My Life As A Military Spouse: May 2011

2011/05/31

Postponed

'Money Monday' will be posted on Wednesday this week.

2011/05/27

Lasting Legacy

Website plans lasting memorials to fallen troops

For the last month, site administrators and online members of TogetherWeServed have been compiling basic profiles of every servicemember who died in the Afghanistan, Iraq and Vietnam wars. Now, they’re hoping that family members of those troops will pick up the project, providing a more complete profile of the fallen heroes.

Brian Foster, founder of the military-themed social networking site, said most of the profiles already contain some personal information, like photos and hometowns, thanks to the work of site members who “adopted” the pages.

“But we want to get in touch with families, really create a lasting legacy for these troops,” he said.

The website, a fee-based membership site only open to those who have served in the military, is offering free access to families who contact administrators to update those fallen hero profiles. The offer is also open to families of veterans from earlier wars as well, although many of those profiles have not yet been created.

2011/05/25

My PCS Chronicles

I have been out of town for awhile. My MIL has cancer and I was away helping her. She is doing rather well at this juncture, but I still feel guilty about preparing to move further away from her.

We had our transpo appointment. The folks were very nice. We have dates set for the packers/movers and have our partial DITY (I refuse to call it PPM) details set and ready to go. My motto is always to hope for the best, prepare for the worst - so I do have scenarios in the back of mind - what if the moving season is like last year? Many of our friends that PCS'd last year had moving dates set - the movers either didn't show up or moved their dates around and made it very difficult on everyone. We are told that they have planned for a very busy moving season due to BRAC and are prepared. Because we will likely be awhile getting housing they will store our goods nearby our current installation. It will take longer for us to get our things on the other side, but they tell us that this should help with things as a whole. We shall see.

We received our alleged housing assignment. We did not get the type of house nor neighborhood that we had hoped for. I am optimistic though that our housing assignment may end up being better for us on the whole due to location. I also have to be thankful that while we may have to wait a bit for a house, we will likely get a house. I know that this move will likely be the last one we make to an installation where housing will be available sooner rather than later.

They did change our dates around and I had to cancel reservations. I was able to get most things changed without too much hassle. We had planned to stay in temporary lodging on installation at our new location, but when I canceled and tried to rebook, they were full for our new dates. We were lucky to find another hotel nearby that accepts pets and had rooms available. It isn't as nice as the hotel on post, but when you move with pets sometimes you have to take what you can get and be happy about it.

Housing here says that they will get our BAH refund two weeks after we clear. I am not sure that I trust that, but we shall see. We will take our DLA and use it for upfront rent at the next location. We are only getting a portion of DLA upfront. I hate that they changed how to they disburse DLA. I suppose I should just be thankful that we receive it.

As for rental trucks for our partial DITY, we ended up going with Budget. Overall they were cheaper and they gave a military discount. Uhaul was going to be more expensive and no discount.

I continue on my daily quest to purge things from our house. I have boxed up items and written 'Do Not Pack' on them. I have gone through all linens, curtains, etc. Washed them and packed them into large Ziploc bags so that they do not have to be touched, only boxed. I have a lot more to do, but I am on the right track. Now if time will just slow down. :)

2011/05/18

Military Pay Seems To Be A Political Game

Military paychecks not assured in August should government default

Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., is among the lawmakers seeking to reassure service members and their families that they won’t miss out on a paycheck, even if the government faces a financial crisis this summer.

In the wake of Monday’s announcement that the U.S. has reached its $14.3 trillion debt limit — and is now using extraordinary means to keep paying bills — Hunter is urging quick passage of HR 1551, a bipartisan measure to guarantee military pay. He is the chief sponsor.

House leaders have made no promises to pass Hunter’s bill, nor any of the several similar bills that also would protect military pay in case the government runs out of money. If pay protection is granted, it is likely to be done at the last second, because the threat of not paying troops is a powerful motivation to get a debt ceiling agreement.

Hunter’s Guarantee Paychecks for America’s Military Families Act would guarantee that military members, and federal civilians working in combat zones, would continue to be paid even if the government runs out of money or there is a lapse in federal funding.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told Congress on Monday the government is borrowing money from government trust funds and delaying some payments to keep spending through Aug. 2. At that point, the government would go into default. One of the things that might not be covered is military salaries, Treasury officials have warned.

Service members and their families already suffered through a threat to their pay in April, when a government shutdown was avoided at literally the last hour. After that, Hunter — a Marine veteran — said he doesn’t want military families to worry again while Congress and the White House try to negotiate an increase in the debt ceiling.

“Each one of our military families deserves to know that paychecks won’t be withheld,” Hunter said in a statement. “My bill provides that certainty, so that service members won’t have to worry about whether their families at home have money to pay bills, put gas in the car or go to the grocery store. These men and women have enough to worry about already — and paychecks should not be on the list. It’s time to put this nonsense behind us.”