With the Defense Department’s Thursday announcement that all PCS and temporary duty moves are on hold for the next 60 days, members of all four services are finding themselves in the same predicament, relying on emergency relief funds and unit-by-unit authorizations of per diem to cover their costs while they wait.
“Iran sits in the middle of the theater. So their ability to pass that infection to other states is very worrisome," Marine Gen. Kenneth McKenzie Jr. said.
Effective Friday, all troops, military civilian employees and family members traveling to or from locations with widespread transmission of the illness, designated “Warning Level 3” (which at the moment include Italy, South Korea and China) will “stop movement” for the next 60 days.
Restrictions imposed on coalition aircraft in Iraq following suspected Israeli airstrikes targeting Iranian-backed militias have hurt anti-ISIS operations.
As late as two months ago, Pentagon officials told Navy Times that they were trying to scrounge for extra dollars for the TA program while holding current rules in place. But those efforts apparently fell short.