United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2001-08-03 monographic deposited born digital 35 p. GA 1.13:GAO-01-841 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-841 P0b002ee180382876 f:d01841 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-24 GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-841 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-841 GAO-01-841 Military housing Employee transfers Military personnel Quality of life Job satisfaction surveys Military dependents Other Written Product A01516 About one-third of all military members make permanent change of station (PCS) moves each year according to the Department of Defense. In addition, these moves may involve the members' dependents and household goods. PCS moves are a considerable cost to both the government and individual service members, and not all relocation and moving costs incurred by military personnel and their families are covered by the government. These reimbursements are based on what property a member was authorized to move and weight allowances that vary by grade and dependents. This report addresses (1) PCS tours and (2) unaccompanied PCS tours. GAO found that the average duration time between PCS moves was about two years. Personnel who were not married and had no dependents have the least time between PCS moves. Among the services, the Marine Corps had the shortest average time between PCS moves. Among enlisted personnel, those in the combat occupations had the shortest time between moves, and for officers, those who were in the intelligence and tactical operations areas had the shortest average tours. GAO found that the duration of PCS tours was related to satisfaction. Those with shorter time spent between moves were less likely to be satisfied, and were more likely to have a spouse who favored the member leaving the military, and finally, members where less likely to stay in the military. The most frequently cited problems to PCS moves were the loss or decrease of a spouse's income, change in the cost of living, waiting for permanent housing to become available, and spouse's employment. Regarding unaccompanied tours, service members cited several reasons for why they traveled alone, including that the service member was separated or divorced, the service member's spouse worked or was in school, or the government would not pay for the cost of moving dependents. Those serving unaccompanied tours were less satisfied with the overall military way of life, types of assignments received, and amount of personal or family time available. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-841/html/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-841.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-841/pdf/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-841.pdf GAO-01-841 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-GAO-01-841 Other Written Product GAO-01-841; Military Personnel: Longer Time Between Moves Related to Higher Satisfaction and Retention; Military housing Employee transfers Military personnel Quality of life Job satisfaction surveys Military dependents