So your husband is off to Marine Corps Boot Camp? (Any boot camp really)

To Do BEFORE he leaves: 

Draw up a Power Of Attorney and have it notarized

Fill out form DD 1172-2 and have it notarized

Place social security cards, birth certificates, marriage licenses, POA and 1172 in some sort of portable protective sleeve (i.e. an accordion folder).

Power of Attorney – Get one before he leaves. Have some sort of signed and notarized document stating that you are his power of attorney while he is gone. This will grant you access to his bank accounts, allow you to sign for him if anything happens in an emergency, and also allow you to get your dependent ID which will allow you to be enrolled in DEERS and the Tri-Care program. *** Please note, this is the statement from all ID card issuing offices If your Military Sponsor is unable to accompany you to your visit(i.e. bootcamp), a valid “General” or “Special” Power of Attorney will allow you to conduct business on your sponsor’s behalf.The POA must state you are authorized to conduct DEERS updates/card issuance/enrollments. You may get this document at your local Legal office. Please, for the love of all things holy, have this statement placed in your POA. The run around you get if you have a POA without this statement is ridiculous. Make sure you have this before he/she leaves!

DEERS - This is going to sound funny. You do not have benefits of your Marine until you are enrolled into DEERS. You do not pass go, you do not collect $200. You are automatically enrolled in DEERS during your ID card processing. You really will want your 1172 form with you for this process if you get grief over your POA “not being worded correctly” (experienced this) http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/infomgt/forms/eforms/dd1172-2.pdf filled out and notarized before he leaves, ladies! Instructions to fill this out are here: http://www.cac.mil/docs/1172-2-Instructions.pdf. Fill out sections 1, 2 and 4. This little puppy right here is a voucher that will save your butt a million times. It’s called the DD 1172-2 form if that link ever stops working. Google it and a PDF should pop up. Print it out, fill it out and notarize it. Take it to your nearest RAPIDS office and get enrolled in DEERS after he leaves. Sometimes, people will just hate your POA and the 1172 form is what will get you out of hot water.

Military ID - To use TRICARE, you must be registered the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System (DEERS) and have a valid uniformed services or military identification (ID) card. The ID card states on the back, in the “Medical” block, whether you are eligible for medical care from military or civilian sources.When getting care, your provider will ask to see a copy of your ID card and will make copies for his or her records.  Please ensure you have your ID card with you whenever you are getting care or having prescriptions filled.

Ladies please realize that he is in the United States Military now. Just because he is not officially a Marine until he graduates, does not mean you both haven’t signed up for the military. Benefits start immediately (though they may not be in the system until 30 days into boot) and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Go to this site: https://rapids-appointments.dmdc.osd.mil/appointment/default.aspx to make an appointment with your closest ID card issuing office. Have your social, marriage license, Power of Attorney, Form DD 1172-2, and Driver’s License ready when you get there. Don’t expect anyone at any of these offices to be in a good mood. It’s the DMV of the military.

Tri-Care- The second you have your military ID in your hot little hands, you are enrolled in Tri Care Standard.

Let me explain the difference between Standard and Prime in simpleton terms. Tri-Care Standard will allow you to see doctors off base and doctors of your choice. It also means that there is around about a $1000 deductible for catastrophic events. For just regular visits there is a 15% payout. Meaning the military is going to pay 85% of your bill and you will pay the other 15%. You have a copay of $15 for each visit, each time you pay $15, your $1000 catastrophic deductible goes down by, you guessed it, $15!

Tri Care Prime is completely different. You HAVE to see a base doctor at the base clinic. So if you’re needing to see your regular family physician off base you have to call the base hospital doctor and have them refer you to that other doctor. There is no way for them to just see you up front. The benefit of Tri Care Prime is that your medical is 100% covered. No out of pocket expenses.

It’s really up to you and your family which package you’d like to enroll into. If you choose Standard now you can always enroll in Prime later. So long as you enroll by the 20th of the month, your coverage for Prime will begin on the first of the following month.

BAH- You are entitled to BAH from the moment his feet touch yellow footprints. Tell you husband to take a voided check with him. If you need the BAH payments for bills he will have to request from his DI to take the voided check with him to the RAB office (Recruit Admin Branch 619-524-8174). They will be able to set him up about 2 weeks after boot start with payments that are sent home to you. I did not get this benefit. It has taken me nearly the entire 3 months of my husband’s boot camp to find this information. Luckily we only have 3 weeks left (as of 3/21/12) and our BAH and FSA is being paid directly to his account at boot camp. Never fear ladies, you ARE being paid!