# Local Moves: Moving On or Off Base at Government Expense

> A directed move across town is not a PCS, and the JTR pays for it under its own section. Section 0519 covers the household goods move, par. 050508 pays a flat partial DLA only when government quarters are involved — and privatized housing does not count as government quarters — while a directed quarters move carries no weight limit at all, not even the statute's 18,000 pounds.

- Canonical URL: https://www.pcscalculator.net/blog/local-move-on-off-base-partial-dla
- Published: 2026-09-24
- Updated: 2026-09-24
- Topics: allowances, jtr, dla, housing
- Publisher: PCS Calculator
- Rates last verified: 2026-08-22 (oldest across the sources below)
- Rate sources:
  - dla: PDTATAC, PRIMARY DLA RATES effective 1 January 2026
  - weight: JTR Table 5-37, household goods weight allowances
- Note: Figures come from published DoD Joint Travel Regulations (JTR) rate tables and are estimates. Confirm final entitlements with your installation's Transportation or Finance Office. PCS Calculator is independent and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or operated by the Department of Defense.

---

## The Move That Is Not a PCS

Housing tells you your building is going into renovation and gives you a date to be out. Or you
are assigned to on-base housing to fill a vacant unit. Or you get orders to a new duty station close
enough to commute to from home. The first two are not permanent changes of station and come with no
PCS order; the third is a PCS, but a short one. Either way the questions are the same: whether the
government pays to move the household, and whether any money comes with it. The
[DLA calculator](https://www.pcscalculator.net/calculators/dla) prices the dislocation allowance for the moves that
carry one; this page is about which local moves those are, and what the rest of them do and do not
pay for.

The Joint Travel Regulations give these moves a section of their own — **section 0519, Local
Moves**. It provides for a short-distance household goods move within the same city,
town, or metropolitan area for eight named events, says who approves the PCS case, lifts the weight
limit for some of the moves, and names one case it does not cover: a landlord who will not renew
your lease. What the move pays is settled elsewhere — in three dislocation allowance paragraphs in
section 0505 of the JTR and, for your housing allowance, in the DoD Financial Management
Regulation.

The rules below are read from the Joint Travel Regulations, edition **08/01/2026**,
and DoD FMR Volume 7A, Chapter 26 (May 2025), with paragraph numbers given so any sentence here can
be checked against the text itself. Three terms recur: **PDS** is your permanent duty
station, **HHG** is household goods, and **BAH** is the basic allowance
for housing.

## What Counts as a Local Move?

A local move is a short-distance household goods move within the same city, town, or
metropolitan area, which section 0519 says "may be authorized" for the eight events in Table 5-40.
The section's opening sentence also sets the default weight limit — the move is "within the Service
member's PCS weight allowance, unless otherwise specified in this section" — and several of the
paragraphs that follow specify otherwise.

| Table 5-40 row | Event that may require a short-distance move |
| --- | --- |
| 1 | Reassignment or PCS. |
| 2 | Moving to or from Government quarters or privatized housing. |
| 3 | Vacating local economy housing under certain circumstances. |
| 4 | Involuntary tour extension. |
| 5 | Separation. |
| 6 | Retirement. |
| 7 | Death of a midshipman or cadet while enrolled in a Service academy. |
| 8 | Foreclosure on rental housing while under a lease. |

The table lists events that *may require* a short-distance move; it does not approve
anything by itself. Four paragraphs follow it and supply the conditions, and seven of the eight rows
are taken up by one of them. Row 7, the death of a midshipman or cadet, appears in the table and in
none of the four paragraphs. Apart from the final move on separation or retirement under
par. 051902, each paragraph requires that the move be caused by the Service or by something outside
your control, rather than chosen for your own convenience.

