Information and Support for Guardsmen and Families

Guard Offers Information via JSS Portal

2009 Military Holiday Mailing Deadlines

Dates and information available after the jump.

Substance Abuse and Military Kids

An online educational campaign is underway to help you and your military children discuss substance abuse.

Child Care

Finding the 'perfect' child care situation can occasionally prove to be difficult, but there are many resources available to assist you.

Counseling Assistance & Behavioral Health Come 'Home'

You will soon be able to access care from your computer.

More after the jump.

Military Basebook

Do you Facebook?  Well, now you can also 'Basebook' - if you wish!

'Basebook' helps troops link up

Health Related Updates

See details after the jump!

Impact of Deployments on Children

Officials Work to Lessen Impact of Deployments on Children

Army Lodging Overhaul Coming Soon

Army moves to privatize on-post lodging

HAP for Military

Are you still wondering about the details regarding the Homeowner Assistance Program for Military Homeowners?

May Is Mental Health Awareness Month

Mental Health Resources

We live in difficult times. With engagements overseas and economic difficulties at home, we all feel the stress of life every day. As part of the national observance of Mental Health Awareness Month, the Military Health System joins Mental Health America in encouraging you and your loved ones to "Live Your Life Well" by taking advantage of tools and resources inside and outside the MHS that can be of value to you and your family.

An important tool is the Military Mental Health Self-Assessment Program:

Military life, especially deployments or mobilizations, can present challenges to service members and their families that are both unique and difficult. Some are manageable, some are not. Many times we can successfully deal with them on our own. In some instances matters get worse and one problem can trigger other more serious issues. At such times it is wise to check things out and see what is really happening. That's the purpose of these totally anonymous and voluntary self-assessment tools.

Finally, and especially important considering last month's observation of the Month of the Military Child, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is Celebrating Children's Mental Well-Being this month.

Continue Reading>>

Military Youth

A new website replaces Military Teens on the Move. 

Military Youth on the Move!

Better Understanding 'Full Replacement Value'

Things change within the military on a regular basis.  This we do know.  When it comes to moving, we all need to be on our toes and up to date.  We must know how change will impact us.

Links for Hampton Roads Milspouses

I promised several of the Hampton Roads spouses that I would post a few links for their reference. Below are the links which we discussed:

The SpouseBUZZ Blog Series: Under One Roof:

Part I - Blog It Don't Hog It: Nobody has a monopoly - This Land is Your Land.

Part II - I Want a Blog, But How Do I Do It?:  Make it Happen!

Part III - Privacy Concerns: Loose Lips Sink Ships...

Part IV: Networking: It's Who You Know - Work it, Baby!

Part V: Blog Etiquette: Mind Your Manners.

Part VI: Blog Bling: Strut Your Stuff.

The Military Spouse Network, where you can create your own spouse hubs.

And, I'll add another resource, the lovely and bright Sue Hoppin, who many of you met in Hampton Roads this weekend, maintains the spouse blog for MOAA. You can find it here. 

Month of the Military Child

April is the Month of the Military Child.  A time to focus in on our children.

PCSing with DPS

Changes have already come to some locations.  Over time, changes will be rolled out at installations worldwide.  It pays to be knowledgeable and prepared.

Do you know what DPS is?

Got Questions? Get Answers.

Army families, here's your "one-stop-shop" for information on your benefits.

The Army's G-1 staff launched a redesigned website that consolidates all Army benefits information in one location. The MyArmyBenefits website has calculators that allow Soldiers to see how much money they can expect to receive upon retirement. The site also lists information on 150 different benefits ranging from child care to education assistance.

Fact sheets are provided on a variety of Family services, recreation programs, Space-A travel, Army Emergency Relief, health care, Spouse employment assistance and many other programs. In addition, there are 54 state and territory fact sheets that break out different benefits for Soldiers who live in each state.

Very comprehensive!

Thanks to Rhonda.

