Clearing up a common confusion
Accompanied orders, EFMP screening, and family travel to Hawaii
Families researching "command sponsorship" for Hawaii are usually asking the right question with the wrong term — that framework governs foreign OCONUS tours. Hawaii is OCONUS but a U.S. state, and what actually applies here is a different, shorter checklist.
What Hawaii actually requires
Accompanied orders: your orders must authorize dependent travel for the government to move the family and pay with-dependent allowances — confirm the authorization line before booking anything. EFMP / suitability screening: most services require Exceptional Family Member Program screening (or an overseas/remote-suitability review) for family members before a Hawaii assignment, because specialty medical and educational capacity on island is finite. This is the step that bites late starters — screening can shape orders themselves, so it happens at the front of the timeline, through your medical treatment facility and personnel office. No visas, no SOFA, no passport requirement for the family move itself — it's domestic travel with OCONUS entitlements.
What that unlocks
Accompanied status is what drives the with-dependent BAH rate (see the current anchors), family TLA, full household goods weight, and dependent enrollment in TRICARE and schools on arrival. If a family member's screening flags a need Tripler's system can't support, outcomes range from assignment adjustment to care plans — engage the EFMP office early and in writing rather than hoping it resolves at the gate.
Service policies differ in the details and change; your personnel office, your service's EFMP program, and your orders themselves are the authorities — this page is the map, compiled from public program information, mid-2026.
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