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As military moving season shifts into high gear, service members and their families should be seeing the results of changes aimed at improving their household goods moves.

And for those experiencing issues, there’s a direct line to DoD’s new Personal Property Activity, where service members can ask for assistance. Since that call center was set up in August of last year, the volume has reached 20,121 calls and emails, said Army Maj. Matthew Visser, spokesman for the Personal Property Activity.

That includes calls received into the center, as well as calls made from the center.

“We often see issues arising, and we can be proactive at reaching out to folks who we know may be impacted,” Visser said.

That number has increased by about 4,000 since March.

“The feedback we get from the families and the people we talk to, is that they like the fact they’re talking to another service member who understands what they’re going through, and they call them back if they can’t immediately answer the question,” said Army Col. Mike Ashton, director of operations for DoD’s new Personal Property Activity.

As of June 30, there had been 138,570 pickups of household goods in 2026, compared to 134,282 at this time in 2025, Visser said. This year, because of PPA changes, service members could start booking their summer moves as early as March, if they had PCS orders in hand.

The change was designed to help service members in their planning and preparation — and to help spread the load for moving companies during the peak season, which generally runs from mid-May through August.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth designated the PPA as a special activity in January, giving it the authority to take action to improve the household goods process for service members.

For decades, military families have complained about broken, damaged and lost belongings, delayed pickups and deliveries and onerous claims processes. Families have complained there’s nowhere to turn for help with these problems.

Mold, broken furniture — just a start to this family’s PCS nightmare

This moving season marks a stark departure from last year, when a number of moving companies were considering getting out of the business of making military moves because of the U.S. Transportation Command’s effort to privatize the management of military moves.

Movers complained about the amount of compensation for moves, among other things, and were turning down shipments, leaving military families to scramble at the last minute. DoD terminated the Global Household Goods Contract in May 2025.

“This peak season, movers have done a really good job of saying, ‘All right, we’re going to step up to the plate. … We are bringing our best drivers, our best crews.’ They’re working really hard to make this summer successful for service members,” said Katie McMichael, executive director of Movers for America, a coalition of over 1,000 moving professionals and independent owner-operators who haul household shipments for military families.

PPA has improved DoD’s relationship with moving companies to the benefit of all, especially service members, according to those in the industry.

The PPA and the actions of its commander, Army Maj. Gen. Lance Curtis, have been “a breath of fresh air,” said Ryan McConnell, president and chief operating officer of Atlas Van Lines. PPA has worked to better understand the military moving industry and to build better communications, he said.

“In the end, this is all of us getting the business component lined up with PPA so that we can provide that service to families,” McConnell said. “Ultimately, that’s what this is all about.”

‘Purge parties’ and more tips from the real PCS pros

This season, movers have seen an earlier start to the peak season, beginning in early May, said Steve Weitekamp, president of the California Moving and Storage Association.

“We’ve been talking since the beginning of time almost, to try to spread out the peak season from such a short period of time to a longer period, which we’ve kind of seen this season,” he said. “I think it’s been to the benefit of both military members and moving companies.”

A few tips

Weitekamp’s advice to service members: “When you get your orders, you should book your move early to ensure the best possible service. … The sooner the military member gets in the queue, the more apt they are to get the top quality service.”

Because installation security has been tightened because of what’s happening in the Middle East, movers urge families who live on installations to be aware of some of the consequences, said McMichael. Movers are trying to prepare families for the reality that getting on base is going to be difficult this year.

“We’re not the only tractor trailer truck coming through the gate. There are lots of deliveries. … In a lot of cases it’s not necessarily because our trucks can’t get on base,” she said.

If they’re behind other trucks that are having issues, she added, “the only thing we can do is sit there. This is for everyone’s safety. But please be mindful that for pickups and drop-offs, there are going to be some circumstances where there will be delays.”

More suggested tips for easing military moves include:

• Checking out PPA’s new website, www.ppa.mil, where they’ve consolidated a patchwork of different websites to support service members and families, DoD civilians and industry. It offers a link to start setting up the move, step-by-step guidance through the move process with checklists for every stage, as well as tips for overseas shipments, filing claims, shipping personally owned vehicles and other topics.
• Doing what you can to prepare early. For example, start clearing out items you don’t want to go to your new location.
• Organizing your items and make sure you separate important documents, medicines, uniforms and other items that you want to carry with you.
• Asking questions of the movers. If you don’t get an answer, take it to someone else, including your local transportation office on base. You can contact the PCS call center at any time with questions or problems at 1-833-MIL-MOVE, operated 24/7 during peak season. Or email pcscallcenter@mail.mil.
• Fill out the customer-service surveys to provide feedback to help DoD decide whether a company gets more business in the future.

Have you made a military move this year and want to talk about your experience with Military Times? Email staff reporter kjowers@militarytimes.com.