“Taking Care of Business”

 Pre-deployment to-do list

“Taking Care of Business” is a new Web-based program that soldiers and families can use to get smart about the legal documents signed before soldiers deploy. In the pre-deployment process, it helps them talk about the possibility of serious injury or death. Short videos and other materials can be downloaded by clicking here.

Psychological Health Update

TBI Outreach Center Opens

DoD recently opened a 24-hour outreach center to provide information and referrals to military servicemembers, veterans, their families and others with questions about psychological health and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

New Family Retreats from NMFA

You may have heard about the National Military Family Association (NMFA) Operation Purple Camps.  This year, they are trying a new program:  Operation Purple Family Retreats.  From the website: 

It is difficult on the entire family when a loved one is deployed, but the time after that father, mother, husband, or wife returns  home is often the most challenging of all. Recognizing this, the National Military Family Association is piloting two Operation Purple® Family Retreats. These free, four-day retreats are set in a National Park using nature’s classroom, where families will have opportunities to strengthen and renew relationships, explore their natural surroundings, and participate in fun family-focused activities.

The camps are designed for families who have had a service member return from deployment within the last twelve months.  The camps are being held in March in two locations, California and Washington state, and they are free!  If you live near either of the locations, and you have a recently returned family member, you might want to check it out.  It sounds like a great way to have some affordable family time.

Virtual Parents: Oh, the Possibilities....

Well, this is something. I could envision a scenario where the conversation could be manipulated somewhat, though. It really could go south quite rapidly. 

Kid: Daddy, I love you and I miss you.

Virtual Daddy: I miss and love you, too. Are you being good for mom?

Kid: Yes, I am. Daddy, can I have a puppy? Oh, and, um, I mean, and, can I give mom a kiss for you?

Virtual Daddy: Of course, please do. 

Kid flies out of the room screaming, Mom, mom, mom. Guess what? Daddy said I could get a puppy.

Mom then runs into the room and throws her shoes at Virtual Daddy, reducing his virtualness into a cloud of smoke and rubble.

Heh...

H/T: Computer World, where someone wonders when they'll build "virtual politicians." 

Seriously? Aren't We One of Your Target Markets?

(not verbatim, but you'll get the gist:)

UA Guy:  Hello, thank you for calling Under Armour customer service, this is Joe speaking.

Me:  Hi, Joe, I'm hoping that you can help me.  My husband got a bunch of your t shirts for Christmas, and they're not the right color that he needs to wear.  Can you help me find the right color?

Angels and Kids ...

Today, The Boss and I did what we really try to do for most of the major holidays... at least those that involve food and eating (okay, OTHER than the 4th of July!).  We volunteer fto work in the Dining Facility and try to shimmy up to the serving line and get some eyeball to eyeball time, with those that are serving all of us.  Since I normally get stuck trying to get young men and women to eat broccoli or peas with mysterious chunks of mushroom or onion, the last couple of times I've asked to work the floor, cleaning tables, bussing dishes, and talking to the troops and their families.

Today, right after a young lady introduced me to "Gabriel" from High School Musical (I think that's her name) ... I turned around and met a gentleman who asked me, "how are you handling the holiday stress?"  I said ... Huh?  (I've been known to utter similar phrases of genius when the guy with mirrored sun glasses asks, "son, did you see that red light?")

Turns out, he had no idea who I was... The one and only Maintenance Toad of the Realm of the Authors within the Kingdom Of SpouseBUZZ.   Did I know how to handle holiday stress?  Are you kidding?  I have... YALL ... gazillions of folks reading SB, who are ready, willing, and VERY able to tell me when I need to fix my apple cart.  (c:]

But I was curious ... who the heck was THIS guy?  Turns out, he's an angel ...

TRICARE Updates

 TRICARE 'Round the Clock Care

Welcome Them Home in Style

Anyone gearing up for an R&R or Homecoming? BuildASign emails to say that they are giving away 20,000 free customized welcome home banners, or jumbo cards to send to loved ones who are deployed.

