A mover lifts a box into the back of a moving truck during a Permanent Change of Station on Scott Air Force Base, Ill., July 18, 2025. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth on Friday, Jan. 23, 2025, announced the Pentagon is turning the PCS task force into a permanent, joint activity to reform how the department manages moves. (Stephanie Henry/U.S. Air Force)
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is turning the permanent change of station task force into a permanent, joint activity to reform how the department manages moves, the secretary of defense announced Friday.
“It will be a permanent solution for all service members who move,” Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said in a video posted on X. “We know moving is difficult for everyone involved. Our warfighters deserve the kind of predictability, accountability and respect during that process [that] brings the stress down and makes it something they can focus on their job.”
The Personal Property Activity, or PPA, will be based at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., and will report directly to Hegseth. The PPA will stand up officially on May 1. Before the formation of the task force, permanent change of station was managed through U.S. Transportation Command.
Hegseth in May 2025 ordered the formation of a Pentagon task force to improve the workflow behind permanent change of station moves under the Global Household Goods Contract, or GHC.
Moves under the contract began with a slow rollout more than a year ago but ramped up in earnest in 2025.
GHC was created because of service member complaints over the performance of the legacy system. But GHC has been plagued by late pickups and deliveries, and several U.S. senators commenced inquiries last spring into its shortcomings.
Army Maj. Gen. Lance Curtis, who has led the task force since June 2025, has been selected as the PPA’s first commander.
More than half of spouses are unhappy with military life, continuing a downward trend in recent years related to family frustrations over quality-of-life issues such as frequent moves and employment difficulties, according to a Defense Department survey released May 16 to Congress.
“Our warriors deserve the best, and that’s what this reform will deliver,” Hegseth said.