You’ve been staying socially distant from others for months. No one has crossed that threshold since March. And now you’re getting ready to have movers pack up all your stuff and ship it to somewhere else.

10 Things You Need to Do for a Safe Pandemic PCS

To get yourself ready and keep everyone safe, you should consider doing these 10 simple things.

1. Make Your Wishes Known

Not everyone, unfortunately, is following the same safety precautions. But that shouldn’t mean that your family needs to compromise on safety.

Instead, make your COVID precautions known early and often. Start by letting the move coordinator know what you’re expecting, then repeat that to the company representative.

Post a sign on the door with your expectations for safety: masks, gloves, sanitizer, etc.

Then, remind your movers politely of what you’d like them to do so that you can all stay safe right now.

2. Require Hand Sanitizer

If you can find it, grab a few larger containers of hand sanitizer and station them around the house. Placing sanitizers at your front door, in the kitchen and near the bathroom would be a great start!

3. Offer Masks & Gloves

Not everyone wears masks and gloves or has access to them. To be safe, consider buying a pack of disposable masks and nitrile gloves.

Offer masks and gloves to the movers for your pack-up and your unpack.

Oh, and even though it’s your house, you and your family should mask up for the duration of the packing or unpacking process.

4. Designate a Restroom

You probably already do this, but if you can designate one bathroom just for the movers to use. Stock it with soap, sanitizer, Lysol wipes and disposable paper towels.

5. Pre-Pack as Much as You Can

Whether moving companies will pack Rubbermaid totes as-is or will unpack them and repack them is up to each business. However, many will just pack your pre-boxed household goods without question.

If you’re not comfortable with the movers touching all of your things, consider pre-packing your clothes, kitchen tools and utensils or other high-touch items.

6. Individually Wrapped Snacks & Drinks

Many of us buy the movers pizza or doughnuts as a thank you for a good move. However, it might be smarter this year to buy a bunch of individually wrapped granola bars and stock a cooler with bottles of water.

Less shared food and drinks could mean fewer germs floating around.

7. Shoe Covers to Prevent Germs Walking Around

Stop extra dirt (and germs) from getting tracked inside your house by offering sanitary shoe covers. Mover should use them inside the house as much as possible.

8. Hire a COVID-Safe Sitter

Kids get underfoot during a normal move. But to prevent them from exposure outside your pandemic-safe bubble, consider keeping your children out the house entirely.

Hire a sitter or ask a friend to watch them for the day, if you can.

9. Monitor from a Distance

Getting up close and personal to watch the packers at work isn’t really a thing in 2020. Sure, you should still monitor how things are going, but try to keep your distance.

Check each box before it gets loaded into the truck and ask about what’s in it. Then cross-reference it on your list of items and boxes to be sure.

10. Stocking Up on Cleaners & Wipes

Cleaning has never been more important, especially when you have strangers coming into your home for an extended period of time.

Before the movers come, wipe everything down with a sanitizing cleaner. As people move room to room, consider following them and wiping down any surfaces. When the move is over or if you’re sharing a restroom, wipe it down between users. Basically, clean everything before, during and after!

You’re going to need a lot of Clorox!

How has your family handled a pandemic PCS season? Sound off in the comments!

Troops are returning to business as usual, but their children are largely left in limbo due to a patchwork approach to K-12 education and child care options. As a result, military spouses are feeling the stress as many must also return to work or college this fall.

Military Spouses Adapt, Overcome Pandemic Related K-12 Education Obstacles

Military spouses are concerned about how much they are shouldering and the sacrifices they are making due to the evolving pandemic crisis.

“I just had to make the tough decision to leave my job teaching preschool,” Becky, located on the East Coast, shared. “I love my job, but taking care of the needs of my (kids) in this uncertain time is more important.”

While military spouses are used to career and education fluctuations due to PCSing and the needs of the military, balancing their professional pursuits while also existing in a crisis state has compounded the impact. Several military spouses shared that they needed to make hard decisions about their careers and small businesses.

Katie S., a military spouse with a deployed husband, has also seen her small business change in radical ways due to the pandemic.

“I have had to take a giant step back from my business and allow my team to take over some areas I wasn’t planning on stepping away from for a few more years,” she said. “There is simply not enough time in the day, so something had to give. This is a business that I have built from the ground up over the past 3 years. It has grown beyond my wildest dreams and it is incredibly sad to step back and slow such massive growth, but my family comes first.”

Sam, who is stationed OCONUS, needs to take a step back from pursuing her college degree due to uncertainty of child care and K-12 education this fall.

“I’m in college and have switched to only online courses this fall,” she explained. “I will only be able to do 9 credits so I am not considered full time and will most likely take me longer to obtain my degree in accounting. I may end up dropping a class because there’s not enough time in the day.”

However, all military spouses shared that they were making personal and professional sacrifices to better support their families during an uncertain time.