Austin, TX - November 10, 2008 - In honor of Veteran's Day, BuildASign.com™ is re-launching its banner giveaway to help 20,000 more Americans show their support for the US armed forces. With this donation, BuildASign.com™ will provide military families all over the country with personalized banners for their homecoming and holiday celebrations while encouraging businesses to create banners that show their support for our troops.

BuildASign.com™ is also giving away jumbo holiday cards to families whose service members won't be home in time for the holidays. These families can send personalized jumbo holiday cards to loved ones overseas for less than the cost of shipping a banner. Both free banners and free jumbo cards are available to everyone at www.BuildASign.com/Troops.

Additions to the FMLA

New rules have been added to the Family and Medical Leave Act.  Read more after the jump.

It's That Time Again...

Updated and Bumped: Originally published on 9/15/08 after SpouseBUZZ LIVE Hampton Roads. I'm bumping the post up so that the San Antonio LIVE attendees can browse through various milspouse blogs.

Periodically, we run a list of milspouse bloggers here at SpouseBUZZ so that new readers can find more spouse blogs to read and connect with. After our LIVE event this weekend, I thought now would be a good time to publish the list again. If you have a blog that isn't listed, it's not a snub, there's just so many to keep track of. Please leave the blog url in the comment section and we'll add it to the list.

Here's the list, in no particular order:

TroopTube

 

TroopTube is the new online video site designed to help military families connect while miles apart. The site is designed for easy use, so you can quickly upload and share videos. 

TroopTube is sponsored by Military OneSource and approved by the DoD.

AUSA Conference Recap

On October 6-8, The Association of the United States Army (AUSA) held their annual conference in Washington, DC. Things were a bit different this year. The Army has begun actively engaging bloggers and SpouseBUZZ was invited to take part in Blogger's Row at AUSA giving us, and other military bloggers, access to senior Army leadership and their spouses. I was unable to attend due to a scheduling conflict, so Army wife Tammy Munson went in my place, and she filed this recap last night:

Pilot Program for National Guard and Reserve Families

Eight test sites have/will be chosen for this pilot program.  Read more after the jump and then please share your thoughts.

Support centers proposed for families

Survey for Wounded Service Members and their Families

Secretary Gates is asking for feedback about the Military Healthcare system from wounded (or ill) service members and their families. If you're interested in participating, click here to take the survey. You can take the survey until October 15. Results will be published in November.

Thanks to reader SV.

Semi-related, a new website to address PTSD and transitioning from military life to civilian life is now in development. From the Mailbag:

Andi, I just got finished reading an article you posted in 2006 about PTSD. My hubby is an OIF Veteran (Army). [B]ecause of his PTSD and other injuries, our family and many others we knew were really struggling to find real-world information about coping with the "aftershocks" of combat. So I, with some other OIF/OEF Vet wives, got together to start FamilyOfaVet.com.

USAA Expands Eligibility Requirements

USAA, who has been a huge supporter of SpouseBUZZ and our SpouseBUZZ LIVE events, just announced that are expanding their membership eligibility requirements.

USAA Expands its Membership Eligibility

Now all military retirees and any service members honorably discharged after 1995, and their families can join USAA. An additional three million now have access to USAA.

SAN ANTONIO – Citing steady growth in financial strength and operational capacity, USAA announced that effective immediately, membership is now expanded to include:

 Military retirees, regardless of when they retired
 Military personnel who were honorably discharged on or after Jan. 1, 1996
 Widows or widowers of military personnel killed in action while eligible

After they join, spouses and children of the above may also be eligible for membership.

More after the jump.

2009 Per Diem

As many of you know, the DoD begins a new fiscal year on 1 October.

Fiscal Year 2009 Per Diem rates have been announced.  These are rates for reimbursement incurred during official military travel.  Rates to some locations have increased for FY 2009.

