A Military Family’s Guide to a PCS Move To or From Oahu

PCS orders to or from Oahu add a layer that a normal household move doesn’t have — weight tickets, inventory paperwork, and a report date you can’t move. Here’s how our crew handles a military move in and out of the Kaneohe/MCBH area.

Start With Your Personal Property Office

Before you call us, your first stop is the base Personal Property Office (still called TMO out of habit by a lot of families) to set up your shipment and get your paperwork moving. That office assigns your move dates and generates the documentation your crew needs on move day.

Once your shipment is set up, loop us in early — we coordinate pack-out and pickup dates directly against what the Personal Property Office has scheduled, so nothing gets double-booked.

What Our Crew Documents for Your Claim

We build a detailed inventory — item by item, condition noted before it’s touched — because that inventory is what protects you if something turns up damaged at the other end. We also provide weight tickets from a certified scale, empty and loaded, which your claim depends on.

Keep copies of everything yourself in addition to what’s filed. Paperwork gets lost between offices more often than boxes get lost between islands.

Timing Around Your Report Date

Interisland and mainland shipments move slower than a same-state mainland shipment — there’s an ocean crossing built into the schedule either way. We work backward from your report date and build in a buffer, because a delayed sailing shouldn’t become a missed report date.

• Book as soon as you have dates — interisland and mainland slots tighten fast during summer PCS season
• Two inventories for a partial PPM — one for what we ship, one for what you’re moving yourself
• Weight tickets are yours to keep — request copies before the truck leaves the scale
• Base housing has its own move-out inspection window — coordinate it before locking in a date with us

What Move Day Looks Like

Pack-out day starts with the crew walking your inventory sheet room by room before anything gets wrapped. Every box gets a number that matches the inventory, not just a label scrawled in marker.

That same inventory travels with the container and gets checked again against those numbers on delivery — which is what makes a damage claim provable instead of a guess.

Things That Catch Military Families Off Guard

• Interisland shipments still need a harbor drop-off window, not a driveway pickup for the ocean leg
• Household goods weight allowances are set by rank and dependents — confirm your specific figure with your Personal Property Office, not a moving company
• Vehicles ship separately from household goods and need their own booking
• Storage-in-transit is available if your report date lands before your new place is ready

Whether you’re headed to a new duty station on the mainland or settling into base housing here, our Kailua-based crew builds the schedule around your dates.

See how interisland and mainland moves work, then get a quote as soon as you have orders.