### The four paragraphs, and which one is yours

- Par. 051901 — Short-Distance Move.
  The PCS case: a new duty station in proximity to the old one, where moving the household has to be approved as mission essential. It also covers reassignment between geographically separated activities at a joint base.
- Par. 051902 — Separation or Retirement from the Service.
  A short-distance move between residences, or out of non-temporary storage into a residence, in the same city, town, or metropolitan area. Table 5-37's maximum weight allowance applies, and this move is the
  final
  household goods transportation authorized under pars. 051002 and 051003.
- Par. 051903 — Short-Distance Assignment or Termination.
  Moving to or from government quarters, privatized housing, or government-controlled quarters when an appropriate authority authorizes it and a Service requirement directs it. This is the on-base and off-base move, and the one with no weight limit at all. It excludes a move due to separation or relief from active duty under honorable conditions, or retirement; those have rules of their own, covered below.
- Par. 051904 — Short-Distance Move When Vacating Local Private-Sector Housing.
  Ordered out of a civilian rental for the government's convenience, moved because of an involuntary tour extension, or displaced because your landlord was foreclosed on.

### Government quarters and privatized housing are not the same thing

Much of what follows turns on a distinction the JTR draws in its definitions, in Appendix A.
Government quarters are "sleeping accommodations owned, operated, leased by the Government, or
obtained by Government contract, at no cost to the traveler," and the definition names government
owned or leased family-type housing and bachelor quarters among them. Privatized housing is "a
housing unit on or near a military facility in the U.S., or its territories and possessions, that is
acquired or constructed by a private company under 10 USC §§2871-2885." And the government quarters
definition ends in as many words: "Privatized housing is not Government quarters."

If your on-base home belongs to a private housing company under those sections of Title 10, it is
privatized housing, and your housing office can tell you which kind you are in. The distinction
decides what happens to your BAH and whether a partial DLA is possible, both covered below. It does
not stop the government from paying for the move itself: par. 051903 covers directed moves to or
from privatized housing as well as government quarters.

## Does a Local Move Pay DLA?

Usually not. A flat partial DLA is paid when you are ordered into or out of government quarters
for the government's convenience, and in two specific short-distance situations you may be eligible
for the full grade-based DLA. Otherwise nothing: par. 050509-F says DLA is not authorized for "local,
short-distance moves in accordance with section 0519, unless otherwise authorized in this section,"
and pars. 050508 and 050502-A are where section 0505 does otherwise authorize it.

### Partial DLA — ordered into or out of government quarters

Par. 050502 says a member "may be eligible for a DLA" in the circumstances it lists.
Par. 050508-A-1 is worded differently:

> A Service member ordered to occupy or vacate Government quarters due to
> privatization, renovation, or any other reason for the Government's convenience **must be
> paid** a partial DLA.

That is the whole trigger. It needs no PCS order, no household goods shipment, and no particular
grade or dependency status: being *ordered* to occupy or vacate government quarters for the
government's convenience is the qualifying event. The statute behind it says the same thing in one
line — among the allowances 37 U.S.C. § 452(c) lets the Secretaries provide is a "partial
dislocation allowance paid to a member ordered to occupy or vacate housing provided by the United
States."

Because the trigger is government quarters, the definitions above narrow it. Privatized housing
is not government quarters, so a move between privatized housing and a civilian rental, in either
direction, does not meet par. 050508-A-1's trigger at all — and a move from one privatized unit to
another is ruled out by name, below. A move from privatized housing into government quarters, or
out of government quarters into privatized housing, is a move into or out of government quarters,
and it can qualify if you were ordered to make it for the government's convenience.

Par. 050508-B makes it "a one-time payment paid at a flat rate for a qualifying event," and the
JTR does not print the rate itself: it says "See the DTMO DLA webpage for the current partial DLA
rate." The figure this site uses for 2026 is **$1,002.71**, the same at every grade.
Confirm the current figure on the Defense Travel Management Office's DLA page or with your finance
office before you count on it.