Through a PCS, Amanda, who moved from Germany to Colorado this summer, has had to make major decisions without knowing exactly what her options would be.

“We started the Pandemic at Ramstein, Germany,” she said. “We are now in Colorado. We are learning by the day how the pandemic will impact the school year. It is very uncomfortable to return to a new school under these conditions.”

Varied Education Decisions Lead to Uncertainty for Parents

Military spouses who responded were located around the US and the world. Sam, who is living OCONUS, is relying on local day care options combined with DODEA. Katie has children enrolled in DODEA schools stateside, but must look to state-level education decisions to drive her planning for the fall. Becky also lives in the US in a region where many school districts are beginning the school year remotely, with future plans to consider returning in-person. Amanda, who recently moved back to the US, has four children with three in elementary school and one is middle school.

Sam has two children in DODEA schools, ranging from first grade to middle school, with her third child attending a local preschool. Right now, she is torn between the needs of her children in K-12 schools that conflict with her own college education and her preschooler. Sam also has a two-year-old child who is receiving services from EDIS.

“(W)e do not know how it will affect our morning routine and if I will need my four-year-old to not return to Youchien,” she said. “If my 6-year-old needs to be on the computer at 8am, I won’t be able to take my four-year-old to school for an 8:30 drop off.”

Right now, neither of her children have a firm schedule of classes and expectations. Instead, they have a general outline of their school day, which falls between 8:00 am and 3:00 pm. However, she does not know when her children will need to be “live” online or when they can work independently.

Becky knows that her older child will be attending high school online through winter break, but her younger children in elementary and middle school may return to in-person or hybrid learning sometime after October.

“The uncertainty of the kid’s schedules–virtual school for the older two until after winter break, virtual start for the elementary school child with a possibility to attend with a hybrid plan after October, a delayed start to preschool, no update to the IEP for services yet or what those schedules will look like–was too much to try to coordinate with a to-be-determined preschool schedule.”

Katie opted to pull both of her children from traditional classrooms in order to homeschool this year.

“After our experience this spring we have decided homeschool would be the best fit for our son out of the options given so I will be homeschooling him and our PreK daughter while working from home,” she shared.

Due to her PCS, Amanda has made the decision for in-person schooling if and when it’s available.

If we stayed in-place, we would have chosen virtual learning,” she explained. “My kids thrived learning at home. They were able to work at their own pace and take breaks when needed. We have no connections here. My kids will need school to help build those connections. Then maybe we will choose to return to virtual learning. But only after they’ve made connections to their teachers and built a friendship base.”

IEPs Major Driver of Education Uncertainty, Decisions for Parents

Two of the four military spouses we spoke with have children with IEPs. None are certain that their IEPs will be implemented correctly or effectively this fall. In part, their feelings are driven by their experiences with virtual learning in spring 2020.

Becky, as of mid-August, had not hear about how IEPs would be implemented. Her concern is compounded due to the fact that her child is also making the transition between middle school and high school.

“My oldest child has an emotional disability and many of his services were postponed” Becky said. “I worry about him starting high school without that last quarter of middle school to help him grow and prepare. I also worry about how overwhelming online high school will be.”

Katie’s decision to homeschool was largely influenced by her experiences of IEP assessments and services during virtual learning this spring.

“My first grade son is autistic and virtual school this spring was a disaster for us. The lack of structure and routine made it extremely hard for him to focus on his school work.”

Many children with ASD, or autism spectrum disorders, thrive with a steady routine and schedule.

In addition to receiving a disability diagnosis, Katie’s son was also stuck in IEP no-man’s-land as assessments were requested just before COVID-19 forced her child’s school to close. This paused his testing and left him without a clear education plan in place.

“He not only did not make forward progress in his education, but we noticed a drastic decrease in previously mastered skills,” Katie explained. “His autism diagnosis was made in February, we requested his IEP evaluation within a week or two of diagnosis but due to COVID we did not even begin the evaluation process prior to school closures. Due to this he had no additional help or accommodations to help him through the virtual learning process. This was all on our plates as parents to sort out on our own.”

Making the Best with the Hand They are Dealt

While Katie is powering through homeschooling and running her how business while her husband is deployed, she also acknowledges that schools are in a tough spot.

“I feel they did the best with the hand they were dealt,” she explained. “The schools are forced to work with the guidelines set by the state and had to wait until those guidelines were decided before they could make their game plan.”

As a teacher, Becky is in a unique position to understand pandemic education decisions as a parent and as an educator.

“I have significant concerns about the quality of the content that will be taught and the accountability, not because of a lack of faith in the teachers, but because this is new for everyone,” she explained. “Teachers are in a unique and challenging position planning new content and delivery and I hope we are able to support them on our end for a successful first semester!”

