YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Feedback has been positive for a recently introduced policy that lets airmen get their permanent-change-of-station orders up to four months in advance of a move, according to Air Force officials.

A recent change consolidated much of the process for obtaining PCS orders from the Air Force Personnel Center. Before that, airmen were receiving orders between two or three months in advance. The extra month gives airmen more flexibility to schedule household good shipments, book flights, arrange temporary housing and take care of other requisite “out-processing” task involved with moving, officials said.

The centralized process is faster, more efficient and should reduce the number of requests for early PCS orders, Dave Faris, a budget and assignment analyst at the AFPC at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, said in a press release.

Before the personnel center can issue new orders, airmen must file paperwork with their local personnel offices documenting, for example, any changes to dependents at their current duty location.

After that, it usually takes between five and 10 business days for AFPC to cut the orders, said Capt. Kailin Kwan, military personnel section chief at Yokota Air Base.

“You can get your orders earlier now, but you still have to be proactive about it,” she said.

Procrastinators are inevitable, Kwan said, “but most people don’t want to wait.”

More information about permanent change of station moves and other personnel issues is available online.

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