Let me preface this by saying that this is not an article that will say that deployments are totally stress-free. They are not. For both the service member deployed and for the family members “left behind.” There are many stress factors – separation from a key family member, financial concerns, or family illness, just to name a few. Nothing to say that Murphy doesn’t show up the minute your service member leaves and the dishwasher breaks, the water heater leaks, and you get a flat tire. Nope, not speaking from experience at all. This article is to share how to navigate and prepare for deployment as much as possible, leading to a potentially less stressful deployment. All that other stuff – the flat tire and broken dishwasher – can still happen. But preparing for it can help make it a smooth process.

Be prepared. Be paperwork prepared.

Not like in the scouts. This prepared is all about the paperwork. Before the service member goes, make sure the spouse or guardian has all the necessary paperwork needed. A power of attorney (POA) should be provided – either general or specific. The specifics of each type of POA should be explained to the deploying service member. Check with your homeowner’s and automobile insurance to see if they require a separate power of attorney if the primary account holder is the service member.

The legal documents to make sure are prepared are: power of attorney, will, life insurance paperwork. Also make sure you know where your passports, birth certificates, and marriage licenses are.

Make sure a family member knows where they are as well.

Communicate, communicate, communicate.

There is no such thing as over-communicating in regards to preparing for a deployment. Do communicate about expectations. Expectations on what family life will be like when the service member is gone. Communicate about the family budget and what to do in emergencies. Communicate about what the family member wants to hear about in letters or emails – do they want daily emails or weekly ones – perhaps they won’t have internet time often and want to maximize their internet time.

Keep In Touch

If your service member will be without internet, get an address for mailing letters and care packages. If your service member has access to email, email often. It may seem silly but share about every detail. While the family member left behind may be tired and the days feel long, the reality is that family life is happening while the service member is away, and they want to feel like they are part of the family still.

Crunch the numbers.

Speaking of budgets, prepare a deployment budget. Make sure there is an emergency fund for things like broken heaters or flat tires. If you haven’t budgeted in the past, look into resources offered on base from the military-specific services, like the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society who holds budgeting classes, or speak to the financial, military family life counselor on the base.

Know Your Resources

As a family member of a service member, know how to get ahold of the Red Cross if there is a family emergency involving a primary family member, and you need to tell the service member about it, and they don’t have an internet connection.

Know where your Military Family Support Centers are for your service branches – for the Army – Army Community Services, Marines – Marine and Family Programs, the Navy – Fleet and Family Support Program, and the Air Force – Airman and Family Readiness. These centers are hubs for resources for various programming across the bases that can help families thrive and survive the challenges of military life.

Prepare Your Children

Involve the children in planning as the family discusses the deployment, at the ages you and your family feel are appropriate. Keeping them in the loop will help them understand why and where the military service member has traveled to. There are several organizations there for support, including Sesame Street for Military Families, which has a website and app for your phone or tablet device for maximum support, and Comfort Crew for Military Kids with deployment comfort kits. For resources for parents of infants and toddlers, check out Zero to Three. Military Kids Connect has the Kids Deploy Too program with activities for children ages 6-17.

Prioritize Self Care

For the family member left behind, do not forget yourself. Take steps to enjoy gym time, reading a book you always wanted, or try a hobby you have always wanted. Self-care helps manage sanity levels which in turn manages stress levels. If you have children, consider getting a babysitter for an afternoon or night out for yourself.

Having clear expectations and communication can help manage the deployment stress. Having resources for the family and self-care also helps keep the sanity level on a  positive trajectory.

Within the Fiscal Year 2022 Defense Budget, the Department of Defense has outlined plans to improve military base housing. This aspect is among others being discussed as part of preparing military installations for every side of readiness. In fact, per the DOD News release, the $1.4 billion is requested within the Defense Budget is funding is for “construction, operation, and maintenance of the DOD’s worldwide non-privatized family housing inventory, which includes more than 34,000 government owned and 5,800 leased units.” Eight unaccompanied housing projects are also included in the request for funding.

Among military families, military housing on installation is a hot topic. Since housing was privatized, and no longer in control of the military service branches, there have been a series of issues made public including mold, flooding and unsafe hazards. These reports have become public through news or lawsuits. This shapes opinions of the military forces on military housing.

Why Military Housing?

