If your summer PCS has left you jobless and you’ve had no luck hitting the pavement, you may be eligible for unemployment benefits, depending on the state you live in.

Unemployment compensation programs are mandated and run by individual state governments and each have their own set of rules. Eligible unemployed workers receive weekly checks to hold them over until they do find a job and may qualify for other benefits. Generally this compensation is not given to workers who voluntarily quit their jobs.

However, some states offer what is known as “good cause” exceptions to the rule, including quitting  job to PCS with a military member or even to follow a civilian spouse to a new job in a new area.

Here is the 2014 list of state benefit rules:

• Alabama (military transfer only)
• Alaska (any job transfer, including military)
• Arizona (miitary transfer only)
• Arkansas (any job transfer, including military)
• California (any job transfer, including military)
• Colorado (military transfer only)
• Connecticut (any job transfer, including military)
• Delaware (any job transfer, including military)
• D.C. (any job transfer, including military)
• Florida (military transfer only)
• Georgia (military transfer only)
• Hawaii (any job transfer, including military)
• Illinois (any job transfer, including military)
• Indiana (any job transfer, including military)
• Iowa (military transfer only)
• Kansas (military transfer only)
• Kentucky (military transfer only)
• Maine (any job transfer, including military)
• Maryland (military transfer only)
• Massachusetts (any job transfer, including military)
• Michigan (military transfer only)
• Minnesota (any job transfer, including military)
• Mississippi (military transfer only)
• Missouri (military transfer only)
• Montana (military transfer only)
• Nebraska (any job transfer, including military)
• Nevada (any job transfer, including military)
• New Hampshire (any job transfer, including military)
• New Jersey (military transfer only)
• New Mexico (military transfer only)
• New York (any job transfer, including military)
• North Carolina (military transfer only)
• Ohio (any job transfer, including military)
• Oklahoma (military transfer only)
• Oregon (any job transfer, including military)
• Pennsylvania (any job transfer, including military)
• Rhode Island (any job transfer, including military)
• South Carolina (any job transfer, including military)
• South Dakota (military transfer only)
• Tennessee (military transfer only)
• Texas (military transfer only)
• Utah (military transfer only)
• Virginia (military transfer only)
• Virgin Islands (any job transfer, including military)
• Washington (any job transfer, including military)
• West Virginia (military transfer only)
• Wisconsin (any job transfer, including military)
• Wyoming (military transfer only)

These laws are subject to change at any time, check with the individual state for the most current information. To file for unemployment benefits visit your state office as soon as possible after your PCS. To find your state office visit: https://www.dol.gov/general/location

How long is sufficient to retain a quality job?

Army leadership is asking that question now and assuring senators that they are working to help military spouses find employment.

This week Military.com reported that top Army leaders spoke with lawmakers about helping spouses find meaningful work and that longer assignments to duty stations could be a way to make that happen.

Senators told those leaders that currently it takes 140 days for the Army to hire spouses or civilians for on-base jobs, a result of a “clunky and inefficient” vetting process in the Office of Personnel Management.

Earlier this month President Donald Trump issued an executive order encouraging federal agencies to speed the hiring of military spouses. Still, lawmakers say a lack of stabilization in one location, as well as a lack of on-base jobs, are the biggest hurdles.

To read the full report by Military.com, please visit, https://www.military.com/daily-news/2018/05/15/army-mulls-longer-assignments-encourage-employers-hire-spouses.html

PCS season is here. Time to start purging, packing and planning. Time to start looking at houses and school districts and things to do in the new place. Time to start convincing the kids how great the new place is going to be. Time to start saying goodbye to friends and neighbors and get ready to reinvent yourself all over again for the umpteenth time.

Oh, wait.

Not me.

Not this year.

I don’t have to do that anymore. We’re retirees now.

