Military Monday: I Rock the Boots

Today’s Military Monday post highlights a new organization to hit the scene.  It may be new but it is filling a void that I think is important.  The acknowledgement of female veterans, and the unique issues they seem to be facing needs to be acknowledged more.  I think with organizations like I Rock the Boots, Ms. Veteran’s America and Final Salute, the time to change that is now.

 
Logo Shirt, available here

Michelle, founder of I Rock the Boots is a proud Army Veteran and the spouse of USMC Veteran.  With an exceptional military career behind her, that doesn’t mean the boots came off for Michelle.  Exactly the opposite.  She has sought to create a legacy for female veterans, and she is “dedicated to creating a brand to represent who they are, one that gives back to the women veterans that need to be reminded of their strength.”  With a stellar support of veterans, spouses and military supporters, I Rock the Boots is ready to make their mark not only as a clothing line but as a community of support.

Visit their website to check out more of their great shirts, their “Featured Hero” section (and submit your own hero), as well a list of resources.

I Rock the Boots has also partnered with Mana House to reopen their female wing, which  had previously been shut down due to lack of government funding.  This amazing organization provides, transportation to the VA or job facilities, assistance in searching for and obtaining jobs and support.  This is a peer run group of homeless and formally homeless Veterans.  You can learn more about Mana House by visiting their website.

Spread the word about #irocktheboots

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Military Support Series: Luke’s Wings

Welcome to another #MilitarySupportSeries post here on Cammo Style Love.  This week’s spotlight is on a wonderful group called Luke’s Wings.  I had the pleasure of meeting some of the folks behind the organization at a Caregiver Fair I attended, and they spoke with such a passion and compassion for what they do.  I knew that including them in a post was necessary.  Please pass the word along.  I am a firm believer that everyone military-connected should know about organizations like Luke’s Wings.  You never know when you might need them, and you can’t wait until you need them to start looking.

When a service member is wounded, going through a life crisis, or an elderly service member is in hospice care, many times there is no notice to make arrangements to make sure loved ones can be near them.  That is where Luke’s Wings steps in.

By purchasing travel agency services and travel tickets for loved ones, Luke’s Wings provides an immediate and invaluable service to the families of our men and women at arms while also helping to encourage and motivate the service member’s recovery.

But Luke’s Wings is so much more, and is continually expanding their mission, and seeing who else they can help.  That’s what I love about organizations like this; they are ever-changing and the desire of their heart is to find a way to help those in need.

In 2011, Luke’s Wings expanded the mission to also include Texas Veterans during major life events and all Veterans in Hospice Care. As such; a Texas Veteran may be with their family during a major life event. A Veteran in Hospice Care may be surrounded by loved ones as they pass away. Today, the majority of requests are for World War II Veterans, Korean War Veterans, and Vietnam War Veterans in elderly care facilities or long term inpatient care facilities. Luke’s Wings regards the Veterans in Hospice Care Program as a “final salute” to the greatest generation that ever lived.
Last year Luke’s Wings made an additional expansion, to be specially involved with one of the best Wounded Warrior programs out there, the SOCOM Care Coalition.


In 2012, Luke’s Wings was asked to provide emergency flights for the families of our special operators who are injurred on special missions. Luke’s Wings is honored to be the “go-to” for the Special Operations Command (S.O.C.OM.). We are honored to be of service to our special operators as part of the S.O.C.O.M. Care Coalition.
Luke’s Wings also partners with other non-profits to provide free and discounted accommodations, meals, entertainment and stuff specific to the locality.

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MOAA and the #MilSpouse Employment Survey #MilitarySupportSeries

As I’m prepping this post (its already Monday) I am glued to my television set watching the coverage of the shooting at the Navy Yard.  It brings back too many memories of the shooting near our old duty station in Nevada.  When our military members are unsafe even at home, it is almost too much to handle.  I have a friend at the Navy Yard so prayers and thoughts for him and his family, and for all those involved especially first responders.
For this week’s Military Monday, Military Support Series, I am highlighting MOAA (Military Officers Association of America).   I have had the extreme pleasure to work with some of the volunteers at some events, and they are the most wonderfully passionate people that I have met.  They are truly here to help you, and are very approachable and know what they are talking about.
 MOAA is one of the Nation’s largest and most influential association of military officers.  It is an independent, non-profit, politically nonpartisan organization.  With over 380,000 members from every branch of service – including active duty, National Guard, Reserve, retired, former officers and their families – we are a powerful force, speaking for a strong national defense and representing the interests of military officers at every stage of their career.  MOAA’s highest priority is providing first-class service to our members.  We are the leading voice on compensation and benefit matters for all members of the military community.  We provide expert advice and guidance to our members.

