USTRANSCOM Alphabet Soup: DPS Published Feb. 12, 2009 By Bob Fehringer U.S. Transportation Command Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- In this third installment of the United States Transportation Command-acronyms-explained-column we offer, for vocabulary enrichment, a term known to everyone in the military who recently changed duty locations, or who will do so in the future--DPS. Recently, US TRANSCOM and the Army's Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command (That's SDDC from an earlier lesson) announced that Phase II of the Defense Personal Property System, also known as the acronym of the week, or DPS, has begun live operations. (Also known as has an acronym, AKA, but this is a freebie, not intended as part of the acronym training). The DPS is an automated, end-to-end management system for movement of household goods for members of the armed services and Department of Defense civilians. The system automates much of the process of pre-move counseling, scheduling, tracking, invoicing and claims-filing for household goods shipments. According to a recent USTRANSCOM press release, deployment of the DPS to PPSOs, AKA Personal Property Shipping Offices, worldwide is scheduled for early 2009. Just when you thought it was safe to read without too much concentration, a PPSO jumps in to confuse the issue. We'll try to warn in the future of such stealthy acronyms. If you have been reading this column, you should see how this is all beginning to meld and congeal into something resembling an understanding of all this alphabet soup. If you have a favorite acronym and would like to share it with the world, or at least readers of the Command Post, send your suggestions to robert.fehringer.ctr@ustranscom.mil.