Looking back on my husband’s 26-year Army career, it’s amazing that we spent 17 years OCONUS. We PCS’d 13 times. Here’s all the places we were stationed, in order:

Hawaii (Schofield Barracks), Georgia (Ft. Benning), North Carolina (Ft. Bragg), Okinawa, Korea (Yongsan Garrison), Florida (MacDill Air Force Base), Germany (Stuttgart), MacDill AFB again, Kansas (Ft. Riley), Stuttgart again, Canada (Toronto), Stuttgart a third time, and back to the U.S.

We weren’t on the typical summer PCS cycle until later in my husband’s career. Once we were, it was like clockwork. We moved five of the last seven summers. And now, it seems, nearly everyone moves between May and September. It has become the official season of goodbyes and starting over.

PCS’ing always brings a mixed of emotions. Marriages are stressed, kids are heartbroken, pets are confused, household goods are lost, finances are stretched.

But it’s exciting, too. One of my favorite things about Army life was the first few weeks at a new duty station – getting to know the area, checking out restaurants and shopping, meeting new neighbors. And if we got really lucky, my husband might have a little free time to enjoy the new place, too, before starting what always seemed like a 24/7 work cycle, or going TDY, or to the field, or getting deployed, or whatever else might come up.

Of course there was all the stress of deciding where to live, signing up for utilities, getting the kids registered for school, living in a hotel.

Our moves usually had a few extra unknowns, too. Since we did so many OCONUS transitions, we were always waiting for a car to arrive, waiting longer for our household goods, and trying to get settled while adjusting to new languages and a new culture.

But that part was kind of exciting, too.

Our last address change was in August, when we bought a house in Florida.

The other day my husband commented that, almost eight months after moving in, we were finally, completely, unpacked and set up.

 “It feels like we’re really here,” he said.

Our next door neighbor made a similar observation while commenting on the long list of home improvement projects we’ve been doing.

He said: “So I guess you’re here to stay.”

And now, with PCS season upon us, the realization has hit me that we will never again get a set of military orders. Never again will we anxiously wait to find out where the next duty station is, and as soon as we get there start to wonder when and where the next move will be.

I don’t know that we’ll live in this house or this place forever, but we’re parked here for at least the foreseeable future. And, if and when we do move again, it will be on our own terms.

So, for all of you going through the PCS craziness this summer, I salute you. I wish you good packers and no damage, healthy kids, healthy pets, the strength of a superhero and the patience of a saint.

I wish you a smooth transition to your new place and, most of all, a great start to your new adventure.

I feel your pain, but I don’t feel bad for you. I’m envious.

Enjoy it while you can.

By Salute to Spouses Staff

PCS season is here. Are you renting your beloved home?

Worried about who is moving in? Will they pay the rent? Can you trust them not to cause major damage?

USAA has a page for members that can make this tumultuous time a little less exhausting.

Hidden away in the bank's online advice center is an entire page on owning a rental property. There, military homeowners can find solid advice on determining how much insurance to carry on their rental property, how much to charge for rent and advice on maintaining your property and expanding into more holdings.

Perhaps one of the most important services they offer homeowners is help screening potential rental clients.

https://www.usaa.com/inet/wc/tenant_screening_main

At this site, USAA members can sign up to purchase background checks on any potential renters. The checks, completed through TransUnion, are done in minutes and give homeowners a national criminal background check, tenant risk score, leasing and deposit recommendation for each applicant, a full credit report for the applicant and will search nationally to see if they have been evicted.

The fee is only per background check.

And, you can set up your account and set it so that the applicant has to pay the fee. All personal information, such as social security numbers, are sent directly to TransUnion so you can assure potential clients that you will not have your hands on their confidential information.

Can a background check guarantee that a new renter won't walk out without paying or trash your house? No.

But it can definitely weed out the chronic offenders who have left a paper trail of unpaid rent and evictions behind them as they move from place to place.

More than 2,000 museums across the nation want to make this summer a little less stressful for you. And, the cost is free.

The Blue Star Museums program is again offering free admission to more than 2,000 museums in all 50 states for military members and their families. The program runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Check the website https://www.arts.gov/national/blue-star-museums and click on the map for a user-friendly list of blue star museums in each state.

