ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, IL, July 19, 2024 - Most members of the armed services and their families face uncertainty when they know they’ll be making a Permanent Change of Station, or PCS move. Whether they’re moving within the continental United States or outside the United States, these moves generally come with a mountain of details and questions that, at times, can seem overwhelming.

Help, however, is at hand. The Army Personal Property Lead Element, or APPLE, is the main source of assistance for service members who are moving. APPLE is a directorate within the U.S. Army Sustainment Command’s Support Operations directorate. ASC’s mission is to sustain the Soldier, and that includes just about everything, from uniforms, combat equipment, and, when called for, getting Soldiers, their families, and their household goods to a new installation.

Courtney Abraham is the director of APPLE with direct oversight of the Joint Personal Property Shipping Offices-Mid-Atlantic, or JPPSO-MA, located at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and the Joint Personal Property Office-Northwest, or JPPSO-NW, located at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington.

He said the APPLE is here to serve as a central hub for the Personal Property Shipping Office and Personal Property Processing Office. The APPLE itself doesn’t engage at the ground level when it comes to shipping household goods, but it plays an important administration and coordination role.

“The APPLE provides training, readiness, and oversight of the operational programs. It collaborates with the program executive agent, which is the U.S. Transportation Command, on business rules, regulation review and updates, new initiatives,” he added, “and represents the Army during routine engagements with senior executives from the movement industry.”

APPLE has tried to be innovative and find new ways of reaching out to Soldiers who want information.

“APPLE established the first CHAT feature for Soldiers to engage with the Army Call Center,” said Rosalind Miller, APPLE chief. “This initiative now allows a Soldier to obtain shipment updates and ask questions through a mobile-based CHAT with a live agent.”

Abraham said the APPLE provides a proactive response to PCS issues to ensure the PCS experience is a positive one for service members and their families. This is done by keeping an eye on the big picture, analyzing any problem areas, and making recommendations to the shipping offices on handling whatever challenges they face.

Additionally, the APPLE provides higher-level guidance on movement policy, administrative procedures, operating rules and best practices.

In the past, moves have been organized by a collection of individual companies. This sometimes made it harder to track and could make a daunting situation even more troublesome.

Now, to provide better oversight and accountability with the moves, the Army is implementing the Global Household Goods Contract. This is a significant initiative by the U.S. Transportation Command to enhance personal property shipments.

USTRANSCOM is working with the GHC prime contractor, and conducting both on-site and virtual events with leaders from the military services, JPPSOs, and other U.S. government agencies. The goal is to ensure a smooth transition and uninterrupted service during the implementation of the contract.

Abraham said APPLE has been instrumental in the transition to the GHC program for the Army, and it has been an integral force in the program from its inception, by working with USTRANSCOM and arranging and directing the conditional phase-in of all sites within ASC.

“The JPPSOs, two of six Army-led shipping offices,” said Abraham, “execute personal property movement services to authorized personnel within a specified area of responsibility, supporting shipments within portions of 17 states, including the Washington, D.C. area and Alaska.”

The JPPSOs award the actual shipping contracts to contracted movers and coordinate short- and long-term storage. Additionally, these sites staff the Army’s Personal Property Call Center so service members can get information on how their move is going.

“APPLE engages the PPSOs and PPPOs in multiple venues monthly, synchronizing shipping office efforts,” said Abraham.

They identify best practices, provide virtual and on-site training, develop training aides for the field, and collaborate with subject matter experts to engage with the various transportation offices, he said.

“We develop standardize program of instruction for our household goods quality assurance specialists and counselors across the Army,” Abraham said. “We also provide formal training on Army procedures to the Marine Corps, Air Force, Navy, and U.S. Coast Guard.”

While acknowledging that something as complex as coordinating thousands of individual moves will always come with its share of challenges, Abraham said the preponderance of moves are made with minimal disruption or problems.

USTRANSCOM has also adjusted domestic and international transit times to provide better predictability for Soldiers and families for delivery of their household goods. These changes are being phased in over the next few months and should be fully implemented by fall of next year, coming on the heels of a few challenging years.

“In recent years, supply chain issues have impacted the moving industry just as many other industries worldwide,” said Gwen Middleton, APPLE action officer. “The pandemic was a driving force in capacity shortfalls and service limitations. Global logistics were significantly impacted as well causing prices for products, materials, labor, and fuel to escalate, combined with the decrease of drivers, warehousemen, and professional movers within the moving industry,” she added.

Despite this, there have been improvements implemented in the past few years. Even before the GHC, in late 2020 ASC began equipping units with tablets specifically to aid quality assurance inspectors in the field, allowing them to perform operations and reporting while on the road using WiFi-enabled tablets, mobile devices, or hotspots. These efforts enhance the PCS process for Army personnel and their families, especially during the busy summer months of relocation.

ASC’s mission is to support Soldiers by providing a wide range of services, all focused on maintaining Army readiness. A crucial factor in a Soldier's ability to serve is the assurance that their family and household goods will be cared for during a PCS move. Minimizing disruptions to a Soldier's life is essential for maintaining readiness. Therefore, the APPLE program's mission directly aligns with ASC's broader goal by delivering reliable, efficient, and customer-focused support to military personnel during PCS moves.

Editor’s note: In a previous article, we looked at the U.S. Army Sustainment Command Support Operations Directorate. This is one of a series of articles focusing on individual divisions and directorates within SPO.