Amanda, also an educator and co-author of Seasons of My Military Student, is hopeful and excited about possible innovations that improve learning for the future.

“While the pandemic is a horrible reason to cause schools to shut down, I hope leadership really takes advantage of the amazing new opportunities available to schools,” she explained. “The new access to technology, learning platforms, virtual field trips, hybrid or virtual options. Let’s embrace the positive aspects of this crisis and use it to build amazing programs for kids.”

How is your military family adapting to K-12 education during the COVID-19 pandemic? Share your experiences in the comments!

PFC Vanessa Guillen, age 20, was last seen alive on April 22. On July 5, her remains were identified. What happened in the weeks and months in between are shining a light on the military’s process of reporting and investigating sexual harassment and assault in the ranks.

Vanessa Guillen’s Disappearance & Death Sheds Light on DOD Sexual Harassment Reporting Flaws

According to reports from Guillen’s family and friends, she had confided in them about several instances of sexual harassment in the months leading up to her disappearance. ABC News reported that Guillen had experienced repeated harassment, including a supervisor watching her shower. However, she had not reported anything to her chain of command out of a fear of reprisals.

Since then, female troops and veterans have flooded social media using the hashtag #IamVanessaGuillen, sharing their own experiences with sexual assault and harassment in the military.

Flawed Reporting Practices Exposed?

From across the services, women are coming forward to share their experiences – and retaliation for reporting.

I was a brand new 2LT when I was sexually assaulted by my OIC. I spoke out; my CMD team took it seriously. Evidence has been found of past instances for this OIC and he’s now facing multiple charges. Despite a “good” outcome for me, reform is needed #IAmVanessaGuillen pic.twitter.com/vbLLA8FVsA

— Mary (@mjolly36) July 14, 2020

Military Times shared the story of former Army Spc. Ashley Martinez, who said that her chain of command actively worked to discredit her after reporting a rape. Ultimately, Martinez left the Army as a result of this process.

https://twitter.com/ashtayluh/status/1278423464718880768

Martinez is one among hundred of sexual assault survivors who are coming forward in the wake of Guillen’s disappearance and death. Many survivors report that their cases were ignored or that their were attempts to discredit their accounts. Some shared that they ultimately left the military while their attackers continue to progress through the ranks.

Hundreds Share Stories of Survival Online

Survivors are coming forward and sharing their stories online and with media outlets. News organizations like ABC, PBS, The Guardian and Military Times are all sharing stories of sexual assault, harassment and retaliation. Popular true crime podcast, The Murder Squad, dedicated two separate episodes to Guillen’s case exploring additional unsolved murders and discussing the military sexual assault reporting process as well.

Across the different outlets, the theme of retaliation for reporting was consistent.

Army veteran Tiffany Summa told PBS News Hour that she was raped in 2009. She waited 6 years for the results of her rape kit. When she summoned up the courage to report it to her command, she was told to bury it and ignore it. Summa shared that she was further threatened that this high ranking officer would “bury” her if she did not comply.

Legislation was proposed in 2013 to remove the chain of command, including officers like the one Summa encountered, and place investigations in the hands of independent prosecutors. However, this bill was countered with proposal to keep investigations centered around the chain of command. Ultimately, the chain of command remains central to investigations of sexual assault and harassment.

In addition, military members are prohibited from suing the military for damages over injuries that occur while they are in the service.

Options for Reporting Sexual Assault & Harassment in Ranks

There are two types of reports that victims can make, restricted and unrestricted. Restricted reporting limits options in terms of pursuing prosecution while also offering supports like therapy or medical care. Unrestricted reporting essentially makes the report public, allowing for military prosecution.

Victims may report sexual assault to:

• medical professional
• chain of command
• military law enforcement
• civilian law enforcement
• SARC/SHARP representative
• therapist or other mental health care provider

Victims wishing to remain anonymous or receive assistance without triggering an investigation can file restricted reports with SARC/SHARP, a medical professional.

Once an unrestricted report has been made it cannot be converted to a restricted report. However, survivors may elect to change their restricted report to an unrestricted report in order to trigger an investigation.

DOD Stats Show Troubling Trend

For fiscal year 2018, the most recent data available, 24.2% of female troops indicated that they had experienced sexual harassment. In addition, 6.2% indicated that they had been sexually assaulted.

Of those who reported sexual assault, 21% of those cases met the criteria of retaliation or retaliatory behavior.

The report also noted that experiencing sexual harassment statistically increased the odds of sexual assault. Approximately 1 in 5 victims of sexual harassment would be sexually assaulted.

There was also a statistically significant increase of women reporting sexual assault across all service branches.

It should be noted that these numbers indicate sexual harassment and assault that was reported to the service member’s chain of command. It does not account for cases that were not reported.

Have you experienced sexual assault or harassment while serving in the military? Did you report it? Were you retaliated against?