USAWC Military Family Program

Spouse and Family


Army Strong Bonds Program: Strong Bonds is a unit-based, chaplain-led program which assists commanders in building individual resiliency by strengthening the Army Family. The core mission of the Strong Bonds program is to increase individual Soldier and Family member readiness through relationship education and skills training. Strong Bonds is conducted in an offsite retreat format in order to maximize the training effect. The retreat or “get away” provides a fun, safe, and secure environment in which to address the impact of relocations, deployments, and military lifestyle stressors.		Army OneSource Family Programs and Services: Army Family Programs offer a comprehensive array of programs and services dedicated to maintaining the readiness of Soldiers, Families and communities. It is the commander's principal Family readiness agency, providing comprehensive, coordinated, and responsive services that promote self-reliance, resiliency, and stability with such topics as New to the Army information, Money Matters, Home and Family Life, Making a Move, Work and Careers, Learning for Life, Army Basics, Managing Deployment and Separations, and Getting Involved in the Army community.

Army OneSource Spouses Careers Page: Military Spouses are the cornerstone of support for Soldiers and their Families. That's why the Army is dedicated to helping spouses by offering a variety of job preparation and search programs. Here you'll find help with interviewing tips, resume creation, and discussion groups. You'll also get tools to advance your career through further education and a career assessment tool to focus your employment future.		Army OneSource Child, Youth and School Services: Army Child, Youth & School (CYS) Services supports the Army Family Covenant by reducing the conflict between a Soldier's mission readiness and parental responsibilities.

Army OneSource Health Care: The health of the individuals that make up the Army determines the health of the Army as whole. That is why the Army offers an array of health programs for Soldiers and Family Members. Find resources related to benefits, coping with deployment, wounded Warriors, and other programs just for the Army Family. Army OneSource Communities and Marketplace: A sense of community is important to the Army. Army OneSource offers a chance for Army Soldiers to connect to their Families through Virtual Worlds, while Community Support Coordinators serve as liaisons to the geographically dispersed Army Families around the world. The Army Family Covenant and Army Community Covenant are committed to helping deliver a quality of life to Soldiers and Families that is commensurate with their service.		The Commissary - It's Worth the Trip! The Defense Commissary Agency with headquarters at Fort Lee, Virginia, operates a worldwide chain of commissaries providing groceries to military personnel, retirees and their families in a safe and secure shopping environment. Authorized patrons purchase items at cost plus a 5 - percent surcharge, which covers the costs of building new commissaries and modernizing existing ones. Shoppers save an average of more than 30 percent on their purchases compared to commercial prices - savings worth about $3,300 annually for a family of four. A core military family support element, and a valued part of military pay and benefits, commissaries contribute to family readiness, enhance the quality of life for America's military and their families, and help recruit and retain the best and brightest men and women to serve their country.

Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts (MyCAA): Military Spouse Career Advancement Accounts (MyCAA) from militaryonsource.com		Military OneSource Tools You Can Use: Military OneSource includes articles, resource guides, calculators, Web links, locators, toolkits and other helpful information about various issues and stages of life. You name it...we can help.



Unit Emergency Contact Information: Unit Emergency Contact Information from Military OneSource for all branches		USA.gov Personnel Locators: Get help finding someone overseas or in an emergency

Military HomeFront Education For Family Members: A number of different programs are available to spouses of service members and to adult family members wishing to pursue their higher level education goals. DoD, the Services, and individual universities can provide information on schools, programs of study, and various scholarships that might make pursuing education goals easier for military family members.		Military Homefront New Parent Support Program: The first three years of life are critical in a child's physical, emotional, and intellectual development. Military life presents some unique parenting challenges that civilian families may not face, such as frequent deployments, long duty hours, moves to unfamiliar locations, and separation from extended families and friends. The New Parent Support Program was developed to help military families with young children to adapt to parenthood and to thrive as healthy families no matter where their service may take them.

Military Homefront Personal Financial Management Program: The personal readiness of service members and their families is a major factor in the overall readiness of the military. Financial stability is a vital aspect of that personal readiness. The complexity of today's financial environment can present challenges to any consumers, but these challenges are further complicated by the mobile lifestyle of the military (frequent moves, deployments, etc.). Service members and their families, particularly junior service members, are at risk for potential financial crises, credit issues, or becoming victims of predatory lenders. To assist service members and their families in planning and controlling their financial future, the Department of Defense provides financial information, training, and counseling through the Personal Financial Management Program and through other programs and services.		Military Homefront Counseling: The military mental health system is constantly evolving to effectively and quickly respond to the demands and needs of service members and their families. Service members have more counseling options than ever before due to new Congressional funding and the dedicated effort of the Department of Defense to restructure the current mental health system in a way that best meets the needs of today's military. For medical counseling or other medical mental health-related needs, service members and their families can be evaluated and treated at a Military Treatment Facility (MTF).