Par. 050508-A-2 then rules out eight situations:

- A local move upon
  separation or retirement
  .
- A move
  from privatized housing to privatized housing
  .
- A
  PCS
  . Partial DLA is not the small-DLA version of a permanent change of station; a PCS is expressly excluded from it.
- A change in
  family size or bedroom requirements
  for the member's convenience, including promotion.
- A member who
  voluntarily decides to move
  .
- Pending divorce or family separation
  .
- Service member misconduct
  .
- A move
  between unaccompanied housing units
  — barracks room to barracks room earns no partial DLA.

### Full DLA — two short-distance cases that can pay the grade rate

Par. 050502 lists circumstances in which a member, with or without dependents, may be eligible
for a DLA — the regular grade-based allowance, not the partial one. Its subparagraph A covers a
member who "is authorized a short-distance HHG move at Government expense" in two situations:

1. Health and sanitation.
  A move from "a private-sector residence to another private-sector residence, for the Government's convenience, when proper authority directs the Service member to vacate local housing because the residence does not meet the Service's health and sanitation standards." The regulation adds a limit in the next sentence: "This does not apply to moves to or from privatized housing."
2. Proximity PCS.
  A move due to "a PCS to a new PDS that is in proximity to the old PDS or when reassigned between military installations located within the corporate limits of the same city or town," a rule the JTR traces to a 1963 Comptroller General decision (42 Comp. Gen. 460).

Both depend on the short-distance move itself having been authorized first; for a proximity PCS,
that is the par. 051901 approval described below. The second case is the one to remember when orders
move you across town. A PCS is excluded from partial DLA, but par. 050502-A-2 can make you eligible
for the full rate instead — and the full rate is higher than the partial one at every grade and
dependency status.

| Your situation | DLA | Authority |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Ordered into or out of government quarters for privatization, renovation, or another government convenience | Partial DLA, flat, any grade | Par. 050508-A-1 |
| PCS to a duty station in proximity to the old one, or reassignment between installations in the same city or town, with the short-distance move authorized | May be eligible for the full DLA at your grade and dependency status | Par. 050502-A-2 |
| Directed out of a civilian rental because it fails the Service's health and sanitation standards | May be eligible for the full DLA at your grade and dependency status | Par. 050502-A-1 |
| Between privatized housing and a civilian rental, in either direction | Nothing — privatized housing is not government quarters | Par. 050508-A-1; JTR Appendix A |
| Privatized housing to privatized housing | Nothing | Par. 050508-A-2 |
| Barracks room to barracks room | Nothing | Par. 050508-A-2-f |
| You decided to move, or needed a different bedroom count | Nothing | Par. 050508-A-2-b and -c |
| Local move on separation or retirement | Nothing | Par. 050508-A-2 |
| Any other section 0519 local move | Nothing | Par. 050509-F |

The [DLA calculator](https://www.pcscalculator.net/calculators/dla) carries the full rate table by grade and
dependency status, and the partial rate beside it, so the rows above that pay anything can be priced
before you commit to the move.

## What Happens to Your BAH?

It depends on which kind of housing is involved. Moving into government quarters ends your BAH:
DoD FMR Volume 7A, Chapter 26, para. 8.1.4 says a housing allowance "continues to accrue through the
day before a Service member is assigned Government quarters or begins to occupy Government quarters
at the PDS." A move between privatized housing and a civilian rental does not change your
entitlement, because a member occupying privatized housing "is authorized a housing allowance in the
same manner as a Service member not assigned to Government quarters" (para. 9.0).

Table 26-3 states the government quarters stop date precisely. When a member "is furnished
Government quarters at the PDS, adequate for the Service member and any dependents," BAH stops at
midnight on the day "before quarters are assigned or, if definite assignment was not made, the day
before occupancy begins." Moving out works the other way: under para. 8.1.5 a housing allowance
"accrues from the date the assignment to Government quarters ends or the date that quarters are
vacated if vacating of the quarters is approved or authorized." Para. 8.1.2 adds the catch — a
member "is still considered assigned to Government quarters when they voluntarily vacate assigned
quarters without the installation commander's approval."

