Eight airlines, including German airline Lufthansa, had announced they would no longer allow dogs to fly in the cabin or cargo hold on the same flight as their owner due to new dog importing rules issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new CDC rules take effect Aug. 1, and many military families were left scrambling to find ways to transport their dogs, especially during the busy moving season. For some, this means using a pet shipper, a more expensive option than transporting the dog on the owner’s flight.

The policy was implemented to protect the U.S. from the reintroduction of dog rabies, which has been eliminated in the country since 2007. There are over 100 countries where the issue of dog rabies is not controlled, according to the CDC.

In an email response to Military Times on July 26, Lufthansa spokesman Joerg Waber noted that “existing bookings for the transportation of dogs remain unaffected, provided that all CDC requirements are met.”

That includes bookings previously made for flights scheduled for August or later. Many military families overseas book flights months in advance.

New Lufthansa bookings for dogs on or after Aug. 1 “will only be accepted for the airports in Washington, D.C., New York-JFK, Atlanta, Miami, Los Angeles and Philadelphia that provide the necessary infrastructure and meet criteria required by the CDC in case the animal is denied direct entry to the U.S.,” Waber added.

That infrastructure includes, for example, placement in a CDC-approved animal care facility, Waber said. If the CDC rules are not followed, the dog will not be allowed to enter the U.S.

The transportation of assistance dogs — and dogs separately shipped as air freight on their own tickets — to other U.S. airports, is still possible, as long as the owners meet the new CDC requirements, Waber said.

“They’re moving in the right direction,” said Liz Hensel, CEO of Leave No Paws Behind USA. But the Lufthansa website is not clear about what families should do, leaving travelers confused, she added.

“Families are under the impression they don’t have support,” said Hensel, a veteran who was named the 2024 Armed Forces Insurance Marine Corps Spouse of the Year.

As of July 26, Lufthansa had posted new information on its website, noting that already confirmed bookings will be honored after August 1, 2024, provided all CDC requirements can be fulfilled.

They’ll offer additional options if a dog’s booking was confirmed before July 3, 2024, including rebooking to a flight before Aug. 1; rebooking without the dog; and a refund of the ticket.

On July 22, the CDC loosened their new rules for importing dogs, announcing that through April 30, 2025, it won’t require veterinary documents for dogs that have spent the previous six months in rabies-free or low-risk countries. The only form needed is the CDC Dog Import Form, which can be completed online by the traveler or importer.

In addition to the dog import form, dogs coming from low-risk or no-risk countries for rabies:

• must appear healthy upon arrival.

• must be at least 6 months old at time of entry or return to the U.S.

• must have a identifying microchip that can be detected with a universal scanner.

Two versions of the CDC Dog Import Form exist: one for dogs coming from no-to-low risk countries for dog rabies, and the other for dogs coming from high-risk countries for dog rabies. Dogs coming from high-risk countries have more requirements, which can be assessed here.

How is this affecting Patriot Express flights?

Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., sent a letter on July 25 to the commander of Air Mobility Command, asking how the new CDC rules are impacting military families bringing dogs onto military-contracted Patriot Express flights. Patriot Express is a contracted commercial charter mission providing support for official duty travelers and their families to and from overseas areas.

“I am disturbed that the CDC’s rule … has already caused unnecessary confusion, with some airlines preventing dogs from onboarding with their families on international flights back home,” he wrote to Air Force Gen. Mike Minihan.

Waltz asked what assurances have been provided to service members and their families that AMC’s contracted airlines won’t issue blanket bans on dogs from onboarding; and what outreach AMC has done with the CDC for clarification and application of the rule to mitigate the negative impact on military families.

“At this time, the policy is so new [that] it is too soon to say how it is affecting Patriot Express flights enough to approach carriers about changes to the contract,” Scott Ross, spokesman for U.S. Transportation Command, told Military Times.

Military families overseas may get relief in dog travel rule fixes

The Patriot Express contract has a set number of pet spaces per flight, and those allocations can’t change without mutual agreement between the airline and the government.

Ross said current Patriot Express-contracted commercial airline carriers have requested — and some have received — their 90-day waivers from the CDC, which allows them to transport dogs without a document known as an air waybill.

Airlines can request waivers from CDC

New CDC rules require an air waybill for each dog beginning Aug. 1. Until now, air waybills have only been required if the dog was traveling separately as manifest cargo — essentially, on its own ticket on a separate flight from its owner.

The changes announced July 22 by CDC allow airlines to request a 90-day waiver if they are unable to create an air waybill for each dog transported to the U.S. This allows airlines to transport the dog in the cabin or as excess baggage in the cargo hold without an air waybill.

Lufthansa spokesman Joerg Waber confirmed that the airline has applied for and received the 90-day waiver.

None of the airlines are currently equipped for the process of receiving dogs as excess baggage or in the cabin with their own air waybill.

The passenger terminal, where pets arrive as excess baggage or to travel in the cabin, is not connected to the cargo facilities where air waybills are required for pets traveling as manifest cargo. So, airlines are not presently set up to clear a pet coming into the passenger terminal, according to Angela Passman, owner and president of World Pet Travel.

Those 90-day waivers, according to CDC, are provided within one business day of being requested by the airlines. The airlines can also request a waiver that can last nine months, which involves a longer approval process.

Airlines continue to be able to transport dogs if the dog is traveling separately as manifest cargo — on its own ticket, and as in the past, creating an air waybill for the dog.

Without being able to transport dogs on the same flights, many owners have no other option except to hire pet shipping companies accustomed to meeting rigid requirements.

That route, however, can cost anywhere from approximately $2,500 to over $4,000, depending on the dog. Hensel noted that bringing the dog on the same flight as the owner generally costs around $400.

Families are posting on Facebook about departure dates happening as soon as the first weeks of August — but now transportation is uncertain for their dogs due to new U.S. regulations and some airlines refusing to allow dogs to travel back to the states.

“Why do things always have to be so complicated for military families to bring our pet family members with us when we move?” one military wife asked on the platform. “As if moving far from home and family every few years isn’t stressful enough.”

The issue stems from new requirements from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that take effect Aug. 1, aimed at preventing the introduction of dog rabies into the United States. While dog rabies was eliminated in the United States in 2007, there are over 100 countries where dog rabies isn’t controlled, according to the CDC.

The new regulations will be cumbersome for some military families, and there’s some confusion. But the more immediate problem is that eight airlines will stop allowing dogs to travel back to the states with their families either in the cabin or as excess baggage in the cargo hold.