You can find the new CONUS FY 09 chart here and after the jump.

The official website for military related travel pays can be found here.  It includes CONUS and OCONUS.

Online Connections

As we have discussed in the past, social networking sites geared towards the military, are popping up across the internet.  It is good to see the support for military members and their families.

Connecting soldiers, families

How Do You Plan to Celebrate Veterans Day?

It'll be here before you know it, and military.com has a cool way for you to tell the world about Veteran's Day activities in your area. Via the Military Spouse Network:

We want to know how you plan to celebrate Veterans Day. Record a short video message detailing how your family or your local military community celebrates this holiday. Then, upload your video titled, "How I Plan to Celebrate Veterans Day," to Military.com's Shock & Awe channel. Videos will be featured on our Spouse Network and the Family Newsletter.

And if you haven't subscribed to the Spouse and Family Newsletter, you should. It's free and there's always a lot of cool stuff there.

Sales Tax Holidays

Back to school time is upon many families.  In some locations that also means a 'sales tax holiday.'

AAFES joins in ‘sales tax holidays’

Girlfriends, Boyfriends and Significant Others - Unite

Hardly a week goes by that SpouseBUZZ doesn't get an email from a girlfriend of a service member either asking if there is a place like SpouseBUZZ for people like her, or just telling us that she learns a lot from reading SpouseBUZZ. This week was no exception, when the girlfriend of a soldier emailed to ask where she could find resources and said that she'd "like to connect" with people in her situation.

A year and a half ago, not long after SpouseBUZZ was up and running, we recognized this was an issue, and the conversation that ensued proved us right. Then, we tried to connect you all once more with this post. We love that you hang out here, and hope you continue to do so. You have unique perspectives. However, I think it would be fantastic if some of you decided to get together and form a group blog for the thousands of girlfriends and boyfriends who are just like you. There's clearly a need for that sort of blog and if one exists, I'm unaware of it. So, feel free to use this post to start the conversation or throw up some ideas, and if any of you enterprising significant others do form a blog, please come back and give us the link because we'd love to support you.

This would also be a good time to remind the milparents who read this blog that there's a new place for you, too. Check it out.    

A Pity Party, a Heavy Heart and Some Perspective

This morning, I woke up early and immediately began fretting over one of the most disastrous weeks I've had in a very long time. I was in full-fledged pity-party mode. And then I read this. It made my heart sink, but it also stopped my pity-party.

I said it a while back, and I'll say it again today. If you don't do anything else this weekend, make sure you click here and watch this video. Watch it with the entire family, it's family-friendly and probably something the whole family should watch together. Skip that other flick this weekend and put this on your must-watch list. You will not be sorry.   

Rest in Peace, Randy. And thank you for all the lives you've touched, and for the lecture of a lifetime.

Helping Our Own - Pet Style

Many of us who are pet lovers see our milpets more like members of the family.  They sure aren't simply just pets.  They see us through the sometimes bumpy road of military life.  And they are all super cute in the eyes of their owners.

I have been lucky enough to know several families that have fostered pets for other military families and/or service-members over the years.  Many have done so via NetPets Military Pets Foster Project.

Families are always needed to help.  Currently the need is high in Europe and the Pacific.

“Websites for Heroes”

DoD Approves New Social Networking Website

Pentagon officials approved “Websites for Heroes,” a network-secure, password-protected website for Soldiers and families. The website allows families to post 2-hours of video, unlimited pictures, message boards, kids’ pages and interactive calendars. The website will enable troops to maintain communications with their families during deployments and other assignments. Previously, the DoD banned social networking sites, such as MySpace and YouTube, from their computers making daily interaction difficult for military families. “Websites for Heroes” is exempt from that ban and is accessible on DoD computers. Donations are accepted ($99 per year) for military families to access the site. So far, more than 1,300 military families have requested a website. For more information, go to http://www.websitesforheroes.com/.