To get your free tickets, simply show up to the museum and present Geneva Convention common access card (CAC), a DD Form 1173 ID card (dependent ID), or a DD Form 1173-1 ID.

The military ID holder plus five family members will be admitted for free. Family members include children, spouses, grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles.

Also, the military member does not have to be present for the family to participate. The family can still gain entrance with a dependent family member ID card.

The program was created several years ago to show support for active duty military families who have faced multiple deployments and to give those families a chance to be together and explore these museums. The program recognizes that many of these families would otherwise not have the means, or the time together, to do so.

For all the details, go to: https://www.arts.gov/national/blue-star-museums/frequently-asked-questions

By Amy Nielsen

Yesterday I took a trip down memory lane, on a quick and somewhat unannounced visit to my relative’s house.

We recently moved closer to home than I have lived in nearly 15 years. Many of the people I saw yesterday had never met my daughters, who are school age now. In bringing my daughters to meet family in this unassuming way, I was apprehensive of the reception we would receive. My extended family can be overwhelming, and overwhelmed, upon first meeting.

My daughters had no idea what kind of living fairy tale they were walking into. You see my family is as unique as they come. Full of epic tales of lofty princes and self-made, men of great invention, of grave danger and suffering, of brilliant joy and great riches, and a fair many improbable people in unbelievable situations doing unimaginable acts of oddity.

I am the second youngest of a large group of cousins from aging, sibling parents. Our parents, like so many of yours, are downsizing to smaller more manageable homes. They are in the process of deciding what is a family heirloom and what is better as a photo and a few dollars in the yard sale. It is excruciating, delightful, impossible, and in some cases, downright obnoxious.

I am not the daughter of the parent downsizing this time, but, I have been through it before when my parent downsized substantially. We made some mistakes in that move and I am hoping to help alleviate or mitigate some of those potential errors for my relatives. I can’t take much into my small home, but I have room for a few things to be kept safe, dry, and most importantly - in the family, albeit extended.

Today, as I put new-to-me family trinkets away in my house, I am reminded that my definition of family has evolved over the years that I have been away. That evolution outside of my immediate and first tier relations has made it easier, and in some cases even possible, for me to reconnect. I am deeply grateful that I have an extended family who I love and want to be part of. It was an eye opening, humbling, and brilliant day.

My memories of the times in the house we were going through were vastly different from my relatives who lived there full time. I was the younger visiting cousin of the younger sibling of the parent. We visited on holidays and weekends, stayed for extended summer vacations, and were often in the area.  We had a smaller vacation home we stayed at when we visited, but we live on the other side of the state.

I looked up to all of these people and their great adventures with the artists, intellectuals, world class musicians, business moguls, and glamorous people that rotated through the house regularly. At least I thought they were all totally glamorous. As it happened, I had no clue who most of them were at the time. I am only now learning what opportunities I experienced.

We, as a family, have a history of working for, by, with, around, and sometimes in direct competition with our greater relations. What I am here to say is that unless you have a supremely well adapted and equipped family, if you are ever tempted to go into business with one of them, don’t. Period.

That said, many of the most amazing adventures we have had, have to do with the various and sundry business exploits both sets of our parents embarked on at different times in our youth. We spent several happy minutes when a cabinet was opened to reveal stacks of magazines and documents pertaining to past corporate ventures. Some wildly successful for a time, some an unmitigated disaster from the very inception. These were exactly the kinds of treasures we were out to collect from the crannies of a house that has been stuffed to the gills over decades of collecting.

In the midst of some silliness I was reminded that personal nature doesn’t change easily or readily, especially in times of crisis or deep personal stress. The discussion was short but the effect was profound. My response, borne out of years of work, was completely different from what was expected by the other party and it gained me a measure of personal respect for myself and my hard work that carried me through several other potentially difficult conversations. The change in my personal conduct was tested and I rose to the occasion, dug deep, and was able to use techniques I have been learning for years.