German airline Lufthansa is the most recent airline to make the announcement. “Due to new restrictions imposed by the U.S. authorities it is no longer possible to import dogs into the USA after 1 August 2024 until further notice,” the Lufthansa website states.

The abrupt policy changes have some military advocates baffled by it all.

“I 100% agree we have to protect the population from rabies,” said Liz Hensel, CEO of Leave No Paws Behind USA. “But there must be a better way than to leave hundreds of military families stranded in a situation where they have no idea what to do with their dogs,” she said.

There are more than 100,000 service members stationed in Europe alone, she noted. It remains to be seen how this will play out around the world.

“Our household pets really help with mental health not only for the men and women serving, but for the family dynamic as a whole,” said Hensel, a veteran who is also the 2024 Armed Forces Insurance Marine Corps Spouse of the Year.

The decision by Lufthansa is “heartbreaking,” as the airline has been one of the most pet friendly airlines for military families, Hensel said.

The new CDC requirements standardize the process for importing dogs, including standard requirements for the minimum age of imported dogs, microchips, the CDC Dog Import Form, and other documentation. This will “streamline the importation process and allow for safer and more efficient entry of dogs into the United States,” according to the CDC.

The rules require some documentation that generally only commercial pet shippers were required to do, and which could require extra steps such as translating the CDC form into the local language for host-nation veterinarians and their supervisors, Hensel said.

Hensel is advocating for urgent policy adjustments by the CDC, including exemptions for military families in recognition of their unique circumstances; increased quarantine and vaccination facilities; airline partnerships; and streamlined import processes with clear and consistent guidelines.

Lawmakers have stepped in to urge the CDC director to allow an 18-month delay in implementation of the blanket requirements, because the rules affect low-risk dogs personally owned by various types of individuals.

A July 8 letter from Rep. Nick Langworthy, R-N.Y., has been signed by six additional members of Congress. Among other things, the dog import form has caused concern because of its delayed public availability and potential concern among dog owners, Langworthy wrote.

Information was not immediately available from the CDC about whether any solutions are being considered for military families.

Hensel speculates that the airlines are backing away from transporting the pets with their families on the same flight because they don’t want to be held liable.

According to the CDC website, if their rules aren’t followed, the dog won’t be allowed to enter the U.S. “If denied entry, your dog will be sent back to the last country of departure at your expense. Country of departure is where the last trip originated—not where the dog was born or where it lives,” officials state.

Many military families will now be forced to use pet shippers, which can continue to ship on the airlines, Hensel said.

But the cost will be a great hardship for many families.

“What has been costing around $400 will now be over $2,000,” she said, noting that the cost to ship a dog overseas through a pet shipper could be anywhere from $2,500 to over $4,000, depending on the dog, location and other factors.

Hensel worked for four years to advocate for a law to allow service members to be reimbursed for up to $2,000 of pet transportation expenses to or from overseas during a PCS move, and up to $550 for pet transportation in a move within the continental U.S. DOD implemented that benefit Jan. 1.

“And now this?” she said.

Military issues new details on reimbursing pet travel costs

Limited spaces are available to transport dogs on military-contracted Patriot Express flights on PCS moves, although U.S. Transportation Command increased the cabin flight spaces from 10 to 20, in 2021.

TRANSCOM officials are aware of the issue, said spokesman Nate Allen.

“This is where the conversations between passengers and their local transportation management offices are crucial,” he said. “While there is no immediate plan to increase pet spaces, if presented with a significant increase in requirements, we have and will engage with commercial partners to increase capacity where possible.”

Passengers traveling on the Patriot Express flights will also be required to comply with the CDC’s new import requirements, Allen said.

One family posted that they are being relocated stateside for a humanitarian reassignment, which is already stressful.

“I literally don’t know how I’m going to get our dog home with us,” the military wife posted. “This is to the point I’m in tears. This is just another stressor military families don’t need.”

The Government Accountability Office concluded that around 8 in 10 of those listings could be incorrect after posing as Tricare beneficiaries on hundreds of covert calls to providers. The watchdog agency encountered a host of problems with the directories, from faulty contact information to incorrectly showing whether a provider is taking new Tricare patients.

Finding behavioral health care services to treat mental health conditions and substance use disorders is already difficult for military beneficiaries amid a nationwide shortage of therapists and psychiatrists. Flawed directories compound the unique challenges facing military families, who rely on the listings to find care and have long complained about directory shortcomings. Frequent moves exacerbate the problem.

To help remedy the issue, GAO recommended that the Defense Health Agency specifically monitor the accuracy of behavioral health listings in the Tricare network, in addition to the agency’s broader checks of the directory overall.

“Access to behavioral health care is paramount for Tricare beneficiaries, as demand for these services [has] increased among active duty service members and their families,” auditors said in the report.

More than 9 million Tricare beneficiaries receive care at military facilities, or through networks of civilian providers in two regions, Tricare East and West. Contractors in each region manage online provider directories spanning more than 1 million listings of health providers and specialists; the contractors are required to ensure listings are accurate and audit a portion of them each month. Defense health officials monitor the findings of those audits.

Congress mandated a GAO investigation in 2022 amid ongoing complaints about the quality of the directories. GAO dug into a fraction of the nearly 130,000 listings for behavioral health providers — with lackluster results.

The watchdog called a random sample of 342 behavioral health providers in the Tricare directories in July and August 2023, the report said. That was enough to estimate that 85% of nearly 61,000 such listings in Tricare East were inaccurate, and 79% of nearly 68,000 listings in Tricare West had errors, GAO said.

A listing was considered accurate if each of the elements required by the Pentagon were correct: a provider’s name, gender, specialty, sub-specialty, address, phone number and fax number. Auditors estimated that about 19% of all behavioral health listings in Tricare East, and about 22% of those listings in Tricare West, show a disconnected phone number or outdated address.

The study also considered whether providers were accepting new Tricare patients. Of the listings GAO contacted that advertised accepting new Tricare patients, the watchdog found that only a small percentage actually were — 34% of those in Tricare East; and 19% of those in Tricare West.

DHA and Tricare’s contractors have tried to encourage health providers to accept more Tricare patients. But providers can be reluctant to accept Tricare because they want to avoid the system’s low reimbursement rates for services provided, a lack of awareness of the Tricare system, a preference for private insurance or avoiding insurance altogether, or burnout.

As part of its research, GAO also met with organizations representing Tricare beneficiaries and behavioral health providers, and interviewed defense officials and representatives from the two regional contractors.

