PCS with an EFMP? Stay Calm, Stay Organized

By Tiffany Shedd

We made it! It's finally spring, even if we did get another 3 inches of snow on the office first day.

Spring is a season of new beginnings. While it is definitely a season for trees and plants to blossom, it's also the beginning of another season altogether - PCS season. Moving can be stressful under normal circumstances, but moving with a special needs family member can seem like the end of the world. But maybe it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are few tips to help make your PCS less stressful.


Make Your PCS Resignation a Win-Win

Resignation can be tricky when it’s time for you to PCS. On one hand, you want to give your employer plenty of time to advertise, interview, hire and train your replacement. On the other hand, you don’t want to set off a series of events that gives him or her excuses to let you go sooner than you are ready. And quite honestly, you never know how an employer will take the news until you deliver it.


When You PCS, What Did You Leave Behind?

These past few months I’ve been investing quite a bit in a local non-profit I work for.

Lots of time. Lots of effort. Lots of printer ink and paper.

I am so proud of how large and successful we have become and how many families we have helped affect.

I feel we make an important the difference.


PCS Season in an Off-Base Neighborhood – Not the Same

It is the first PCS (summer) season we haven’t moved in the last three years. It is also the first time since we were first married that we have lived off base. Since we live in a “normal” neighborhood (i.e. a mix of retired, active duty and civilians) I didn’t expect to see much change around the neighborhood. But since we returned from a vacation a couple weeks ago, I am surprised by the number of “for rent or for sale” and “annual rental property” signs around our community. It seems like every other house had been emptied by one family and waiting for a new family to move in.


PCS Checklist: Unpack, Take the Bar Exam

Elizabeth Jamison has taken the bar exam twice in two different states. And now, she’s preparing to take it again, in a third state. Each time, she has aced it.

Three bar exams? The extra pressure, study time and cost – crazy you say? It’s the life of a dedicated military spouse who is also a dedicated attorney.


We Have Orders

It’s funny how a simple text message can change … well, everything.
We’ve known for a couple months that we were moving, and even where to, but there’s something about that little official paper that says, ‘Hey, stuff just got real.’


Lose Job Due to PCS? File for Unemployment

During PCS you move away from friends, lose your favorite hair salon and sometimes, have to walk away from a job you love.

The sting cuts deeper because you lose a career you may have loved, as well as the income that comes with it. The Military Officers Association of America reports that military spouses lose six to nine months of income after a PCS move as they search for another job.


The PCS From Hell

We've all got one. The story of that PCS move that was a nightmare from beginning to end.


Stop, Take a Break!

Are you in the middle of a PCS?

Are you stressed? Tired? Screaming at your spouse, your kids and anyone who asks if you're done yet?

Stop. Walk away. Take a mini-vacation if you can.

You heard me. Walk. A. Way.


Foster care and the Military Family

During my husband’s last deployment, we went through some massive changes. The biggest was in October when we finally got the call we’d been waiting two years for – we had a baby girl to foster.  Now, eight months later, here we are, still fostering her, still buying an insane amount of hair bows.

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