Frequently Asked Questions

All Soldiers (Regular Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve), Family Members, retirees and the general public can use this website. However, the My Benefits feature is password-protected through AKO login and limited to Soldiers on active duty, including Army National Guard and U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers on active duty, and Family Members. The Wounded Warrior Assistance Module and the Casualty and Survivor Assistance Module are also protected and require special access codes provided by those program offices.

If you do not have an active duty AKO account, you can read up-to-date Benefit News, use the Resource Locator to locate benefit resources in your area and get the most up-to-date benefit and entitlement information using the Benefit Facts section which includes Federal Benefits and State/Territory Benefits. The Planning Toolkits section contains calculators available to Soldiers and Family Members. Soldiers' data is filled in for them, family members must manually fill in the fields. Both the Wounded Warrior and Survivor features are specifically for these special user groups and are protected by additional passcodes.

The Resource Locator link under Benefit Facts allows you to find contact information for offices in your area where you can make changes to your benefits and ask specific questions. You may also contact the MyArmyBenefits help desk. Benefits specialists are available Monday through Friday from 0900 to 1700 EST at 703- 286-2560 (local) or 888-721-ARMY (888-721-2769). You can also submit your questions 24 hours a day via email at help.myarmybenefits@us.army.mil or by using a web form found in the Help section (located at the bottom of the MyArmyBenefits home page). A benefits specialist will reply to all questions within one business day.

To make changes to your DEERS data contact your military personnel office. Local contact information is found in the Resource Locator section, or you can use the RAPIDS site locator found on http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/rsl/owa/home.

The benefits calculator allows you to make changes in the data inputs and perform "what if" projections. This data is only used to run the calculations and provide the "what if" report. This does not impact your actual benefits or DEERS information. To make changes to your benefits or DEERS information please contact your military personnel office. Local contact information is found in the Resource Locator section, or you can use the RAPIDS site locator found on http://www.dmdc.osd.mil/rsl/owa/home.

If you have a question / issue / comment about the information in any of the modules on this site, please contact the MyArmyBenefits help desk. Benefits specialists are available Monday through Friday from 0900 to 1700 EST at 703- 286-2560 (local) or 888-721-ARMY (888-721-2769). You can also submit your questions 24 hours a day via email at help.myarmybenefits@us.army.mil or by using a web form found on the Help Desk section. You will receive a reply from a benefits specialist within one business day.

Retirement Benefits Reports are available to Soldiers on active duty with at least 20 years of service. This provides greater accuracy for those that are retirement eligible. All Soldiers on active duty can use the Retirement Benefits "What If" feature to calculate projected retirement benefits.

Use the "What If" feature for survivor benefits in the Survivorship Calculator to change variables such as rank, marital status, spouse's employment status, number of children, future retirement date and rank to see how life events affect your benefits. From the Survivorship Calculator overview page, click on the "What If" button in the "Survivor" benefits row, "What if My Circumstances Change" column. If you're expecting a baby, click the "Add" button under the "Children" section, name the child and choose a future date of birth. Click the "Next" button and see the change in your survivor benefits.

Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) is a tax-free monthly compensation paid by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to eligible dependents of soldiers whose death was determined to be service-connected. The VA makes the determination of service-connection independent from the military's Line of Duty (LOD) determination.

In order to make changes to your benefits, or enroll in new benefits you will need to contact the administering office for those specific benefits. Local contact information can be found in the Resource Locator under Benefit Facts.

The Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) provides a continuous monthly income to eligible surviving family members. Generally, the surviving spouse and / or dependent children of Soldiers who die while on active duty status (including certain ARNG and USAR Soldiers) are eligible. For more information see the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) fact sheet in the Federal Benefits section under Benefit Facts.

The lawful surviving spouse of the deceased active duty member makes the SBP election at the time of death. If there is no eligible surviving spouse but there are eligible surviving children, the election is processed by the Army as a "Child Only" election. See the Survivorship Planning section under Planning Toolkits for more information.

