Service members supporting Army wife, veteran after she accuses military movers of theft, abuse

US military dependents are speaking up about irresponsible movers, who reportedly destroy household goods and treat servicemember families like dirt.

Writing an “Open Letter” to elected officials, Army wife Megan Harless (2018 Fort Eustis Military Spouse of the Year) addressed the issue of moving companies that mistreat military families by destroying priceless goods.

“Every year thousands of military service members and their families pack up and move on military orders,” she wrote. “All of their memories, heirlooms, worldly possessions, keepsakes, pro-gear, kids toys, and some useless stuff, otherwise known as household goods (HHGs) gets packed up by contracted strangers, loaded onto a truck and driven across country.”

Of course, that seems to be where Harless is upset, noting that the most often result is less than ideal.

“Boxes will be unloaded smashed and torn, furniture will come off broken in multiple pieces, and other items will just go missing.”

She asserted that over “the last 2 years the average claim has been around $10,000, with an average of only 50-60% of that being paid out.”

She claims the moving companies often hire felons, who aren’t even allowed to come on to military installations.

“Many of these companies do not understand how military bases work- usually sending drivers or crews who have a felony background, can’t access post, or a truck that has expired registration,” she wrote.

Harless says she saw movers offload a wet mattress, and then offer her son a moving blanket to sleep on. Later, she discovered items were missing.

“Our military service members and their families already sacrifice so much for this country. The deployments, holidays missed, birthdays not celebrated, their children’s firsts moments, training time, and sometimes even their life,” Harless wrote. “Is it so much to ask that moving companies take a little more care in handling our memories? Is it so much to ask our elected officials to step in and protect our service members from the headache and heartache during a PCS?”

Harless was open to suggestions for change, which included an online petition and the idea of creating an MOS made up of individuals trained to move family goods from installation to installation, “that can be held under tighter standards and requirements of the military/government.”

It is clear that she is not alone in her frustration with military movers; her Change.org petition has less than 10,000 signatures to go before it reaches it’s 50,000 signature goal.

Harless entered active duty in 2009, and served 4 years including a tour in Iraq and served as the Battalions Maintenance Officer.  She is currently married to her Army officer husband, whom she met in college while they were both in the ROTC program.