How to Fill Out and Submit DD Form 1299: Weight Allowance and Pro-Gear

DD Form 1299, the Application for Shipment and/or Storage of Personal Property, is the document that authorizes the government to move or store your household goods for a PCS, retirement, or separation. You use it to tell the transportation system what you’re shipping, where it’s going, and when you need it picked up. Until an approved DD Form 1299 is on file, no carrier is assigned and nothing moves. The fillable PDF is available from the Washington Headquarters Services website, and most installations now let you complete the same information directly inside MilMove, the platform that has replaced the Defense Personal Property System at most locations.¹

What You Can Request on the Form

The same form covers several kinds of movement. You can request shipment of household goods, unaccompanied baggage, or a mobile home. You can also initiate storage: Storage in Transit for short-term holding when your goods arrive before you have a place for them, or Non-Temporary Storage for longer separations such as an overseas tour.

The Joint Travel Regulations authorize 90 days of SIT for a PCS move. If circumstances beyond your control prevent you from taking delivery in that window — a serious illness, unavailable housing, or a TDY after arrival — you can request a 90-day extension through your service. Anything past 180 days requires approval through your service’s Secretarial Process.² NTS runs for the length of an overseas tour; retirees get one year of NTS from the retirement date, and separating members get 180 days from separation.³

What to Have in Front of You Before You Start

The transportation office can’t book anything until your paperwork is complete, so gather this material first.

Your PCS, retirement, or separation orders. You’ll transcribe the order number, issuing authority, date of orders, and the paragraph authorizing the move.
The Fund Cite — the alphanumeric string identifying the government account paying for the shipment. It’s on your orders or comes from your unit administrative office.
Personal information: full legal name, rank or grade, SSN or DoD ID, and your branch.
Full origin address, including county and ZIP code.
Destination address. If you don’t have one yet, your transportation counselor can advise on a temporary or in-transit address.
A phone number and email where you can be reached during the move window, plus an in-transit phone and address if you’ll be on the road between duty stations.
Weight estimates: total household goods in pounds, and a separate estimate for professional books, papers, and equipment (write “NONE” if you have none).
Desired pack, pickup, and delivery dates.

You’ll also need DD Form 1797, the Personal Property Counseling Checklist, which is signed and uploaded alongside DD Form 1299.⁴ International moves may also require DD Form 1252 (U.S. Customs Declaration), and shipping firearms from overseas requires ATF Form 5330.3B.⁵

Filling Out the Blocks

DD Form 1299 has 16 numbered blocks. The transportation office fills several of them, but the core personal and shipment data are yours.⁶

Block 6 is your personal information: last name, first name, middle initial, rank or grade, SSN, and branch. Check the spelling carefully. Errors here can disconnect your shipment from your orders in the system.

Block 7 describes what you’re shipping. Enter your estimated household goods or unaccompanied baggage weight in pounds. Block 7a(2) is for the weight of professional books, papers, and equipment; write “NONE” rather than leaving it blank if that applies. Block 7a(3) asks how many cartons contain expensive or high-value items. For a mobile home, Blocks 7b and 7c capture dimensions, serial number, and services needed such as blocking, unblocking, or hookups.

Block 8 ties the shipment to your orders. Check the correct order type (PCS, retirement, separation), then enter the issuing authority, new duty assignment, date of orders, order number, and paragraph number. The in-transit phone and address in Blocks 8g and 8h tell the transportation office how to reach you between stations.

Blocks 9 and 10 are origin and destination. Include the full street address, county, state, and ZIP for both. If your destination is a mobile home park, include the park name. Block 10b is where you designate an agent to receive the property on your behalf if you won’t be at the destination; a power of attorney comes in here.

Block 11 is for extra pickup or delivery locations, such as a storage unit or a relative’s garage holding part of your shipment.

Block 12 is your desired pack, pickup, and delivery dates. Some installations expect at least 21 days of lead time before requested pickup, particularly during peak season from May through August. Carrier availability tightens fast in the summer, so book as early as you can.

Block 14 is a certification that no other shipments or storage have been made under these orders, except as listed. If you’ve already shipped unaccompanied baggage or placed anything in NTS under the current orders, list the origin, destination, and weight of each. If not, write “NONE.”

Block 15 is your signature and date. Signing certifies that the information is accurate. If you can’t be present to sign because you’re already deployed, Block 16 lets a designated official certify in your place and explain why.

