Fort McCoy
Army Community Service
School House
"Information and Opportunities"
Fort McCoy
Army Community Service
School House
"Information and
Opportunities"
May is National Military Appreciation Month and Nov is National Military Family Appreciation Month - special times to recognize the sacrifices of our troops and their families. For ideas on how to support the troops, check out www.americasupportsyou.mil.
Support Our Troops
Family members and loved ones are
encouraged to send letters and packages to their Service members overseas. Your
Unit's Family Readiness Group Leader can provide you with specific items needed.
Keep in mind that your Service member has limited space and may not be able to
store a large quantity of items. A general list of items requested by the troops
include:
Baby Wipes, Batteries (AA & D cell), Beef Jerky, Hard Candy, Chapstick, Dental Floss, Deodorant, Disposable Razors, Disposable Cameras, Envelopes, Eye Drops, Gum, Instant Coffee, Paper, Pencils and Pens, Playing Cards, Pre-packaged Snacks, Pre-paid Phone Cards, Pre-sweetened Drink Mixes, Q-tips, Soap, Sunflower Seeds, Sunscreen, Toilet Paper, Toothbrushes, Toothpaste, Wet Ones, Ziploc Bags.
Members of the general public are asked not to flood the military mail system with letters, cards, and gifts. There are many well meaning Web sites, TV stations, and charity groups that are promoting donations to overseas Service members. While well intentioned, you should not use them and you should discourage others from using them. These unsolicited letters of support or care packages to Service members raise a force protection issue. Due to security concerns and transportation constraints, the Defense Department can't accept items mailed to "Any Service member". These new programs attempt to do the same thing by gathering names of Service members to send mail. While mail from family members and loved ones is certainly always encouraged, these donor programs, which collect and pass out Service members names and addresses, is discouraged. However, there are numerous other ways in which you can show your support for our troops. Below are other ways you can show your support for the troops:
TRICARE for Activated
Reservists
TRICARE has a new service called TRICARE
Smart that enables individuals or
groups to
order TRICARE printed brochures and booklets from their homepage.
Go
to the TRICARE website http://www.tricare.osd.mil
and in the Browse A-Z
box type in TRICARE
Smart ....this site will take you to the TRICARE
Marketing
Administration site. On left, click on the TRICARE Store...click
on
Activated Reservists....click on Reserve Component Healthcare Benefits
Brochure
and click Checkout and follow the directions. (Individuals can use
their
unit when asked about facility). Other informational material can
also
be ordered from this site but the RC Healthcare Benefits Brochure
touches
on Reserve unique aspects related to TRICARE.
Expecting Parents
Operation Special Delivery; a program for military families with a deployed service member who are expecting a child and the partner will be unable to return for the birth.
MISSION STATEMENT: To provide, free of
charge, Labor Doula Support to the pregnant wives of the U.S. Military
members that have been deployed as a direct result of September 11th and are
subsequently taking part in Operation Enduring Freedom. We will also provide,
free of charge, Labor Doula Support to the pregnant wives of the U.S. Military
members that have become widowed as a direct result of September 11th or
Operation Enduring Freedom.
For more information:
www.operationspecialdelivery.com
DoD Post Deployment Health
Website
www.pdhealth.mil
AAFES CONTINGENCY SUPPORT
INFORMATION