In privatized housing you keep drawing BAH and pay rent for the home, and the Secretary concerned
may require that rent to come out of your pay: 10 U.S.C. § 2882(c) lets the Secretary require members
leasing privatized housing "to make lease payments for such housing pursuant to allotments of the pay
of such members." The [BAH calculator](https://www.pcscalculator.net/calculators/bah) gives the rate for your duty
station and grade.

## Is There a Weight Limit on a Local Move?

It depends which paragraph authorizes the move. A directed move to or from government quarters,
privatized housing, or government-controlled quarters (par. 051903) has no weight limit at all. Two
private-sector cases, being ordered out of a civilian rental and an involuntary tour extension, drop
the grade-based limit (par. 051904-A and -B). The foreclosure case, the separation or retirement
move, and the short-distance move on a PCS keep your PCS weight allowance from Table 5-37.

Par. 051903-B is the broadest of these:

> Neither the weight limitation in Table 5-37 nor the 18,000-pound limit imposed by
> 37 U.S.C. §476, applies to this paragraph.

Par. 051904 is narrower. For vacating private-sector housing when ordered out for the
government's convenience, and for a move caused by an involuntary tour extension, it says: "There is
no weight limit based on pay grade for this move." That removes the Table 5-37 limit; unlike
par. 051903-B, it does not mention the 18,000-pound statutory ceiling. The foreclosure case in
par. 051904-C keeps the grade table: "The PCS HHG weight limit in Table 5-37 applies."

| Move | Weight limit |
| --- | --- |
| Directed move to or from government quarters, privatized housing, or government-controlled quarters (par. 051903) | **None** — neither Table 5-37 nor the 18,000-pound limit |
| Ordered out of private-sector housing for the government's convenience (par. 051904-A) | No limit based on pay grade |
| Involuntary tour extension (par. 051904-B) | No limit based on pay grade |
| Landlord foreclosure while you are under a lease (par. 051904-C) | Table 5-37 applies |
| Separation or retirement local move (par. 051902-B) | Table 5-37 applies |
| Short-distance move on a PCS (par. 051901) | Your PCS weight allowance |

This matters because on an ordinary move, par. 051306-A-2 says a member "must repay the Service
for the cost of transporting his or her HHG in excess of the specified weight allowance." A directed
quarters move under par. 051903 has no allowance to exceed. Our
[weight allowance page](https://www.pcscalculator.net/weight-allowances) has Table 5-37 by grade for the moves where
it still applies.

### One citation in that quotation no longer exists

The JTR's own sentence points at **37 U.S.C. § 476**, and that section has been
repealed. Title 37, chapter 8 now lists the old-law subchapter that held sections 471 through 495 as
"[SUBCHAPTER III—REPEALED]", and the chapter's editorial note records Public Law 117–81 — the
FY2022 National Defense Authorization Act — at division A, title VI, § 604(b), December 27, 2021,
striking the item for that subchapter along with the item for § 476, "Travel and transportation
allowances: dependents; baggage and household effects." The 18,000-pound ceiling now lives at
**37 U.S.C. § 453(c)(3)**, which directs the administering Secretaries to prescribe
weight allowances by regulation and adds that they "may not exceed 18,000 pounds (including
household goods in temporary storage, but excluding packing and crating), except that the
administering Secretary may, on a case-by-case basis, authorize additional weight allowances as
necessary."

The rule itself is unaffected: par. 051903-B still says neither limit applies to this move. If you
need to point a transportation office or a claims office at the rule, point it at par. 051903-B; the
statutory section it names has been repealed, and the ceiling it described now sits in
§ 453(c)(3).

## When Is a Local Move Not Authorized?

When it is for your own convenience. A landlord's refusal to renew your lease counts as your
convenience unless a military necessity such as an involuntary tour extension caused the move
(par. 051904-A-2); a quarters move is not authorized for your convenience, your morale, or a personal
problem (par. 051903-B-1-c); and the foreclosure rule does not apply to a home you own
(par. 051904-C). Moving farther out than the residence you will commute from is allowed, but the
excess cost is yours (par. 051903-B-1-b).

