Who Can Help?
A full range of support services is currently available to support Service members and their families.
These services include self-help materials, information and referral services, military life skills education, and counseling for individuals, couples and families. Services are available online 24/7, and in community settings during scheduled business hours.
- Military OneSource, the Department of Defense (DoD) 24-hour Call Center, offers comprehensive support to Service members and their families worldwide. All military Service members and their families - Active Duty, National Guard, & Reserves - can receive no-cost personal assistance. Tip sheets,
audiotapes, relocation booklets, and other materials are customized to meet the needs of Service members and their families.
- Within the United States: (800) 342-9647
- Overseas/Universal Free Phone: (800) 3429-6477 (must dial all digits) or (484) 530-5908 (Call Collect)
- Spanish Speakers: (877) 888-0727
- Hearing Impaired (TDD): (800) 346-9188
- Website: http://www.militaryonesource.com
- Military HOMEFRONT, http://www.militaryhomefront.dod.mil, is DoD’s Quality of Life website designed to assist Service members and their families as well as commanders and service providers with a wide range of information on the
military way of life.
Resources on the Deployment Connections website are being migrated to the Military HOMEFRONT website. - Commanders Page, contains information about current policy and programs as well as new legislative initiatives. This site is produced for flag and general officers, but contains information relevant to all Service members and their families.
- Visit http://www.Military.com and http://www.Military.com/benifits for general information on pay and benefits, money matters, education, spouse and Service member careers, scholarships, employment opportunities, and transition assistance.
- DefenseLINK, provides excellent resources that support deploying personnel and their families, including a comprehensive list of DoD websites: http://www.DefenseLINK.mil.
- Deployment News is found at: http://www.defendamerica.mil/profiles.html.
DoD websites that contain the most current news, benefits, health, and locator information include:
- DoD Deployment Health Clinical Center
Website: http://www.pdhealth.mil
Helpline: (800) 796-9699 - DeployMed ResearchLINK
http://fhp.osd.mil/deploymed/ - Force Health Protection & Readiness Programs
Website: http://fhp.osd.mil
Helpline: (800) 497-6261 - Reserves, National Guard and their families should visit http://www.defenselink.mil/ra/ and http://www.guardfamily.org
- US Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine
Website: http://chppm-www.apgea.army.mil/
Phone: (800) 222-9698 - Military Vaccine Agency (MILVAX)
Website: http://www.vaccines.mil
Phone: (800) 222-9698 - Idaho Traumatic Brain Injury Virtual Program Center (TBI VPC)
Website: http://www.idahotbi.org
General Health Information (not specific to deployment)
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) http://www.cdc.gov part of the Department of Health and Human Services, provide reliable health information and work to improve health through strong partnerships with other government agencies and private organizations
- Air Force Institute for Operational Health (AFIOH) http://www.brooks.af.mil/library/factsheets/ supports a fit and ready force by providing evidence-based information and analysis through medical surveillance, analytical epidemiology, preventive medical consultation, and health risk assessment in deployed and non-deployed environments.
- Navy Environmental Health Center (NEHC) http://www-nehc.med.navy.mil/ ensures Navy and Marine Corps readiness through leadership in prevention of disease and promotion of health. NEHC provides a full spectrum of preventive health services such as emphasis of fitness, preparedness, and preventive measures; improvement of monitoring and health surveillance of forces in military operations and peacetime; and enhancing Service member awareness of health threats before they affect the force.
- U.S. Army Center for Health Promotion and Preventive Medicine http://usachppm.apgea.army.mil/ provides worldwide technical support for implementing preventive medicine, public health, and health promotion/wellness services. (800) 222-9698
- U.S. Public Health Service http://www.usphs.gov/ part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services http://www.hhs.gov/ consists of highly qualified public health professionals dedicated to delivering the Nation's public health promotion and disease prevention programs and advancing public health science.
- World Health Organization http://www.who.int/en/ part of the United Nations system, is responsible for providing leadership on global health matters, shaping the health research agenda, setting norms and standards, articulating evidence-based policy options, providing technical support to countries and monitoring and assessing health trends.
- Merck Manual-Home Edition http://www.merck.com/mmhe/index.html translates complex medical information into plain language meant for all those people interested in medical care.
Medical
- Tricare http://www.tricare.osd.mil and TRICARE West http://www.tricare.mil/west/ bring together resources of the Army, Navy, and Air Force and provide medical, dental and pharmacy benefits for Service members, including Reserve Component, and their families.
- Deployment Health Clinical Center (DHCC) http://www.pdhealth.mil/
- Air Force Medical Service http://www.sg.af.mil/ operates and manages a worldwide healthcare system capable of responding to a full spectrum of anticipated health requirements and provides an integrated healthcare system from forward deployed locations through definitive care with an emphasis on prevention of illness and injury.
