Military PCS Storage Guide: What to Do With Your Stuff During a Move

A PCS is one of the more stressful moves there is — short notice, a household-goods shipment to coordinate, and a new place that may be smaller, overseas, or a barracks room. Not everything you own should travel with you every time. This guide covers how to think about what to move, what to store, and a simple way to handle the personal items that don't fit the plan.

Note: this is general moving advice, not official guidance. Always confirm entitlements, weight allowances, and any government-funded storage (like NTS — non-temporary storage) with your transportation office or the official Defense Personal Property System.

Three things to do with your belongings

For any given item during a PCS, you've got three real choices:

• Move it with your HHG shipment — the things you'll use day to day at the new duty station.
• Put it in storage — items you want to keep but don't need where you're headed (or that won't fit).
• Sell, donate, or toss it — anything not worth the weight or the hassle of keeping.

The official system covers a lot here, including government-funded non-temporary storage in certain situations. But there's almost always a layer of personal items — keepsakes, off-season gear, things you want kept private — that you'd rather handle yourself.

What's usually worth storing during a PCS

• Sentimental and irreplaceable items — photos, keepsakes, anything you don't want bouncing around a long-haul shipment.
• Off-season and climate-mismatched gear — heavy winter kit heading somewhere hot, or vice versa.
• Things that won't fit the new place — common with a downgrade in space, a barracks assignment, or an OCONUS move.
• Important documents — copies and records you want kept somewhere secure and accessible.
• Hobby and sports equipment you won't use at the next station.

Deployment is a different problem

If you're deploying rather than relocating a household, the question isn't "where does this go at the next base" — it's "where does my stuff live while I'm gone." If you're giving up an apartment or don't want valuables sitting in an empty place, storing the personal items you can't take is the clean answer. You want something you can set up before you leave and manage remotely.

Pack like it's going to move (because it might)

1. Use strong boxes and fill them fully but liftably — half-empty boxes crush, overpacked ones burst.
2. Cushion fragiles with clothing or linens you're storing anyway.
3. Keep an inventory. Photograph valuables before they go. If you store by mail with us, each box gets a photo inventory in your dashboard automatically.
4. Don't store prohibited items — no perishables, hazardous materials, or anything flammable. Same rules as any carrier.
5. Label clearly and note which boxes you might need back first.

Set returns up to be easy

The advantage of mail-in storage during a PCS is that you're not tied to a unit in the town you just left. When you're settled — or back from deployment — you request a return from the dashboard and it ships to your new address. Free standard-ground returns apply to the continental US after 180 days of continuous storage; AK/HI, territories, express service, and oversized parcels are billed at carrier cost, which is worth knowing if you're stationed outside the lower 48.

PCS storage checklist

• ✓ Confirm entitlements and any government storage with your transportation office
• ✓ Sort items into move / store / sell-donate-toss
• ✓ Photograph and inventory anything valuable
• ✓ Pack store-bound boxes to survive a move
• ✓ Set your return address for when you're settled

A PCS will always have moving parts, but your personal belongings don't have to be one of the stressful ones. Decide what travels, store what doesn't, and pick an option you can run from your phone wherever the orders send you.