If you’ve recently married into the military, or you or your spouse has just joined, you may be feeling both nervous and excited about the future. During the adjustment period, spouses take on new roles, adapt to new schedules and learn new ways of handling many of life’s obstacles. The following resources can help ease your transition.
Military and Family Support Center
Your installation Military and Family Support Center is a good place to start, for anything from local parent classes, to an introduction to installation services including spouse career and employment opportunities, personal financial management classes, deployment and more.
Deployment
You can ease some of the stress of deployment by preparing for separations. These resources can teach you strategies to help your family adjust during deployment:
For spouses:
- “These Boots: A Spouse’s Guide to Stepping Up and Standing Tall During Deployment” is a recording that offers spouses suggestions and strategies on how to cope before, during and after deployment.
- “You Can Do This: Your Checklist for Living Positive While Your Partner’s Deployed” is an article with resources and tips on how to grow individually and as a family through a deployment.
For young children:
- Sesame Street’s “Talk, Listen, Connect: Deployments, Homecomings, Changes” is a multimedia program that helps children between the ages of 2 and 5 communicate feelings and concerns that they may have during different phases of deployment.
For youth and teens:
- “Making the Move Easier for Military Kids” offers children tips and advice on adapting to life on the move.
- Military Kids Connect invites youth and teens to share how they cope with the challenges of military life.
Relocation
Military families move every two to three years. These resources can help you manage the move:
- “Seize Your Move With the Relocation Assistance Program” is an article that describes relocation support services to help you plan your move.
- MilitaryINSTALLATIONS provides you with information about services and programs available to you on your new installation.
- Plan My Move is a web-based relocation tool that provides information, resources and checklists to help plan your move.
- HOMES.mil is a service designed to connect service members and their families with community housing rental listings located near U.S. military bases.
- Militarychildcare.com helps you explore different childcare options and locate Department of Defense-approved providers around the world.
- Contact TRICARE to notify them of your move and discuss your options for care at your new location.
- The department provides allowances for certain moving expenses, including a dislocation allowance and reimbursement for meals, lodging and mileage.
- If you have a family member with special needs, consultants with the Exceptional Family Member Program can help you make sure their needs are met during the move, especially if they will transfer to a new school.
- If you need to talk with someone about managing the stress of moving, consider contacting Military OneSource or the Military and Family Life Counseling Program at installations worldwide.
Changing careers
Family members may have to place their careers on hold or change careers completely when they relocate to a new area. These resources can help you manage career change challenges:
- The Spouse Education and Career Opportunity Program provides expert education and career guidance to military spouses worldwide.
- The Defense-State Liaison Office, or DSLO, works with state legislators to modify licensure requirements for military spouses who want to maintain their licenses as they move from state to state.
- The Military Spouse Employment Partnership connects spouses with more than 300 employers who pledge to recruit, hire, promote and retain military spouses in portable careers.
Use the resources and tools that your installation and Military OneSource offer to ease your family’s transition into military life and to help everyone feel like a welcome member of the military community. Call Military OneSource at 800-342-9647 if you have questions about resources. We are here for you 24/7. OCONUS/International? Click here for calling options.
