For better, for worse, for Uncle Sam . . . Today’s military has changed dramatically—and spouses need to be prepared. Approximately half of our 1.4 million fighting men and women are married. And for a military spouse, information and support are not easy to find. Included here is: • How to enroll in the Child Development Homes program • What to do before a permanent change of station (PCS) • How to prepare for the deployment—and the return—of a spouse • Easy ways to calculate benefits, allowances, and special pays

The perks for American servicemen and women. The US Armed Forces exists in a reality all its own. Members are fed, paid, clothed, housed, and protected in a way few other American citizens can claim. Soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines can shop at low-price grocery stores, protect their families with low-cost insurance, and earn a lifetime pension before they turn 40 years old. In fact, military life offers so many benefits and perks, it’s hard for the average serviceman or -woman to keep track of them. Finally, here is a guide that explains the benefits and how to obtain them. In this Complete Idiot’s Guide®, readers will find: • Clear and precise explanations of active-duty family benefits. • Details on veteran education and medical benefits. • A money-saving guide to discounts for both active duty personnel and veterans.

Parents of returning service members may sometimes feel that their voices are not heard. The media is saturated with stories about troops returning from deployment with mental health problems like post-traumatic stress, depression, and substance abuse. Some also return home with physical problems including traumatic brain injury, physical pain or more severe injuries like amputations. Almost all returning service members experience reintegration challenges such as readjusting to family and community, finding employment or attending school. But rarely do we hear how parents are taking on the role of supporting their sons and daughters who have served our country. In countless ways these parents provide help—and when their military child suffers significant physical or psychological injuries, they may once again become their primary caretaker. For mothers and fathers and others in a parenting role, it can be overwhelming at times, and resources are limited. Courage after Fire for Parents of Service Members provides a compassionate and accessible guide for the parents or guardians of returning troops. This groundbreaking book acknowledges the significant contribution and sacrifice parents have made for their military children, provides strategies and resources that will assist them in understanding and supporting their son or daughter, and will validate their own personal experiences. Recommendations for helping them care for their returning service member are woven throughout the book, as well as education about the importance of taking care of themselves to help prevent caregiver burnout. Vignettes and reflections from parents who have had a child deploy offer a sense of hope and community. Even in the best of circumstances, parents play an instrumental role in helping their sons and daughters successfully reintegrate after deployment. This book is a valuable resource for any parent who is seeking to better understand and support a returning military child while caring for themselves.

Let's take the guesswork out of military life! Join me, along with hundreds of other military spouses, and grab your copy of Modern Military Spouse today. It has everything you need to survive the ups and downs of military life! After reading this book, you will be able to... - Prepare and navigate PCS moves, military homecomings and military deployments easier. - Understand terms, acronyms and abbreviations all in one convenient location. - Gain instant access to over 22+ printable checklists. - Learn how to navigate getting an education and managing your career as a military spouse. - Build a budget that will work for your military family, using our step-by-step guide for finances and a downloadable spreadsheet. - Learn the keys to nurturing a military marriage that will survive the challenges of military life. - Help your child through military life using key resources and best tips for parenting military kids. Here's what's included: 14 comprehensive chapters 20+ printable documents and checklists (Including deployment, PCS, marriage, and resume). Receive a link in the book to download the printables. 3 bonus sections (Including acronyms, abbreviations, and terms) What you'll learn: When You Don't Have a Ring What to Do When Your Service Member's Gone Preparing for a Successful Military Marriage Creating a Budget That Works Hitting the Books Military-Style Military Proofing Your Career Building a Strong Support Network Becoming a Good Military Spouse Navigating Military Life with Kids Step-by-Step to PCS Moving and Living Overseas Using Social Media Safely Complete List of Resources for Spouses Abbreviations, Acronyms, and Terms Defined And more! "Jo, JD, and Lauren did the hard work for all of us! They took an overwhelming amount of confusing and out-of-date information for military spouses and turned it into a fun, modern book. This guide helps you understand military life and find the resources you are looking for." - Jen Pilcher, Founder, MilitaryOneClick.com "Finally! A military spouse handbook that I can recommend to new spouses! This book is the friend I wish I had when I was a young Navy wife. I wouldn't have felt so alone, so unusual and so un-military if someone would have given me Modern Military Spouse along with my dependent ID. Modern Military Spouse is a mentor, a drinking buddy, and a confidant for today's military spouse." - Michelle Volkmann, managing editor, NextGen MilSpouse

