Sailors expecting orders to transfer to a new permanent duty station this spring will get far less lead time than usual because of Congress's short-term budget agreement.
Sailors planning to move before April 28 will probably get, on average, only two months' notice before they're slated to transfer, or about half the normal time provided.
That's because the so-called continuing resolution that Congress passed to keep the federal government running until April 28 results in less money for permanent-change-of-station moves.
"The Navy fully realizes that these shortened lead times limit sailors' time to prepare for moves, and burdens them and their families," said Vice Adm. Robert Burke, the chief of naval personnel in a statement released Dec. 15.
"Going forward, we remain committed to providing sailors with as much information and lead time as we can. Our goal remains to mitigate the CR's impact on Sailors and their families, to the best of our ability.
"We ask for your patience as we work through the funding challenges," Burke said.
At issue are the rules that govern how the Navy spends money for PCS moves. The Navy must set aside and spend money for sailors' moving costs immediately when the actual PCS orders are cut.
Navy personnel officials say there's only enough money in the Navy Personnel Command's accounts to fund moves two months out instead of the normal three to four months in advance.
Overall, the Defense Department will take a $3 billion budget cut because of the continuing resolution, and one of the trickle-down effects will be the impact on PCS moves. The problem will be resolved when Congress passes a full defense budget for fiscal year 2017, which began in October.
Personnel officials say they are encouraging sailors with projected rotation dates during the entirety of fiscal year 2017 to contact their detailers with questions and concerns as there may be cascading effects from the funding shortfall throughout the fiscal year.
This isn't a new situation as the plethora of continuing resolutions used over the past few years has put the Navy in the same funding place multiple times.
As a result, the service will again decide who gets orders first based on a priority system developed in the previous PCS funding-constrained periods with the intent to minimize impact to the fleet readiness, career timing, as well as to families.
This means that the most critical billets will get funded first, including global support assignment rotations and career milestone billets.
Also a priority are moves supporting critical readiness billet fills, such as those that could create gaps at sea for deployed units as well as those working up to deploy. This includes those currently in training pipelines moving to fill critics billets.
This means sailors who are going to operational units about to deploy, numbered fleet staffs, overseas billets, individual augmentees or must-moves — those for safety, early return of dependents as well as humanitarian moves — will be issued their orders first.
Mark D. Faram is a former reporter for Navy Times. He was a senior writer covering personnel, cultural and historical issues. A nine-year active duty Navy veteran, Faram served from 1978 to 1987 as a Navy Diver and photographer.
