The Pentagon wants troops to change duty stations less often

[rangerrebew]

The Pentagon wants troops to change duty stations less often
The Pentagon has directed each of the military services to come up with plans that reduce the number of moves families make every few years.
Patty Nieberg

Published May 28, 2025 3:04 PM EDT

Military spouse Valerie McNulty says the use of a GPS tracker placed in her household goods during her Family’s recent permanent change of station made national news headlines, and led to conversations with top Department of Defense officials about bettering PCS experiences.
Frequent moves have long been seen as a quality of life issue for military families because of impacts on spouse employment, moving costs and child care. DoD photo by Jenn DeHaan.
The Pentagon is asking the services to come up with plans that would limit the number of moves that military families make every few years, officials announced.

The Department of Defense is asking the military services to determine which permanent changes of station are lower priority and would help families “seeking greater geographic stability” and provide “efficiencies” for cost cutting, according to a memo released Wednesday by Jay Hurst, who is performing the duties of the under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness.
 

Tim Dill, who is performing the duties of deputy under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness told reporters Wednesday that the policy changes are directed at both improving military families’ quality of life and “being efficient with taxpayer dollars.”

“The most important thing in this policy is that we’re taking care of service members and their families. If we thought it’d be detrimental to them, we wouldn’t even pursue it,” he said, adding that they want to make sure they’re also “deliberate” with spending taxpayer dollars.

https://taskandpurpose.com/military-life/pentagon-pcs-move-changes/

[MeganC]

One of the reasons to periodically move people is to prevent them from being compromised.

Say China develops a spy at Fort Bliss because they want information on some project going on there then their spy effort goes to pot when their spy gets redeployed to Fort Lewis or some such.

It's also good to keep people mobile since it's easier to get them to relocate in time of war.

[240B]

One of the reasons to periodically move people is to prevent them from being compromised.

Say China develops a spy at Fort Bliss because they want information on some project going on there then their spy effort goes to pot when their spy gets redeployed to Fort Lewis or some such.

It's also good to keep people mobile since it's easier to get them to relocate in time of war.

Everybody looks forward to rotation. At least me and my friends did. A duty location becomes stale over time. Looking for a change.

Also, people can become too comfortable after being in a single place for too long. They get to know all the sergeants and CO's and become complacent. They start taking advantage of relationships knowing they can get away with just about anything. Routine shake-ups keep soldiers alert and active.

As a simple soldier, if you know the name of the first sergeant's wife and kids, and have his/her mobile phone number, that is an issue. But it is all too common.