5
5
0
Service members "playing the system." RE: Military Moves
I went to dinner with some new military friends last night and I was absolutely FLOORED at some of the stories I heard about ways people outright scam the military during a PCS move. No damn wonder our government is broke. It makes those of us who are honest scratch our heads and think: WHAT THE HELL?
Scenario #1: Servicemember Smuckatelley goes to Goodwill or a local thrift shop and buys a TV.... a broken TV...for next to nothing. Puts it in his house/apartment before the military movers come. Military movers don't verify that the TVs actually WORK before they load them up for moving. At new duty station, Smuckatelley plugs in TV. "Damn, my TV doesn't work." Government buys him a new TV.
Scenario #2: Movers load up all the boxes and sign off/verify that everything is good to go. Smuckatelley does one last walk through. Movers forgot one closet full of stuff, but that closet was signed off as accounted for. Smuckatelley takes that closet of stuff in his own POV, but claims when he gets to new duty station that the movers "lost" those items. Government reimburses for those expenses.
The list could go on and on.
Seriously y'all? Where's the honor in that? Why do we put up with this kind of garbage and why is there not a better system in place? And I'm a believer in if you're going to gripe about something, offer a solution. Okay, here's a solution: set a standard moving stipend. Maybe $X amount based on rank or miles, or something like that. No strings attached. And the servicemember can do whatever the heck they want from there. If they want to sell all their possessions in duty station 1 for cash, and buy all new stuff with that cash in duty station 2, that's their choice. If they want to find a frugal way to move their stuff with the stipend they receive, that's their choice. If they spend more on their move than the stipend is, well.... their choice, their responsibility for having so much stuff to move.
Call me naive. But also call me furious and sad at the same time. It's heartbreaking to know that people are so conniving that they would stoop to such levels to get something for nothing. And 2 of these people were retired, and 1 was a very senior enlisted less than 6 months from retirement. UN-DAMN-BELIEVABLE.
I went to dinner with some new military friends last night and I was absolutely FLOORED at some of the stories I heard about ways people outright scam the military during a PCS move. No damn wonder our government is broke. It makes those of us who are honest scratch our heads and think: WHAT THE HELL?
Scenario #1: Servicemember Smuckatelley goes to Goodwill or a local thrift shop and buys a TV.... a broken TV...for next to nothing. Puts it in his house/apartment before the military movers come. Military movers don't verify that the TVs actually WORK before they load them up for moving. At new duty station, Smuckatelley plugs in TV. "Damn, my TV doesn't work." Government buys him a new TV.
Scenario #2: Movers load up all the boxes and sign off/verify that everything is good to go. Smuckatelley does one last walk through. Movers forgot one closet full of stuff, but that closet was signed off as accounted for. Smuckatelley takes that closet of stuff in his own POV, but claims when he gets to new duty station that the movers "lost" those items. Government reimburses for those expenses.
The list could go on and on.
Seriously y'all? Where's the honor in that? Why do we put up with this kind of garbage and why is there not a better system in place? And I'm a believer in if you're going to gripe about something, offer a solution. Okay, here's a solution: set a standard moving stipend. Maybe $X amount based on rank or miles, or something like that. No strings attached. And the servicemember can do whatever the heck they want from there. If they want to sell all their possessions in duty station 1 for cash, and buy all new stuff with that cash in duty station 2, that's their choice. If they want to find a frugal way to move their stuff with the stipend they receive, that's their choice. If they spend more on their move than the stipend is, well.... their choice, their responsibility for having so much stuff to move.
Call me naive. But also call me furious and sad at the same time. It's heartbreaking to know that people are so conniving that they would stoop to such levels to get something for nothing. And 2 of these people were retired, and 1 was a very senior enlisted less than 6 months from retirement. UN-DAMN-BELIEVABLE.
Character
Honor
PCS
Money
Edited 10 y ago
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 12
4
4
0
Your two scenarios sound like Seinfeld episodes, PO3 (Join to see). The broken stereo sent through the mail and the missing labels on the boxes episodes.
