen if you are deployed overseas. On one hand, your child can live in a foreign country and online study is easier than ever for kids in school. Then again, she is finally making friends with other kids and feeling like part of the community. She has her own room, she does not have to wake up and wonder where she is, though she still has a special butterfly night-light just in case. Afterall, kids are very sophisticated at video chat, so she can keep in touch with her new friends, even if she can’t attend a birthday party or take an after school pottery class with her best buddy. If you have to move overseas, as a family, you will have military family entitlement, Temporary Lodging Allowance (TLA), which covers temporary lodging and meal expenses for up to 60 days.

This is how your mind wanders, when you are lost and fumbling for your smart phone that has little battery charge left. You ask the kindness and hospitality of the customer service desk to charge your phone hoping they have a soft spot for soldiers. By the way, is this the store with that kind sensitive customer service gal, whose grandfather died in Viet Nam, in this town or the town I was in last week?

My phone is charging, at the photo counter at a grocery store, as I wait at the deli for my sandwich, which will be today’s breakfast. As military personnel, I have “...permissive TDY (Temporary Duty) for up to 10 days in conjunction with a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move between and within the 50 states & District of Columbia.” that does not include travel time, I mark this on my calendar and create a to do list. This concession, courtesy of the military, is to allow time for the house hunting portion of my Permanent Change of Station. This is the first time I am making use of this entitlement. Initially, when my spouse and child settled in one place, I opted to stay in the barracks. Being in my later twenties with a child, it felt like I was in a college dorm, which I have outgrown.