Health Net Federal Services, the Tricare West contractor, argues that more than 8 in 10 of its listings across all providers are accurate.

The contractor told Military Times it “proactively works with our network providers to obtain timely, accurate directory data.”

“HNFS conducts monthly audits on a randomly selected, statistically valid sample of provider records, including those for behavioral health providers,” the company said.

Health Net said GAO hasn’t provided details of which listings it audited so the company can try to replicate its findings.

Officials with Humana Government Business, the Tricare East contractor, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Karen Ruedisueli, director of government relations for health affairs for the Military Officers Association of America, said the advocacy group is “not at all surprised” by the findings.

“They validate beneficiary complaints we have heard for years about ‘ghost directories,’” Ruedisueli told Military Times. “Military families face so many challenges. Those reaching out for help should not have to slog through dozens of inaccurate listings to find a mental health provider.”

A recent survey conducted by the Military Family Advisory Network found that about 28% of actively serving families who sought out mental health care reported obstacles in getting appointments.

That comes amid a spike in the need for those services. Service members experienced a fourfold increase in mental health diagnoses from 2005 to 2021, according to the Defense Health Board, an independent committee that advises the defense secretary. Military children saw a sixfold increase in mental health diagnoses.

Struggles to keep provider directories accurate are not unique to the military health system; state and federal laws and regulations designed to curb the problem have fallen short of that goal.

The Defense Health Agency, which manages Tricare, said multiple factors likely cause listing inaccuracies. Behavioral health providers are more mobile than others, the agency said, and may lack the administrative staff to update those details. DHA added that provider availability can change daily, and that some don’t post phone numbers because they prefer patients contact them by email or text.

Responding to GAO’s findings, DHA said it would look into how feasible it may be to require Tricare contractors to audit behavioral health listings as well as the directories at large, and agreed to address what could be causing possibly significant differences in the accuracies of behavioral health listings compared to Tricare providers overall.

While GAO said the contractors contend their overall accuracy rate hovers around 82%, auditors estimate just 15% of behavioral health listings are right in Tricare East and 21% in Tricare West.

Defense Health Agency officials pushed back on the report’s recommendation to ensure those rates are consistent, pointing to differences in the providers’ resources and how they conduct business.

Defense officials also disagreed with the GAO recommendation that they periodically monitor the accuracy of the behavioral health provider listings in relation to the overall directory.

Tricare’s current contracts, as well as a new pair set to take effect in January, don’t require the network managers to audit individual specialties. Doing so would require more money, DHA Director Army Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland wrote in a response to GAO.

The agency itself also lacks the manpower to sufficiently pore over provider directories, Crosland said.

GAO maintains that the Pentagon should check Tricare’s behavioral health provider listings “to help ensure that beneficiaries have the best information available when they need to access behavioral health care.”

Have you had to cut back on the amount of groceries you’re buying? Are you giving up some previous indulgences or buying cheaper cuts of meat — or no meat? Scouring for coupons or doing more comparison shopping? Shopping at the commissary more often? Driving less or changing vacation plans? Diving into savings? Charging necessities on credit cards?

'Feeding our paycheck to the pump': Troops, families deal with inflation

If you’re making a permanent change of station move this summer, has inflation impacted that move, and in what way?

Have any steps taken by Congress and DOD over the last several years helped you financially, such as pay increases, housing allowance increases or the new Basic Needs Allowance?

Tell us about your experience, and include some of your advice and tips that we can share with others in the military community. Include your rank, branch of service, location and how many people are in your family.

Email your answers to reporter Karen Jowers at kjowers@militarytimes.com. Your response may be published online or in print. Let us know if it’s OK to use your name. Thanks for your help.

The lawmakers are concerned that the Defense Health Agency has decided to retain Express Scripts as the sole pharmacy benefit manager for Tricare, the military insurance system serving 9.6 million troops, retirees and their families.

Military pharmacies resume regular operations after cyberattack

In a letter sent Wednesday to Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs Lester Martinez-Lopez and DHA director Army Lt. Gen. Telita Crosland, the lawmakers questioned whether Express Scripts may be using anticompetitive tactics to overcharge Tricare.

Express Scripts is the second-largest pharmacy benefit manager in the country. PBMs act as middlemen for pharmacies, drug companies and insurers and play a key role in negotiating drug prices between the various players, as well as helping to decide which medicines an insurer will cover.

Critics argue PBMs’ often secretive work has forced scores of Americans to overspend on medication or kept them from being able to access the medicine they need. PBM proponents argue they ultimately drive down costs in the medical system and ensure the prescription drug enterprise runs smoothly.

The letter, led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Sen. Mike Rounds, R-S.D., Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., and Rep. Buddy Carter, R-Ga., demands answers by July 2 from defense officials on how they monitor the Express Scripts contract, how robust the pharmacy network is, and whether DHA tracks Express Scripts’ denials for expensive specialty drugs requested by Tricare beneficiaries. Twenty additional members of Congress signed onto the letter.

At issue is the narrow set of companies through which troops and their families receive medicine under Tricare health plans.

Tricare members can obtain prescription drugs through two entities: Express Scripts, which handles nonspecialty medication, or Accredo, which handles specialty drugs for conditions like cancer and multiple sclerosis. Accredo has served as Tricare’s primary in-network specialty pharmacy since the beginning of 2023, though patients can buy specialty drugs through other pharmacies as well.

Both companies are Cigna subsidiaries. Lawmakers worry the arrangement makes Tricare customers vulnerable to higher drug prices, and may ultimately drive up the cost to taxpayers who cover government-provided health insurance.

“Because Cigna also owns Accredo, it can effectively keep much of its business in-house, using its [pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts] to steer patients to its own pharmacy while disadvantaging competitors,” the lawmakers wrote.

Lawmakers want to know whether DHA has compared the prices Express Scripts charges for specialty drugs through Accredo versus what it charges for the same drugs at independent pharmacies. They also ask how much Express Scripts charges for each of the 10 most frequently prescribed products purchased through Accredo, and how much it charges for the same prescriptions when they are purchased through independent pharmacies.

In a statement provided to Military Times, Express Scripts officials said Tricare beneficiaries aren’t required to fill the majority of specialty prescriptions through Accredo, “though many choose to because of the highly personalized support they receive from their pharmacists, nurses, clinicians, dietitians and social workers.”

