WASHINGTON — In advance of this summer's peak permanent change of station moving season, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has directed the U.S. Transportation Command to change how the Global Household Goods contract is implemented in an effort to better serve military families.
"We're heading into peak season of moving — PCS moving — and that process, I know, has been a mess, and we are addressing it," Hegseth said. "We have ... to take some aggressive action and fast."
In a memorandum dated May 20, 2025, Hegseth directed Transcom to make various changes to the existing GHC program. He noted that, while the PCS process has "never been a great system," recent changes have made things worse.
"We know it's not working, and it's only getting worse," he said. "We've heard your concerns about contractor performance, quality and accountability. We hear you loud and clear, and that's why we're taking decisive action immediately."
In his memorandum, Hegseth directed that during the 2025 PCS moving season, Transcom should "fully leverage" capabilities under the new GHC and the legacy Tender of Service program, which GHC replaced.
"We're going to split this year's peak moving season between our new and legacy systems," he said. "There's a new system we've been trying — it's not working very well — and then there's a legacy system that wasn't perfect ... those systems can talk to each other and work together, so we're going to use both in every way possible."
Under GHC, fees paid to independent moving companies for conducting PCS moves may not be as high as they were under the legacy ToS system. Because of this, fewer independent moving companies, or vendors, are stepping up to offer their services.
Hegseth has directed Transcom to develop and implement rates similar to the legacy ToS system within GHC to increase vendor capacity and ensure enough companies are willing to move military family household goods to the next duty station.
Some military families opt to move themselves, either by purchasing packing materials and renting their own moving vehicle or by hiring a moving company to assist them. Such moves were once called do-it-yourself, or DITY, moves. The Defense Department now calls these moves personally procured moves, or PPM.
Following a PPM, service members file for reimbursement. However, reimbursement amounts can vary significantly based on individual circumstances. Hegseth noted that those rates are too low, and some service members could be paying out of pocket to move their family.
"We're increasing the government reimbursement rate to 130% instead of 100%, which will cover [the cost of a PPM], we believe, based on the math we're looking at, full compensation when you take that on as a responsibility of moving you or your family," he said.
Hegseth also said that DOD is forming a task force to examine how PCS moves are conducted.
"We're going to review the entire PCS process and recommend rapid actions inside the department for the best possible moving experience for our service members and their families," he said.
He added that when a military family moves from one duty station to another to meet the needs of the Defense Department, more than the mechanics of the move are at stake.
"Ultimately, this is not just about moving boxes. This is about moving families, husbands, wives, kids, valuables, memories, everything — and you deserve that kind of respect across the board," he said. "We owe it to you to get it right. Everything's on the table. We're going to track this progress weekly. We're going to hold leaders accountable at every level, as we just did, and we will not tolerate poor performance."
Related Links
Publication: Memorandum Directing Immediate Modifications to the Personal Property Program
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