Relocation Assistance

Your Military and Family Support Center provides relocation assistance to help make PCS moves as smooth as possible. Resources include:

• PCS planning: Most relocation assistance programs offer consultations to help you with the moving process. If this your first military move, your first time moving overseas or you have challenging or complex circumstances contact your installation Relocation Assistance Program as soon as possible for support.
• Plan My Move: An online Defense Department relocation tool that provides you with customizable checklists and links to helpful resources for the tasks ahead.
• Military OneSource: A website and call center that offer 24/7 support for moving information and resources. Learn more about PCS basics and download this fact sheet 7 Steps to Make Your Household Goods Move a Smart Move. For comprehensive moving resources and information, including Defense Personal Property log in details, visit Moving Your Personal Property.
• Workshops and briefings: Workshops vary by location. You may find classes on housing options, moving with children, moving with pets and more.
• Predeparture briefings: These sessions provide essential information about your move and may be required for some populations.
• Special needs: If you have a child or family member enrolled in the Exceptional Family Member Program, contact your installation EFMP-Family Support office to assist you.
• Settling-in services: Look for welcome programs or local area tours that may offered. Overseas services may include introductory language classes and cultural awareness activities.
• Foreign-born spouse support: Assistance includes information and referral to resources such as immigration and naturalization.
• Emergency assistance: Sometime emergencies occur while moving. The Military and Family Support Center has the resources to provide emergency financial assistance, as well as information and referrals.
• Authorized housing flexibility options: Eligible service members with PCS orders may be entitled to flexibilities such as extended stays in government housing and early housing eligibility. Contact your military personnel office for more information.
• Spouse licensure reimbursement: Your service branch may reimburse spouses up to $1,000 for relicensure and certification costs resulting from relocations or PCS moves. See this Military OneSource article Transferring Your Professional License for more information and specific service branch policies.

As part of the 502 Air Base Wing and the 802nd Force Support Squadron, the Joint Base San Antonio Military and Family Readiness Centers incorporate Airman and Family Readiness, Army Community Service, and the Fleet and Family Support Center, providing a full range of programs and services to support mission readiness.

Note: When planning for your relocation, keep in mind that Fort Sam Houston, Lackland Air Force Base and Randolph Air Force Base are not joint, as in one installation, but are individual installations about 16-18 miles apart. The most common mistake new arrivals make is renting a house close to one base and being assigned to another, resulting in unnecessary travel every day.

Below is a summary of relocation services by installation:

JBSA Fort Sam Houston

The M&FRC Relocation Readiness Program is the first point of contact for relocation information and assistance. You can get up-to-date information about your new community before you move, learn how to prepare for your move, get help in planning your moving costs, check out the job market and learn new skills to reduce the stress of moving. Below is a list of some of the services we offer:

• Newcomers orientation for service members
• Newcomers orientation for spouses
• Lending Closet
• Post historical tour
• Immigration and citizenship
• Relocation guides and installation maps
• One-on-one consultation

If you are relocating to JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, contact the Relocation Readiness Program by calling 210-221-2418/2705.

JBSA Lackland Air Force Base

The M&FRC at Lackland AFB has several services to assist airmen and their family members with acclimating to the base and community. One of the more challenging aspects of this assignment is the large size of the base and moving to the seventh-largest city in the United States. The staff is available to assist with all aspects of settling in, whether it is merely an explanation of the layout of the city and the installation, choosing which areas to live, or where to start looking for employment If you did not receive a welcome package, we will prepare one for you when you stop by our building.

Lackland AFB is commonly known as the "Gateway to the Air Force" because all enlisted members, whether active duty, Guard, or Reserve, begin their careers here at basic military training. Because of this unique mission, the base receives thousands of requests from individuals and small groups for tours each year. Lackland is no longer an open installation, so all guests must be sponsored by someone with a valid military identification card. For further information, visit the www.jbsa.mil for additonal information for all three locations.

Services offered are the same as FSH and RAN.  Note:  Lending Closet and Loan Locker are located at FSH and RAN only.

English for Speakers of Other Languages is not offered on the installation, but there are numerous resources in the community. Contact us at 210-671-3722 for a list of the possibilities.

JBSA Randolph Air Force Base

The Randolph Relocation Assistance Center has an array of programs, services, and resources available to you and your family. Listed below is only a sample of what we have to offer.

• Base brochures
• Welcome kits with great resources, including a city and base map
• Loan Locker
• Self-help computer stations
• Child Care for PCS (24 hours of free child care for active duty Air Force members within 60 days of PCS move, in or out)
• One-on-one briefings for additional assistance top-notch customer service

NOTE:  A Newcomer Orientation Briefing for services members is held at each location once you arrive.  A Pre-Arrival Briefing is also held each month via zoom prior to arrival.  Spouses are encouraged to attend with the service member.  Open to all DoD ID card holders PCSing to JBSA.

For further information about the San Antonio area, refer to the San Antonio Guide to Relocation website. It is a chamber of commerce guide to the city and the areas around it, including Randolph AFB. For more information, contact us at 210-652-5321.