Company officials said they provide Tricare beneficiaries “with high quality, affordable health care while achieving billions of dollars in savings for the government and taxpayers. Tricare beneficiaries have access to the full range of generic, brand, and specialty medications on the market today through our robust network of chain, independent, military, specialty and home delivery pharmacies.”

Tricare members have fewer independent and retail pharmacies to rely on than they did a few years ago. In 2022, 15,000 pharmacies left the Tricare network while refusing to accept the contract’s terms for reimbursement from Express Scripts. After public pressure, Express Scripts reopened its network, but fewer than 5,000 pharmacies rejoined.

“This exodus of independent and retail pharmacies can be catastrophic for Tricare beneficiaries, especially for those with complex medical conditions who are ill-served by mail-order pharmacies,” the lawmakers wrote.

There are currently more than 42,000 pharmacies, including nearly 12,000 independent pharmacies in the Tricare network. Ninety-eight percent of beneficiaries have a Tricare retail pharmacy within a 15-minute drive.

Lawmakers ask how the Defense Health Agency verifies that Express Scripts obeys patient access requirements, including that at least one in-network pharmacy is located within a 15-minute drive of 90% of Tricare beneficiaries.

They noted that the Defense Health Agency can revise the terms of the contract or leave the exclusive agreement with Express Scripts each year until the contract ends in December 2029.

A DHA spokesperson on Friday declined to comment on the letter: “It isn’t appropriate for us to comment on questions until we have responded formally to the members of Congress.”

The agency has previously told Military Times that the contract allows Express Scripts to use its own discretion in contracting with pharmacies to establish a competitively priced network that meets contract access standards, directly passing savings to the government.

A new report from a leading advocacy group argues it’s time to give the pace of those moves, known as permanent changes of station, a fresh look.

“We’re seeing PCS as being a big moment that puts people in a situation of vulnerability,” Shannon Razsadin, chief executive officer of the Military Family Advisory Network, told Military Times on Tuesday.

The group’s 2023 Military Family Support Programming Survey, released Wednesday, explored some of the perennial challenges that burden military families. The 109-page report questioned whether changing the frequent shuffle between bases — which military officials argue is necessary to meet operational requirements and fill empty jobs — could affect recurring issues related to financial stability, such as military spouse unemployment, and other concerns such as children’s education.

“Is there a capacity to expand telework to provide more stability?” the report asked. “There is an opportunity to explore the cost savings of less frequent moves, not just for military families, but also for taxpayers.”

The survey drilled into some of the second- and third-order effects of frequent moves, when people struggle with everything from the amount of time spent in temporary lodging to security deposits, extra rent and unreimbursed expenses.

“These things are adding up. When you move every two to three years, and layer on top of that potential gaps in employment, you have this ‘aha’ moment where it’s not surprising that people are having a hard time getting ahead,” Razsadin said.

More than half of the survey’s respondents made a PCS move in the previous two years, the advocacy group said. Those who did were more likely to report poor family well-being than those who hadn’t moved, at 25.7% and 20.3%, respectively, according to the survey.

About 4 in 10 respondents who PCSed in the past two years reported low or very low food security; around half reported it was “difficult or very difficult” to find a place to live.

The MFAN survey, conducted online from Oct. 2 to Dec. 10, 2023, sought to hear from current and former members of the military community. Of the 10,149 participants, 39% said they were active duty spouses, 19% were veterans, and 11% were active duty troops. Seventy-six percent of respondents identified themselves or their spouse as enlisted, whether active duty, retiree or veteran.

The survey isn’t a scientific poll because researchers did not verify the identity of respondents, or conduct a random sample, for instance. The 2023 report is the survey’s fifth iteration since it began in 2014.

Researchers measured family well-being using the Family Health Scale, a research tool of 10 questions that measure factors like relationships, health care, lifestyle, financial health and housing.

Other findings related to PCS moves include:

• Most respondents reported spending between $500 to $1,000 out of pocket on moving expenses that aren’t reimbursed by the military.
• 53% of active duty military family respondents say they are paying more than $251 out of pocket each month for rent/mortgage or utilities.
• 43% said the reimbursement process took one to two months after they moved.
• 29% reported staying in temporary lodging between 11 to 30 nights during their PCS move; another 21% reported staying in temporary lodging between 31 to 60 nights.
• 56% of respondents said their household goods were lost or damaged during their most recent move, including retirees and veterans. 70% filed a claim. “Respondents who filed a claim most commonly experienced a financial loss between $500 and $1,000 above the reimbursement for their claim,” according to the report.
• 46% of respondents said moving has the greatest impact on children and their education, social life, and adjustment to a new location. “It takes a great deal of work to support the children before, during and after a move. The ripple effect is large and long lasting,” said one active duty sailor who responded to the survey.
• 38% said that moving affects the entire family’s mental health and well-being, “oftentimes causing stress, sadness, depression, anxiety, loneliness, and even adjustment disorder,” according to the report.
• 30% cited the effects of PCS moves on military spouse employment; 36% of unemployed active duty spouses shared stories of challenges with frequent moves.
• 11% of respondents cited moving or PCS as a barrier to saving money.
• 30% of respondents said they had difficulty establishing mental health care in a new location.

“The journey of a military family like yours or mine comes with sacrifices,” said Christine Grady, wife of Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Christopher Grady, during an event Wednesday announcing the results of the survey. “It comes with great rewards.”

Overall, military family well-being has declined since the last MFAN survey in 2021. In the past two years, those reporting poor family well-being increased from 14% in 2021 to 26.5% in 2023. Those who described their well-being as “excellent” fell from 41.3% in 2021 to 27.9% in 2023.

Enlisted families with children — one of the largest groups in the survey — were less likely to report excellent well-being, at 20%.

Razsadin said one of the more disheartening results is the uptick in loneliness reported among military and veteran families, which rose by 5 percentage points to 59% in 2023.

“I found it surprising,” she said. “The last time we fielded the survey was in 2021, in the pandemic. We have to figure out how we can create meaningful connections with people.”

Among the bright spots in the findings, said Gabby L’Esperance, MFAN’s insights director, was the increase in usage of mental health support. Nearly 60% of respondents sought out mental health services in the previous two years, up from 46% in 2021.

Survey results showed that families with poor or moderate well-being were less likely to recommend military life to others, as were enlisted families, veteran families, respondents with children under 18, and those who joined military life in the last 10 years.

Nearly 58% of those surveyed in 2023 would recommend a military career, a 5-percentage-point drop since 2021. Those who recommend military life to others has fallen steadily since 2019, when it stood at 74.5%.

