Navy commander tours household goods in Honolulu on April 3, 2025, in preparation for the peak season for military moves. (U.S. Navy)
WASHINGTON – The Defense Department is setting up a call center next week to help several hundred military families struggling with change of station moves as the department looks for a long-term solution to the problems that still plague personnel transferring to new bases, defense officials said.
The Defense Department had already ended the troubled contract in June with HomeSafe Alliance, a private firm tasked with overhauling the movement of household goods for service members and their families. The contract was terminated due to HomeSafe’s “demonstrated inability to fulfill their obligations and deliver high quality moves to service members,” the Pentagon said at the time. The department did not detail specific failures by HomeSafe, but the firm has been plagued with complaints of late pickups and deliveries.
Yet 450 service members and their families are still in the midst of a permanent change of station, or PCS, move, with HomeSafe, a defense official said Wednesday on the condition of anonymity.
“The bottom line is we had thousands of failures, missed pickups and unacceptable performance,” the official said.
The 24/7 call center is to help the remaining service members navigate through the moving process with HomeSafe as the Pentagon transitions to a new system, Army Maj. Gen. Lance Curtis, who leads the Permanent Change of Station Joint Task Force, said Wednesday.
The call center will be fully operational by the beginning of August but service members can call 833-MIL-MOVE now for assistance.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in May ordered sweeping changes to how the household goods contract was being implemented, creating the task force to closely oversee the overhaul.
The task force will provide a recommendation on a long-term solution to the moving process to Hegseth by Sept. 5 after gathering input from families and industry experts, Curtis said.
In November 2021, U.S. Transportation Command awarded a $20 billion contract to HomeSafe, which is based in Houston, to handle relocation management work that until then was being done by more than 900 commercial entities for roughly 350,000 military moves a year. The firm was tasked with overseeing all subcontracts for packing, trucking, shipping and storage of goods in moves under the Global Household Goods Contract, or GHC.
Moves under GHC began in earnest in January but were so troubled that several senators launched inquiries into the contract.
HomeSafe said the company will be able to fulfill their contractual obligations despite the June termination of the deal, a defense official said Thursday on the condition of anonymity.