The landlord rule is the one to read closely, because it applies even though the landlord made
the decision. Par. 051904-A-2 in full:

> A short-distance move is not authorized when a Service member moves from local
> private-sector housing due to a landlord's refusal to renew a lease or permit continued occupancy.
> This move is considered to be for the Service member's convenience. However it may be authorized if
> it is due to a military necessity or requirement, such as an involuntary tour extension.

The last sentence is the exception: if an involuntary tour extension is what left you needing new
housing, par. 051904-B authorizes the move, with no weight limit based on pay grade. The other three
limits, in the regulation's words:

- Convenience, morale, or a personal problem.
  Par. 051903-B-1-c: a short-distance move under that paragraph "is not authorized for a Service member's convenience or morale, or to accommodate a Service member's personal problem."
- Moving farther out than you commute from.
  Par. 051903-B-1-b allows it, but "provided the Service member accepts financial responsibility for all excess costs." The government's obligation stops at the residence you will commute daily to the PDS from.
- Being the homeowner in a foreclosure.
  Par. 051904-C authorizes the move for a member or dependent who "relocates from leased or rented private housing due to a foreclosure action against the landlord," and then says: "This provision does not apply when the Service member or his or her dependent is the homeowner."

## Who Approves a Local Move?

It depends on the kind of move. A short-distance move on a PCS (par. 051901) is approved through
the Secretarial Process — for DoD, by the gaining activity or ship commander in a pay grade of O-5 or
above, or a civilian employee at the equivalent pay grade. A move to or from government quarters,
privatized housing, or government-controlled quarters (par. 051903) requires that you be "authorized
to relocate" there "by an appropriate authority," with the move directed due to a Service
requirement.

For the PCS case, par. 051901 attaches three conditions to the approval, and all three have to
hold:

- The household relocation is
  mission essential
  .
- It is
  in the Government's best interest
  .
- It is
  not primarily for the Service member's convenience
  .

On top of those, the member "must commute daily from the new residence to his or her duty location
for a short-distance move to be authorized." A residence you will not commute from daily
does not qualify.

Par. 051901-A-1 defines "in proximity" by a practical test rather than a mileage number. Two duty
stations are in proximity if **both are in an area ordinarily serviced by the same local
public-transit system**, or if **a Service member could commute daily from home to
either PDS**. Either criterion is enough; the regulation says "one of the following."
Par. 051901-A-2 adds joint bases outright: a member reassigned between geographically separated
activities at a joint base is authorized a short-distance move.

Par. 051901-B adds a second case: "A short-distance HHG move between two locations in proximity
to each other is authorized when a Service member is on a PCS order between PDSs that are not in
proximity to each other." The paragraph does not say which two locations it has in mind, so ask the
transportation office how it applies to your move.

For par. 051903 moves, the regulation gives three examples of a Service requirement: assignment to
government quarters or privatized housing "to live in housing that is unoccupied"; vacating quarters
or privatized housing because it is unfit to occupy, because of an unusual Service operational
requirement, or under an order to vacate; and reassignment back to that housing once the conditions
that required vacating it are corrected.

## What Happens to Storage?

On a directed quarters move you can be authorized non-temporary storage, with no weight limit, for
what will not fit, while storage in transit is ruled out. Section 0518 describes the two differently:
storage in transit (SIT) is "included as part of HHG transportation unless specifically prohibited,"
while non-temporary storage (NTS) "may be authorized or approved as an alternative to HHG
transportation."

