navy pcs

The summer months bring vacations and time off from school for kids. But military kids often have other things happening over the summer months such as saying goodbye to friends or moving across the country (or world) during a military move. Social media is full of memes and images talking about how military brats will say goodbye to so many people in their lifetime and how resilient they are. Those of us who get to raise military kids know exactly how true this is, especially the resiliency part. PCS season is hard for the whole family, but how often do we hear from the kids involved?

Are you one of the thousands of military families that are stuck in PCS limbo? The recent DoD stop order on military travel has affected many military families waiting to move or preparing for an upcoming PCS. Now that the stop order has been extended indefinitely, with constant reevaluation every 15 days, families may not know more than two weeks in advance when they will finally be allowed to move. If you have ever PCS’d before, you know that 15 days is not enough time to prepare for and execute a PCS move.

Right now, military families are playing a terrible game of “hurry up and wait.” In an ordinary year, this would be the peak of PCS season. Military kids would be celebrating their final weeks at one school before transferring to another one over the summer. Families would be planning summer “vacations” to visit their relatives and do sight seeing during cross-country PCS moves. But of course, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, this is no ordinary year.

Any normal year, nearly half of all military families would be gearing up for PCS season. However, this season is anything but normal. The COVID-19 crisis has consumed our country, if not the globe. Our new normal is living life on hold, while homebound and swallowing hefty doses of uncertainty with every news cycle. Many military families are in a hurry-up and wait phase, feeling helpless and anxiously awaiting the PCS process to continue.

In October 2019 my family started moving from our previous station in Ecuador to Virginia. It is now spring 2020. It took six months from the time we started our moving process to get where we are today. PCSing is a long game, and each time I play, the move requires every tool in my toolbox to complete the transition. The moves do not seem to get easier, but I know through experience we will get through it.

This is our second week in total and complete lockdown and our 5th week homeschooling our children. Why? Because my military family is currently stationed in Northern Italy; where COVID-19 has impacted tens of thousands of people. But not all is lost. I’d like to share with you some things I’ve learned in the last month living in the hardest hit area of the world, and perhaps you’ll ponder these takeaways as you navigate your new normal during this international pandemic.

For military families struggling with stop orders on PCS moves and uncertain dates, the tax extension can be a welcome relief. For those wondering whether or not to continue moving forward on a home purchase, we pulled in an expert to help you make important decisions before you PCS. So, buckle up, let’s talk about taxes and home ownership and taxes.

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