Workers conduct a delivery for a military personnel move in May 2022 at Fort Campbell, Ky. (U.S. Army)

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon on Wednesday announced defense officials are developing proposals that cut permanent change of station budgets in half by fiscal 2030, while also reducing the frequency of personnel moves.

The Defense Department spends about $5 billion to move military personnel and their families between assignments, with moves typically occurring every two to four years.

“While these permanent change of station moves support mission requirements, the frequency can reduce quality of life for service members and their families, harm spousal employment, and disrupt functional communities, unit cohesion and long-term talent management,” Jules Hurst, who is performing the duties of the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, wrote in a memo dated May 22.

The memo calls for the development of a plan to reduce PCS “discretionary move” budgets. This includes operational travel in the United States, rotational travel overseas and training travel by 10% in fiscal 2027, 30% by 2028, 40% by 2029 and 50% by 2030.

The memo also addresses proposed modifications to the career development models for officers and noncommissioned officers to prioritize geographic stability and permit some officers and NCOs to specialize in place of gaining generalized experience across a range of functions.

The service branches are to provide information and implementation plans no later than 120 days from the date of the memo, Hurst wrote.

“It’s clear that it’s time for the department to look at reducing the frequency of those moves, especially if we want to maintain the momentum that we have today, both in recruiting and the retention of our service members,” Tim Dill, the acting deputy undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, told reporters Wednesday.

Some moves occur because a service member needs certain accreditation or additional training requirements for career advancement, and some moves considered discretionary, Dill added. The Pentagon estimates about 80% of the department’s PCS moves are in the discretionary category, and 20% are mandatory.

“What we are directing the [services] to do is purely to examine potential reductions in things that would be defined as discretionary,” he said. “So, if they see that as mandatory for mission need, we’re not even asking them to come back with a plan to reduce it. We want them to continue that course of action and do the mandatory moves.”

The announcement comes after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth last week ordered the formation of a Pentagon task force to improve the workflow behind permanent change of station moves under the Global Household Goods Contract, or GHC.

Moves under the contract began with a slow rollout more than a year ago but ramped up in earnest this year.

GHC was created because of service member complaints over the performance of the legacy system. But GHC has been plagued by late pickups and deliveries, and several U.S. senators commenced inquiries in the spring into its shortcomings.

In late April, the Army suspended the use of GHC for all moves “pending further leadership review,” the service said in an April 30 memo.

More than half of spouses are unhappy with military life, continuing a downward trend in recent years related to family frustrations over quality-of-life issues such as frequent moves and employment difficulties, according to a new Defense Department survey released May 16 to Congress.

The 2024 active-duty spouse survey, conducted roughly every two years, examined the opinions and attitudes of spouses on a range of issues. The findings showed one in three spouses would prefer that their family separate from the military. The largest source of dissatisfaction was related to permanent change of station moves.

About 49% of military spouses who experienced a PCS move said finding employment proved to be a “large” or “very large” problem, according to the survey.

Loss of income and non-reimbursable moving costs also were top concerns.

Hegseth’s memo last week also directed the government’s reimbursement rate for do-it-yourself moves be increased by 30%. The secretary said, in some cases, the reimbursements for personally procured moves were so low that service members were paying out of pocket.