Weight Allowance and Pro-Gear

Your rank and dependency status set the ceiling for what the government will ship at no cost. Household goods, unaccompanied baggage, and anything already in storage all count toward the same limit. Anything over is billed to you. The Joint Travel Regulations set these maximums:²

O-10 through O-6: 18,000 lbs, with or without dependents
O-5 / W-5: 17,500 lbs with dependents; 16,000 without
O-4 / W-4: 17,000 with dependents; 14,000 without
O-3 / W-3: 14,500 with dependents; 13,000 without
O-2 / W-2: 13,500 with dependents; 12,500 without
O-1 / W-1: 12,000 with dependents; 10,000 without
E-9: 15,000 with dependents; 13,000 without
E-8: 14,000 with dependents; 12,000 without
E-7: 13,000 with dependents; 11,000 without
E-6: 11,000 with dependents; 8,000 without
E-5: 9,000 with dependents; 7,000 without
E-4: 8,000 with dependents; 7,000 without
E-3 through E-1: 8,000 with dependents; 5,000 without

Three categories don’t count against your allowance: professional books, papers, and equipment; required medical equipment; and gun safes.² Pro-gear is capped at 2,000 pounds for orders issued on or after May 1, 2014.⁷ Record it separately on the form so it’s weighed apart from your household goods.

A common estimating rule is 1,000 pounds per room excluding bathrooms, then add appliances, garage contents, and basement or storage items.⁸ Some transportation offices use 1,500 pounds per room instead.⁹ These are rough guides. If you’re anywhere near your limit, get rid of things before the movers arrive rather than hope the final weigh-in lands in your favor.

Items the Movers Will Refuse

Carriers won’t load hazardous materials, and the list includes ordinary items most people don’t think of as hazardous. If prohibited items are found in transit, the carrier can pull the entire shipment.¹⁰

Explosives: ammunition, black powder, smokeless powder, fireworks, primers, propellants, signal flares, blasting caps.
Compressed gases: fire extinguishers, welding gases, and scuba tanks unless purged to 25 psi or less at 70°F with written certification from a dive shop attached.
Flammable liquids and solids: gasoline, propane, lighter fluid, paint, varnish, turpentine, charcoal briquettes, matches, acetone, and cleaning solvents.
Aerosol cans containing flammable gas, flammable liquid, or toxic or corrosive substances.
Corrosives: muriatic, nitric, and sulphuric acid, and acid batteries.
Propane tanks, unless disconnected and professionally purged to NFPA standards with a tag confirming purging.
Smoke detectors and similar battery-operated home devices must have batteries removed before packing.

Firearms themselves are generally permitted in a household goods shipment but must be unloaded and declared to the carrier. Ammunition ships separately, or not at all, depending on carrier contract and route.

Submitting the Application

Whether your installation uses MilMove or still uses DPS, the submission pattern is the same. Complete DD Form 1299 and DD Form 1797, sign both, and upload them with your orders and any other required documents.⁵ Some installations still require an in-person visit to the Personal Property Processing Office, where a counselor walks the form with you. Others allow full self-counseling online: complete everything digitally, then print, sign, and upload. The transportation office cannot book your shipment until every supporting document is received.¹¹

What Happens After You Submit

A transportation counselor reviews your application to verify the details match your orders and that the requested services fall within your entitlements. A wrong order number, a missing fund cite, or an unrealistic weight estimate sends it back for correction, and each round trip costs time on the calendar.¹²

Once the application is approved, it goes into the queue for carrier assignment. A commercial mover is selected and should contact you within three calendar days of the shipment award to agree on a pickup date inside a seven-day window.¹³ If the assigned carrier misses the pickup or delivery date, you may qualify for an inconvenience claim, calculated at 100 percent of the applicable meals-and-incidentals rate for each affected day, payable without receipts for up to seven days.¹⁴

If You’d Rather Move Yourself

DD Form 1299 is for government-arranged shipments. If you want to move your own belongings, rent a truck, or hire your own movers, the form to use is DD Form 2278, the Application for Do-It-Yourself Move and Counseling Checklist, which starts a Personally Procured Move.¹⁵ With a PPM you receive 100 percent of the Government Constructed Cost — the amount the government would have paid a commercial carrier for that weight over that distance. Anything left after your actual expenses is yours to keep, though the profit counts as taxable income. You can request up to 60 percent of the estimated reimbursement in advance, and reconcile expenses after the move with DD Form 1351-2. You can also split the move, using DD Form 1299 for a government shipment of most of your belongings and DD Form 2278 for a smaller PPM, as long as combined weight stays within your allowance.

1
U.S. Army. New MilMove System Gives Soldiers, Families More Hands-On Control of Their PCS
2
U.S. Department of Defense. The Joint Travel Regulations
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NAVSUP Navy Household Goods. SIT vs NTS
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U.S. Marine Corps. Application for Shipment and/or Storage of Personal Property
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My Coast Guard News. Military Members: Information About Moving Your Household Goods
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