Overview
Resources to help military spouses find information about careers, family, and deployments.
As a military spouse you face challenges that your civilian friends don't -- including frequent relocations and deployment separations -- which for many spouses means running the household as a single parent and working outside the home, too. Fortunately, the number and quality of programs and services just for military spouses continues to grow. This list provides a starting point.
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Web sites
Official sites
Military OneSource
www.MilitaryOneSource.com
This free 24-hour service is available to all active duty, Guard, and Reserve members (regardless of activation status) and their families. Consultants provide information and make referrals on a wide range of issues. Free face-to-face counseling sessions (and their equivalent by phone or online) are also available. Call 1-800-342-9647 or go to www.MilitaryOneSource.com to learn more.
Military HOMEFRONT
www.militaryhomefront.dod.mil
A Department of Defense (DoD) site for a wide range of quality-of-life information. For information specifically related to spouses, go to "Troops and Families."
MyArmyOneSource
www.myarmyonesource.com
A portal to the wide range of Army family-support resources, including information about schooling, deployments, finances, and marriage.
Air Force Community
www.afcommunity.af.mil
Information and resources for Air Force families, including a Spouse Network.
Fleet and Family Support Programs
www.nffsp.org
News, employment assistance, New Parent Support, and a wide range of links and resources for Navy families.
Marine Corps Community Services
www.usmc-mccs.org
Information on a wide range of family and spouse issues, including New Parent Support, spouse education, and deployment support.
Unofficial sites
CinCHouse.com
www.cinchouse.com
A nonprofit community for military women and wives, with an enormous range of information -- from recipes to deployment information, family tips, and wellness. Also provides chat rooms and links to installations.
Military.com
www.military.com/spouse
Informationand links specific to military spouses, including job search information, discussion boards and deployment support.
Military Spouse Help
www.militaryspousehelp.com
Information and advice from two military wives about a range of issues interesting to military spouses, including careers, energy, and family.
National Military Family Association (NMFA)
www.nmfa.org
Information for military spouses and families, including information about education, employment, family life, and health care, as well as links to installation resources.
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Books
Chicken Soup for the Military Wife's Soul, by Jack Canfield, Mark Hansen, Charles Preston, and Cindy Pederson (Health Communications, 2005).
Stories by and about military spouses.
Going Overboard: The Misadventures of a Military Wife, by Sarah Smiley (Penguin Group, 2006).
An often-humorous account of raising children while their parent is deployed, by a Navy wife who writes the syndicated column, "Shore Duty."
Help! I'm a Military Spouse: I Want a Life Too! by Kathie Hightower and Holly Scherer (Potomac Books, 2007).
A book about finding your own identity apart from your spouse, fulfilling your goals, and finding happiness while married to a service member.
Home Fires Burning: Married to the Military for Better or Worse, by Karen Houppert (Random House, 2006).
A close look at the lives of several military wives.
The Homefront Club: The Hardheaded Woman's Guide to Raising a Military Family, by Jacey Eckhart (Naval Institute Press, 2005).
Information to help you build the skills that help you deal with the realities of being a "married-but-single" parent, moving, handling deployment, and much more. The author, who was raised in an Air Force family, is a columnist for the Virginian-Pilot and the wife of a Navy officer.
Married to the Military: A Survival Guide for Military Wives, Girlfriends, and Women in Uniform, by Meredith Leyva (Simon & Schuster, 2003).
Advice about handling relocation, deployment, career, protocol, and family from a military wife and founder of CinCHouse.com.
Today's Military Wife: Meeting the Challenges of Service Life, by Lydia Sloan Cline (Stackpole, 2009).
A resource guide for spouses of all military personnel.
While They're at War: The True Stories of American Families on the Homefront, by Kristin Henderson (Houghton Mifflin, 2006).
Portraits of military spouses whose loved ones go to war, written by the wife of a Navy chaplain.
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Magazines
Military Money
www.militarymoney.com
A quarterly magazine free to members of the NMFA about managing your money. Published jointly by the NMFA and InCharge® Education Foundation, Inc. as part of the Department of Defense's "Financial Readiness Campaign."
Military Spouse Magazine
www.milspouse.com
A bimonthly magazine by, for, and about military spouses, with articles about married life, deployments, family, and more.
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Newspaper
"Shore Duty" by Sarah Smiley. Navy wife Sarah Smiley's column is syndicated in newspapers and in Military Spouse magazine and Military Money magazine. Go to www.sarahsmiley.com and click on "faqs" for a list of newspapers that carry the column.
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Your military support services
Each service branch sponsors information and support programs for service members and their families. You can call or visit any installation Army Community Service Center, Marine Corps Community Services, Fleet and Family Support Center, or Airman and Family Readiness Center regardless of your branch affiliation.
If you aren't near an installation, National Guard Family Assistance Centers are available in every state. The Local Community Resource Finder on the National Guard Family Program at www.jointservicessupport.org will identify your closest center.
© 2006, 2010 Ceridian Corporation, Military OneSource. All rights reserved. 042810