Marine Corps Considers Allowing Homesteading

As a military spouse, it's hard for me to miss all of the talk on the news about the Federal Government looking for things to cut from the budget. The buzz around my very small military circle of friends has included mentions of "budget cuts" since the beginning of this year. I can think of many different ways the military can save money and I was happy to see a story about the Marine Corps considering one of my ideas - "homesteading."

Okay, it's not like I sent the General my ideas, but it was cool to see that we were kinda on the same page with this one. In my head, I was like, "You know T (that's me talking to myself), if we could stay at a location for six years instead of three, then we could save so much money! Plus, there would probably be more trucks available to move the other service members."

Yeah... right.

I don't think that the PCS (Permanent Change of Station, to be permanently moved to a new post or duty location) is going anywhere. Moving around is a basic part of the military life. Hey, after seven moves in fifteen years, I'm starting to look forward to the moves! But it seems like each time we move, I hear about someone who has been at the same base for eight or more years. But that's just one example - out of how many?

While it was interesting to read about Commandant Gen. Jim Amos considering "homesteading" for the Marine Corps, all you PCS fans need not worry anytime soon. No matter how much money it saves the Marine Corps and the other military branches, the PCS is not going to disappear.

Yeah, I know I made a huge leap from a simple "evaluation" of homesteading as an option to the "death of the PCS." I just wanted to have a little fun with this one. But just to continue the thought of "death to the PCS" let me know what you think. Here's a poll question for you:

Should the PCS be eliminated?

Topics: PCS military spouse homesteading male military spouse