Reservists and National Guardsmen have their own version of SBP, referred to as the Reserve Component Survivor Benefit Plan (RCSBP). When a Reservists completes 20 years of creditable service, he or she may enroll in RCSBP or defer making an election until retired pay begins at age 60. For more information, see the SBP fact sheet at http://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/EN/Benefits/FactSheets/Survivor.Benefit.Plan/.

To obtain a copy of your military record, please visit the web site for the Military Personnel Records Center (MPRC) in St. Louis. This is part of the National Archives and Records Administration: www.archives.gov/veterans/military-service-records. This site gives instructions on how to submit a SF 180 - Request Pertaining to Military Records. The MPRC also offers a new on-line document request service. You can request your DD 214 through this web site: http://www.archives.gov/veterans/evetrecs/index.html.

If you have another disability that you feel is related to your military service, but you have not previously filed a claim for that disability, you may file a new claim by submitting a written request. VA Form 21-4138, Statement in Support of Claim, may also be used for this purpose. You can find VA Form 21-4138 at: http://www.vba.va.gov/pubs/forms/21-4138.pdf. To establish a new condition as service-connected, you need to provide any information that will help link that condition to your military service. You should also submit current medical evidence. Be sure to include your VA claim number or Social Security number on all correspondence. Mail the completed form or other written request and any evidence you have to your VA regional office.

Disability must result from disease or injury incurred or aggravated during active duty or active duty training. In all cases, the disability must have occurred in the line of duty and discharge or release from duty must have been under other than dishonorable conditions.

Assistance in filing applications for benefits from the VA may be obtained through any State Veterans Service Officer. Veterans Service Officers assist veterans, their dependents and widows in filing claims for all federal VA benefits. Locations and phone numbers may be found under "State Government, Veterans Service Officer" in the Yellow Pages of your phone book. The VA also operates a toll-free number for general questions, 1-800-827-1000, or TDD 1-800-829-4833.

The TRICARE Dental Program (TDP) is a voluntary, high-quality, cost-effective dental care benefit for eligible family members of all active duty Soldiers as well as Reserve Component service members and/or their families. TDP is offered by the Department of Defense (DoD) through the TRICARE Management Activity (TMA). United Concordia Companies, Inc. administers and underwrites TDP for the TMA. Retirees and their eligible family members may enroll in the TRICARE Retiree Dental Program (TRDP) which is a premium-based program. For more information on eligibility go to the Tricare Dental fact sheet at http://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil/EN/Benefits/FactSheets/TRICARE.Dental/.

The MyArmyBenefits website uses AKO authentication to prevent unauthorized access to personalized benefits information. If you are a Soldier on active duty or an active duty Family Member and you experience problems logging into the website please visit the AKO Helpdesk site at https://help.us.army.mil for assistance.

The MyArmyBenefits Wounded Warrior features provide specialized information and tools for Wounded Warriors and their Families. Personalized information is available to those qualified by the Army as Wounded Warriors. To access this feature you must have a valid Wounded Warrior-provided passcode as well as an active AKO account. Please contact your Soldier Family Member Specialist (SFMS) or the MyArmyBenefits Help Desk for assistance.

Benefit fact sheets in the Benefits Facts section are available for downloading in PDF (portable document format) format. If you do not have the Adobe Acrobat Reader, you may download it for free at www.adobe.com. Once you have the Adobe Acrobat Reader installed, it's easy to use: Click on the download / disc icon located at the top of each benefit fact sheet and it will open a PDF version that you can now save to your computer. You may also print or email the document in this format.

A certificate is a digital document providing the identity of a web site or individuals. Army Portals use a certificate to identify itself to its users and to enable secure connections. If you are receiving a warning that this site is un-trusted / insecure, you will need to install the "DoD Certificate." To download the DoD Certificates, please go to https://eportal.ctnosc.army.mil/. Enter your AKO username and password. Select the link labeled DoD Root Certificate at the top. Click the link for Install Root V2.18.A and save the file to your desktop. After the file has completely downloaded, go to your desktop and click on the InstallRoot2.18A file then follow the directions.

To reset your AKO password please visit the AKO Helpdesk site at https://help.us.army.mil for assistance. The "Find Answers" section includes instructions on resetting your password. There are also options for live chat help and other support.