Which do you suggest, a DITY move or have the military move us?

My husband is getting out of the Marines, and I’m not sure which way I’d prefer getting my stuff back home (moving from east coast to midwest). I’m trying to figure out which I should do because I’d like to start packing as I spring clean my house for the move this fall. We’ve never PCS’ed before, so we have no experience. This is what I have so far:

Have the military move us:
Pros:
-less stress on me
-they’ll cover anything that is damaged
Cons:
-less stress during the move, but I’m not going to be able to pack up stuff early… which is stressful somehow
-we have two vehicles, and they won’t move one for us

DITY move
Pros:
-can make money
-we’re going to have to take two vehicles back anyway, so might as well hitch one to the back of a moving truck
Cons:
-if we break something its on us
-stressful

It’ll be an 18 hour drive with two kitties. We’ll break it up into at least a three day trip.

What do you wonderful Flutherites suggest?

Bonus questions:
How should I go about estimating how large of a truck we’ll need?
Tips for travelling with cats?
Tips for cleaning the house up / self-inspecting so I know what to do? (We’re in base housing.)
Any places you recommend we visit on the way home would be welcomed as well.

Thank you all so much!