Many said they would recommend military life with a healthy dose of caution, or as short-term service instead of a career.

The advocacy group warned that failing families can have wider repercussions for retention and recruitment — and in turn, military readiness — than on those households alone.

“Ensuring families can thrive in service isn’t just the right thing to do,” the report said. “There are long-term consequences if they don’t.”

The sky is still dark as she gently buckles Isaiah into the car. Most days, it’s around 3 a.m. when they arrive at the 24-hour child development center here at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story, where Isaiah will grab a few more hours of sleep while his mother heads in to work.

After they’re let inside, Solomon tucks Isaiah into his designated bed alongside his stuffed toy and unpacks his clothes for the day into a nearby cubby.

“Then I give him a kiss … go to the front desk, sign him in, and I’m off for the day,” Solomon said. “He does all his waking up at the center.”

The Little Creek-Fort Story facility is one of eight military child development centers that are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to help troops whose odd hours and unpredictable schedules rule out the option of relying on traditional day cares. Seven are operated by the Navy; the Army has one.

Proponents argue the military services should build more of those facilities to support single parents, dual-military families and troops whose unique jobs can create unusual child care needs, particularly as families nationwide struggle to find reliable, affordable options for care. But the services say they have no plans to open more 24-hour centers, and are instead trying to grow the number of in-home child care options.

That leaves many U.S. service members without an around-the-clock option for child care, potentially adding stressors that can affect troops’ performance at work and spur them to consider more stable work in the private sector.

For Solomon and her husband, Gunner’s Mate 2nd Class Niko Solomon, workdays are rarely routine. But the 24-hour child development center at Little Creek-Fort Story offers the family peace of mind that their son is cared for while they turn to the matter of national defense.

“This 24/7 center has helped parents with that nontraditional work schedule,” Solomon said. “If it weren’t for this day care, we don’t know what we would do,” she said.

Inside a 24-hour child care center

About 100 military kids are enrolled at 24-hour child care centers on seven installations in four states: Naval Medical Center Portsmouth; Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads; JEB Little Creek-Fort Story; and Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia; Naval Base Coronado, California; Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii; and Fort Jackson, South Carolina. An eighth center at Naval Support Activity Bethesda, Md., is temporarily closed as officials mull its future.

The Little Creek-Fort Story center, established in 2009, is smaller than a typical child development center and feels more like a home than a day care. Fifteen children are enrolled full-time at the 24/7 center, which can accommodate up to 27 children from infants through age 12. It’s also in the process of adding to its staff of nine, and expanding its space to add eight more spots for infants during the regular workday.

The open-plan building is stocked with toys and other activities for toddlers, preschoolers and school-age children; kids can do homework, read and play games in the facility’s media room.

When Military Times recently visited the 24-hour facility, teachers encouraged preschoolers to name the first letters of words in an early-reader book, and took suggestions from the kids on what color to shade in clouds while drawing in the center’s science area.

Rather than splitting into age groups like at other child care centers, children at the Little Creek facility learn and play as a group. Each activity is modified to meet the individual needs of each child. And when it’s meal time, the children eat together, family-style.

“All of the activities, we do together,” said Taina Curtis, the center’s director. “Sometimes you’ll see the infants with the older children, and they absolutely love it, because they think they’re big brothers and big sisters here.”

The facility also hosts family events, from a puppy parade to a pizza workshop to a saxophone tutorial.

When it’s time for bed, boys and girls split into separate bedrooms. Each child has their own bed, with their picture hanging nearby and their choice of blankets. Older kids have one bathroom; younger children have another. At night, staff members are required to check on the sleeping children every hour.

While the centers are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, children are rarely there for 24 hours straight, said Kelly Green, director of child and youth programs at JEB Little Creek-Fort Story.

“Parents generally just need a nontraditional schedule,” Green said. “Most of the time a child is in our care for maybe 12 hours.”

Kids enrolled in full-time care can attend the centers for up to 60 hours per week, on average, and are capped at spending 72 continuous hours in their care, except in emergencies as authorized by a commander, according to Navy spokeswoman Destiny Sibert.

To enroll their child full-time at a 24-hour center, a family must prove their work schedule necessitates after-hours care, Sibert said. Parents pay the same rate, based on total family income, that they would pay at a regular military child care facility, Sibert said.

The centers also provide child care to families who occasionally need after-hours help, such as those on 24-hour duty and reservists. In addition, if a 24-hour center has spots available, other families can use it for $8 per hour.

A complicated monthly schedule, hanging on the wall above a beloved fish tank, notes when each child is expected at the Little Creek-Fort Story center to ensure there’s adequate staffing, and to keep tabs on when hourly care might be available to other families. At least two staffers work overnight at the Little Creek-Fort Story center, with added help as needed depending on the number of children, Green said.

But that schedule changes daily as parents hit unexpected snags at work or as their shifts move around.

Master-at-Arms 1st Class Solomon, who works in the base security department at JEB Little Creek-Fort Story, is usually on the clock for 12-hour shifts from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. for two or three days in a row each week. That requires her to be at work by 4:30 a.m. to arm up, and as a supervisor, to account for each of her subordinates.

If she has to be at Fort Story, 20 minutes from Little Creek, that means getting Isaiah to child care earlier. Solomon sometimes can’t leave work until around 6:30 p.m. on the days when a pressing issue arises at the end of a shift.

“Where am I going to get him to a day care at 3 in the morning?” she said. “That’s where the 24/7 centers are clutch for us.”

Her husband Niko is stationed aboard the amphibious assault ship Bataan. When the ship’s in port, he’s usually able to take Isaiah to and pick him up from child care — but not while he was deployed from October to March. And even when sailors are home, 24-hour duty days and other commitments can force parents to find extended-hours child care — a particular challenge for those without a support system nearby.

“We don’t have family here,” Imani Solomon said. “I’m from New York originally, and my husband’s from Florida.”

Navy Capt. David Gray, the joint base’s commander, praised the 24-hour center for reassuring sailors and soldiers that their kids will be cared for, despite the unorthodox work hours and responsibilities that can pose struggles for those in uniform.

“Every base should have a 24/7 center,” he said.

No plans to expand

Military families have long struggled to find high-quality, affordable child care for their kids. The coronavirus pandemic further exacerbated those troubles, as staffing shortages limited hours of operation and forced some day cares to close altogether.

During a May 8 hearing, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said there were 12,000 military children on waiting lists for child care as of last year.

“I have to assume the demand would be even greater, except there are some people who just give up and don’t even put a child on the wait list,” she said.

