Military Life

Stars and Strips has a good story describing what to do when household goods are lost or damaged during the shipping process:

http://stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=56711&archive=true

The article emphasizes first filing a claim with the transportation service provider. Claims are submitted to the personal property office or the military claims office if the transportation service provider denies your claim, or makes an offer that is not acceptable or does not respond within 30 days.

Here are some other important points listed in the story:

When service members move from place to place this is called a Permanent Change of Station (PCS). This process is initiated when one receives orders to a new duty station. Many times the service member can take vacation (leave) in conjunction with the move. Important considerations are the "detach date" and the "report date". The detach date is when the service member leaves his command. The report date last day for check-in at the new command.

Medical students are not authorized leave when reporting for internship.

Here is a general overview of the process:
1. Receiving new orders
2. Passing duty screening (if applicable)
3. Coordinating financial reimbursement for the move (mileage, lodging, etc)

The business of medicine in considerably different in the military compared with the civilian population. Here are some important considerations for transitioning from military to civilian life: