Married to the Military - Military Times

Family support resources

The military is constantly adding new resources to help families survive and thrive in the military life. Here is a round-up of information on some organizations and services available to you:

24-hour Military OneSourceGuard and Reserve members and their families, wherever they live.

Military OneSource provides immediate aid to service members and their families to help them manage the everyday issues of military life, such as locating child care, finding information on relocating, finding an English-speaking plumber in a foreign country and more. Callers also can speak with a credentialed civilian counselor for confidential and private problem solving counseling for situations such as marital counseling, deployment stress management, and parent-child communication issues.

To use the site, enter the user ID “military” and the password “onesource.”

OneSource phone numbers:

(800)342-9647

Overseas: (800)3429-6477

Overseas collect: 1-484-530-5908

Overseas Telephone Access codes: Europe – 00; Japan ITJ/IDC/NTT – 122-001-010; Japan KDD – 010; Korea S-Darcom – 002; Korea S-KT – 001

Coast Guard Employee Assistance Program. Contact them by phone at (800) 222-0364.

Military Homefront. This is the Defense Department’s official portal for information on quality of life programs and services for troops and family members.

This is a good place to start for anyone, whether new to the military life or a seasoned veteran. It provides nuts-and-bolts information on everything from commissary stores and deployment preparation, to contact information for family centers and National Guard state coordinators.

Families coping with injuries a service member received in action in Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, who need help in addition to that already provided by their individual service can find assistance through this site.

Service support sites. The individual services’ family support Web sites, also featuring information about their family centers, are:

• Army: http://www.MyArmyLifeToo.com. (In addition, the Army’s Well-being Liaison Office can help with topics ranging from child care to pay concerns.)

• Navy: http://www.ffsp.navy.mil and http://www.lifelines.navy.mil.

• Air Force: Air Force Personnel Center and Air Force Crossroads.

• Marine Corps: Marine Corps Community Services.

Spouse careers. Spouse employment, education and relocation information can be found at MilSpouse.org, a partnership involving the services, Defense Department, Labor Department and others.

Other spouse career sites include:

DoD Job Search

DoD Voluntary Education, where you can explore educational opportunities available to service members and their families on and off base. DoD and related service links outline counseling, testing, college, funding and scholarship programs available worldwide.

Special needs families. Families with special needs can find information and resources, including a bulletin board for communicating information with each other on Military Homefront.