As 2017 wrapped up, two high-profile defense officials spoke of their desire to limit the amount of moves made by military families.
New Army Secretary Mark Esper told Military Times that he would consider extending soldier assignments as a way to cut down on family relocations.
“I’d like to take a hard look at why we PCS folks as often as we do,” he said. “Rather than PCS them every two years or three years, maybe it’s every six.”
Robert Wilkie, who took over as undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness in late November, told his hometown paper that multiple moves led to unnecessary stress for military families and unnecessary costs for the Defense Department. He blamed a system that was created at a time when a small percentage of service members had families.
A push to reduce the number of military moves isn’t new. But do you think it’ll have legs this time around? Let us know in the poll below.
Kevin Lilley is the features editor of Military Times.