Now revised to reflect the reality of military and economic unrest around the world, Married to the Military remains an invaluable resource for any military spouse or significant other. When you marry a military service member, whether a reservist or active—you may feel as if you’ve also married the United States military! While there are plenty of orientation books on military training, there is not much information available about handling the personal aspects of military life. Married to the Military demystifies the often confusing military world so you can make the right choices for yourself and your family. Meredith Leyva, an experienced military wife and founder of CinCHouse.com, the Internet’s largest community for military wives, girlfriends, and women in uniform, offers time-tested advice on everything you need to know—from relocation to deployment, protocol to finances, and career to kids, including: -Keeping your love life together during deployments -Relocating yourself and your family around the world -Maintaining your own career when you're expected to move every three years -Understanding what pay and benefits you're entitled to—and how to maximize them -Dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other threats to your partner’s well-being Whether you’re figuring out military protocol or trying to understand the medical system, this savvy, friendly yet authoritative guide details just what you need to know to manage day-to-day issues and get on with the adventure of military life.

Profiles more than seventy careers in the American armed forces, including salaries, skills and requirements, advancement, unions, associations, and more.

Everything you need to know to get through the FIRST YEARS as an army spouse or significant other. Revised and Expanded 2nd Edition.No one hands you a guidebook when you enter Army life; you either learn the hard way or stumble upon resources on your own . . . until now. Intro to Army Life gives you the tools and resources necessary to make your transition into the Army lifestyle easier, less stressful and more fun. You don't have to learn the hard way--all the information you need is here, ready to help you make the transition. Along with engaging personal narrative and stories, this book includes:-Army hierarchy and social structure-15 tips for dealing with a deployment-Perks of a military ID-Top 25 Army acronyms-Military discounts and how to find them-Top 10 resources for military children-Fun facts, such as where the term military brat originated-and much moreIntro to Army Life is a North American Book Award winner, and a must-read for any military spouse or significant other.

The path Dr. Kendra Lowe has walked as a cadet at the Air Force Academy as an active duty service member, and now as a military spouse, has given her a front-row seat to many of the traumas, setbacks, successes, discriminations, and celebrations that military families experience. These experiences fueled ten years of research aimed at better understanding military spouse stress and how bad the stress really is, as well as the unique contributing factors of the military lifestyle. Most significant were the findings that 27 percent of military spouses report significantly high levels of stress, while 20 percent have a higher, clinically significant, level of stress. In other words, approximately one in four military spouses wake up every day under a heavy layer of stress that builds day by day, week by week, and year by year. Unfortunately, many military spouses perceive this stress as normal, unaware of how dangerously close they are to clinically significant levels of emotional, social, or physical distress. Wake up, Kick Ass, Repeat was created to help alleviate these significant concerns. This comprehensive and invaluable tool will help you accept the unique nature of military life, anticipate and persevere in the face of social-emotional setbacks, practice effective coping strategies, and learn to thrive on to new possibilities. Dr. Kendra has expertly woven research, personal anecdotes, powerful stories from other military spouses, as well as practical principals of Rational Behavioral Therapy to help individuals work through stressful situations while maintaining better emotional control. This is a must-have book for military and first responder spouses, their family members, professionals working with military and first responder families, as well as anyone seeking to find a way to help themselves to better social and emotional health. Dr. Kendra also includes thoughtful questions and exercises that any individual or group can put to immediate use.

Often military spouses say: "I love my spouse, I'm super proud of - and support - my spouses' service to our country. . .and still I struggle with how to make this military life work for me." This book helps you learn how to make this life work for you as you support your spouse. This is not a book about being the perfect military spouse. It's about what you can do to make this military life work well for you based on who you are as a unique individual. - Learn how to keep your energy and joy up, your stress down, and apply the research done on happiness to your very own unique military life.- Based on many years of interviews with spouses from all services, here's how to go from surviving to thriving in this challenging but very enriching lifestyle.

From Kimberly Seals-Allers, the creator of the Mocha Manual™ series, and coauthor Pamela McBride, a seasoned military wife, comes the ultimate guide to life, love, and logistics for military spouses, girlfriends, and female service members. Whether you're just beginning to date a military man and pondering the ins and outs of a long-distance relationship as he moves from base to base or you're a newly wed military wife, The Mocha Manual to Military Life has a host of tips for optimizing your romance. Beyond matters of the heart, the book also offers advice on everything from how to thrive during deployment to how to master military protocol to how to best build friendships among military wives. Accessible and witty, The Mocha Manual to Military Life is a fresh and timely must-read for all women—but particularly African American and Latina women—affected by military service. Written in the same informative tone as the other books in the Mocha Manual™ series, with sidebars and testimony from women who have experience navigating military life, this book is sure to be essential reading for all women engaged in some form or fashion with the military.