by Rebecca Florido

Created on: January 31, 2010

If you are thinking about becoming a military spouse the first thing I would suggest is to make sure you are emotionally ready for the events that are going to happen or may happen. As a spouse you have many responsibilities toward your family and much of this is entitled to your husband/wife.  Stress is a daily emotion when you become part of the military family. As an ex-wife of a Marine I will tell you that there is going to be some hard times and some really good times but it is what you make it. There are many benefits for becoming a spouse in the military and there are some down falls.  My best suggestion is to take advantage of the best and work hard to avoid the worst.

Benefits

Your husband/wife will have a monthly check deposited right into his bank account. Depending on his rank it could be a good amount but he will also receive extra money for being married to you which is called Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH). This extra money is for living expenses and can change depending on where you are located. If however you live on base through the military housing that BAH will no longer apply to you and your family.

You can find the 2010 rating chart at this website.

http://www.military.com/benefits/military-pay/basic- allowance-for-housing-rates

The military gives many spouses ways to continue their education through scholarships, grants, and courses on the bases. You can find this information through this website.

http://www.military.com/money-for-school/spouse-fami ly/military-spouse-and-family-educational-assistance -programs

Jobs become easier to obtain and more than likely you will have first priority over someone who is not affiliated with the military.

http://www.careeronestop.org/militaryspouse/

Discounts are a great way to spend less, try to stick with the commissaries and exchanges.  MWR is the Morale, Welfare, and Recreation that included many family activities on base for free or at a very low price.

http://www.military.com/benefits/resources/family-su pport/commissary-exchange-and-mwr

Stress

Remember that your loved one may need to do a tour overseas and you may not be able to accompany him.  This is hard and I know many things will be racing through you head. Setting goals while he is gone is a good way to keep a budget in check so that when he gets back you can have a vacation for some fun and reunite this is a suggestion that I highly advise. There are also many programs out there free of charge for families that are having a hard time.

http://www.military.com/benefits/resources/deploymen t/how-to-cope-with-sudden-deployments

There may be times that your significant other will not be able to call for weeks or even months. This can become worrisome and at the same time give you thoughts of him/her distancing themselves from you. Trust me they miss you even more than you could ever imagine.  You may end up having fear, anger, resentment and many other emotions but please remember that husband/wife will be feeling the same way and you are going to want to leave a good last impression just in case something was to happen while they are gone. As a spouse you have the most important job and that is to be the support and to keep everything together. Trust me if you do the things that you need to do you will have a lasting relationship that people would wish they could have. I hope that I have given enough advice on this issue however, there are many things that pertain to this topic and I’m sure you can jump on Google to find some more articles to feed your thoughts and ease your mind.

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