Membership is open to active duty, National Guard, Reserve, retired and former commissioned officers and warrant officers from the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corp, Coast Guard, Public Health Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.  Auxiliary membership is also available to spouses of deceased service members.
MOAA is the nation’s largest and most influential association of military officers. It is an independent, nonprofit, politically nonpartisan organization.
With more than 380,000 members from every branch of service – including active duty, National Guard, Reserve, retired, former officers, and their families – we are a powerful force speaking for a strong national defense and representing the interests of military officers at every stage of their careers.
MOAA’s highest priority is providing first-class service to our members. We are the leading voice on compensation and benefit matters for all members of the military community. We provide expert advice and guidance to our members.
– See more at: http://www.moaa.org/main_article.aspx?id=982#sthash.UabCGEax.dpuf
MOAA is the nation’s largest and most influential association of military officers. It is an independent, nonprofit, politically nonpartisan organization.
With more than 380,000 members from every branch of service – including active duty, National Guard, Reserve, retired, former officers, and their families – we are a powerful force speaking for a strong national defense and representing the interests of military officers at every stage of their careers.
MOAA’s highest priority is providing first-class service to our members. We are the leading voice on compensation and benefit matters for all members of the military community. We provide expert advice and guidance to our members.
– See more at: http://www.moaa.org/main_article.aspx?id=982#sthash.UabCGEax.dpuf
MOAA is the nation’s largest and most influential association of military officers. It is an independent, nonprofit, politically nonpartisan organization.
With more than 380,000 members from every branch of service – including active duty, National Guard, Reserve, retired, former officers, and their families – we are a powerful force speaking for a strong national defense and representing the interests of military officers at every stage of their careers.
MOAA’s highest priority is providing first-class service to our members. We are the leading voice on compensation and benefit matters for all members of the military community. We provide expert advice and guidance to our members.
– See more at: http://www.moaa.org/main_article.aspx?id=982#sthash.UabCGEax.dpuf
As a member you have access to so much support, provided by this amazing organization and their chapters near you.  Assistance is provided in areas of Finance, Health, Education, Professional Development, Pay and Benefits, Careers, Discounts and Travel.   This year MOAA also co-hosted the 2013 Warrior-Family Symposium just last week.  I was unable to attend, but have to keeping up with all the information from the event on MOAA’s website.  You can access video from the event on the site. 
One of the main reasons why I chose to cover MOAA this week is because of the #MilSpouseSurvey that is going on right now.  This survey is not just for MOAA members, or the spouses of Officers.  We know that the employment of military spouses is a huge issue right now.  In the milspouse universe right now, its everywhere.  Everyone is working on it I feel like.  I was just at a hiring fair directed specifically towards spouses.  MOAA is doing its part, partnering with several other spouse and business organizations, to find out how to best address this significant issue in our community.  Please take the survey, and watch for its release in Spring of 2014.
Thanks for stopping by today.  If you can’t use this information please pass it on to someone you know!
Connect with MOAA on social media as well – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

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Military Monday – Military Support Series *Guest Post* MilSpouse Minute

Happy Military Monday!  Today I have a guest post, so it is kind of a three-for deal here.  Military Monday+Military Support Series+Guest Post= Amber Turner and MilSpouse Minute.  I first discovered MilSpouse Minute only a couple weeks ago; so when Amber asked if she could snag a few moments to share her cool new site with my readers, I said “of course!”  Here’s a little bit about Amber ~

Amber Turner is an Air Force wife and mother of 2. She started blogging with HippyFitMom.com to share her passion of motherhood, fitness, health and wellness.  She created www.MilSpouseMinute.com for other military spouse entrepreneurs to help spread the word about their ventures.  She has B.S. in Business and Information Technology and is pursuing her Master’s in Human Services.
Thanks for stopping by everyone and I hope your week is a great one.

As military spouses, many of us are faced with several challenges when it comes to our careers.  This is why I created MilSpouse Minute.  MilSpouse Minute is our moment or “15 minutes” so to speak. Our mission is to create a platform for military spouses to share and promote who they are and their ventures with others using video. Video has a huge impact on consumers and customers. 

I know that military spouses are talented individuals and it is my goal to bring them to the forefront and have them share it with the world.  The forum will give military spouses that voice that they desperately need. My goal is to be a blog platform for military spouses that will lead to business growth and success. I solicit business owners, Etsy shop owners, crafters and everything in-between to create a MilSpouse Minute. 

Why do I use Youtube and social media?  Because these are key ways to get immediate feedback, cut down time, waste and increase virality.  What is virality you say?  Virality is the degree in which internet content is shared via the internet therefore increasing the reach of the content.  In my struggles, I realized as military spouse entrepreneurs and business owners we have to rely on our best resource and that is ourselves.  Relying on our fellow military spouses to promote our ventures other via social media can help us to succeed.

Where it all started (dream sequence/blurry dreams lines)….

“Honey, I got an assignment to New York…” These were the words that I echoed in my head when I found out my family and I would be leaving the longest place I ever lived, Georgia. Needless to say Georgia is not New York, so the drastic change had me a little nervous. Besides the culture shock I knew I was going to experience, the second thought I had was “I gotta find myself another job!”.  The frustration and pressure from not finding employment proved to have affected me mentally as well. I didn’t have an outlet. So I created one for myself. One that gave me my voice and visibility in a world where I felt I didn’t have one.  The struggles I faced led me to Milspouse Minute.