On the NTS side, par. 0518-B-7 authorizes non-temporary storage for household goods "that cannot
be accommodated when moving into or out of assigned Government quarters or assigned privatized
housing in the CONUS" — and for assigned government quarters overseas where Service regulations
specifically authorize it — when the move was directed by appropriate authority due to a Service
requirement, the same fact pattern par. 051903 pays the move under. Three details make this worth
asking about by name:

- "For NTS in this situation, there is no weight limitation."
- NTS costs "include the packing, crating, transporting, unpacking, and uncrating necessary for the move" — the labor, not just the storage.
- The government also pays "the cost for handling out, delivery, and unpacking" of goods that went into NTS because they would not fit in the assigned quarters, when they come back to your local residence.

Par. 0518-B-8 does the same for government-controlled quarters you are directed to vacate as unfit
for occupancy or for an unusual Service operational requirement, again "with no weight limitations,"
and pays the transportation both between the quarters and the storage facility and from the facility
to whatever quarters you occupy instead. Where vacating is temporary, par. 051903-B-2-b authorizes
the round trip explicitly: a short-distance move and NTS out to the temporary residence, and a
short-distance move and NTS back again.

SIT is the opposite story. Par. 0518-A-11 is blunt: "SIT is not authorized for a PCS
short-distance move within the PDS limits or for a non-PCS short-distance move, such as to and from
Government quarters." The one local-move exception is par. 0518-A-6, which allows SIT for a
short-distance move between residences in a metropolitan area when the move is due to a PCS *and
both residences are not within the same PDS* — and that one has to be specifically authorized or
approved through the Secretarial Process, by an official no more junior than the gaining activity's
O-5-or-above commander, on the same mission-essential finding. Our guide to
[what the government pays for storage](https://www.pcscalculator.net/blog/pcs-storage-options-what-government-pays)
covers how SIT and NTS work on an ordinary move.

## Do You Get TLE, Travel Days or Mileage?

Not for a move that is not a PCS, because those allowances are written for permanent changes of
station. Temporary Lodging Expense is the clearest case: par. 050601-A opens "A Service member on a
PCS living in temporary lodging," and every situation Table 5-12 lists as authorized is tied to a PCS
order. A quarters move at your existing duty station never reaches the paragraph. Our
[TLE and TLA guide](https://www.pcscalculator.net/blog/temporary-lodging-expense-tle-tla-explained) covers what
does.

Travel time is settled by Table 5-2's sixth row in one line: where "a Service member is reassigned
between activities at the same PDS," then "no travel time is allowed." Mileage has its own sentence
for a short PCS, in section 0503's opening paragraph: "When residence relocation is unnecessary
because the PCS is a short-distance move, no MALT Plus is authorized unless the Service member is
ordered to perform a TDY en route." If a household move has been approved on a proximity PCS, ask
finance which PCS travel allowances, if any, apply to it. Our
[travel days guide](https://www.pcscalculator.net/blog/pcs-travel-days-authorized-travel-time) works through the
computation for the moves that do authorize them.

What a local move delivers, then, is the household goods move itself — with no weight limit at all
for a directed quarters move, and sometimes with non-temporary storage that has no weight limit
either — plus a partial or full DLA in the cases above.

### One thing worth settling before you move anything yourself

Section 0519 says the move is authorized; it does not say who carries the boxes. The JTR's
personally procured move paragraph is par. 051502, and how it pays depends on whether the government
could have moved you instead. Par. 051502-B is the case where a transportation office is not
available, or a transportation officer instructs you *in writing* to arrange the move at
personal expense: reimbursement is the "actual cost of shipment up to 100% of the maximum allowable
weight allowance." Par. 051502-C is the case where government-procured transportation was available
and you chose not to use it, and it applies the monetary allowance method instead. Which of the two
you are in is a question to settle with the transportation office, in writing, before the truck is
rented. Our [PPM claim guide](https://www.pcscalculator.net/blog/how-to-file-ppm-dity-reimbursement) covers the
documentation either path needs.

## Foreclosures, Tour Extensions, Separations and Mobile Homes

Four more cases are worth knowing about. The first two are in section 0519; the other two are
elsewhere in Chapter 5.

