Family Readiness

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How To Handle A Deployment Extension

When a soldier deploys the family is usually told about how long that deployment is going to be. The family member knows that it might not always be that amount of time. It could be shorter or it could be longer. We always hope for shorter, but we have to...
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Military Spouse Friendships

Military spouses need good friends! The military life can be very difficult sometimes. It can be a great life but a stressful one as well. Between deployments, long work hours and changing schedules, the spouses need people to depend on. We need to find others who get where we are...
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Family Readiness Group: How the FRG can help you

I never knew what the FRG was until my husband joined the Army last March. In the Marines, I was too new and too young to really put any thought into what they offered – and the Marines (at least a decade ago) weren’t nearly as family oriented as the...
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Surviving a Road Trip: How To Travel with Children

Click on the above image to enlarge. Recently my husband and I went on a road trip back to our home state and took our 2 1/2 year old daughter with us. It was 10 hours on the way there and 13 on the way back. We did it each...
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Getting The Most Out Of Military OneSource

The Department of Defense offers military families a comprehensive resource for all aspects of readiness, resilience, and even recreation. The program, called Military OneSouce, is meant as a virtual extension of on-base services. It offers one source of easily accessible information, resources, and services for military families. For example, Military...
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Building Resilient Relationships with Army Strong Bonds Retreats

A couple of weeks ago, my husband and I enjoyed a romantic weekend getaway at a local tourist spot, complete with catered meals, outdoor activities, great relationship-building sessions, and a nice evening out. We made some new friends and came home with great insights about ourselves, each other, and our...
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Family Subsistence Supplemental Allowance May Help Some, But Not Many

Raise your hand if you’ve ever heard of the Family Subsistence Supplemental Allowance (FSSA) Program. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? You, gentle readers with your hands in your laps, are not alone. The program, outlined in Department of Defense (DOD) Instruction 1341.11, isn’t very well known. The website used to determine...
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MotoMail for Marines

Family and friends of Marines deployed to Afghanistan can send a physical letter to their loved one without leaving the house or paying for postage. MotoMail is a free, private and secure service that allows you to write a message out like an e-mail. Then, in Afghanistan, the letter will...
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Free or Discounted Child Care Agencies for Military Families

According to my father-in-law, Cokes used to cost only a nickel, everybody liked Ike, and the world was a swell place. Childcare was easy to find in this world also, since family was always nearby and you had known the neighbor’s kids their whole lives. Sadly, military people have never...
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Children and Homecoming

The homecoming of a service member is a major change for the children in a household. They have grown physically, emotionally, and socially during the deployment. They are not as skilled at coping with their stress because they have little life experience. As a result, they may become firmly attached...
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