PCS Story Contest: 6th Place Winner
by Lizann Lightfoot - November 3rd, 2021
PCSgrades, in partnership with Shyft, The Home Depot, Radisson Hotels Americas, and US Logistics, is excited to announce the 6th place winner of their 2021 PCS Story Contest.
During the month of August, military and veteran families were invited to share their most memorable PCS story. Entrants had the chance to win a fully-funded PCS move from Shyft, a major gift card from The Home Depot, or 300,000 Radisson Rewards Americas Points. After receiving hundreds of entries in the contest, a panel of judges evaluated the stories based on entertainment, inspirational, and emotional value.
We hoped to hear real PCS stories from real military families, and we certainly did! There were humorous stories of things that went wrong during moves, frustrating stories of families forced to change plans, and spooky stories of getting lost in the middle of nowhere. We will be sharing the winning stories here on our blog over the next few weeks.
The 6th Place Prize is awarded to Army spouse Katelynn Heavilon and her soldier! They will receive $750 in gift cards from The Home Depot. Their PCS story shares the frustration of a military move, and the resilience of military spouses forced to change their home and job based on the "needs of the Army."
"We came home from our first cruise vacation to be smacked in the face with short orders for him to report to a school house in just a couple weeks--over a year prior to his slotted class date. The panic began to set in as I knew this meant an upcoming PCS. We purchased our first home at this duty station, which meant we had to decide if we wanted to rent or sell. He quickly left for school after deciding we would sell. Over the next few months, I painted our entire home, floor to ceiling, doors and all. We had new flooring laid in the bedrooms and the exterior painted. After contracting on an in-progress new build home at our gaining duty station, I listed our beloved home for sale to receive a mountain of offers within 48 hours. We accepted an offer and thought the chaos would finally subside, as our new duty station was only a few hours away. I could move ahead of him upon completion of our new home, and I had been offered multiple jobs using my newly-obtained masters degree.
That's when the Army dropped the bomb on me: about halfway through his six-month schooling, they pulled his orders for our dream location, which caused me to turn down some amazing job offers. That stung, but then the real panic set in when I realized our home was already under contract and I would not have a place to live in a few short weeks. Little did I know that the Army would leave us without orders for the next 3.5 months. He finished his schooling and returned to a tiny little apartment I acquired, and began to clear base. We still had no orders, but were told he was to report to his new unit in three weeks. They were saying he could be staying at Fort Hood, Texas or be sent to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, or JBLM in Washington state, but they think it's Bragg. The planner in me began to panic as I searched job markets and clung to my current job for dear life.
Finally, two weeks prior to his report date, they handed us orders to Fort Bragg. I immediately submit my two-week notice to my employer and we begin to pack. We scheduled a U-Haul, as we were told there was no chance of the military movers arriving prior to our departure. Moving day came, which was also my last day at work. I finished my last shift and rushed to our apartment and pulled my car right onto the car dolly. We said some major thank you's to our friends who had helped so much over the last couple weeks and waved see ya later and were on the road. We made it to our first hotel around 11:30 that night. He went in to pay for the room we had reserved and check in. He quickly came back to the car with a defeated look. They did not reserve us a pet room as requested and all of their pet rooms were occupied. We stood there staring at our dogs on a hot and humid late July night in the South as we called every hotel in Shreveport seeking a pet-friendly room. We were unsuccessful. We were mentally preparing to get back on the road to drive another hour and a half to the next hotel that had a pet room available when the front desk attendant popped around the corner and asked him to come back inside. She had contacted all of the hotel chain's sister locations in the area and found no availability, so she begged her manager to authorize our pets to stay in a regular room and she was successful! That night's sleep may have been the best of my life after all the stress and madness the year had brought so far."
PCSgrades, Shyft, The Home Depot, Radisson Hotels Americas, and US Logistics are all happy that we can help during your next PCS move. We hope the next one goes more smoothly! Congratulations to the Heavilon family.
The PCS Story Contest judging panel included: Besa Pinchotti of NMFA (National Military Family Association), Cameron Cruse of R. Riveter, Penny Bolden of Blue Star Families, Lori Simmons of the Armed Forces Insurance Military Spouse of the Year Program, Natasha Harth, the 2016 Military Spouse of the Year, Whitney Armstrong of MSAN (Military Spouse Advocacy Network), Sam Meek of Sandboxx, and Maria Reed of Moving with the Military.
Lizann Lightfoot, the "Seasoned Spouse" is a professional writer and speaker for the military community. After two decades with her service member, her family has been through 7 deployments and 6 PCS moves. Lizann has raised 5 children and published several books for military families. Her most recent book is "Open When: Letters of Encouragement for Military Spouses" published Sept 2021 by Elva Resa. You can find Lizann's articles and resources at SeasonedSpouse.com
