1. As an Army wife, your social security number is no longer valid as far as the Army is concerned. If they ask you for your social or your last four, they are asking you for HIS not yours.
2. Get your military ID as soon as possible. You can go to the closest military base (it does not have to be the same branch as your soldier) to have it made. Your soldier will send you the necessary paperwork to have this done.
3. Be sure to get a Power of Attorney so you can handle your husband’s affairs whenever he is gone. You’ll be surprised how often it comes in handy.
4. Know about all of your bills – how much, when they’re due, who they’re payable to, etc.
5. Know about all of your checking and savings accounts. Know how to balance a checkbook, where the extra checkbooks are kept, etc. Be sure your name is on all accounts.
6. Be sure you always let your key caller in your FRG know where you are when you will be out of town. At the very least, they will need a phone number so you can be contacted if needed. Units vary on who is allowed as the contact person with the FRG. Some allow any Army family member and some only allow Army wives.
7. In all likelihood, you will have to register yourself with Tricare each time you move to a new base.
8. If you are renting, be sure you have a military clause in your lease!
9. Put money away each paycheck for the little things that will come up related to his job – sewing on patches, dry cleaning, buying patches and equipment.
10. Do not talk about your husband’s deployments or training exercises publicly. You never know who may overhear you. For your own safety, you should try to prevent others from knowing when he is gone. This means driving both vehicles, etc.
This is an evolving list…..do you have other tips? Email me at stacey@marriedtothearmy.com
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
This may sound morbid, but can be especially important if you have children: Make sure you have life insurance on each other and that all your info is up to date. Just like you wouldn’t want to leave your husband and kids in a bind if you unexpectedly passed away, he’ll want to make sure you’re taken care of in the event of a tragedy as well.
If your soldier is deployed, don’t put the “half my heart is in x” stickers on your car, it makes you a target, it’s like putting a billboard on your car that says “follow me home and do only God knows what because my husband isn’t home”!!! It kills me when I see wives with these stickers, especially if they live off post, anyone can follow you home, and it’s putting yourself and kids in danger..
i hate the my kid is a honer student at blank elementary and the stick figures with the family names your just asking for your kid to get abducted with those stickers on your van
LOL I thought I was the only one who thought that. I mean really, you watch the news all the time and you hear things happen in your neighborhood regardless of where you are from and people still want to put how many family members and names on the cars. It’s crazy.
Great info. Helped a lot! Thanks!
Would just like to point out that I appreciate you saying Army Spouse in the title, but then you go to “His” and “Husband.” Come on ladies..help our female Soldiers out…we are obviously the minority but try to change these stereotypes.. (“daddy” deployment dolls, etc) There are male Spouses too and wives that are gone…. Also, THANK YOU for your sacrifices and assistance to our community.
Sorry, it’s just my nature as a wife to refer to my soldier as him or husband. The writing is awkward to constantly say him or her, husband or wife, etc. I do appreciate every person that serves regardless of gender.
I am currently engaged to a wonderful man in the Army and I am getting ready to relocate myself and my children in about 2 months to another state to officially start our lives together. It is a little over whelming thinking about moving out of my home town area and state but I am also very excited at the same time. If there is any other advice besides these tips that anyone has please let me know. Lol. This is something completely new to me and a completely new lifestyle I am stepping into.