I hear ya. And if people are doing that, they're wrong. Whenever I PCS'd, it was usually quite a different problem -- like movers stealing things! Particularly in the days before high value items were inventoried by serial number. I couldn't believe it, but I learned a valuable lesson.
I hear ya. And if people are doing that, they're wrong. Whenever I PCS'd, it was usually quite a different problem -- like movers stealing things! Particularly in the days before high value items were inventoried by serial number. I couldn't believe it, but I learned a valuable lesson.
(4)
(0)
1
1
0
Amanda, thank you for your post...you have every right to be angry about such nonsense. Rather than add my own lengthy anecdotes here, let me suggest: Any time you have knowledge of such events, bring it to the attention of your Chain of Command (CoC). If for any reason you aren't comfortable doing that, then contact your local Inspector General. You can see the IG personally, call / email / write a letter, or do any of those actions anonymously. As a Commander myself, I had no issue with any member of my Command calling me at home to discuss such issues if they felt apprehensive otherwise.
I'VE READ MOST OF THE COMMENTARY ENTERED SO FAR AND HOPE EVERYONE HERE TAKES NOTE:
There are SEVERE penalties under UCMJ for those either caught or contemplating doing what has been described. Are you willing to lose your career, potentially your family and everything you've worked for to skim a few dollars? These scams are 'old news,' not very creative and are well known to those who are alert to such. During my 30 year career of Enlisted, Warrant, and Commissioned service, it would never hurt my feelings one bit to report any knowledge of such fraud, waste and/or abuse. Those few $$ raked off the top come out of the pockets of every service member out there and they will ALL be watching!
I'VE READ MOST OF THE COMMENTARY ENTERED SO FAR AND HOPE EVERYONE HERE TAKES NOTE:
There are SEVERE penalties under UCMJ for those either caught or contemplating doing what has been described. Are you willing to lose your career, potentially your family and everything you've worked for to skim a few dollars? These scams are 'old news,' not very creative and are well known to those who are alert to such. During my 30 year career of Enlisted, Warrant, and Commissioned service, it would never hurt my feelings one bit to report any knowledge of such fraud, waste and/or abuse. Those few $$ raked off the top come out of the pockets of every service member out there and they will ALL be watching!
(1)
(0)
PO3 (Join to see)
I'm a veteran living in an army town (Columbus GA). I never go on post since I don't have a retired/medical ID. I don't even know who I would report it to. Are local Inspector Generals military or civilian and are they easily accessible?
(0)
(0)
COL John Hudson
Amanda, "I'm a veteran..." is all you need, although civilians called our office as well. Simply contact the local IG and yes, you can call them. They'll let you know if the issue is one for their office and if not, will refer you properly. I was the Inspector General for the 63rd Regional Readiness Command, and the 1st Cav Div. in Bosnia...I never turned anyone away.
(0)
(0)
1
1
0
There is no excuse for the criminal activity of the few that you have described in the anecdotal scenarios. There are checks and balances in place. In scenario #1, the mover is supposed to check the working order of all electronics. In scenario #2, I'm not sure how the Service Member could claim a loss since those goods were never cataloged.
With regards to a prorated amount of entitlement for a PCS move, that is already in place. Each rank has a different allowable amount of pounds of goods to be moved. Then, if an individual wants to perform a dity or partial dity move the Service Member is compensated based on the mileage between the units.
I also despise the criminal activity of a few. However, if the vast majority of all Military families conduct PCS moves in a manner consistent with the Joint Federal Travel Regulations (JFTR), we must consider how burdensome the system should be on the rest of us and how many resources should be expended (more government move inspectors) in order to catch all of the bad actors that you call out.
With regards to a prorated amount of entitlement for a PCS move, that is already in place. Each rank has a different allowable amount of pounds of goods to be moved. Then, if an individual wants to perform a dity or partial dity move the Service Member is compensated based on the mileage between the units.
I also despise the criminal activity of a few. However, if the vast majority of all Military families conduct PCS moves in a manner consistent with the Joint Federal Travel Regulations (JFTR), we must consider how burdensome the system should be on the rest of us and how many resources should be expended (more government move inspectors) in order to catch all of the bad actors that you call out.
(1)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google