**Foreclosure on your rental.** Par. 051904-C authorizes a short-distance move for an
"Armed Forces Service member, or his or her dependent, who relocates from leased or rented private
housing due to a foreclosure action against the landlord." The move runs to another residence you
will commute daily to the PDS from, or to a location where the dependent resides. Table 5-37's weight
limit applies here, unlike the rest of par. 051904. The regulation also encourages a step first:
"Before this authority is used, a Service member is encouraged to exhaust remedies available under
the Service Member's Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. §3951) and state law." That is the regulation's own
spelling; the statute it means is the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, and the section it points at,
50 U.S.C. § 3951, is the one headed "Evictions and distress."

**Involuntary tour extension.** Par. 051904-B authorizes a short-distance move when
the tour at a PDS is extended "and the move is required for reasons beyond the Service member's
control," with no weight limit based on pay grade. It runs either from the residence you were
commuting from to another residence, or out of non-temporary storage into government or
private-sector housing. It is also the exception the landlord rule above names.

**Ordered out of quarters before you separate or retire.** A member told to leave
quarters before the separation or retirement date gets an interim move and keeps the final one.
Table 5-51, row 6, in par. 052012-B covers a member who is separating or being released from active
duty, is authorized HHG transportation, and "is required by appropriate authority to vacate
Government quarters, Government-controlled quarters, or privatized housing before actual separation
or release from active duty": that member is authorized "a short-distance move of HHG up to the
Service member's authorized PCS weight limit" from the vacated quarters or privatized housing to a
local temporary residence in the vicinity. Row 7 then authorizes the move from that temporary
residence to your home of record or the place from which you were called or ordered to active duty,
whichever you select. Par. 052013-D gives a member moving to a home of selection, as on retirement,
the same sequence: a short-distance move to a local temporary residence under the PCS weight
allowance, then the move to the home of selection.

**Mobile homes.** Par. 052401 handles the case separately, and you (or your dependent
or heir) must own the mobile home when it is moved. Where the installation commander orders a member
to vacate government or local housing, the member is authorized government-procured transportation,
or reimbursement of expenses incurred, including storage in transit, to move the mobile home to
another location in the PDS vicinity. Table 5-59 lists what is reimbursable — SIT, preparing the home
for transportation, installing it at the new site, and the actual transportation — and what is not,
including connecting or disconnecting utilities, special handling you requested, insurance above the
carrier's maximum liability, and repairs en route. Par. 052401-B adds: "The transportation cost
limitation in this part does not apply to short-distance moves. There is no cost constraint nor is
the Service member limited to the cost of transporting 18,000 pounds of HHG."

## What to Get in Writing

Every one of these entitlements turns on how somebody else characterizes your move, so the useful
work is making sure that characterization is written down before the move rather than argued after
it.

1. That the move is directed, and why.
  Par. 051903 requires the move to be "directed due to a Service requirement." Keep the notice to vacate or the assignment letter that directs it; it is the evidence your move was the Service's decision and not yours.
2. Which paragraph authorizes it.
  Par. 051903 lifts every weight limit, and par. 051904-A and -B lift the grade-based one; par. 051901, par. 051902 and par. 051904-C keep Table 5-37. Knowing which one you are under before the packers arrive tells you whether there is a ceiling at all.
3. Whether you live in government quarters or privatized housing.
  Your housing office can tell you. The answer decides whether a partial DLA is possible and what happens to your BAH.
4. The partial DLA, if it applies, and the qualifying event.
  Par. 050508-A-1 says a member ordered to occupy or vacate government quarters for the government's convenience
  must be paid
  a partial DLA. Ask finance how it is claimed at your installation, and keep the order that directed the move; it is the qualifying event.
5. Whether you are in par. 050502-A instead.
  If your local move is on PCS orders to a duty station in proximity to the old one, or the result of being directed out of a civilian rental that failed health and sanitation standards, you may be eligible for the full grade rate, not the flat one.
6. The date your quarters assignment starts or ends.
  BAH runs through the day before you are assigned government quarters and restarts from the date the assignment ends, or from the date you vacate if vacating was approved or authorized (FMR Vol. 7A, Ch. 26, paras. 8.1.4 and 8.1.5).
7. Whether NTS is authorized for what will not fit.
  Par. 0518-B-7 carries no weight limitation, pays for the packing and crating going in, and pays for delivery and unpacking when the goods come back to your local residence. It is a separate authorization from the move, so ask for it by name.
8. If you are moving yourself, which reimbursement paragraph applies.
  Par. 051502-B and par. 051502-C pay differently, and unless no transportation office is available, only a written instruction from the transportation officer puts you in the first one.