For some, military housing is a must because there is a built-in community. Everyone in an on base community is military, theoretically, and therefore understands that ins and outs. If you mention the word deployment or duty, they understand what that means and entails and may be able to help with resources or knowledge to make it a bit easier. Part of that community is also for children – it is not a simple process to up and move and make new friends, and it is the same for children, but having parks in every neighborhood as a meet up spot makes building friendship a bit easier.

There are other perks of a neighborhood or community pool in addition to parks, tot lots and dog parks. The proximity to the base perks of military commissary and exchange add to the ease of life, and may even be within biking distance on some bases.

Affordable housing is not always easy to find, area dependent. On-installation housing provides a known entity and a way to reach out to people in the neighborhood for home layouts and to temper expectations. The community has a way to help each other out making on installation housing a comfort for some.  Sometimes it is the only practical option available.

Maybe not military housing?

With the community that military housing provides, there is also the concern of safety for some. Previous experience with mold triggering asthma in one base, leads to distrust for any privatized housing company. While many serving in the military now were not around when the service branches were in charge of housing for comparison, privatized housing agencies are not often seen as honest or caring about the person. This lack of trust and perceived lack of safety measures has led to a distrust for all housing on installation in some, and therefore not willing to live on base.

Not all bases are created equal. Some bases have parks in every neighborhood, and some do not. Some are dog friendly and some do not allow any cats. It’s not similar across the board and that is a point of contention for some families.

Another concern for some families is the lack of similarity in terms of home size. Basic Housing Allowance (BAH) is based on rank, and is the same for the rank with dependents. Families with larger and smaller sized families may all be in the same sized homes, or different sized homes, but all pay the same price.  It might be frustrating to forfeit the same BAH for a smaller house than others in the same grade because of the timing when you arrive.

What’s in a budget?

While the defense budget proposal does not specifically support the privatized housing agencies, the DOD does construct, operate and maintain military barracks/dormitories (depending on military service branch) and there is non-privatized housing available worldwide. In order to meet the demand for safe housing, funds must be procured. This includes removing Polyfluroalkyl substances from water sources at numerous military bases across the United States. In comparison to previous years requests for funding, there is a request of $50 million more for housing efforts as compared to the budget request 2 years prior.

Will this effort to renew some of the housing be met with positive outcomes? It is to be determined based on the actual outcome. This is a proposed budget, not approved budget. Oftentimes, efforts for non-force components are cut or cut down in budget reviews. The reality is that housing has a direct effect on readiness and if this can be demonstrated and shared, perhaps the budget will reflect these changes.

The entire defense budget request can be found here including the budget briefing and any associated press releases.

Privatized Housing, also known as military housing or on-base housing, was created in 1996. That year, Congress passed the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI), which moved housing from under the control of the military service branch to private companies. This means that prior to MHPI, for example, a Marine Corps family’s home would be managed by the U.S. Navy since the Marine Corps is a branch within the Navy. The Navy’s facilities handled both their facilities for work and family housing. The change was made specifically to improve the housing and quality of life for service members.

Per Paul Cramer, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Sustainment stated that the DOD has made it a priority to reform the MHPI to “rebuild tenant trust and help maintain the financial viability of MHPI housing projects per a release from the department. While the DOD has made this a priority, since they are no longer in charge of on-base housing, they have to get the privatized organizations on the military bases to agree. There are currently 14 different companies providing privatized housing on military bases.

The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020 included 18 rights of military service members and their families who lived in privatized housing. Fifteen of the rights were released in a signed DOD release in 2020 here. At the time of the release, not all rights were fully available and are yet to be currently fully available. The key of the rights is to clarify what military families can expect for their housing and what privatized housing agencies are to provide for their tenants.

This reform began in response to the military families expressing concerns for mold, lead paint, asbestos, and pest infestations in their homes on military installations. Numerous lawsuits have been filed against privatized housing agencies in regards to these concerns.

Each base/post has adopted a different number of tenant rights, and they are not all the same. Upon arriving at the new location for housing, ensure that you ask for and understand which ones are active.

If the privatized housing agency does not comply with the tenant’s rights, there are recourses set into the bill for the government to act on the tenant’s behalf. It is unclear what the recourse is, but there has been discussion of the right to withhold rent until disputes are resolved and a clear process for this resolution.

The release of the updated tenant bill of rights has been delayed as of this writing until September 30^th per a recent update from the Defense Department. While the DOD has decided on the 18 tenant rights, it has not had all 14 housing companies agree yet.

If you have lived or live in military housing, what do you think of the adoption of the tenant bill of rights? Do you feel represented or protected?