Free Day at Sea World

Sea World is a pretty famous cornerstone of San Diego stops. Most people don't vacation to San Diego without at least considering a trip to Sea World. Now, if you're in the military or an active-duty dependent, you don't even have to consider the cost of a full-day ticket...it's complimentary!

Sea World is a subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch (yes, the beer company) and for the past 4 years, has offered "A Salute to Heroes" full-day ticket for their amusement parks (including Sea World, Busch Gardens and Sesame Place), to any active duty military member and up to 3 dependents. Even if your spouse is deployed, you can take advantage of this program alone, as all you need is a current dependent ID. This program allows you to get a free day at Sea World once every single year. We currently reside in San Diego, and my husband and I have taken advantage of this offer each year we've lived here. Additionally, Sea World recognizes US Service Members throughout the park with plaques and special ceremonies. What a great way to say thank-you to those who risk their lives for our freedoms and their families.

Education Funds for Military Spouses through MyCAA

I had the privilege of connecting with Corinne via twitter (@Arielanna) a few weeks ago to discuss the ins and outs of applying for MyCAA (My Career Advancement Account) funds to pay for the education of military spouses. The backbone of this blog is providing real-life reviews of the services available to military families. As I have never applied for or used MyCAA funds, I wanted to find someone who had received them and could write a blog post about their personal experience. With that said, here is a Q&A with Corinne about how she was able to secure funding for school through MyCAA:

1) How did you hear about MyCAA funds?
I heard about MyCAA through military wife support group I go to (online). We have an education section and this was a major resource for a lot of us, those of us going to school currently and those wives that are looking at starting school.

2) What was the application process? What did the application entail?
The main thing that you need to fill out on the application is some of your husband's information (pay grade, branch, installation, date of separation and his last name). Other than that you need to fill in your education levels and current and past employment. You really should have an idea of what career field you intend on going to and which school you wish to attend. The reason you need to know what school is that they have the course outline for some schools but not all. If they do not have your school on file, you will have to fill in the course catalog for your degree program, along with if it is quarters, semesters or blocks and how much each unit costs, as well as how many units each class is worth (3 credits, 1 credit...so on). You may need to work with the school to figure some of this out, and the people in the Veteran's affairs office should be able to help you. They (MyCAA) do tell you that you should not sign any financial aid paperwork with the school until you get the OK that you have CAA funds. Once you fill out the online application, within a few days (might be longer right now, with the starting semesters coming soon, they are backed up about a month) a career counselor will contact you to discuss your plan with you. They then will review everything. You are notified online that you are accepted and your funds are ready to use. Once your funds are released, you go back into your program of choice and pick which classes you will be taking for the coming session. You click on those classes and they will release the funds to your school for those classes. Once you finish your classes or degree, you will give feed back to the MyCAA program on how this whole program worked for you and if you think it is a positive thing or a hindrance.

3) How long did it take for you to hear back about whether or not you'd received the funds?
It took me about a week after I had my phone meeting with my career counselor (I believe this is all through Military1Source), though, with their backlog, it is probably going to take longer right now.

4) How much can you apply to receive from MyCAA?
You can receive "up to $6,000 of financial assistance to help pay for licenses, certifications and education in high growth, high demand portable career fields." Now, it doe NOT cover things like computers, school application fees, graduation fees, student activity cards, child care, parking, transportation, medical services or testing fees

5) Was it difficult to determine whether or not your were eligible?
No, as far as I'm aware, every spouse is eligible, as long as you are looking to get a degree in a high demand field, such as jobs in Homeland Security, Healthcare and Health needs, Education and many more.

6) Did you ever deal with anyone at MyCAA directly? If so, how was their customer service?
Yes, everyone actually needs to talk with a career counselor before their application is approved. The person I talked to was nice, but unfortunately, was never really available to answer questions when I had them, so I just waited for the next available representative who was very helpful and I got what I needed answered. When I had some issues with class and schedule changes, my issues were resolved very quickly and the representative gave me information in a timely fashion and I was able to pass on the information she gave me to the Veterans Affairs officer at my school. This summer session, and now the Fall sessions, are really the first terms the MyCAA program has been available to all US Military wives world-wide. So both schools and Military1Source are having a hard time adjusting to the amount of spouses using the program.

7) How long did it take from the time your were approved for the funds to the time they were received?
I want to say within two weeks, though if you are just applying now, it will definately take longer. But don't worry, this program is legitimate and they will pay for up to $6000 in education costs!

8) Were their any hiccups in the process? If so, what and how were they resolved? The only hiccup was when I needed to change my class schedule (because they pay the school based on what classes you are enrolled in, they only pay for the classes you take. If you change classes, you need to amend it in MyCAA as well) too close to the term start date. They freeze the account and you cannot make changes to currently enrolled classes 10 days prior to the start date. You can add classes but you cannot cancel classes. Basically what I had to do was "register" for the other classes on MyCAA and the school notified MyCAA that I was not taking the previously enrolled in classes and they returned the funds for those canceled classes to MyCAA. I still have that money available to use. I was in constant communication with representatives at MyCAA and my school.

