Advice on Army TDY, Part II

In the previous post, I talked about how I moved around my first year in the Army. In this one, I'll discuss what I learned from the process so that future generations of readers may benefit.

Here's what I did right:

1.) I took advantage of the Transportation Office's "Do IT Yourself move" (DITY) program. Even apart from what the travel voucher compensates you for, Transportation reimburses you for moving your own stuff. Although I didn't know about it until after I'd already gotten to Oklahoma, I took advantage of it for the trip to Virginia and from Wisconsin (my home of record at the time) to Texas.

The maximum for a TDY move is 600 pounds; for PCS it varies by rank, for PCS moves it's up over 10,000 (enough to move a house). A rough figure is that you get paid $1.15 to haul one pound a thousand miles, so by carrying close to the 600 pound max the 1400 miles from OK to VA, I netted $1053.

For the 1140 mile move from Wisconsin to Texas with about 1300 pounds, it was $1432. Of course, it's more complicated than that, but for more details and a calculator, check this: DITY MOVE CALCULATOR.

2.) I'm glad I did HRAP. It was the easiest job I'd ever had, and it allowed me to have "vacation" of sorts without using up leave.

3.) While I was in BOLC III, I made a number of good moves with the hotel. First, I switched over from a Marriott Courtyard to its neighboring Residence Inn. The room in the Residence Inn was a little bigger and had a kitchen. Second, I got a Marriott members card; by the time we checked out we were Platinum members. Third, I stayed until my Statement of Non-Availability expired (May 31) rather than graduation (May 28). It gave me some after class ended to relax and get things in order before the move.

4.) I took responsibility for my own compensation. Don't leave it to the finance office to process things right -- get an accounting of what you think you're owed and follow through. It's worth it.

The things I could have done better were:
1.) Instead of taking a four week break, it may have been better if I'd snowbirded for a couple weeks before heading to BOLC II. I think snowbirding works like this: if you have more than two weeks between posts (OCS and BOLC II, in this case), they'll send you to your BOLC III location to work.

It that's the case, then you can do TDY DITY moves twice more.

2.) Compensation for that ten day hotel stay when you first arrive at a new station is called "temporary lodging expense." Unfortuntely, I didn't realize that they only compensate you at 65% of the $109 per diem. I only got $495.95 to compensate me for the $900 I spent there. Thumbs down. I'd have picked a cheaper hotel if I'd known.

3.) I should have checked with the housing office before looking at apartments. In a rush to secure a place before my family came in, I put down a $150 non-refundable deposit to get a small apartment before I found out housing was available on-post.

4.) On my orders, it specified that I was entitled to a government vehicle while I was at BOLC II and BOLC III. What normally happens is that they give you a statement of non-availability (SNA) and then you get compensated for the miles you put on your own car.

In this case, I should have been compensated for 12 miles a day while at BOLC II and 25 miles per day at BOLC III, totaling 2700 miles. At 55¢ per mile, I missed out on $1485. Major thumbs down there.

5.) I should have taken the Marriott rewards in points rather than mileage. As you go from basic membership to Silver, Gold, and then Platinum, you get bonus percentages to you points. When you're platinum, you don't just get 10 points per dollar spent, you get 15. Unfortunately, my 90 days' rewards came in mileage, which comes with no bonus added on. Oh well.

6.) (This one isn't really related to TSY, but it's still something I'd have done differently.) To a certain extent, I regret not having checked with the branch managers before I chose my branch. As a non-prior service officer candidate, I got to choose my branch based on my standing in the class, and I chose Transportation.

I made the assumption that Transportation, as the least desirable branch and the only one with slots not filled, would have the most locations available. This turned out not to be the case -- I had only Fort Wainwright (Fairbanks, Alaska) or Fort Hood. At least two classmates got assigned to Korea after they chose Adjutant General or Ordnance; if I'd checked with the branch managers beforehand, maybe that could have included me.

7.) When choosing a place to stash your stuff, be sure to ask if it's climate-controlled. The U-Haul location I went to wasn't, so I had to sweat my brains out hauling my junk around during the worst Texas summer on record. Not too bright.

In summary, you should not be afraid of being an irritant when it comes to your TDY compensation. If I'd done things right, I could have topped out with $8600 for all the traveling the Army sent me on -- quite a handsome sum, in my opinion. I wish you luck in getting yours.