I can’t tell you how many army wives have no idea what their husbands do and who they work with.
C’MON PEOPLE! If he was a civilian, you would know!!! You, who don't bother to find out, are the ones who make the rest of the world think that all army wives are uneducated morons that are one paycheck away from the stripper pole!
The reality is, our husbands are gone a lot and things tend to happen when they aren’t readily available. So you need to know these things in order to function when he is gone:
1. His Name (you would be surprised), Rank (PFC, SSG, SFC, etc…) and social security number. You will get to know your husband’s social better than your own in the first year. You need this info for Dr’s appts if you go on post, help at the finance office, or pretty much anywhere else on base.
2. His Unit. You should know what Company/Troop and what Unit. For example, Charlie Company, 1/17. It is a good idea to know who his Company Commander is, First Sgt and Platoon Sgt are. At least names. If he is deployed, you will need to know what FOB or Forward Operating Base he is located at.
3. His MOS. This stands for Military Occupational Specialty, or what job he does. Infantry, Mortar, Mechanic, Engineer, Medic, etc… It’s a number followed by a letter, such as 11B is infantry.
This is also information that you or his family would need if there were a family emergency. We don’t have the luxury of picking up a phone and calling them when they are deployed, nor can we just fly them home without involving the chain of command.
If you have a family emergency, such as a terminal illness, serious injury or death in the family, please contact the American Red Cross at 1-877-272-7337.
American Red Cross-Military Link
I can understand exactly where you're coming from. As a former military man myself, I simply wrote all those inportant numbers and names down on a sheet of paper, gave them to my next of kin and told him/her to store them in a safe place. Becasue you never know....
ReplyDeleteI am a former military guy too and all that information is very important. That was a good post.
ReplyDeleteOdie
OMG, I honestly can't even fathom that a wife wouldn't know about such things. Granted I'm older, but still even when my husband was a civilian I knew his social security # and ALL his important information better than he did....especially since i have 2 children. He would actually come to me to ask something about his own stuff, lol. I just can't imagine that some women in this day and age need to be led by the hand like this. :::Shakes head::: Anyway thanks for posting for those women.
ReplyDeleteI kind of miss the Army wife life sometimes (first husband was stationed at Fort Irwin, CA)!
ReplyDeleteI still know his serial number (do they still call it that?) from way back when, just from having to know it "better than my own" when we were out there.
Came over from Blog Frog; it's nice to "meet" you!
This could also be titled "need to know info for the families of new soldiers". Parents, families, and significant others don't realize how important it is to know this info until it's too late. And, arguably, it might be *more* important for them to have this info because they might not be connect to the FRG or unit as much as a spouse might/should be.
ReplyDeleteAnyway you look at it, I think it's important for anyone with a military member to know this info.
OMG!! I was laughing so hard at your comment "You, who don't bother to find out, are the ones who make the rest of the world think that all army wives are uneducated morons that are one paycheck away from the stripper pole!"
ReplyDeleteAs an Army wife for 15 years & a FRG leader for over 6yrs- I SO GOT THAT!!!
Know your stuff Wives- it's important!!!
Thanks for the laugh & the good information.
http://combatbootsdiamonds.blogspot.com/
It is amazingly shocking to me when I hear that spouses don't know this basic information, but absolutely true. I used to work at the finance office on post and the stories were ridiculous. Thanks for all the new readers! Please feel free to contact me with any new ideas for posts or issues you would like to be addressed!
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