9) Would you recommend MyCAA to other military spouses? If so, what advice would you give them before applying?
I would definitely recommend this program to ANY military spouse who is looking for a little help (hey, $6,000 is nothing to spit at!) or looking to start or change a career. The advice I would give is to BE PATIENT! The representatives at MyCAA are doing as much as they can as quickly as they can, but with so many spouses finding out about the product, it's like a major sale at the Commissary! Sometimes, it really pays off to wait for such a good thing!

Editor's note: I was also contacted by Amanda Walcker at Career Step, an online school approved by the DoD to provide career training with MyCAA funds. They have a great mission and help provide portable careers for spouses of our military service men and women. Career Step's programs in medical transcription and medical billing and coding allow military spouses to go to school with no out-of-pocket expenses because those programs are 100% covered by MyCAA funding. For more information on Career Step programs, please visit http://www.careerstep.com/mycaamoney/?uid=socmblogs. You can also follow Amanda on Twitter @careerstep. A special thanks to Arlieanna, Amanda and Dana for their help on this blog!

Prepping for Deployment

Here's a great pre-deployment checklist I was given by a girlfriend that I wanted to share. You don't necessarily have to get ALL of these things done, but they're at least worth thinking about.

1. Review your spouse's will with them and be clear on intentions
2. Schedule an appointment for you to get Power of Attorney (POA)
3. Make a spreadsheet with all of your bills, the dates they need to be paid, amounts and account information. Add a password to this document and save a copy of it both on your computer and in another place.
4. Set-aside time to make a round of phone calls to everyone a few days before your spouse deploys.
5. Create a communication plan outlining how often you'd like to communicate and any code words you may need to use to discuss sensitive issues.
6. Review car maintenance schedules and shops.
7. Talk about the budget you'd like to maintain for the deployment including any investment contributions and savings plans.
8. Decide together how information should be passed to family members (ie. phone call, email)
9. Together, assemble a package with sheets and special items to be sent the day your spouse leaves so that it's waiting for them when they arrive.
10. Sit back, forget about how messy your house is and enjoy the little time you have left with your spouse!

How About the USO?

When listing incredible military resources, one cannot get far without mentioning the USO. They do an inspiring job of supporting our troops both overseas and at home, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a military event that doesn't have USO presence. One of the most publicized and appreciated programs the USO coordinates are their USO Tours. A musician, celebrity or comedian is sponsored to go overseas to visit with and perform for our troops. They are often documented and shown on television stations such as GAC and CMT. Most recently, a good friend of ours had the privilege of flying Toby Keith around Afghanistan on his 7th stint as a USO Tour performer. If that's not commitment to supporting our troops, I'm not sure what is!

Last week, politically-charged comedian Stephen Colbert did a week of live shows from Iraq. I am fortunate enough to have my husband home for a while right now, so we enjoyed sitting down together and laughing while Stephen did everything from shave his head to interview the second in command over in Iraq. My favorite part was the portion where Tom Hanks and Steven Colbert were putting together care packages to send to the troops: What did the include? Why puppies and ice cream, of course!

Check out all the episodes for yourself by heading over to: http://www.mruso.com/

USO Tours are just the tip of the iceberg (or ice statue if you watched the puppies and ice cream video) when it comes to programs the USO offers in support of our military. For more information on additional services and to learn how to volunteer with the USO, visit www.USO.org

Making Marriage Work in the Military

Being married to service man or woman is a challenge in and of itself. We're often forced to deal with circumstances beyond our control, multiple deployments and even criticism at times. But the key to a successful marriage despite the challenges is commitment. Whether your Marine, Soldier, Seaman or Airman is deployed or at home, letting them know they can count on you and that you're willing to put in the time necessary to make your marriage fireproof is vital.

Today I'm going to share a technique that really helped the hubby and I reconnect upon his return from deployment. The book is called The Love Dare and it stems from a movie entitled Fireproof. In the movie, a fireman is completely disconnected from his wife and on the verge of divorce when his father recommends he take the Love Dare. The book spreads 40 "love dares" out over an extended period of time. Each day, you take on the new dare while trying to continue the previous ones. For us, it worked out well to discuss that day's dare in bed at night and then read the coming day's dare. Dares include thing like, "write out a list of the reasons you fell in love with your spouse and tell them one reason in casual conversation," and "do not say anything negative to your spouse today". They may seem easy, but when you're trying to live by them, it forces you to be present in your marriage and put in an honest effort rather than accept the norms.

One thing I loved about the book is that it allowed us to take breaks when the hubby left for training missions and pick up where we left off when he returned. It took us about 3 months to complete all 40 dares, but both of us have agreed that we're much better off for taking the challenge and refocusing our marriage now, rather than letting the separations and roadblocks run their course in destroying the connection we treasure.

The Love Dare can be purchased here.