Officials temporarily centralize PCS orders approval Published Sept. 2, 2010 By Daniel P. Elkins Air Force Personnel Center Public Affairs Office RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- Airmen receiving permanent-change-of-station orders in September will have their orders approved at a centralized location as officials here begin implementing procedures to close out the fiscal 2010 PCS budget. Active-duty Airmen with assignment report dates or a date eligible for return from overseas of January 2011 or earlier may be impacted by the new procedures. Airmen entering the service, separating or retiring are not affected. Air Force Personnel Center officials implemented procedures at the end of fiscal 2009 to ensure Airmen continue to receive orders in-hand no later than 60 days prior to their projected departure date, but no earlier than 90 days prior to their reporting date or DEROS. Those procedures also helped serve as a measure to better project PCS funding. "Fiscal 2009 proved to be an excellent closeout," said Lt. Col. Sean McElhaney Pahia, the chief of the AFPC Assignment Force Structure and Sustainment Branch. "Moving the orders approval function to AFPC in September 2009 allowed us to balance the PCS budget and ensure the availability of sufficient PCS funds to cover Air Force obligations." By the end of fiscal 2010, AFPC officials are on course to publish more than 69,000 orders. As fiscal 2010 comes to a close, officials are again closely observing base-level military personnel sections to ensure they do not exceed the overall number of orders allowed by the budget. Colonel McElhaney Pahia said it's imperative that the military personnel section officials and other orders-publishing authorities exercise diligence in continuing to process orders requiring relocation actions regardless of reporting dates while exercising thorough quality control for accuracy. If the monitoring of base military personnel sections reveals the Air Force is operating well within its budgeted PCS funds, then AFPC officials will approve as many orders as needed to meet mission requirements, Colonel McElhaney Pahia said. However, if remaining PCS funds are very limited, they will only approve orders for Airmen as an exception to policy on a case-by-case basis, officials said. Assignments considered under the exception to the policy include Airmen required to perform temporary duty en route between assignments, individual emergencies, personal hardships or those whose moves are in the best interest of the Air Force. For more information on orders publication, visit the AFPC personnel services website or call the Total Force Service Center at 800-525-0102.