Ask June > , > The inside scoop on being a military spouse

The inside scoop on being a military spouse

January 27, 2009 • J.J. Montanaro

Q: I was told that there are many ben­e­fits to take advan­tage of as a mil­i­tary spouse, but where can I find exact infor­ma­tion and how to uti­lize the ben­e­fits???? It would be nice to know insur­ance ben­e­fits, and edu­ca­tional resources…but every site I go to runs me in circles…any help?

–Lexa

A: It’s not easy to sort through life as a mil­i­tary spouse! Thank you for your ser­vice to our Nation. If you want to stick with offi­cial sources, I rec­om­mend you start your research with DoD-sponsored Mil­i­tary One Source. Your ques­tions could be best answered by other mil­i­tary spouses who walk in your shoes every day. If you want to speak in an online dis­cus­sion forum, try Home​fron​ton​line​.com, mil​i​taryspouse​.com and Cin​c​House​.com. For fun, lively and rel­e­vant radio shows, check out Army Wife Talk Radio with Tara Crooks; Navy On The Home­front with Beth Wil­son and Navy Wife Radio with Wendy Pol­ing. You can also log onto mil​i​tary​.com for addi­tional resources and infor­ma­tion. Don’t miss out on the instal­la­tion fam­ily sup­port groups. I’ve heard great things about those hard work­ing and car­ing women.

Share |

13 responses to “The inside scoop on being a military spouse”

  1. Kate Marcus
    February 3, 2009 at 12:18 pm |

    If you are a Navy Spouse there is a men­tor pro­gram at sev­eral bases. More infor­ma­tion is avail­able at <a href=“http://​www​.gocom​pass​.org” target=“_blank”>http://​www​.gocom​pass​.org
    I’ve taken the class and learned so much about ben­e­fits, read­ing the LES and mov­ing. I think this should be required for all Navy spouses.

  2. Christine Farrow-Hat
    February 3, 2009 at 12:30 pm |

    Thanks to ‘Lexa’ for writ­ing about just how hard it is for the wives left behind to try and sort through the jun­gle of so-called ‘resources’!
    And, spe­cial thanks to you June Wal­bert, for lis­ten­ing and rec­om­mend­ing more options than ‘One Source’!
    I empathize com­pletely with Lexa for I too am strug­gling with find­ing answers with­out going in time-consuming cir­cles.
    This process for spouses really shouldn’t be this dif­fi­cult con­sid­er­ing we are the hearts of our Amer­i­can Sol­diers. Yet, it feels we’re the ones that are left behind to fight just to make sense of it all.
    And that just ain’t easy!
    Signed, Another lost Army WIFE — CFH

  3. Raymona
    February 3, 2009 at 7:33 pm |

    Lexa,
    The best place to get infor­ma­tion is in per­son. The Tri­care per­son­nel in your local med­ical facil­ity or the Tri­care web­site can tell you what ben­e­fits you are eli­gi­ble for. The edu­ca­tion cen­ter will be able to tell you what ben­e­fits are avail­able to you as a spouse.I will share with you that if your spouse is active duty, your med­ical care is totally cov­ered unless you use out­side facil­i­ties. If you use non-military facil­i­ties you may have to pay some­thing first and pos­si­bly get reim­bursed later. Den­tal care will be pro­vided to you at a lower rate. Most likely you will have to use a non-military den­tist and the den­tal insur­ance will come out of your spouses check. As far as edu­ca­tion ben­e­fits, it depends on what ser­vice; if it’s under­grad­u­ate or grad­u­ate; and your income. Being patient is the best tool to have as a mil­i­tary spouse.

  4. Mary Martindale
    February 4, 2009 at 1:36 am |

    One of the great­est ben­e­fits we have as mil­i­tary spouses is use of the com­mis­sary. I save at least 30% on all I buy com­pared to a local gro­cery store. It’s amaz­ing. Also the med­ical and den­tal ben­e­fits can’t be beat. Free. Those alone are worth jump­ing up and down for.
    As a mil­i­tary spouse you are eli­gi­ble to apply for many schol­ar­ships, but you have to do a lit­tle research to find them.
    I’d talk to other mil­i­tary spouses to find out what they have learned. Just because one per­son doesn’t know about them doesn’t mean the next per­son you talk to won’t.

  5. Judith Davis
    February 4, 2009 at 2:42 am |

    Every Active Duty base and many Reserve bases have a fam­ily cen­ter. Army calls them Army Com­mu­nity Ser­vice, Air Force has Air­man and Fam­ily Readi­ness Cen­ters, Navy calls theirs Fleet and Fam­ily Sup­port Cen­ters, and at Marine Corps bases they are Marine and Fam­ily Ser­vices. These cen­ters are the best place a spouse can go to get the low­down on mil­i­tary perks and ben­e­fits. The Air Force has a won­der­ful pro­gram called Heart Link that every Air Force spouse should attend.

