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Your First Army PCS After Basic and AIT: The Entitlements Checklist

A huge share of the Army starts the same way: Basic Combat Training at a post like Fort Jackson, SC (the Army's largest BCT installation), then Advanced Individual Training (AIT), then orders to a first real duty station. Somewhere in that sequence you make your first Army PCS — and most new soldiers walk into it with no idea that the move itself comes with money they have to claim. They don't lose it because they did anything wrong. They lose it because nobody handed them the checklist.

So here's the checklist.

First, the thing that trips up new soldiers

Entitlements on a first move can depend on how your orders are written — a move from initial training straight to your first duty station reads differently than a normal PCS, and some allowances can be limited on that first leg. The lesson isn't "you get nothing"; it's confirm your own situation with finance (and run the numbers) instead of assuming either way. With that said, here's what's on the table.

The checklist — what a first Army PCS can pay

☐ Dislocation Allowance (DLA)

A flat payment to offset the cost of relocating, set by your rank and dependent status. Not an itemized reimbursement — money you're owed for moving. Check your DLA.

☐ Travel pay (MALT) for driving to your duty station

Drive your own vehicle and you're paid the 2026 MALT rate per mile for the official distance, per vehicle. Under-claimed because soldiers don't put the official mileage on the voucher. Run your mileage.

☐ Per diem for the days en route

Travel days are authorized based on the official distance, with a daily per diem for each. Keep your lodging receipts and don't shortchange the days you're owed.

☐ Advance pay (the cash-flow bridge)

Up to several months of base pay, interest-free, paid up front and repaid from later checks. On a first move where you're fronting deposits and first month's rent on a junior-enlisted paycheck, it's free liquidity — not extra money. Ask your finance office.

☐ A PPM / DITY if you move yourself

A personally procured move pays you a cut of what the Army would've paid a carrier to haul your stuff. On a light first-termer load it's modest, but it's money for a haul you were making anyway. Is a DITY worth it on your move?

☐ The DD 1351-2 travel voucher (this is how you actually get paid)

Every dollar above flows through one form, filed at your new unit's finance office with your receipts. File it complete, file it on time — that's the whole game. The forms library breaks it down in plain language.

Do this in your first week at the new duty station

  1. Find finance and ask how they want your travel voucher filed.
  2. Keep every receipt — gas, lodging, tolls.
  3. Run your numbers before you file so you can tell if the payout comes up short.

Heading to a joint base in Hampton Roads?

Some soldiers land at Joint Base Langley-Eustis (JBLE) in the Hampton Roads area — Fort Eustis (transportation/logistics) and Langley AFB share the joint base. If that's your first stop, we cover it: the JBLE / Hampton Roads base and area guides lay out the BAH zones, where soldiers live, the commute, and the honest read on each area before you get there.

Start here

Your first Army move is the one you're least prepared for and the one where the most money slips by. Work the checklist and claim it.

PCS-Move.com is independent and not affiliated with the DoD or the U.S. Army. First-move entitlements can vary based on how your orders are written (training-to-first-duty-station moves in particular); the linked calculators use 2026 DoD/DTMO rates and your own inputs. Confirm your specific situation with your finance office.

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