Photo By Eric Pilgrim | Transportation officials are reminding those moving their families to a new...... read more read more
FORT KNOX, Ky. — The vast majority of Army personnel who were expecting to move to a new duty station have been halted by a recent stop movement order, but not everybody.
The original order, which was initiated by Defense Secretary Mark Esper and went effect March 16, allows for some exceptions to policy, though almost all PCS moves and household goods shipments have been halted until June 30. Officials from U.S. Transportation Command sent cancellation notices through the Joint Personal Property Shipping Office Mid-Atlantic at the time.
“There’s been a trickle of people who have come here under exception to policy,” said Horace Bowden, transportation officer at Fort Knox Installation Transportation: “maybe about a dozen.”
Approved exceptions include Soldiers retiring or separating from the military, safety moves, sale of a home or termination of a lease, and household goods shipments of those who have died.
As well, service members who were expecting to move this summer will need to start rescheduling for household goods delivery now to lock in on a date outside of the June 30 window, said Bowden. They have two ways to accomplish it.
“They can do that be reaching out to our household goods office, or they can communicate directly with the JPPSO Mid-Atlantic, who notified them via email that their shipment had been cancelled,” said Bowden. “The problem is, a lot of personnel don’t go back and look at their emails.”
Bowden said those who are considered mission-critical, have some undue hardship or don’t meet one of the other criteria, can submit an exception to policy letter through the first general officer or Senior Executive Service officer in their chain of command.
“That memo comes back to us and we, in turn, send the packet on to the JPPSO, who will process that date,” said Bowden. “It’s up to the gaining and losing commands to decide because every installation has certain quarantine rules.”
Bowden used 1st Theater Sustainment Command as an example of an unusual circumstance. Several Soldiers from the unit are preparing to deploy soon. Before they leave, however, they must first quarantine for 14 day at Fort Knox to ensure they don’t carry COVID-19 with them.
For those arriving at Fort Knox prior to June 30 who find themselves in quarantine, households goods cannot be scheduled during those 14 days “unless you have a power of attorney and a letter of authorization to have a third-party person receive your property,” said Bowden.
The household goods are considered safe for pickup when they arrive, free from COVID-19 germs, said Bowden.
“There’s no scrubbing of your property because typically, it has been in transit long enough where the virus would have died,” said Bowden.
Those who are planning to pick up their household goods, however, must complete a screening questionnaire.
“It’s between the service member and the moving company,” said Bowden. “They show up, you guys go out; they say, ‘Hey, have you had a fever?’ and some other questions — if any of them are yes, there’s a number to call, and they will in turn call and quality control inspector.
“We will go out there and adjudicate the issue, but the shipment is supposed to be terminated and rescheduled.”
All parties participating in the delivery of household goods are responsible for wearing facemasks as well, said Bowden. This includes the children and moving company workers.
“This is both on and off post,” said Bowden. “If one family member says, ‘I’m not doing it because it’s my house!’ the moving company has a right to turn around and walk away.”
The other rule to that pertains to families of six or more members. Bowden said because of social distancing concerns, the federal government requires that families bring only those members who will participate in inventorying the household goods.
Bowden said he and his office managers are preparing for the floodgates of PCS moves to open once the stop movement order ends. One change to policy because of the threat of COVID-19 involves inspections.
Prior to the pandemic, inspectors were required to check household goods being packed up about 50% of the time. Under the new guidance, they will inspect 100% of all shipments prior to departure, which has led Fort Knox to hire two additional inspectors.
“It’s a stressful time,” said Bowden. “To have people on the ground resolving issues right away is an investment in human capital. If they can fix a packing job now and have them repack the dresser mirror, it saves the family a claim when they get to the other side and it’s broken.”
For those preparing to move to Fort Knox when the time comes, Bowden suggests they familiarize themselves with two websites: https://move.mil/, and a downloadable app recently created by the Army, called “Army PCS Move.”
“Move.mil has a whole bunch of frequently asked questions that will answer about 95% of people’s questions if they take a second to look at it,” said Bowden. “The Army PCS Move app has a wealth of resources that will allow family members to put in key dates, put in their orders, build a profile and find a whole bunch of resources related to PCSing, the claims process, and more.”
Bowden said he understands the workload that’s coming when the stop movement is lifted. As a result, they are looking to increase the number of available carriers as well as spreading out the move dates.
“Peak season is going to be tougher than normal. This is going to take a lot of patience from families, and they’re going to have to begin the process earlier,” said Bowden. “Most of the process now is automated. That’s why we’re trying to let them know about those two resources.”
Those who need to talk to somebody can also call the Fort Knox Personal Property Processing Office at 502-624-2037.
| Date Taken: | 05.04.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 05.05.2020 09:38 |
| Story ID: | 369215 |
| Location: | FORT KNOX, KY, US |
| Web Views: | 496 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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