My daughters came away with a new found sense of identity and history. They understand a bit better when I tell stories to our friends of my time at the big house. The have a much better feeling of what makes me who I am and by extension who they are. That is invaluable.

I am so pleased that they were finally able to meet the people who helped, in large part, shape who I am and my philosophy of the world. They are not only family, they were and are friends. Our kids now are connected in a way that they will never forget. That is Ohana.

As I processed the day in all of its glory, on the drive home with the snow falling like Star Wars hyperdrive over the Hudson River and through the Connecticut woods, I settled on four lessons I learned.

The first was that we as a collective have been part of some pretty amazing adventures and I wish I remembered them more clearly. I was just a few years too young and a bit too removed to remember them well.

The second is my reaction to a specific situation was, in the blink of an eye, changed by my personal decision to rely on several years-worth of training to act like a duck.

Third, I learned that if I want to know those stories and be able to pass them along to my daughters, the best way to do it is with their help.

Finally I learned the true meaning of the line from Stitch, “Ohana means family and family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.” Even and especially those who move along the path ahead of you.

By Jenna Moede

When you move every few years, and sometimes every few months, why bother unpacking?

Military families know that a PCS lurks around every corner. And some spouses have given up on making their house their home.

I understand because, at first, I avoided making my house cozy too.  

When we first arrived in Cheyenne, I expected to PCS quickly. I reluctantly started moving into our first apartment.

I unpacked slowly and stuck mainly to the necessities: clothing, pots and pans and about a million electronic cords. Anything I hoped I wouldn’t miss, I kept in a disheveled heap in our spare room. I would even open boxes, peer in and then shove them aside if I didn’t feel like putting the contents away.

Then, after I thought I’d finished settling in, I questioned why I didn’t feel at home.

Three moves later, all in the same city, I began to understand why the first two places never felt like our own space. It wasn't. 

You can’t expect a place to feel like home when you haven’t put your own spin on it. When you distance yourself from your living space, like I did, you can’t expect to feel relaxed and comfortable.

So, here is what I have learned about military moves. 

First, unpack your boxes. All of them. Get out your winter jackets in the dead of summer, your momentos and the movies you haven’t watched in ages. Unpack everything you don’t think you’ll miss because most likely, those unessential items make your home feel the most pleasant.

Initially I had so much excitement about moving to a new place. Once we arrived, I disliked feeling confused by my detachment toward my home. It turns out that in order to feel settled, I actually had to settle in.

I know other spouses have felt the same way because I have noticed many of my friends leaving unpacked boxes in hidden corners. I see and feel their dissatisfaction with their surroundings. However, the effects of unpacking, and making yourself at home, seem immediate. Not only do the houses feel warmer and happier, but so do my friends.

My second tip, don’t leave your walls blank unless you really like them that way. Put your own personality into every room of your house.

I stared at blank, boring and cold white walls for months in our first place together, and I felt unattached to the space because of it.

I moved to Wyoming directly from college, where my friends had puttied posters, hung tapestries, and drawn their own wall décor. I missed color and life on walls. It didn’t always match and sometimes my taste differed from that of my friends, but every single place reflected the people that lived there, and that made it welcoming.

Third, try to stretch and condense your space as much as you need.

If you work at home, like I do for example, you might never feel settled without a workspace. That doesn’t mean that you need a dedicated office, but you can probably find a nice nook somewhere to set up to fill your needs.

This goes for everything, every room and every item that will make you feel happy. Every new house will have a different layout, number of rooms, and yard, but you can make any space work.

Your personal touches, like a picture of your friends or family, will make your house feel like a home more than anything else.

So besides the obvious, to make yourself at home, why do all of this? What if feeling at home doesn’t rank high on your priority list?

You should do it anyway. And I have two great reasons.

First, feeling at home will help you immerse yourself in your new location. If you never put down roots, each new place will feel more like a permanent vacation rather than a place that can leave a lasting impression on you as a person.

