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From Great Lakes to Your First Ship: What Your First Navy PCS Pays You

If you're reading this from Recruit Training Command at Naval Station Great Lakes — or you just finished your A-school and you've got orders to the fleet — you're about to make your first Navy PCS. Every enlisted sailor in the Navy passes through Great Lakes, which means every sailor makes some version of this exact move: boot camp or A-school to your first ship, squadron, or shore command. And almost every first-term sailor leaves money behind on it, for the same reason — nobody walked them through what the move actually pays.

Here's the honest breakdown for a new sailor.

The shape of a first Navy move

Your first set of fleet orders usually sends you somewhere with a big Navy footprint — Norfolk / Hampton Roads (the largest naval complex in the world) or San Diego (the Pacific fleet hub) are the two most common first stops. The farther that move is from Great Lakes, the more the travel entitlements stack — and a Great-Lakes-to-coast move is a long one.

But here's the catch new sailors run into: the money doesn't show up automatically. You claim most of it on a travel voucher when you check aboard, and if you don't know what's on it, you can't tell when the payout is short.

What it pays

Dislocation Allowance (DLA)

DLA is a flat payment to offset the cost of relocating, set by your rank and dependent status. It's not an itemized reimbursement — it's money you're owed for moving. (One note for brand-new sailors: depending on how your orders read, some entitlements on the very first move out of training can be limited — which is exactly why you confirm your own situation rather than assume.) See your DLA for your rank.

Travel pay (MALT) for driving to the coast

Drive your own car to Norfolk or San Diego and you're paid the 2026 MALT rate per mile for the official distance, per vehicle. On a cross-country first move that's real money — and it's under-claimed because sailors don't put the official mileage on the voucher. Run your mileage.

Per diem for the days en route

You're authorized travel days based on the distance, with a daily per diem for each. A drive from Illinois to either coast is several authorized days. Keep your lodging receipts.

Advance pay — the broke-E-3 bridge

You can request advance pay (up to several months of base pay, interest-free, repaid from later checks) to front the deposits and first-month rent your first paycheck won't cover. Not extra money, but free liquidity. Ask disbursing.

A PPM/DITY, even light

Moving yourself? A personally procured move pays you a cut of what the Navy would've paid a carrier. On a light first-termer load it's modest, but it's money for hauling what you'd haul anyway. Is a DITY worth it on your move?

Know where you're headed

The other half of a smart first move is knowing the place before you get there — where sailors actually live, the commute, the BAH zones, the honest version of each neighborhood:

A first-termer who shows up knowing the BAH zones and where to live makes a much better housing call than one figuring it out from a barracks rack the week they report.

Claim it when you check aboard

Every dollar above flows through the DD 1351-2 travel voucher, filed at your new command's disbursing office with your receipts. File it complete, file it on time. The forms library lays out exactly what goes in it.

Start here

Your first move to the fleet is the one you're least prepared for. Show up knowing what it pays and where you're going.

PCS-Move.com is independent and not affiliated with the DoD or the Navy. First-move entitlements can vary based on how your orders are written; the linked calculators use 2026 DoD/DTMO rates and your own inputs. Confirm your specific situation with your command's disbursing / finance office.

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