HOMEFRONT Connections: HOMEFRONTConnections provides a secure place where members of the military community can meet and interact online to share experiences, post pictures and videos, write blogs, and create discussion boards. Join an existing group or create your own! Within this password protected environment, family readiness groups can create online communities, allowing family members to share information and resources.		GI Bill Transferability Has Arrived: For the first time in history, servicemembers enrolled in the Post-9/11 GI Bill program will be able to transfer unused educational benefits to their spouses or children starting Aug. 1, 2009. New Department of Defense guidance, issued June 23, 2009, establishes the criteria for eligibility and transfer of those education benefits. The new GI Bill, signed into law June 20, 2008, provides the most comprehensive educational benefit package since the original bill, officially known as the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, was signed into law.



Welcome To The Army Family: Welcome to the Army Family. You are very important to the Army because Soldiers and their Families are the Army's greatest asset. You will find that military life can be a wonderful experience, although it has some challenges as well. You will notice right away that it is a community, but it definitely is not like living in your hometown.		When Your Son or Daughter Goes Through Basic Combat Training (BCT): After your son or daughter enlists in the U.S. Army, the next step is to complete Basic Combat Training (BCT). These nine weeks are some of the most important in a U.S. Army career. After BCT, a recruit will have the skills, discipline, and confidence to be a full-fledged Soldier. The demands of Basic Combat Training are intense. Meeting the challenges requires a positive attitude, good preparation, and the will to succeed. The support of loved ones is important, too. Here are some ways you can help your son or daughter excel in BCT.

Your Soldier, Your Army: A Parents' Guide: *Your Soldier, Your Army: A Parents' Guide*was written by Vicki Cody, wife of GEN Richard Cody, Vice Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, and the mother of two Apache helicopter pilots with the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). Mrs. Cody turns her own 30-year experience as the wife and mother of Soldiers into advice and consolation for other parents with deploying children. The book's tone is warm and confidential with an honest mix of pride and tribulation, a tone that appeals to concerned parents. Mrs. Cody covers the whole gamut of deployments, from the preparation through the endurance to the homecoming, and includes a personal view into Army life and an explanation of Army terminology. Supplemental articles and exclamation points feature tips and facts about the Army.		Military OneSource Health Insurance Issues : A First Guide for Army Spouses and Family Members This guide introduces new Army spouses and family members to military family life. It contains information on aspects of Army life from military benefits to recreation. It also includes a glossary of Army terms and abbreviations as well as a list of useful Web sites. View this publication by clicking on "PDF Version."

Army Well-Being: Army Well-Being is directly linked to the relevance and readiness of our Army. Well- Being programs focus on meeting the needs of Soldiers (Active Duty, Army National Guard and Army Reserve), DA Civilians, Veterans, Retirees and Families - before, during and after deployment. In the past, the Army's programs concentrated on the quality of life of our people - defined as a standard of living to which individuals, communities, and nations strive to meet or exceed. Army Well-Being organizes and integrates these quality of life initiatives and programs into a Well-Being "framework. This framework provides a way to measure success in the Army's people programs and to address emerging needs of our transforming Army. Army Well-Being is the "bridge" that connects Army needs with individual needs and at the core of all Well-Being initiatives are four strategic goals. These goals address the primary and basic needs of each member of the Total Army Family - To Serve, To Live, To Connect and To Grow.		Family Matters Blog: Pets Can Be a Welcome Addition to Families Heather Forsgren Weaver, a colleague of mine at American Forces Press Service, is a regular contributor to Family Matters. Heather's been heavily involved in this blog from the start. She edits, helps write and posts content on a daily basis. In this blog, Heather writes about how an English bulldog became an important part of her family and gives tips to military families who are thinking about adding a non-human family member to their clans.

Future Soldiers, Cadets, and New Recruits in Basic Combat Training & AIT: Waiting to report to Basic Combat Training, ROTC/Military Academy Cadets, and their dependent family members (spouse and children) are eligible for free services from our 24/7 call center and use of our interactive Web site to view and download educational materials or order free copies online.		Army Well-Being, Army Kids: 10 Tips for Parents and Caretakers During Deployment Deployment is tough on kids. It can be tough on the parent staying home or their caretaker as well. Hooah 4 Health shares. 10 tips to help ease the burden.