Second, when you put your heart into your house will make it more welcoming for your friends and family and whoever else may pay you a visit. If you make your house a place where others feel comfortable, they will look forward to dropping by and it may help you create lasting relationships and a useful network.

Those relationships could lead to potential careers, events and opportunities.

So, I encourage you to go ahead and live in your home. Make it your own. Decorate it however you like. Hang whatever you want, but most importantly unpack and put your heart into it.

Looking for a job?

Try applying to a company that will not only employ you, but may also help you earn a degree.

There are a lot of well-known, national companies who offer tuition reimbursement as part of their employee benefit package. In fact, 83 percent of companies surveyed by the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans in 2015 said they offer educational assistance or tuition reimbursement.

Some employers fund education because they feel it will help retain good employees and raise productivity. Others take advantage of the tax credits and deductions they earn by funding an employee education program.

Either way, employees win, and with many of these companies, they win big.

A list compiled by yescollege.com shows the biggest employer education programs out there. It includes:

UPS – The education benefit starts the day employees begin work and can amount to as much as $25,000 in tuition reimbursement.

The Home Depot – After 90 days, part-time employees can receive up to $1,500 a year in assistance, full-time employees receive up to $3,000 and salaried employees receive up to $5,000 a year.

To see the full list, visit: http://yescollege.com/2016/06/companies-tuition-reimbursement/

Keep in mind that IRS rules limit tax-free benefits received from an employer to $5,250 per year. Any amount over that is considered compensation and the employee will be taxed. Still, the tax bill is going to be smaller than the tuition bill.

One of the fastest growing sectors of tuition assistance employers is the food industry. Employees at Chipotle Mexican Grill, McDonalds, Taco Bell, TGI Friday's, Arby's and Pizza Hut all have access to tuition help.

Are you PCS'ing to a location you expect to spend just a year or so at? A fast food job may give you a little extra money, and a few more credits toward your degree.

Want to know more? Google the phrase: “companies that pay your tuition, ” and then get that resume ready to send.

By Jenna Moede

When I first married my husband I remember driving on base and feeling like a fish out of water. I’d come on base many times before with family members, but this time felt different.

I never expected to feel like I really and truly didn’t belong, but I ended up feeling just like that. My nerves won out the first couple of times that I wanted to get on base without my husband, and I didn’t know what resources the base had to offer.

My husband enlisted in the Air Force so names might change according to branch of service. Not every base that I have stayed on has had each of these things, but most do so I have chosen to include them just in case.

Quickly after moving to Wyoming I learned about the Airman and Family Readiness Center. The key spouse for my husband’s flight actually directed me there because she told me they offered a tour of base.

I ended up heading over there because they required my husband to do a budget before he moved off base, and I found that they had a wealth of information they wanted to share with families.

They offered classes for expecting families that helped them with important information before their baby arrived, they offered financial assistance whether someone needed help with a budget or guidance for a financial class, they offered help writing resumes, they had a large list of local places that hired military spouses, and they had someone will to answer any off the wall questions.

I immediately felt comfortable, and I definitely have used the different options there more than once. It also put me at ease knowing I had people to help me build professional contacts.

I highly recommend looking into type of resource no matter what base or branch of service your spouse serves in.

Second, while these have not applied to me directly, I have many friends that utilize the youth center on base and the child development center. Since we moved here, I have discovered that the youth center offers sports for older kids along with many other fun activities for them to enjoy.

Next, outdoor recreation really has great options for families too, but I overlooked outdoor recreation for a long time when we first got here.

At first I didn’t realize that they had equipment that I could rent like skis, camping equipment and even bouncy houses. Once I found out that I could rent equipment easily as well as buy tickets to many attractions both local and out of town, I started using them more and more.

Not only can you rent equipment from outdoor recreation, but ours even organizes trips for couples and families. If you have never stopped by, take the opportunity to see a calendar of events and rental list. Outdoor recreation can open a lot of doors especially when you first move to a new area.