As of May 31, there were 11,007 military children on child care waiting lists, Pentagon spokesman Joshua Wick said Wednesday. That marks a 22% decrease since the end of 2021, when the number stood at about 14,600, Wick said.

He noted that it’s typical to see waiting lists grow ahead of and throughout the summer, when service members are moving to new bases.

Still, around-the-clock child care centers have remained under the radar for many in the military community, and there’s no sign that the services will opt to add more.

“I wasn’t aware that eight locations have 24-hour centers,” said Eileen Huck, of the National Military Family Association. “That’s a great option to have, especially since there are fewer family child cares than in the past.”

Army spokesperson Matt Ahearn said the service has no plans to increase the number of 24-hour child development centers. Nor does the Navy, according to Sibert, who said some of its 24-hour centers haven’t hit capacity.

It costs about twice as much per child to operate a 24/7 center than a regular child development center, Sibert said.

There are no 24/7 child care centers in the Marine Corps, Air Force or Space Force.

“The Department of the Air Force addresses the need for 24-hour child care through the Family Child Care program, which allows children to experience a home-like environment and does not rely upon traditional child development centers for after-hours care,” said Air Force spokeswoman Sarah Fiocco.

The 24-hour centers are rare in the civilian community, too.

“Parents looking for center-based care during [non-standard hours] find their options are either extremely limited or simply nonexistent,” concluded a 2019 report by the nonprofit Child Care Aware of America.

Child Care Aware works with a national network of more than 500 child care resource and referral agencies and other partners to help families access high-quality, affordable child care. The organization also administers the military services’ child care fee-assistance programs for military families.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found in 2015 that only 8% of child care centers surveyed in the U.S. provide child care during atypical work hours. Of those, 6% offered overnight care, 2% offered care during evening hours, and 3% offered weekend care.

While family child care providers are more likely to provide care during non-standard hours, only about one in three of those providers provide any non-standard care, according to Child Care Aware.

Without the option of always-open child care, parents who work outside the normal 9-to-5 are forced to cobble together a patchwork of center-based care, family child care homes, and friends, neighbors or family members — if they’re available. And their child care needs are often unpredictable.

Defense officials recognize the need for extended-hours child care to support those who work overnight shifts or conduct night operations, Pentagon spokesman Joshua Wick said. In lieu of adding more 24-hour centers, military officials are working to expand other options for families in need of child care.

Each service has tried to increase child care availability by offering incentives to prospective child care workers and boosting the number of in-home day cares, which can be more flexible than traditional centers. Those family child care home businesses are run by providers — often military spouses — who must meet stringent DOD requirements to offer services in their homes, and cost the least per child to run, Sibert said.

Families are eligible to apply for a program that offers subsidies to cover the cost of local day cares; a pilot program for in-home options like nannies at some locations; or for their local installation’s family child care program, said Marine Corps spokeswoman Maj. Danielle Phillips.

Some providers offer overnight and extended-hour child care for kids as old as 12. Military families in certain locations may also sign onto nanny-sharing agreements so multiple households can benefit from one local provider, at the times that work for them.

Wick added that base commanders set their own local requirements for overnight and extended-hours child care based on their local missions, the volume of requests for that care and the results of occasional surveys.

“In collaboration with the military services, we continue to explore various options to meet the unique needs of military families,” he said.

In 2002, the Navy launched a yearlong pilot program to study the need for and effectiveness of child care centers and family day cares who can provide care around the clock, Sibert said.

“Military parents agreed that the 24/7 type of care offered to them during the pilot period made it much easier for them to focus on their military mission and job requirements, and that this type of care was a significant support in that it greatly contributed to the sailor’s quality of life, particularly for single [parents] and dual-military families,” Sibert said.

But officials found an added benefit: “The commands reported that the 24/7 care model boosted installation morale, even for those who didn’t require child care,” Sibert said.

MA1 Solomon said the military doesn’t have to make exceptions for families like hers, but she’d like to see the services meet people halfway.

“If you want a sailor who is going to be operationally committed and operationally aware, then there needs to be a midway point,” she said. “If we know our children are safe, you will have a great sailor.”

Frequent military moves pose unique difficulties for business-owning spouses, who can take significant hits to their revenue or be forced to shutter altogether as they navigate a web of state regulations and bureaucratic delays. To help keep those entrepreneurs afloat, the military will cover at least part of the cost of moving and removal services for business equipment, new equipment purchases, information technology costs, and fees for business permits, registration and inspections.

“We owe it to them to provide any opportunity to not just have a job, but build a fulfilling career,” said Lt. Gen. Kevin Vereen, who as a deputy chief of staff overseeing installations is the Army’s top quality-of-life official.

Lawmakers included the new benefit in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, prompting each branch of the military to craft their own implementation guidelines. The Army announced its new reimbursement policy June 4; the Navy issued its policy April 29. The Air Force and Space Force finalized their own version last fall. The Marine Corps is still developing its guidelines, officials said.

Spouses could already recoup as much as $1,000 spent to obtain new professional licenses due to a permanent change of station — a policy that has been in place for several years. Now they can be reimbursed for both types of spending, totaling up to $2,000 per PCS move.

As long as the spouse owned their business or held the professional credential at a prior duty station — not only the most recent duty station — they can qualify for reimbursement, the Army, Navy and Air Force said.

For example, say a spouse owns a business while at Fort Stewart, Ga., but stops operating the business after moving to Fort Liberty, N.C. A few years later, when the business owner moves again for their spouse’s assignment at the Pentagon, the spouse could still ask the Army to reimburse the costs of operating their business.

The opportunity is available to spouses married to troops who received PCS orders dated Dec. 22, 2023, or later, and will run through the end of 2029. Navy and Air Force spouses must submit requests for reimbursement within 24 months after the PCS orders are issued. The Army did not immediately provide instructions on filing for reimbursement.

More information on reimbursement rules and applications is available through each military branch, or from DOD’s Spouse Education and Career Opportunities Program.

Air Force and Space Force: Service members should contact their installation’s Military and Family Readiness Center with questions about eligibility and how to submit a claim. The finance office will work with the service member and the spouse to verify eligibility and to ensure they provide the right paperwork to prove their qualified expenses.

Navy: The Navy policy points sailors to MPM-1754-04 for information on documentation requirements. That includes documents such as the Memorandum Spouse Licensure Reimbursement Request; the OF-1164 Claim for Reimbursement for Expenditures on Official Business; a copy of PCS orders; a copy of previous license/certificate and the new license/certificate; and a copy of receipts for a new license/certificate or qualified business relocation costs. The package must be scanned and sent by secure email to ASKMNCC.FCY@NAVY.MIL.

