TMO: what you should know Published April 7, 2015 By Senior Airman Kristoffer Kaubisch Minot Air Force Base Public Affairs MINOT AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. -- With the upcoming permanent change of station season, Airmen are beginning to plan for the move to their gaining bases. In order to get that started, they will need to contact the travel management office on base to help with their personal property. "A lot of times, members tend to wait until the last minute to try to schedule their move, which will lead to not having enough carriers to support the pickups that the members need," said Tech. Sgt. Torane Barnett, 5th Logistics Readiness Squadron section chief of personal property and passenger travel. "Those are some of the major disadvantages for TMO during PCS season." As soon as an Airman gets orders and finds out they are going to PCS, the member should start gathering their information for TMO. With the PCS season being so busy, and many TMO shipments across the United States, it is best not to wait until the last minute to get the process started. "They should visit TMO at least three weeks out from the time they need their property picked up, that way TMO can make sure things get taken care of accordingly," Barnett explained. "Definitely come see TMO, keep in mind that it depends on the location that the Airman is going to. There are different rules, regulations and entitlements based off of the location that they are going to. TMO will research that information and provide the member with the right information for whatever location they are going," Barnett said. Just like anything else in the military, the more time someone is given, the better opportunity they have to provide the member with the best service they can. TMO will ensure personal belongings and household goods are picked up on time and transported to their gaining base in a timely manner. Instead of trying to wait until the last minute, local carriers can make sure they accommodate the needs of the government. "Back in the day, a member would be able to come to TMO and we would have some flexibility to arrange or select a local agent here to help with the moving process. Now, we have to send the information to a joint personal property office, which is like a regionalized moving company in the sky for the military and they arrange everything for us," Barnett said. "It's cost effective for the government, but for us, it drops for the customer service side of the house." "With high-tempo deployments, TMO is almost to a point where they are minimally manned," Barnett said. "We are trying to do our best as the local traffic management office to sustain that same level of customer service and still be effective with saving the government money." Whether an Airman is remaining in the states, moving overseas or vice versa, TMO is there to help with the move. The rules and regulations are similar for state-side moves and overseas moves. The only difference is with a state-side to state-side move a member has the opportunity to do a personal procured move, which is taking their belongings in a personal vehicle and transporting them from the losing base to the gaining base. With an overseas move, the PPM is not available. Not only is TMO there to help with a PCS, but they also deal with moves for Airmen who are separating and retiring as well. For any further questions about TMO, please contact them at 701-723-2545.