PCS’ing to Hickam AFB with Pets

Hi ladies, so happy to be talking to my fellow WAFs today! My name is Caitlin + I’m going to be sharing my experience of moving to Hawaii with my pets. Sounds like a dream, right?! Well the location… yes… the process of getting your fur babies here, not so much. In this post I’ll be sharing the process, requirements + tips to make getting to paradise with your pets a breeze!

When my husband + I got our first cat we knew that getting stationed overseas was a possibility + we were adamant that if that happened we would not leave our beloved pet behind. Well wouldn’t you know it, our first assignment out of pilot training was to Joint-Base Pearl Harbor Hickam on Oahu! The first thing we did after receiving our assignment was research what we had to do to get our cats there + honestly, we were overwhelmed with the list of requirements + the strict timeline we had to follow.

Leading up to your PCS

The first set of pet import requirements is the health checklist. As soon as you know you are moving you will want to start their import process immediately, as it is a bit lengthy + very precise. The first list you need will be

this Checklist for 5 Day or Less Quarantine Program

. Unfortunately, if you don’t complete this list to a t, your pet could be quarantined for up to six months. Here are a couple of notes to make things go smoothly for you + your fur baby:

Make sure your vet fills everything out in BLUE ink! Have your vet handwrite a duplicate of the original, as the quarantine station does not accept copies, only original documents.
Make copies of everything to keep for yourself + keep a file folder for each pet with a copy of all their required documents.
Once your checklist is complete send the forms as well as the fees to the provided address as soon as possible, then after 14 days email [email protected] with your pet’s microchip I.D. to confirm that they qualify for immediate release!

After you complete your pet’s checklist you’ll need to fill out

this import form

. This is the easiest part of the process. Once you have it filled out, you have to get it notarized, then when you pick your pet up at the airport at the quarantine station you’ll present it for their release. Each individual pet that you have will have to have their own form.

PCS Travel

When your spouse gets their orders the CTO (Commercial Travel Office) will make your flight reservations. When they reserve your flight make sure you tell them you are traveling with pets, what kind + how many. Try to get your flights reserved as soon as possible, as most airlines will only allow up to 3 pets on a plane. Our flights were booked with Hawaiian Airlines + I know this seems kind of excessive, but once a month I would call them + confirm that there were 3 pet reservations under our reservation numbers. You don’t have to be as crazy + call that often, but definitely in the last few months start calling to confirm!

One of the more unfortunate things about flying your pets to Hawaii is that due to their plant, livestock + quarantine laws, they must fly in the cargo hold, not in the cabin + each pet must be in an individual carrier. We had a great experience with Hawaiian Airlines as they have a separate hold for pets that is pressurized + climate controlled! Once you have your flight reserved go to your airlines website + check their kennel requirements. Most airlines will require animals to be in hard sided carriers, with air holes on all 4 sides. All airlines will require carriers to have live animal stickers, food/water bottles + pet identification stickers.

Now we get to your departure, remember those handy-dandy individual file folders I told you to have for each pet? This is where they’ll come in handy! You will want to get to the airport at least 3 hours early, because the check in process with your pets can take up to an hour. The attendant will ask you for all their forms/records + you will sign a bunch of paperwork. After the paperwork is cleared + the attendant verifies that their carriers have all the proper tags, a TSA agent will come to inspect their carriers. After they are given the all clear they will have their kennels zip tied + it will be time to say goodbye. This part was really difficult for me, I was that crazy lady sobbing through security, but my fur babies were perfectly fine when we picked them up In Hawaii!

After you land the first thing that you will do is go to the Animal Quarantine Station to pick up your sweet fur babies! I actually sent my husband to pick up our bags, because it can be a bit of a wait. You’ll hand over all your paperwork again + wait for them to confirm your pet has been cleared for immediate release, after they confirm this they will call you back up + you will be reunited with your pets, who will definitely deserve treats for being such troopers! We had our sponsors meet us at the Animal Quarantine Station so we could head straight to the hotel to finally relax, this made it easiest on our sponsors, us + our animals.

I know that this is an undoubtedly long + stressful process, adding to an already stressful move. I was lucky enough to have my fellow Hickam WAF, Caitlin Hicks, move a few months beforehand, so she was able to give me tons of advice. I have no idea how she navigated all the rules + information by herself, but I’m happy to pay forward that same kindness to other WAFs out there!

I hope that this post not only helps fellow WAFs, but anyone else making the big move to Hawaii. Just remember, when you are going crazy trying to make sure you have all of your paperwork + are trying to meet deadlines, take a deep breath + remember that living in paradise will be even better with your fur babies by your side!