Army: The Army directive states that officials will publish an all-Army activities message providing instructions for filing for reimbursement.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s “Support Our Troops” dashboard offers a chart comparing each airline’s policies on fee waivers, free luggage and refunds for military families during personal travel, or when travel plans change because of a military order. Four companies — Allegiant Air, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Spirit Airlines — offer some combination of those perks, according to the chart.

Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue Airways and United Airlines are also included in the roundup but have not committed to provide current troops and their families with additional benefits.

In April, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sent a letter to the CEOs of these 10 largest airlines, urging them to improve their military travel benefits and publicize them more effectively.

The department “appreciates that carriers currently provide active duty service members and their families various military travel benefits,” Buttigieg wrote. “However, these benefits are not consistently detailed in carriers’ public-facing customer service plans, resulting in many service members being unaware of them.”

The travel benefits “often do not fully address the needs of service members who may need to cancel or change personal travel plans due to military directives,” Buttigieg added.

Following the letter, Spirit, Allegiant and Frontier stepped up their existing commitments to troops and families, according to the Department of Transportation.

Six others — Alaska, American, Delta, Hawaiian, JetBlue and United — declined to make “clear and enforceable” promises of extra benefits, the department said.

Airlines are required to stick to the benefits outlined in their customer service plans, including commitments to care for service members and their families. The department pledges to hold airlines accountable if they fail to do so.

To build the new “Support Our Troops” dashboard, DOT and Pentagon officials collaborated to evaluate airlines on four basic commitments the government believes are the top priorities for troops and families on the go:

• Whether they waive cancellation fees and ensure full refunds for service members and accompanying family members who cancel travel plans because of a military order or directive (documentation may be required). Three airlines make this commitment.
• Whether they waive change fees for service members and accompanying family members who reschedule flights because of a military order or directive (documentation may be required). Four airlines make this commitment.
• Whether they offer at least one free standard carry-on and at least two free standard checked bags for service members and their accompanying spouse and children, with appropriate identification such as a valid military ID. Four airlines make this commitment.
• Whether they provide the lowest fare for a flight for immediate family members to visit service members recently injured in the line of duty, with supporting documentation. Two airlines make this commitment.

Two airlines — Allegiant and Spirit — pledge to provide all four benefits.

Airlines might offer additional perks to troops and their families, but for those benefits to be reflected on the dashboard, the airlines are required to make those commitments in their customer service plan and provide them to all service members, the department said in a release.

The dashboard applies to current members of the military who are serving or may be called to serve, and who hold a current military ID. That includes members of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Space Force, Coast Guard, National Guard and reserve components; cadets of the military academies and the Merchant Marine Academy; the U.S. Public Health Service’s Commissioned Corps and Ready Reserve Corps; and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s officer corps.

More information is available on the airlines’ websites or by contacting customer service agents.

The military community can also compare prices and snag discounts on upcoming travel through the Defense Department’s American Forces Travel website, which offers deals on flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises and travel packages, and event tickets.

While “tens of thousands of [commissary] beneficiaries” practice a religion with unique dietary rules, the stores offer limited certified kosher and halal options and fail to promote them well, Reps. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., and Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa., wrote to commissary director John Hall.

They warned that failing to sell a wider range of kosher foods, which adhere to strict Jewish dietary laws, and halal options, which are permissible under Islamic law, undermines the military’s diversity and discourages members of those religions from serving in the U.S. armed forces.

“It is critical the Department of Defense ensures that active duty personnel of all religions, including Islam and Judaism, are able to access foods that respect their faith traditions,” wrote Pressley and Houlahan, the highest-ranking Democrat on the House Armed Services Committee’s quality-of-life panel.

“No active duty personnel should have to sacrifice their faith to serve in our military.”

The commissary agency operates 235 grocery stores on bases around the world, offering groceries at a discount to the military community. But troops, constituents and others have told Pressley’s office of the difficulties they face due to the stores’ dearth of kosher and halal options — which can force observant Jews and Muslims to shell out more money to ship groceries from specialty stores or restrict their eating altogether.

Food is certified as kosher or halal if it does not contain ingredients banned under those dietary laws, like pork or shellfish, and if it is butchered or prepared at a compliant facility and approved by a religious authority or organization such as the Orthodox Union, among other rules. How much kosher or halal food a grocery store stocks depends on how much of a demand for it exists in the local community.

“We request DeCA urgently address issues regarding access to foods that meet religious dietary restrictions,” the lawmakers wrote. They also asked that the agency work with service members and their families “to advertise items as they are made available, incorporate items in meal solutions and special observances promotions, and ensure availability during religious holidays.”

The lawmakers’ press release announcing the letter cited endorsements from two organizations, including the National Military Family Association.

“Military families need access to healthy, familiar food no matter where they live in the world,” NMFA Chief Executive Officer Besa Pinchotti said in the release. “But just as important, they need access to food that adheres to their religious dietary requirements.”

Commissaries and the food industry “constantly strive to offer a wide range of products to serve the diverse military population across the globe in areas where commercial alternatives are limited,” said Steve Rossetti, president of the American Logistics Association, a trade organization of companies whose products are sold in commissaries and exchanges. The ALA also endorsed the lawmakers’ letter to the commissary agency.

“We need to ensure that all consumer tastes and preferences, including religious dietary options, are represented in the commissary offerings,” Rossetti said.

Rossetti also told Military Times that the commissary agency “reserves a significant amount of shelf space to accommodate local patrons’ tastes and preferences,” as well as products from small businesses.

Customers can ask their local commissary to order items that may not be in stock. Information was not immediately available about whether that includes requests for food that complies with religious law, or how often people ask for those products.

The military has taken steps to accommodate the religious dietary needs of service members in settings where there may be no other options, such as on ships and other deployments. For example, the Defense Logistics Agency provides kosher and halal Meals, Ready to Eat to accommodate those who follow strict religious diets.

The Army recently said it would review the rules around the Basic Allowance for Subsistence stipend after concerns surfaced that soldiers had funds deducted from their food allowance for daily meals even when local officials could not provide religious accommodations.

The Military Spouse Career Accelerator Pilot will for the first time provide early-career opportunities “for those younger spouses who might need to put their foot in the door and start the process of having employment and a career,” Patricia Barron, deputy undersecretary of defense for military community and family policy, told reporters Monday. That’s in addition to the program’s current “career-ready” fellowships for spouses with more education and experience to prepare them for the positions.