- Army Medical Service http://www.armymedicine.army.mil/ works to assure commanders have healthy forces to achieve their missions, warriors and their families receive the best possible care and the best possible chances of recovering, and deployed soldiers that their families back in the United States also will receive quality health care.
- Navy Medical Service http://navymedicine.med.navy.mil/ provides high quality, economical health care to beneficiaries in wartime and in peacetime; exercises command, control and financial management oversight over subordinate commands assigned and carry’s out the necessary courses of action to ensure the economical and effective delivery of Navy Medicine enterprise-wide support services.
Severely Injured or Extended Medical Treatment
- Military.com http://www.Military.com/support, provides information and assistance to severely injured personnel and their families. Spouses of severely injured personnel can find additional information on http://www.milspouse.org and http://www.military.com/spouse.
- Fisher House http://www.fisherhouse.org/, provides temporary housing for those visiting a severely injured service or family member during a period of extended medical treatment or recovery. Fisher Houses are available near or on the grounds of major medical facilities. You may also call: (301) 294-8560 or toll-free (888) 294-8560.
- Family Support information for each Military Service is available at the following websites:
- Army Community Services: http://www.myarmylifetoo.com/.
- Navy Fleet and Family Support: http://www.ffsp.navy.mil/ and http://www.lifelines.navy.mil/.
- Marine Corps Community Services: http://www.usmc-mccs.org/.
- Air Force Family Support: http://www.afcrossroads.com.
- National Guard Bureau State Family Programs: http://www.guardfamily.org and http://www.guardfamilyyouth.org.
- American Red Cross, http://www.redcross.org/where/where.html, assist families needing to contact Service members overseas in the even of an emergency.
- Military Personnel Locators can be found at: http://www.firstgov.gov/Topics/Locators.shtml.
- DoD SITES, contains Military Base Information for more than 350 duty locations, including points of contact for local military and civilian support service providers for all Military Services. This information is especially helpful during times of relocation and transition. Visit: http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/sites, http://www.militaryinstallations.dod.mil, & http://www.militaryhomefront.dod.mil/
- Military Spouses, Families, and Children specific websites include:
- Spouse Employment, Educational Opportunities and general information: http://www.milspouse.org and http://www.military.com/spouse
- Military Children in Transition and Deployment: http://www.militarystudent.org
- DoD Children and Youth: http://apps.mhf.dod.mil/pls/psgprod/
- National Military Family Association - Features family support news, surveys, camps for kids, discounts, hotlinks, fact sheets, and the latest family support legislation. Visit: http://www.nmfa.org
- National Guard Family Team Building: http://www.gftb.org
- Military Service Relief Societies provide budget counseling, emergency financial aid, scholarships, and other support services.
- Air Force Aid Society: http://www.afas.org/.
- Army Emergency Relief: http://www.aerhq.org/.
- Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society: http://www.nmcrs.org.
- National Guard OnLine Community: http://www.guardfamily.org.
- DFAS MyPay, sponsored by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, can help with pay and benefits problems. Customer Service: (888) 332-7411. Website: https://mypay.dfas.mil/mypay.aspx
- Health of Veterans & Deployed Forces website
- Sponsored by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies
- http://veterans.iom.edu/.
- Homeless Veterans Program
- Sponsored by Veterans Affairs, http://www.va.gov/
- http://www1.va.gov/homeless/.
-
The VA offers an information number nationwide, (800) 827-1000. The telephones are answered at a VA facility nearest the caller.
- The VA also provides a helpline for special issues including Agent Orange, Gulf War, Project SHAD and Mustard Agent/Lewisite. That telephone number is (800) 749-8387.
- There's also a e-mail address for those who'd prefer to communicate that way, it's GW/AOHelpline@vba.va.gov
- The URL for the VA's home page is http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/benefits/herbicide/
- DoD offers a deployment health help line available from 7:30 to 5, Monday through Friday, at (800) 497-6261. Those who prefer e-mail may send a note via the Web at special.assistant@fhpr.osd.mil
- The Department of Labor provides employment support to all veterans. Military OneSource consultants should feel very comfortable in transferring or referring calls to (866) 4-USA-DOL (or 866.487.2365). The Veterans Employment and Training Service Website at http://www.dol.gov/vets/
- Information can also be found at FirstGov via (800) FED-INFO (800-333-4636) or http://www.firstgov.gov/
Deployment Services
- Armed Services YMCA, http://www.asymca.org, and USO, http://www.uso.org/, provide information about mailing materials to deployed Service members, childcare at military medical facilities, and morale boosting activities.
- Learn what your State Government Officials are doing to support military personnel and their families: http://www.USA4MilitaryFamilies.org.
- America Supports You, describes what local groups around the country are doing to take care of military personnel and their families both online and in their communities. Visit: http://www.americasupportsyou.mil
Health Policy and Forms
- Health Assessment Policies and Forms, Force Health Protection and Readiness: http://fhp.osd.mil/ha-pg.jsp