## Where These Rules Come From

Every rule above was read against the primary text on **24 September 2026**, and read
again the same day in a second review that checked every quotation word for word against its source.
The travel and transportation rules are the **Joint Travel Regulations, edition
08/01/2026**, published by the Per Diem, Travel, and Transportation Allowance Committee —
section 0519 in full with Table 5-40 (pars. 051901 through 051904), pars. 050502, 050508 and 050509
for the dislocation allowance, par. 050601 with Table 5-12 for TLE, Table 5-2 row 6 for travel time
and section 0503's opening paragraph for MALT Plus, section 0518 with pars. 0518-A and 0518-B for
storage in transit and non-temporary storage, par. 051306 for excess costs, par. 051502 for
personally procured transportation, par. 052012-B with Table 5-51 and par. 052013-D for separation
and retirement, par. 052401 with Table 5-59 for mobile homes, and Appendix A for the definitions of
government quarters, government-controlled quarters and privatized housing. Table 5-40 is reproduced
above row for row, and it, Table 5-51 and the paragraphs around them were read twice — once from the
PDF's text layer and once from the rendered page — because a mis-assigned row in a table is a wrong
entitlement with a citation attached. The other two tables above are this site's own summaries of
the paragraphs cited in their right-hand columns, not reproductions of anything in the
regulation.

The housing allowance rules are **DoD FMR Volume 7A, Chapter 26, "Housing Allowances"
(May 2025)** — paras. 8.1.2, 8.1.4, 8.1.5 and 9.0 and Table 26-3. The statutory sections were
read in full at the Legal Information Institute: **37 U.S.C. § 452** for the partial
dislocation allowance authority at subsection (c)(3), **37 U.S.C. § 453** for the
18,000-pound weight ceiling at subsection (c)(3), the chapter 8 editorial notes, which carry both
the "[SUBCHAPTER III—REPEALED]" heading and the record of Public Law 117–81, division A, title VI,
§ 604(b), December 27, 2021, 135 Stat. 1768, striking the item for § 476, **10 U.S.C.
§ 2882** for rent paid by allotment, and **50 U.S.C. § 3951** for its
heading.

One dollar figure appears above. The partial dislocation allowance is a single flat amount that
does not vary by grade or dependency status, which makes it worth stating; the full DLA rates are a
grade-by-grade table, so they live on the calculator linked above rather than typed into an article.
The JTR sends readers to the Defense Travel Management Office's DLA page for the partial rate, and
that page could not be opened from where this review was done, so the $1,002.71 above is the figure
this site computes with rather than one re-read at the source on the review date.

## Related Articles

- DLA calculator and rate table
  — the full rates by grade, and the partial rate beside them
- BAH calculator
  — the rate for your duty station, grade and dependency status
- Weight allowances by rank, and what going over costs
  — Table 5-37, for the local moves where it still applies
- PCS storage options and what the government pays for
  — how SIT and NTS work on an ordinary move
- BAH explained
  — how BAH is set, and how government quarters and privatized housing differ
- PCS travel days and what they pay
  — the travel time and MALT a real PCS authorizes
- Every PCS entitlement under the JTR
  — the full-distance version of everything above