S is for Sponsor 

A sponsor is someone who is already stationed at the duty station that you are being PCSed to. It is someone who you are supposed to be able to contact and get the inside scoop of the new place that you are getting ready to call home. 

In theory, a sponsor is a wonderful and helpful resource. In actuality, it doesn’t always work that way. During our last move, when we were PCSing while I was pregnant, we were unable to get in contact with our sponsor. We really did all of our rental house hunting from afar and reached out to some friends that lived in the area. And after sometime in our rental we found it really wasn’t for us. The commute was long, and the neighborhood wasn’t as friendly as it had first appeared. In hindsight, we realize that there was other resources we could have turned to when our sponsor was unreachable. 

So if you’re getting ready to PCS and have no idea where to start looking for that next place to call home, here are a few resources you can use to help take some of the stress out of the entire process. 

Contact a Local Spouses Group

For us, this wasn’t really an option for our current location, because there was no spouses group in place. Now that has changed, and I am constantly seeing new spouses being added to the secret Facebook group who mention they are moving to the area and are looking for advice. Going right to the source of people currently living in the area can give you a lot of insight on what neighborhoods are good, and what the traffic is like. 

PCSgrades 

Another great, a new resource is PCSgrades.com. It is a page that is for military families only and it was set up for current and retired military families to grade things like neighborhoods, realtors, and base housing at all of their previous locations. It is really a great resource for finding what other military families think of certain areas. It is also a great place to find a helpful realtor! 

Ask Around Your Current Spouses Group

Since we all move a lot, sometimes you will find some of your friends have actually been stationed where you are headed. They may be able to share their insights or even introduce you to someone they know that still lives in that location. 

My ABCs of Military Life is part of the A to Z Challenge.