Readiness Checklists

• Build a single document binder: orders, birth certificates, marriage certificate, Social Security cards, passports, shot records, school transcripts, vehicle titles, and insurance policies.
• Get a general power of attorney and a special power of attorney for anything specific — selling a car, signing a lease, closing on a house.
• Update your will, beneficiary designations, and SGLI elections. These go stale quietly.
• Start the housing decision. Buy, rent, or on-base waitlist all have different lead times.
• If you are buying, get pre-approved now so you know your real number instead of guessing.

• Lock in your household goods pickup window or commit to a PPM.
• Notify your landlord in writing and cite the military clause in your lease.
• Request school records and research enrollment requirements at the new district — the Interstate Compact protects military kids on course placement and graduation requirements.
• Schedule medical, dental, and veterinary records transfers. Pets need current rabies and health certificates, and overseas moves need much more lead time.
• Set up a moving budget: deposits, travel days, lodging, meals, and the gap between paying two housing costs at once.

• Confirm pack and load dates in writing.
• Cancel or transfer utilities with dates, not intentions.
• Change your address with your bank, insurance, DEERS, and the post office.
• Set aside a do-not-pack zone and label it aggressively. Movers will pack a trash can with trash in it.
• Photograph everything of value.

If you are a single service member or dual-military, a family care plan is not optional and it needs to be current, signed, and actually workable — including who has legal authority to make medical and school decisions for your children.

For deployments, the same readiness logic applies: powers of attorney, access to accounts, a communication plan, and a written list of who to call for what. The families who do best are the ones who wrote it down while everyone was calm.

• You will front costs and get reimbursed later. Assume a lag.
• Advance pay and travel advances exist, but they are repaid out of future paychecks — treat them as loans.
• BAH changes with the new zip code. Confirm the new rate before you sign a lease at the old one.
• Keep every receipt. Some are reimbursable, some are deductible, and you will not remember which in April.