Having a son or daughter who serves in the military is a source of great pride for any parent. When they are deployed in a faraway location, however, that pride may be tinged with concern and longing to have them safely back on American soil.
This is why many parents with a son or daughter in the military find themselves wanting to help their child with navigating the relocation process when orders to return to the States are expected. If you are among this group of proud parents, here are some helpful tips you can use to make the upcoming military relocation process as easy as possible for your child.
Be their eyes and ears
While you probably do not live in the area where your deployed child will be stationed upon their return to the United States, you can still do many things to help them while they are overseas. One of the most important ways is to simply be their eyes and ears until they return.
Deployed sons and daughters can find it very difficult to make arrangements for the living quarters and basic services they will need when they return to the States and begin to get settled at their next duty station. Parents who can assist them with finding a qualified real estate or property management firm or assist with locating and contacting utility providers and moving companies are helping to relieve some of the stress of the military relocation process for their child.
Parents who live within a reasonable distance of the area where their deployed child will be PCS-ing to upon their return may even be able to do much of the legwork of looking at homes or apartments for their child.
Act as a safe, affordable holding facility
Another way in which parents can assist a deployed child with an upcoming relocation process is simply to act as their holding facility until they arrive back in the states. Parents can receive and store their child's orders of household appliances, furnishings, and other items much more affordably than renting a storage unit. Parents can then help their children arrange for the items to be transported directly to the new home after the deployment is up so they will be able to more easily move ahead with the relocation process and deal with the stress of returning from deployment.
Parents who want to help even more with their military child's relocation process can learn more about how to do so by contacting and working closely with a military home relocation agent.