Many times I have taken ideas from the trips planned by outdoor recreation if I am unable to attend something that interests me.

The overall amenities on base can really help new families as well as seasoned families. Some of the resources that our base offers include the Base Exchange and Commissary, a dog park, gyms, outdoor fitness areas, a pool, tennis courts, disc golfing, bowling, a library and a movie theater.

At first I felt nervous about using the facilities on base and I felt intimidated, but I eventually realized that a lot of spouses felt the same way I did. I started to push myself to go to some of the places and my husband and I would go to some of them too.

It turns out that I had a great time, I met some awesome people, and I had some doors open. I can’t say enough about pushing yourself out of your comfort zone and utilizing the options and recreational activities your base has to offer.

Finally, Airman’s Attic, as our base calls it, is the last resource I wanted to mention. Airman’s Attic is like a second hand store, but at Airman’s Attic, no one has to pay for the items. Items never cost money for the families using that resource.

Additionally, this resource helps families looking to give away perfectly good items. Oftentimes families find themselves with too many household items, clothes or toys and they want to donate them to a good cause. This type of organization really comes in handy because other military families benefit.

Even if you don’t need items from Airman’s Attic or a similar organization, consider donating to it next time you clean out your closet, and if this type of organization could benefit your family, don’t hesitate to look into whether or not your base or your branch has something similar.

Lastly and maybe most importantly, research. I say this all of the time, but if you research what your base has to offer you will realize what a wealth of information, activities, and resources are readily available.

Whether you have newly married into this life or you have lived it for a while, never feel uncomfortable to use what the military wants to share with you and take advantage of the opportunities presented.

By Christine Cioppa  

New Year's Eve resolutions fizzle? Not to worry. Your next permanent change of station may help you make new habits stick! A new study, published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology, found that a residential relocation causes such a disturbance in old habits, at least temporarily, that people are better able to change undesired behaviors.

“Changing your habits is very difficult," said Bas Verplanken, Ph.D., professor of social psychology at the University of Bath, "including finding the right moment to make a change.”

In the study, Verplanken and colleague Deborah Roy, PhD, looked at 800 study participants’ habits over two months. In this case, the 25 behaviors studied were related to the environment—water and energy use, recycling, food waste, etc.

Researchers found that people’s “minds and behaviors temporarily unfreeze,” during a move, so they are forced basically to go off autopilot, leaving room for being more receptive to change. Researchers also found that the first three months after a move is the best time for making changes stick.

But why isn’t willpower enough?

“Changing from December 31st to January 1st is not a dramatic discontinuity,” Verplanken said. “Many resolutions are made on December 31st, and go down the drain on January 2nd.”

Verplanken didn’t evaluate habits like improving study time, quitting smoking, modifying or quitting drinking alcohol, or reducing unhealthy eating patterns. But, his research does show that relocating provides opportunities for creating a healthier lifestyle.

Whatever you’d like to change, it’s worth a good hard try immediately after your PCS, just like that good hard try you give on January 1.

“Most assumption about changing habits do not take into account the key feature of habits—automaticity. Habits are automatic associations between specific contexts and responses, which are acquired through repeated rewarded responses. ‘Rewards’ can be any type of satisfaction (e.g., pleasantness, efficiency, convenience, approval).

Having strong habits makes people inattentive to new information or the availability of alternative options, and comes with reduced deliberation and decision making,” he said.

When learning new ways of doing things, Verplanken says “People may need information, and may for a while be ‘in the mood for change’ in general…. New behaviors, then, should be helpful and rewarding, in order to stick. Preferably, they should be embedded in other routines.”

So moving to a new neighborhood is the perfect time to try to change because it shakes things up and makes people have to relearn a ton of things. If you combine that with learning about how to change undesired habits, you might be able to finally create a breakthrough in those resolutions, once and for all!

Developing a PCH (permanent change of habit) within the first three months after settling into a new home can make your next PCS a rewarding one.