Passengers board the Patriot Express at RAF Mildenhall, England, in December 2022. The Air Force will begin resuming moves for anyone slated for a permanent change of station in the next two months, the service announced July 21, 2023. (Viviam Chiu/U.S. Air Force)
The Air Force this week will resume permanent changes of station after stopping most of them earlier this month, but the resulting rush may leave some airmen scrambling to move to their new bases on short notice.
Airmen who were expecting to move by the end of September should receive orders at least 30 days before their departure date and possibly as early as the end of July, the service said in a statement Friday. Orders usually are issued two to three months in advance.
The Air Force on July 10 abruptly announced it was halting most moves beginning in August and not awarding bonuses due to a funding shortfall attributed to inflation, as well as spending recruitment and retention bonuses.
But Congress approved a request that restores funding to most military personnel programs through the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, the service said in a statement.
That includes resuming PCS moves and restoring bonus programs for aviation, new assignments, foreign language proficiency and reenlistment for careers with retention shortfalls or high training costs.
The Air Force in its statement did not say when lawmakers agreed to the request, which authorizes the service to shift money from other accounts.
The temporary pause in PCS moves didn’t affect airmen who already had their orders.
However, airmen overseas with pending moves between October and December may have to wait until as late as next March for orders, service officials said, noting mandatory moves will be given priority.
If the delay creates a hardship, airmen can request an exception from their wing commanders and the Air Force Personnel Center, Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin said in an email to commanders Friday, according to a memo shared the same day on the popular Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page.
New enlisted airmen and officers will continue to move, Allvin said, while airmen awaiting assignments for short overseas tours starting in December should expect to receive their orders soon.
Most bonuses stopped earlier this month will be reinstated in the next week, the Air Force said.