Donations can be made from the general populous to help provide these sites for military families.  Sponsors are continually needed.  Military families can see the website FAQs here.

Have you signed up for this site?  Are you currently utilizing this site successfully?  Have you had any issues in signing up or using the site?  Let us know.

Feedback on Air Force bases

I personally think it is a great idea - being able to provide feedback on bases and read others thoughts before you PCS.  Hopefully the idea will spring for other services in the future.

Read on and share your thoughts.

Leave Changes

It is difficult to keep up with changes and updates - isn't it?

More changes......DOD Sweetens Leave Policies for Troops

Elmo's Tour Schedule

Elmo and friends to visit children at bases

What Does Support Look Like?

We hear a lot about "supporting the troops".  It's easy to say but what exactly does it mean? 

What does it look like?

HEART Act Signed Into Law

What does the HEART Act include?

USAA Responds, and Other Fun Stuff

Just wanted to post a quick update to this comment left by sweetest sass on a post that She of the Sea published a few days ago. I ran this by John Hancock of USAA and here is his response:

Please let your readers/followers know that USAA is working on putting together a program to assist military families when they find themselves in these situations.  Many of us have been there ourselves.  We’re expecting to introduce some new features in our property coverage later this summer and I’m positive military families and individuals will be glad to know we’ve heard the cry.

And speaking of USAA, I have to take a moment to thank them for giving me the opportunity to ride in a fighter jet last week.

It was the thrill of a lifetime! I can't even begin to describe how amazing it was. My one fear -- that I would throw up and humilate myself, therefore shaming Army wives in front of a Naval aviator -- didn't materialize. I'm working on getting video up, there have been some technical challenges, but I hope to have video and photos of the voyage up very soon. Thanks USAA!

Immigration Changes for Foreign-Born Spouses

Foreign-born spouses and children of American service members applying for US citizenship may be eligible for naturalization overseas under a new rule that also loosens physical residency requirements.

If you know a foreign-born spouse, please give them this information.  If your spouses club has an international spouses component, please pass this on to them.

Something You Never See at SpouseBUZZ

As you know, SpouseBUZZ doesn't do politics. Our lane is the milspouse support lane and we stay comfortably between the yellow lines. However, it is election season and since the war is a huge issue, some of you will no doubt be following politics with great interest this year. For those of you who are, let me offer a few resources:

Military.com has it's 2008 Election Center up and running, and it's a wealth of information. You can read about the positions of the candidates, keep track of issues of relevance to the military community and you can even participate in an online debate by posing questions directly to Senators Obama and McCain. Click here to find out more.

I'm also very proud of the fact that military.com chose two military spouses as authors of their Daily Election Center Blog. Carissa Picard of Military Spouses for Change and our own airforcewife are blogging about election issues that affect military personnel and their families. Both women are intelligent, passionate and brilliant writers. I'm proud to see their strength and smarts on display in such a wonderful forum. Nice to have a little "girl power" over there. Milspouse girl power, at that!

So that's it, the one and only political post you're likely to ever see here at SpouseBUZZ. Now, back to doing what we do here....

Click and Connect: Find a Battle Buddy

SpouseBUZZ is all about connecting with one another and sharing our collective "married to the military" experiences. We've updated the long list of milspouse bloggers that we've managed to gather from previous posts. Plus, additional links that you've sent our way have been added. You may find that there are some spouse blogs you can relate to more than others, so browse the links and try to find a battle buddy (or twenty). Sit back, click and connect.

And a reminder, this fall will bring three opportunities to connect live and in person with hundreds of other milspouses.

Norfolk - September 6

San Antonio - October 18

Seattle/Tacoma - November 15

Click "continue reading" for the list of milspouse bloggers (in no particular order). If we've missed a blog that should be added to the list, please list it in the comment section and I'll add the link to this post.

New Card Offered Through AAFES

This post is for informational purposes only!

New Military Star card works off base