So come join me and let us be each other’s support for success!

visit MilSpouse Minute and their Brother site http://veteransvoiceonline.com/

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#MilitaryMonday – What’s the Deal with TriCare?

Happy Monday everyone!  I usually do a ‘Military Monday type post, but today is my first time linking up with Ashley over at Eights on the Move.  I’m super excited to have found Ashley’s blog because I’ve been thinking about an officially ‘Military Monday’ Link-up and low and behold there it was!  I’m thinking about re-visiting some of her previous topics and playing catch up, but first thing’s first.  This week’s topic is TriCare – dun dun duuuunnnnn!  Did you hear the creepy music?

As with all things in life there are multiple experiences.  Truth be told we’ve had an almost impeccable experience with Tri-Care and United Concordia one could have in an eleven year career.  The only problems that we’ve had was something that I don’t know that they necessarily had control over, and was mostly due to the oddity that is my husband’s job.  The other unique experience that we have had is the fact that we were remote.  Because of that we had TriCare Prime Remote.  TriCare Prime is the standard plan that most active duty people receive.  Prime Remote meant that standard of care was received by all civilian doctors since we weren’t anywhere near an MTF.  There is no cost for TriCare prime and we never had to pay a co-pay.  Our prescriptions were dirt cheap; and I had three babies, a wrist surgery and several specialty visits and paid not one cent!  The one thing that did cost us a bit was when there wasn’t a generic prescription for something, but then compared to what someone else might pay for name brand meds, it was nothing.

When we moved here to Virginia and my husband took a civilian contract we first took the insurance available through his work.  After one year we were like forget this nonsense!  A part of the decision to take the civilian insurance was because of our location.  There are about five military bases within a stone’s throw of us.  For us, personally, MTFs and military health care was not for us.  However, we had other options!   Currently we have TriCare Reserve Select, which other than the annual fee has been a seemless transition from active to traditional guard.

Here they are broken down for you:

TriCare Standard and Extra – This plan provides so much flexibility to its users.  You are allowed to see any authorized provider whether they are in your network or not.  When you see a non-network provider (standard option) you will pay a little bit out of pocket.  You will not need a referral but some appointments might need prior-authorization.  For example when I decided to see someone for my depression I called and made an initial appointment and the doctor submitted the paperwork.  I then received a letter from TriCare stating that I was approved to see this doctor for a certain number of visits.  There is a small deductible based on your rank..  This plan is available to all the eligible beneficiaries except the active-duty service member.  ** if your sponsor is National Guard or Reserve, the deductible is waived if they were activated in support of a contingency operation.

TriCare Standard and Extra info page

US Family Health Plan – This is an additional Prime option.  It is available through networks of community-based, not for profit health care providers.  There are designated areas that this option is available, and it is available for a wide variety of people including the following – active duty, retired families, active guard and reserve families, non-activated guard and reserve families who qualify for Transitional Assistance Management Program, survivors, Medal of Honor recipients and their families, and qualified former spouses.  Like I mentioned before this plan is available only in certain areas, mostly on the East Coast.  You can view the areas and the areas on the TriCare info page.  There is no enrollment fee for active duty families and transitional survivors.  Other families pay an enrollment fee of of a little over $500.00 (which can be paid quarterly or monthly).  There are no other fees as long as you see an approved provider.

TriCare Prime – Here’s a great article about Prime from Military.com

TriCare Reserve Select – This is for my National Guard and Reserve peeps!  This is very similar to the Standard and Extra plan.  When you see a network provider it costs less, then if you see a non-network provider.  There is a small enrollment fee of just under $200.00 for a family.  Deductibles vary based on the sponsor’s rank.  After the deductible is met there is a percentage that is paid for outpatient visits.  Learn more by visiting the info page for TRS.

When you visit the TriCare main page you can answer questions about who you are, where you live and your service member’s status.  It will pull up available plans for you and break them down even further.  I have to say the TriCare website has come a long way in being way more user friendly.  It is explained clearly and is very easy to navigate.

I guess the final question would be “how do I get this insurance?”  In order to receive this you must be enrolled in DEERS.  Service members are automatically enrolled in DEERS.  In order for family members to be enrolled you have to go on your base or armory.  The service member will take his/her spouse to the local ID office to get your ID as well.  You will a birth certificate and/or marriage certificate.  You can locate the nearest office here.  Unfortunately our guard/reserve families may have to travel further to get this done if you are not near your unit.  The good part about those that are far (and close as well) is that if you can’t make it with your service member that’s okay.  My husband enrolled me right after we were married without me being there.  He just took my birth certificate and our marriage certificate with him.  And all children can be enrolled without you lugging them out to the office.  The service member will just take the birth certificate to the office to get them officially enrolled.  TriCare does make allowances for new births and the initial pediatrician visits before you have the official birth certificate, just make sure you have your information (tricare card and the id) when you go to the office.

We are huge fans of TriCare in the Cammo Style Love house.  Do you use TriCare?  What’s been your experience?

If you have any other questions please ask here or email me!!

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