Charles Levine was blindsided in February when he was about to retire from the Army and found out it would not cover more than $40,000 in final moving costs — an end-of-service benefit given to retirees.
The lieutenant colonel had served for 30 years, deploying five times and leading an airborne infantry company in Iraq and Afghanistan. But because he chose to continue serving after he was eligible to retire in 2022, he was stripped of moving and storage perks promised to nearly every retired soldier.
“It was a broken promise,” Levine, 59, said. “I was incredulous.”
News of the noncoverage delivered a sharp emotional sting and a financial gut punch. Levine and his wife, Ginger, were relying on the benefit.
They have been renting an apartment in Charlottesville, Virginia, for $2,800 a month, thinking the military would help them vacate their on-post housing at West Point, the military academy in New York.
By the couple’s estimates, it would cost at least $42,000 to pack, transport and store a lifetime of belongings themselves, so they feel stuck at West Point, paying another $4,400 a month for rent.
“We cannot afford to move and we cannot afford to stay,” Ginger said.
To save money, Ginger, 53, has been driving around, scrounging up used cardboard boxes and paper from new neighbors, while “feeling humiliated that this is how our service ends.”
Levine said he had a fulfilling career. But when he thinks about the toll the last few months has taken on him and his wife of 18 years, he questions his choice to stay longer in the military.
“That’s the one thing that rises to the level where perhaps I did make a mistake,” he said.
Levine served in the National Guard from 1995 to 2001, when, three months after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he started active duty in the Army.
During the next 21 years, he crawled through enemy caves; participated in more than two dozen air assaults looking for Taliban-captured soldier Bowe Bergdahl, who was in his battalion; rose to battalion executive officer; and earned several medals, including three Bronze Stars.
In that time, back home, he missed the entirety of his first year of marriage, many holidays, the birth of his first grandchild, the death of his father-in-law, and all of his son’s high school football games.
“We’ve given everything we have,” said Levine, who spent the last six years of his service teaching calculus to cadets at West Point.
In fall 2022, Levine had served the maximum number of years in active duty and could retire. But, he said, senior Army Reserve leaders convinced him to transition to the Reserve and continue teaching at West Point instead.
Levine officially separated from active duty and went on to teach for two more years as part of the Army Reserve. Just before he officially retired from the military in March, he learned he had lost the moving benefits.
“We were told, without warning, that our family would not receive any support for our final move,” Ginger said. “No shipment of household goods, no storage, and no recognition of the circumstances.”
In a statement, Lt. Col. Orlandon Howard, an Army spokesperson, said soldiers like Levine who choose to be released from active duty after at least 20 years of service, deferring retirement to continue working for the Reserve, have about six months to use their moving benefits. Those who elect to retire from active duty have three years.
To guide their decision-making, Howard said the Army provides soldiers with “significant resources, education and support,” including transition assistance programs across the country.
“Transitioning Soldiers must weigh their options, and associated advantages and disadvantages to make the best decision for their circumstances,” Howard said in his statement.
Levine said he did not choose to be released from active duty and was instead involuntarily separated, which he said should have afforded him moving benefits for three years. Levine, a doctoral candidate at Northeastern University and a visiting scholar at the University of Virginia, also said a section of the regulation allows those who pursue advanced education four years to move.
The Army said soldiers who leave active duty and join the Reserve are not considered involuntarily separated, but Levine said his separation papers show otherwise.
After fighting their case for more than three months, the Levines have reached their breaking point. They’ve decided to dip into their savings to move themselves, fearing they were already wasting so much money paying two rents.
“I broke,” Ginger said. “I was emotionally broken.”
The couple crunched estimates from multiple moving and storage companies. On the low end, if they pack themselves, they’d pay about $42,000 out of pocket.
Their regular income is the roughly $5,000 Levine gets each month from his pension, and the severance Ginger has until the end of September after resigning from her federal job.
“For the first time in our life, we have debt now,” Levine said.
He thinks back to the sheer happiness and pride he felt in February during his retirement ceremony. A retired four-star general flew in from the Middle East to preside over the event, and Levine was celebrated for his feats while surrounded by loved ones and senior leaders.
“It was amazing. I was dreading leaving. I felt really fulfilled,” he said. “All those things went away and evaporated.”
