Policy shift has soldiers packing own gear

[unhappycamper]

Policy shift has soldiers packing own gear
By Erik Slavin, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Friday, May 30, 2008

CAMP STANLEY, South Korea — Prior to May 1, waiting until the last minute to ship belongings during a transfer to a new station meant living without a television for a couple of weeks upon arrival.

Now, a soldier might face an angry sergeant wanting to know where the soldier’s helmet is for the field exercise they’re having the next day.

The reason is a new Army-wide policy that is changing both the way soldiers pack for their next duty station and how commands spend money and distribute gear.

Soldiers changing duty stations are now told to keep their helmets and at least 40 other pieces of gear, instead of turning it all in to their closest central issuing facility.

The total amount of gear kept ultimately depends on the soldier’s job and the nature of the unit. However, all soldiers are taking dozens of new items with them for the rest of their careers.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=55180



uhc comment: This should be interesting. Initially, the military is footing the bill to ship the 'professional gear' to the new duty location. However, when the soldier decides to use commercial aircraft to get to his/her next duty location, they'll be paying (at the moment) $25 for the first checked bag and I'm sure extra $$$$ for going over 25 pounds.

[jtrockville]

1. Maybe privatizing military travel wasn't such a grand idea after all?

[rakeeb]

2. this kind of "military travel" has always been

privatized. I don't think there was ever a time that the military ran it's own moving company to come pack up your house and move your household goods to your next duty station...