Posted on Mar 5, 2021
How does permissive assignment work and does it actually work?
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Both me and my girlfriend had just graduated ait. She’s a pv2 and I’m a pfc. I understand that the earliest she could apply is in 6 months and the earliest she could PCs to my duty station is 12 months. Just curious to see if is actually possible. Both army thanks
Career Counselor
Military Career
PCS
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 4
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The way a permissive assignment works is that IF THE STRENGTHS SUPPORT then HRC may grant one of the Soldiers request to PCS to a new duty station. The Soldier has to agree to bear all costs associated with the move.
To be clear, the Soldier is not eligible to be reimbursed for anything whatsoever or to request an AER loan to move. Also - and I can't over emphasize this - the strengths must support. If there is not an open requisition or a shortage for that Soldiers MOS and skill level at that installation, the request will be denied. The prohibition for staying on station for a certain amount of time is tied to DOD rules and laws about paying for PCS, so you don't have to be at a location for any amount of time since you're footing 100% of the bill.
Is it ever approved? Well, I've never seen it happen. No sensible commander will endorse a request for a Soldier to put themselves or their family in financial distress by making bad decisions. If you're a PFC you probably don't have the $5,000-$10,000 saved to safely move yourself across country and set up your family. If you're a higher rank you probably realize it's smarter to wait a while and let the Army move you together. After all, you could put yourself in debt moving to your spouse only to have one of you deploy for 9 months.
To be clear, the Soldier is not eligible to be reimbursed for anything whatsoever or to request an AER loan to move. Also - and I can't over emphasize this - the strengths must support. If there is not an open requisition or a shortage for that Soldiers MOS and skill level at that installation, the request will be denied. The prohibition for staying on station for a certain amount of time is tied to DOD rules and laws about paying for PCS, so you don't have to be at a location for any amount of time since you're footing 100% of the bill.
Is it ever approved? Well, I've never seen it happen. No sensible commander will endorse a request for a Soldier to put themselves or their family in financial distress by making bad decisions. If you're a PFC you probably don't have the $5,000-$10,000 saved to safely move yourself across country and set up your family. If you're a higher rank you probably realize it's smarter to wait a while and let the Army move you together. After all, you could put yourself in debt moving to your spouse only to have one of you deploy for 9 months.
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CW4 Keith Dolliver
Conversely, if you're a single 18-22 year old PFC with no furniture and only a minimal amount of clothes and personal property that can all fit in the back of a station wagon it might only cost you $500 in gas and a couple days to do the move as opposed to someone that's more senior and almost certainly has much more stuff that would make a move more cumbersome.
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SFC (Join to see)
CW4 Keith Dolliver to leave, yes. But that married couple now has to get a place which might not be on post. There are a lot of posts with waiting lists to get on post. If they can't get on post then they need first and last month's rent plus all the additional costs that get covered by DLA. A young 18-22 year old usually hasn't moved on their own so they don't know what unexpected financial issues they'll face. That's a big financial unknown for a Company, Battalion, and Brigade Commander to endorse. Not that they have to recommend approval for HRC to approve it, but it's a lot less likely for HRC to approve it if the command doesn't support
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CW4 Keith Dolliver
SFC (Join to see) - True. I was thinking of it more from the perspective of two single Soldiers that are both going to be housed in the barracks, so little out of pocket expense on both ends. But if they're not married I suppose it's also less likely of something like this being approved... the army doesn't seem to care much about "girlfriends". (Maybe if there was more consideration there would be less people rushing into marriage, but that's a whole other topic.)
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Obviously I know We’d have to get married for a permissive assignment to work.
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SGM Bill Frazer
I never heard of it either. MACP is a program where dual service spouses can ask to be stationed together. 1. You have to be married. 2. There has to be an opening on that Post for both your MOS;s, and you can't be in the same unit. They try hard but it doesn't work out every time.
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CW4 Keith Dolliver
I think it's more of a suggestion or best practice to say they must be in different units than an actual rule. I was in a previous unit where both were in the same company and they PCS'd that way, it wasn't like the just met at that unit.
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