DoD Admits Defeat on Global PCS Move Privatization
Update: On September 9, 2026, the Department of Defense opened a non-privatized operation called the DoD Personal Property Activity. The Department of Defense’s failure under Pete Hegseth to privatize PCS moves came full circle with the activation ceremony for the new, permanent, non-privatized replacement. What does this mean?
DoD Admits Defeat on Global PCS Move Privatization
The move establishes a designated special activity to direct household goods transport, vehicle shipments, storage-in-transit, and non-temporary storage for service members and their families.
The organization grew out of a series of administrative actions initiated the previous year. In 2025, an emergency body titled the Permanent Change of Station Joint Task Force was formed to stabilize worldwide shipping logistics. Leadership designated the body as a permanent special activity in 2026, culminating in the formal base ceremony this month.
The Department of Defense has abandoned its plan to privatize military permanent change of station (PCS) moves. Those who expected to PCS in 2025 or 2026 under a new, more efficient PCS program will be affected. They will have to deal with the legacy system the DoD once tried to abandon.
This notable failure should inform other DoD privatization attempts, but at press time there is no indication that military family housing, which is already privatized, and so-called single-soldier housing (which has been considered for privatization) will be reviewed in a similar fashion. At present, the Pete Hegseth Department of Defense seems content to allow lawsuits over appalling conditions in military family housing rather than address the underlying issues that caused them.
DoD Attempts at Global PCS Move Privatization
The federal government has made multiple attempts to privatize functions like administering on-base housing and other essential services. In multiple cases, these privatization efforts have resulted in harm to military families, medical claims, and class-action lawsuits.
There have been multiple lawsuits related to issues affecting the lives of military families in privatized housing at certain military bases.
In recent years, the DoD’s privatization efforts extended to finding a single contractor for PCS moves. The government received unsatisfactory results from the contractor’s (HomeSafe Alliance) efforts, including broken promises, failure to deliver basic services, and ultimately, the contract’s failure.
Now, the Department of Defense has admitted defeat on the plan to privatize the military’s PCS system. What follows is preserved for archival purposes.
Privatized PCS Contract Failure
Earlier in 2025, the Secretary of Defense announced the termination of the failed Global Household Goods Contract with HomeSafe Alliance, a $20 billion initiative that had originally aimed to upgrade the permanent change of station move process. But that was only the start of the complications for DoD officials.
In October 2025, the DoD scrapped the entire privatization plan. Why the DoD didn’t do this in the first place, sparing taxpayers a $20 billion price tag for an utter failure to privatize the system, remains unanswered at press time.
Good Intentions, Poor Performance
As reported by the Military Family Association, the privatization of PCS moves was “…intended to fix a fragmented system plagued by lost shipments, delays, and inconsistent service,” with a contract awarded to HomeSafe Alliance “…to consolidate oversight and create accountability for PCS moves.”
The move ends an attempt to hand over PCS moves to a private contractor. DoD officials say they’re launching a new three-year effort to improve the legacy PCS program they previously tried to abandon as insufficient. Will they succeed? The DoD wanted to terminate the legacy program for reasons, and it must address those issues going forward.
To do so, the DoD claims the first step is to create a so-called “government-controlled software solution” that would hypothetically streamline the PCS process.
The DoD says it plans to conduct a market study to set fair contractor rates and build a network of contractors for PCS moves.
The Secretary of Defense’s directive is informed by findings from a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) Joint Task Force established to study current problems with military moves.
Uncertain Future for PCS Moves
Some sources report that the government’s move to “unprivatize” the PCS move system is popular with the companies that may be asked to perform the work. One moving company representative said the move could “…restore stability and trust for military families and moving companies alike.”
Meanwhile, the future of the military’s PCS system is unclear. The Military Family Association reports that many families “reported being forced into Personally Procured Moves (PPMs)—moving themselves—due to HomeSafe’s limited network. While reimbursement for PPMs is still calculated at 100% of the Government Constructed Cost (GCC), that amount has been significantly reduced…” because of nuances in the now-dead Global Household Goods Contract. What happens now that the contract is terminated?
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About the author
Editor-in-Chief Joe Wallace is a 13-year veteran of the United States Air Force and a former reporter/editor for Air Force Television News and the Pentagon Channel. His freelance work includes contract work for Motorola, VALoans.com, and Credit Karma. He is co-founder of Dim Art House in Springfield, Illinois, and spends his non-writing time as an abstract painter, independent publisher, and occasional filmmaker.
