Soldiers and their families have difficult decisions to make when facing a deployment. One of those is choosing to move or stay put in their current homes. For families living on post, the decision to move might seem appealing at first, but could end up being more of a hassle than it's worth.

Michael Siegemund, Equity Residential outreach manager, said one of the main reasons families move when a loved one deploys is their desire to be closer to family. Many don't realize they can opt to bring other family members to them.

"You can have family members - even friends - move in with you for the duration of the deployment," Siegemund said. "You just need to have command sponsorship."

The process is simple and requires little paperwork, said Cindy Mills, Equity senior neighborhood manager. As long as the person(s) requested to stay passes a criminal background check and the family doesn't go over the occupancy limit for its home, they shouldn't have any problems receiving approval.

"I've had a mother and a younger sibling who came and the sibling actually went to school here," Mills said. "We want people to know those options are available."

Another reason families move might be because they want to save money, when in reality, they could end up saving more by staying on post, Siegemund said.

"The government doesn't pay for your moving expenses, so you can actually end up keeping more money in your pocket by staying," Siegemund said.

Aside from moving expenses, people often don't think about the money saved on post with benefits such as free lawn maintenance, renter's insurance, lawn care supplies, trash pick-up and "cash back" incentives for conserving energy.

Families also need to consider their support systems. It goes beyond family and extends into their community. Sometimes when families leave their military communities, they end up feeling lost or lacking support they were used to receiving on post. This can be especially difficult on families with children, Mills said.

"It's hard enough to deal with having a (deployed) parent, but it can be worse when you further disrupt them," Mills said. "Especially once kids get into school and they start bonding with their friends."

Children aren't the only ones disrupted. Housing can be harder to come by if the family leaves, because Equity can't guarantee it will be available when the Soldier returns, Mills said.

"A lot of Soldiers and their families ask about preference for deployment, and we just can't do that because so much of the post is deployed at any one time," she said.

What the family can do is have Equity put them on a deployment hold the day they clear housing.

"The good thing about the deployment hold is you still build your wait -list time, so you're not going to stay on the list where you left off," Siegemund said.

Mills stressed the importance of keeping Equity up to date on contact information and redeployment status so they can increase their chance of getting back into post housing.

"We need to be able to reach you and know when you want housing," Mills said. "If you don't have good contact numbers or you don't give us an accurate date, you will not be offered a home."

Equity Residential is actively working on providing families with even more reasons to stay during deployment. The Pilot Support and Community Health Programs are two of several incentives they hope will help families feel the type of support they need while their loved ones are deployed.

Ultimately, the decision is up to the families and will vary with the needs and desires of each. Siegemund and Mills agreed that the best advice they can give is for families to get as much information as possible before making a decision.

"If you're already on post, contact your neighborhood office," Siegemund said. "The more information that you have, the better decisions you can make."