U.S. representatives announced an amendment to fiscal year 2027’s National Defense Authorization Act that would require all military service members to have an influenza vaccine, following a training base outbreak that sickened nearly 300 trainees and killed one.

In a Tuesday press conference, Reps. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., and Gil Cisneros, D-Calif., announced their joint amendment’s introduction, calling it pertinent to military readiness and the well-being of American troops.

“That is almost 300 future airmen and women who would not be finishing their training at their expected date,” Cisneros, a former under secretary of defense for personnel readiness, said in the briefing. “This has completely set back the Air Force’s expected recruitment class from entering the future squadrons on time.”

This move comes after a flu outbreak sickened hundreds of trainees at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, and killed one. Castro, whose district houses Lackland, confirmed that 284 trainees contracted the flu, four have been hospitalized and one has died.

Over a week ago, the Air Force announced that the training wing at Lackland suffered a localized outbreak over the three weeks prior but did not mention how many trainees contracted the flu.

Keon McDaniel, a basic military trainee from the 737th Training Support Squadron at Lackland, died on June 16 at Brooke Army Medical Center due to a medical emergency. Lackland officials said an investigation into the cause of his death is currently underway. Air Force officials declined at the time to comment on if his passing was related to the flu outbreak.

But Castro, who requested an investigation into McDaniel’s death in relation to the flu, revealed Tuesday that the Air Force confirmed that the trainee did die from the outbreak on base, according to a release.

“This is a tragedy that could have been prevented were it not for the reckless actions of Secretary [of Defense Pete] Hegseth,” Castro said in the statement.

The outbreak caused lawmakers to express concern over the current optional flu vaccine policy for service members and Pentagon civilian personnel that went into effect in April, two months before the outbreak.

Hegseth announced that service members would no longer be required to get the annual flu vaccine, citing the prior policy as “overly broad and not rational.”

Last week, the Pentagon granted exceptions to policy requests, or ETPs, to military services and some federal agencies, allowing for the slight reversal to be included into Hegseth’s guidance.

The services with ETPs granted by Under Secretary of Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata include the Department of the Army, Department of the Navy and Department of the Air Force.

Given that the Marine Corps and Space Force are under the Department of the Navy and Department of the Air Force, respectively, the services are also included in the exceptions.

The Pentagon declined to comment on if all trainees would be required to get the flu vaccine or when the exceptions were requested and granted. The Associated Press reported that all trainees for basic military training would now be required to receive the vaccine, citing a Pentagon official.

Castro confirmed in the Tuesday briefing that the Air Force’s exception to vaccinate all trainees was not approved until after the outbreak occurred even though it was requested about a month prior.

Houlahan said that there has been no indication of flu outbreaks at bases other than Lackland, but it is considered an “ongoing concern.”

“Now, nothing’s ever perfect. You could get the vaccine, and you still may get the flu or any other disease that may come forth, but it does make a difference,” Cisneros, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said in the press conference.

The representatives that brought forth the amendment last week criticized their Republican counterparts for previously rejecting the measure’s inclusion in the final NDAA rules package, prompting another push to revert the policy to again require all service members to receive a flu vaccine.

The NDAA is currently moving through both chambers of Congress, with the House and Senate versions awaiting full consideration on their respective floors.

The Marine Corps launched a new mobile app that gives Marines a simplified guide for uniform and grooming standards, according to Tuesday’s administrative message.

Brig. Gen. Matthew Tracy, commanding general of the service’s education command, described the Marine Corps Uniform App as giving “immediate access to the guidance they use most often.”

“It is designed to make existing standards more accessible while reinforcing the professionalism and attention to detail that define our Corps,” he said.

Although the service’s uniform regulations are available online, the 263-page document written in Courier typeface isn’t exactly easy to navigate. The new app simplifies that guidance into a much more accessible format.

In a press release, the service said the application is intended to supplement, not replace, MCO 1020.34.

“While it answers many of the most common questions regarding uniforms and grooming, Marines should continue to consult the order for comprehensive policy and detailed guidance,” the service said.

The app’s home screen features six categories: male officer, female officer, male enlisted, female enlisted, male grooming and female grooming.

Selecting a category opens a list of approved and required uniforms for physical training, utilities, service and dress. Each entry includes a description explaining when the uniform is worn.

For example, the app describes the Male Officer Evening Dress uniform as intended for “Field Grade and General Officer white/black tie events and social functions.” It also notes that “It is not a leave and liberty uniform.”

Each uniform page includes a full image of the uniform with every component highlighted. Users can tap individual items or accessories to view additional details. And each component page includes reference images, wear instructions and the applicable regulation.

The grooming guides are more concise. They use dropdown menus to display only the standards relevant to each grooming category.

The service said the uniform app is currently available through the Apple App Store, while an Android version is expected sometime in fiscal year 2027.