Which PCS Allowance Covers What
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At a glance
A PCS order can trigger more allowances than one calculator handles. This table routes each moving cost to the allowance that pays it and the authority behind it; rows backed by a saved regulation page are described, and rows we've only seen named in the JTR's own examples index are marked as pointers.
- Checked
- September 21, 2026
- Next check
- December 19, 2026
- Work it out
- PPM (DITY) move calculator Open the PPM (DITY) move calculator
On this page
A PCS move touches several allowances at once, and it's tempting to look for one calculator that handles them all. This site's tools and guides cover three pieces of it: the PPM incentive, the weight allowance behind it, and Dislocation Allowance. A PCS order can trigger more than that. The table below routes each cost to the allowance that pays it and the authority behind it. Rows this site can back with a saved regulation page are described; rows we've only ever seen named in the JTR's own index of computation examples are marked as pointers, not worked out here.
Cost, allowance and authority
| Cost | Allowance | Authority |
|---|---|---|
| Moving your own household goods yourself | The PPM monetary allowance, the taxable "incentive" | JTR §051502; FMR Vol 9 Ch 6 §3.2 |
| Quarters and household disruption from a PCS, for an eligible member | Dislocation Allowance (DLA) | JTR §0505; FMR Vol 9 Ch 6 §6 |
| Driving your own POV from the old PDS to the new one | MALT, paid together with per diem as "MALT Plus" | JTR (pointer — no MALT mileage table saved here) |
| Daily travel costs en route, or a civilian employee's house-hunting trip | Per diem | JTR; DTMO's Per Diem Rate Lookup (pointer — no per diem rate table saved here) |
| Lodging just before or after a CONUS PCS move | Temporary Lodging Expense (TLE) | JTR (pointer — our only saved source is the JTR examples index) |
Rows this site can back up
The PPM incentive and DLA both rest on saved regulation text, not just a title in an index. The DITY (PPM) move calculator works the incentive from DFAS's own page and FMR Vol 9 Ch 6 §3.2.3; what Dislocation Allowance is works the same chapter's §6, deliberately without a dollar figure, since this site holds no DLA rate table. The claim packet lists what DFAS wants filed for the PPM side of a move.
Rows that are pointers, not descriptions
MALT, per diem and TLE all appear in DTMO's Joint Travel Regulations Computations and Examples index, a page of links to worked JTR examples, not the regulation text itself. What the saved pages do establish: MALT is paid together with per diem as "MALT Plus," and OHA's own rule notices that pairing directly — "OHA is not payable on the arrival day when MALT Plus is paid." Past that one interaction, we haven't saved the JTR sections that set a mileage rate, a per diem locality figure or a TLE day limit, so this table doesn't compute any of the three. DTMO's Per Diem Rate Lookup keeps the current per diem figures, and its Temporary Lodging Expenses FAQ is the place to start on TLE. The one per diem rule we do have real text on is a civilian employee's house-hunting trip, and it stays civilian: "Advances and payment for house hunting trips are based on the prescribed locality per diem rate, when paid under the lump sum method." That's a rule for civilian employees under FMR Vol 9 Ch 6 §9, not a Service member's PCS travel per diem, and nothing in the saved sources extends it to a member's own move.
Sources (5)
- DoD Financial Management Regulation, Volume 9, Chapter 6 (Permanent Duty Travel) comptroller.war.gov
- DoD Financial Management Regulation, Volume 7A, Chapter 26, Section 3 (MALT Plus and the start of OHA) comptroller.war.gov
- DTMO, Joint Travel Regulations Computations and Examples index travel.dod.mil
- DTMO, Per Diem Rate Lookup travel.dod.mil
- DTMO, Temporary Lodging Expenses FAQ travel.dod.mil
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