Theoretically a family may travel in advance of a PCS, but whether you can also claim the HSTA entitlement in advance is a decision made by your assignment officer or management officer/DCM at post; We recommend gaining clarification from them. Because HSTA is an entitlement for PCSing, the question would naturally be: why is someone using it before PCSing? There are legitimate reasons…medevac, establishing the kids prior to the commencement of the school year (which requires an established zip code), etc. so the “why” is an important factor here. Once you have your authorized TM4 or a firm answer on the above, let us know and we can get to work finding temporary lodging/rental items!