by Liz Hartford

Created on: February 08, 2010

Military life is difficult in itself.  It is difficult for the member and it is difficult for the members’ family.  Getting ready for the first deployment can be difficult for everyone involved.  The first and far most important thing the spouse that is not deploying will need a Power of Attorney for the deployed family member.  This is important because most people in the military won’t even speak to you with out one.  This is true for so many reasons for example:  someone in the family loses their Military ID Card.  With out a Power of Attorney that person cannot get an ID card right away.  They would have to have the service member mail a form in so that they can get another ID card.  This can cause so many problems because the ID card grants you access to medical and dental and if you don’t have it or cannot produce it for certain about of time they would be charge for the visit.  That would be an unexpected bill of several hundreds of dollars that the family behind would need.  

Being prepared goes way beyond a Power of Attorney.  The first deployment is always the worst, not know what to expect or how good communication is at the deployment site until the member gets there.  My recommendations are for the service member to take a certain amount of cash with them enough that will last them several months so that it doesn’t take away from the monthly money the family receives.  

It is very important that the spouse that is staying behind to know what the bill are and how much that needs to be paid and when they need to be paid.  This takes some adjustment for a person who has never done it before.  This is why I recommend the deployed service member take cash with them as to not mess up the bank account for the family.  The first few months of a deployment your pay check may seem either lower or higher than normal.  I recommend having access to Mypay system so you know what your being paid for and if they are over paying you.  If here is a problem with this, take your Power of Attorney to your disbursing office and find out what the deal is.

Emotional I know it is hard to get use to a deployment.  I personally have been through more deployments that I cane to even say.  I will put it too you this way, I have been married for 17 years and my husband has been home 2 years of it.  Some silly ideas that make things easy; I love my husband scent so I took one of his shirts and put it in a zip loc bag and everything now and then need to smell him.  Write lots of letters to him, I know with them and stuff it is easy to get to them but a nice long letter from the ones they love is what my husband always looked forward too.  If you have children, have them write letters and if they are too young to write, give them finger paint and let them make pictures to send.  Lastly, to make it easier, keep a calendar and set mild stones for yourself.  Like in 30 days I want to lose 5 pounds or by next week, I plan on having the kitchen organized.  What I am trying to say is to keep yourself busy.  The time will go by much faster that way.

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