My Army Life, too.
February 26, 2008|
Okay, so I'm not Army. Which is probably why I didn't know about this website, www.myarmylifetoo.com.
I went to this website to learn more about Army Family Team Building (AFTB), which are a series of classes that teach subjects of interest to military members and their families, beginning with basics such as Basic Military Benefits and Entitlements, or Military Acronyms and Terms, and moving through to more complex topics such as Family Readiness Groups and the Deployment Cycle.
What I found was much more:
From the homepage of the website, you can quickly link to information about moving, taxes, deployment, education and kid's stuff. While some of it is Army specific, much of it is appropriate for all the services. As best as I can tell, the website is mostly links to other sites, put together in a fairly logical format. And if you click on the Family Members tab on the top of the page, you will also find links to information specific to Guard and Reserve families.
In addition to the basic AFTB classes, there are also special classes dealing with financial planning, internet safety for kids, deployment preparation, and planning for retirement. All of these classes are available to be taken online - great if you have small children or aren't near AFTB classes!
You must register to use the good parts of this website. If you are not Army or affiliated with an Army group, there is an option under the Military Community Affiliation field to enter "other." This site does utilize Internet Explorer and doesn't play well with other browsers. The site is an official military website, so it is designed to give out information and doesn't really have much of a sense of community. You'll have to stick to SpouseBUZZ for that!
This may not be news to most of you Army folks, but as a Navy spouse, I found it to be very informative. I would be curious to know if this is new to you, and if you have found it useful. I like having a virtual bookshelf full of resources that I can turn to, and I'm putting this on my list.
well... I am Army, and never heard of that before! Guess I better go check it out.
LAW
Posted by: liberal army wife | 02/26/2008 at 15:53
As an Army spouse, I'm very resourceful and have many internet sites on my favs list. myarmylifetoo being one of them.
Very helpful info.
Posted by: Kori | 02/26/2008 at 16:51
I stumbled across the site awhile back but haven't really got into the details of everything there. Seems to cover all the bases though.
I'm curious about the vFRG tool they have linked. We are rebuilding our FRG from the ground up and are looking at website options. This seems like a secure way to do it but I'm concerned with the ease of running the site and the ease of access for family members. Anyone have experience with this program?
Posted by: HH7 | 02/26/2008 at 16:57
This website is great and I am highly impressed that spouses from other services are interested in what is offered. I often find myself looking at websites for other branches of service and I am grateful for all of the information that is available. It helps my learning curve! :)
Thanks for the reminder of a great site!
Posted by: Love My Tanker | 02/26/2008 at 22:39
HH7, email me about vFRG - erinph@gmail.com.
I've done some of the AFTB modules online. It's definitely useful for those who are younger and completely clueless about the military, but has some very useful info even if you're older and/or with some experience. I haven't progressed to level two though. Hopefully I'll be at a post eventually and get to take it "in real life."
Posted by: Erin | 02/26/2008 at 23:22
Agree! This is one of the better sites, run by any of the branches of service, for detailing and getting spouses and family members information, fast!
Thanks for highlighting it and it's now in my "favorites" for future use.
HH7 -- sorry, no experience but would it be possible for you to work your way around the site and get a demo set-up by the webmaster? Maybe?
Toad
Posted by: Maint Toad1 | 02/26/2008 at 23:30
OK, so I'm not army either... but want to tell you about the friendship stone which is perfect for you and your soldier! It's a great small but meaningful gift that is perfect to feel, look at and hold yourself, as well as for your spouse far away; a small beautiful piece of smooth varigated Tiger's Eye stone to represent your love wherever either of you are! It's natures token of emotional support and bond for both you and your soldiers. It carries many other positive messages which you can read about and let us know what you think!
www.the friendshipstone.com
An anonymous donor recently gave 864 packages of the friendship stones to soldiers in the Washington area to say 'thank you for putting your life on the line for us'. We SO appreciate our military and recognize that each of you give so much, for us - Thank you!
Posted by: Jill | 02/27/2008 at 17:13
Thanks Erin, I sent you an email!
Maint Toad1, thanks for the tip. I might check out the webmaster too. I've navigated as far as I can go and read through the FAQs but of course still have questions! Go figure.
Posted by: HH7 | 02/27/2008 at 21:13
another wonderful site is www.militaryonesource.com
It has everything you need and more, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 366 (leap year) days a year.
Posted by: USMCwife05 | 02/28/2008 at 02:23