  6. R. SPRAGUE
    February 4, 2009 at 3:05 am |

    Try con­tact­ing your Fam­ily redi­ness group. They should be able to answer ALL your questions.

  7. Donny Reyes
    February 4, 2009 at 6:54 pm |

    Or you can check with fam­ily readines group or your ombuds­man . And it is not just women any more .I am a father who resigned his law enforce­ment job beca­cuse of my wife chang­ing duty sta​tions​.So i take care of the house and do every thing a stay at home mother would do. And i am glad — what other dad can spend time at home and with kids like i do.

  8. dorothy volff
    February 5, 2009 at 4:57 pm |

    my hus­band died many years now and i have been try­ing too find out why i can get no money, as i was never told of change and he was in 20 years but all i get is a run around

  9. Sarah
    February 6, 2009 at 8:17 am |

    Not sure what mil­i­tary base you are clos­est to, but each one should have a “Fam­ily Ser­vice Cen­ter”. Your husband’s super­vi­sor or com­mand­ing offi­cer at his com­mand should also be able to direct him to the near­est office and/or resources.

  10. Patricia A Gibson
    February 7, 2009 at 11:24 am |

    A good sug­ges­tion is your local VA Med­ical Cen­ter or Regional Office, there is a book­let printed yearly, its avail­able now. Online: <a href=“http://​www​.va​.gov/​b​e​n​e​f​its” target=“_blank”>http://​www​.va​.gov/​b​e​n​e​f​its

  11. gregory anderson
    February 11, 2009 at 10:24 am |

    times have changed , its not only men in ser­vice .my wife is in the navy , and is deployed in the mid­dle east now.i think it would be refresh­ing if along with pro­grams like army wife talk radio and navy wife radio some one would come up with some­thing for the male spouses whose wives are active . i know im not the only one out there.

  12. Heather Peredo
    February 20, 2009 at 4:05 am |

    I am a new Army Wife…only been a wife for about 7 month…but read­ing forums lead me to the book “The Home­front Club: The Hard­headed Woman’s Guide To Rais­ing A Mil­i­tary Fam­ily” by Jacey Eck­hart at first I didn’t think a book could help. But I rec­om­mend any new mil­i­tary wife read it. Not only does it include advice on where to go and what to do it also dis­cusses the mixed feel­ings and fears of being a new wife. Good Luck to all! And Thank you to all who have pro­vided forum advice you have no idea how many you help.

  13. Kimberly
    April 18, 2009 at 9:57 pm |

    My expe­ri­ence as a spouse is a f-ckin night­mare. We can never find a decent afford­able home near his job or a base…so guess what I end up not using any of those so called bar­gain ben­e­fits. It has been many years since I have even had a check up at tri­care prime due to the fact that my drive is an two hour trip there and back. gro­cery spoil before I can even get them home. PCS orders earned us four years of being stuck upside down in rural vir­ginia. An hour from the near­est base and 30 min from the near­est city. Oh by the way, the county I live in doesn’t even have a place to pur­chase a shirt. two foodlions and one mid­dle and high school for the entire county.
    I would have ratherd died then to have relo­cated her with my fam­ily. I can’t even rent out my house due to the econ­omy now.

USAA or its affiliates do not provide tax advice. Taxpayers should seek advice based upon their own particular circumstances from an independent tax advisor. The information is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to substitute for obtaining professional financial advice. Please thoroughly research and seek professional representation before acting on any information you may have found in this article. This article is in no way attempts to provide advice that relates all personal circumstances.

Examples given are hypothetical illustrations and not an indication of the benefits or features of any USAA product. You should seek policies and advice based upon your own particular circumstances. Sample loans are for illustration purposes only and are not a rate quote, pre-approval, or commitment to lend.

June Walbert is a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER TM practitioner with USAA Financial Planning Services, one of the USAA family of companies. Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards, Inc. owns the certification marks CFP® and Certified Financial Planner TM in the United States, which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board's initial and ongoing certification requirements.

USAA Financial Planning Services® refers financial planning services and financial advice provided by USAA Financial Planning Services Insurance Agency, Inc. USAA Financial Planning Services Insurance Agency, Inc. (known as USAA Financial Insurance Company in California, Lic. #0E36312), a registered investment adviser and insurance agency and its wholly owned subsidiary, USAA Financial Advisors, Inc., a registered broker dealer. (known as USAA Financial Insurance Agency in California), a registered investment adviser and insurance agency and its wholly owned subsidiary, USAA Financial Advisors, Inc., a registered broker dealer.

USAA means United Services Automobile Association and its affiliates. Investments provided by USAA Investment Management Company and USAA Financial Advisors Inc., both registered broker dealers. Banking products provided by USAA Federal Savings Bank. Credit cards provided by USAA Savings Bank. Both Banks Member FDIC.