PCS Dashboard

Your PCS, organized.

The PCS Dashboard is the planning tool we built for military families moving to Fort Hood. It gives structure to the move without pretending to replace the people or systems you still need.

Open the PCS Dashboard How it works

The Tool

Built around how a PCS actually works.

The PCS Dashboard is a Progressive Web App (PWA) — works in your browser, no app store download needed. It is built around the actual timeline of a Permanent Change of Station (PCS), not a generic moving checklist written for civilian relocations.

It is for active-duty service members and military spouses moving to Fort Hood, whether you just got orders, are thirty days out, or are halfway through the drive wondering what you forgot. The timing changes. The structure still helps.

We built it because PCS planning usually gets scattered across browser tabs, spouse Facebook posts, screenshots, sticky notes, spreadsheets, sponsor texts, and half-finished checklists. That works until something important gets missed.

How It Works

Two minutes of walkthrough.

Eddie walks through the PCS Dashboard from sign-in through the first checklist so you can see exactly how it works before using it. If you are the kind of person who wants to understand the tool before committing to it, start here.

Features

What it handles.

Built around the actual decisions and tasks a PCS family hits.

Phase-based timeline

Planning is broken into "Before You Arrive" and "You're Here" so you are only dealing with the tasks that match your current phase.

Saved progress

Your checklist progress stays with you across phone, tablet, and desktop so you can stop and resume without losing your place.

Magic-link sign-in

No password to remember. We send a secure email link, you open it, and you are in.

Scout AI assistant

Ask direct Fort Hood questions and get answers grounded in the same relocation framework the rest of this site is built around.

Sponsor section integrations

Where useful, we connect you with lenders, title resources, insurance contacts, and vetted local partners relevant to the move.

Works offline

Once loaded, the PCS Dashboard continues functioning even if your connection drops while traveling or mid-task.

Honest Limitations

What it's not.

The PCS Dashboard does not file your orders, replace your sponsor, calculate your specific Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH), or substitute for your unit chain of command. If you need official BAH numbers, it points you to the Defense Travel Management Office calculator. If you need command guidance, that still comes from command.

What it does do is reduce the chaos between those official systems. The small sequencing decisions that families miss because they are exhausted, distracted, or relying on memory. That is the gap this tool is built to cover.

The Phases

How a PCS actually unfolds.

This is the compressed version. The PCS Dashboard handles the detailed version. If you are not ready to open the tool yet, this gives you the basic operating picture.

Phase 01

Orders Received

~60 days out

This is the research phase. You either have orders, expect them imminently, or know movement is coming. Most of what matters here is information gathering, not hard commitments.

Families often make mistakes here by moving too fast. Signing leases before understanding commute reality. Falling in love with neighborhoods before checking school assignments. Making financial assumptions before seeing the actual Fort Hood landscape.

If you are here, start with the Honest Guide and Neighborhoods pages before making housing decisions.

Handle in this window

Verify orders, reporting date, and receiving unit details
Update Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) records if dependent information changed
Read the Honest Guide and Schools page if children are involved
Identify which Fort Hood gate your assignment will likely use
Confirm Household Goods (HHG) scheduling and shipment timing

Phase 02

Active Planning

~30 days out

Now the move becomes operational. Housing decisions become real. School paperwork starts. Temporary lodging questions matter. Personally Owned Vehicle (POV) movement gets scheduled. If buying, financing gets serious.

This is where disconnected planning becomes expensive. School choice affects neighborhood. Neighborhood affects commute. Commute affects quality of life. Lodging timing affects everything downstream.

The PCS Dashboard breaks this phase into smaller, ordered modules so you are not trying to mentally juggle the whole move at once.

Handle in this window

Confirm temporary lodging plan and Temporary Lodging Expense (TLE) eligibility
Begin school enrollment paperwork with the receiving district
If buying, get pre-approved with a lender familiar with VA financing
Plan POV shipment or self-drive timing
Lock housing decisions through lease execution or contract finalization

Phase 03

Arrival Window

~2 weeks before to 30 days after

At this point, planning becomes execution. You are either driving, arriving, in-processing, or trying to stabilize family life while handling admin tasks.

This is where exhausted families miss the boring things that create headaches later. Vehicle registration. Healthcare transitions. School transcript follow-up. Driver licensing. Community integration.

The "You're Here" side of the PCS Dashboard is built specifically around this phase.

Handle in this window

Complete unit in-processing requirements
Register vehicles at Bell County Tax Office and update driver's license at Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
Complete TRICARE updates and primary care manager assignment
Finalize school enrollment and transcript transfer coordination
Connect with local spouse support and Army Community Service (ACS) resources

The Why

Why this exists.

Eddie has done multiple PCS moves over two decades in uniform. Kimi has done them as the spouse carrying the invisible logistics load that usually lands off the service member's plate. Different roles. Same frustration.

After enough moves, patterns become obvious. The details change by installation, but the decision sequence repeats. Housing. Schools. Transportation. Healthcare. Admin. Family stabilization. The structure is reusable even when the destination changes.

The PCS Dashboard is our attempt to package that structure into something usable for Fort Hood families without turning it into bloated software theater. It is practical. Free. Built to actually get used.

Talk It Through

Want a person instead?

The PCS Dashboard handles structure. If your move needs an actual conversation about gates, assignment nuance, school transitions, or family-specific complications, call.

Just real answers from people who've been exactly where you are.

931-263-4200

Book a Strategy Session

We answer the phone. If scheduling is easier, use the link.