In an earlier announcement, defense officials said the newly added entry-level fellowships could target specific career fields such as taxes or insurance.

The fellowship program, now in its second year of a three-year test period, has been a “rousing success,” Barron said.

Spouses of U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force troops across the active duty, reserve and National Guard can apply for a 12-week position at 250 public- and private-sector employers. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes program pairs applicants with fellowships as they become available, at employers like Equinix, a company that operates data centers, and Frog Street, an early childhood education curriculum company.

The number of fellowships available depends on what employers decide to offer; the Defense Department pays fellows’ salaries through the Chamber. Applications are accepted throughout the year.

The program’s goal is to land fellows in permanent positions with their employers at the end of the 12-week run.

More than 400 spouses were placed in fellowships in 2023, the program’s first year. About 83% of the “career-ready” fellows have received offers for permanent jobs, Barron said, “which is unheard of.” Salaries for those jobs averaged about $60,000, defense officials said.

Lawmakers on the House Armed Services Committee’s military quality-of-life panel have recommended that the program be made permanent.

“It’s been a great program. To be able to sustain it throughout the years would be phenomenal,” Barron said. “We’re getting an awful lot of really good feedback from the military spouses that are involved.”

The unemployment rate for military spouses has stubbornly hovered around 21% for the past decade, according to various surveys.

The problem is exacerbated by the frequent moves military service requires, as well as state licensing rules for many professions and other bureaucratic hurdles.

A number of advocates have asked for the Labor Department to officially track their unemployment rate, as it does for veterans.

“We do have a great relationship with the Department of Labor and have connected with them on various things. The tracking of unemployment for military spouses is something that we’ve both talked about,” Barron said. “I think it’s a little bit harder to track military spouse unemployment, because it’s not a protected group, so sometimes it’s hard to find the information you need.”

“However, we’ve got new tools available to us now, through AI, through some of the analytics that a company like Google might provide,” she said. “I’m not saying that’s what we’re doing, but what I’m saying is that we have new tools we can look at to help us get after that number.”

Online resources in May

For years, military officials have worked to tackle the policy issues that keep the spouse unemployment rate from budging. They’ve also tried to open new opportunities to help military husbands and wives navigate the modern job market.

This month, job seekers can learn from a lineup of speakers and breakout sessions on a range of spouse employment topics as part of a free, virtual career symposium and hiring fairs May 14-30. Participants can register to view the recorded events like “Finding and Mastering Remote Employment” and “Know Your Worth: How to Negotiate Your Perfect Fit,” and to participate in upcoming sessions, at Military OneSource.

A series of webinars, one-on-one resume reviews and mock interviews from Tuesday to Thursday will prepare spouses for next week’s hiring fair.

That fair, scheduled for May 29-30 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Eastern time, will connect spouses to hiring managers and representatives from more than 700 employers who have committed to recruiting, hiring, retaining and promoting military spouses through DOD’s Military Spouse Employment Partnership.

“Half of our customers are choosing not to shop, even though we saved [customers] 25.5% last year, and we’re at 25% this year” compared to civilian grocery stores, Defense Commissary Agency Director John Hall said at a recent meeting of the American Logistics Association.

“In certain categories, the savings are almost unbelievable. With meat, we’re at 40% and have very, very high quality,” he said.

Hall is working on several initiatives to better serve customers, from newly allowing troops to use their meal cards to purchase food, to expanding the number of items on sale.

“Part of it is the price savings we give, but part of it is what we offer,” Hall said. “We want to look, feel, and have products available that look like commercial grocery chains.”

Those initiatives include:

• Possibly offering more prepared foods — ready to cook, ready to eat, and ready to heat — in stores that have space.
• Expanding seafood offerings.
• Expanding the military’s grocery-delivery service to include all stateside commissaries this year, up from eight stores that currently offer the option.
• Working with the Army and Air Force to allow service members to use their meal card benefits at the commissary. “When I visit commissaries, I see service members in line buying at the deli,” Hall said. “They’re using their own money, and choosing not to use that benefit that can get a free meal essentially, at the dining facility,” he said. Being able to use that meal card benefit “will be a huge, huge change,” he said.
• Offering bulk delivery of grocery items to military units. Hall is also reviving the Guard and Reserve’s “on-site sales,” where commissaries took orders from eligible shoppers who lived far from a store and delivered their items to a selected location for pickup. The commissary agency expects the first on-site sales will take place in June or July.
• Expanding the number of Army installations with conveniently located outposts or kiosks supplied by the commissary. Soldiers can pick up sandwiches, sushi, salads, breakfast sandwiches, fresh-cut fruit and drinks. Hall also plans to begin offering prepared foods in the kiosks.

Anyone with a DOD Common Access Card can purchase what’s available at the outposts or kiosks using their meal card or other forms of payment. Dining facility workers order food for kiosks and outposts from the commissary through a master catalog vetted by an Army dietitian.

There are currently 15 such outposts at 13 installations. Officials aim to launch 13 more this year at nine locations: Ansbach, Germany; Fort Campbell, Kentucky (three locations); Fort Liberty South (two locations) and Fort Liberty North, North Carolina; Fort Stewart, Georgia; Fort Drum, New York; Fort Cavazos, Texas (two locations); Fort Riley, Kansas; and Fort Myer, Virginia.

The commissary agency is also studying its supply chain, with the goal of reducing costs for suppliers and, ultimately, for military families. They’re working to increase commissaries’ overall in-stock rate, or the percentage of goods that are available at a given time, to 98%. Right now, the figure stands at 95%.

“95% is good, but [the difference between 95% and 98%] is … $200 million of product that’s not available to our customers on a yearly basis,” Hall said.

The commissary agency received $1.4 billion to fund operations in 2023, and returned more than $1.5 billion in savings to customers, Hall said. Because the agency gets taxpayer dollars to cover daily operating costs, such as cashiers at the 235 stores worldwide, the commissaries don’t have to pass on those expenses as part of the price customers pay for groceries.

Hall aims to increase sales to $8 billion within five years — up from $4.6 billion in fiscal year 2023 — following a steady decline in commissary sales over about a decade.

“It’s not that we want to get to $8 billion in sales,” he said. “It’s that we want to get $1.1 billion more to our customers in savings.”

Sales this fiscal year are up by about 5% over the same time period last year, and are on track to total about $5 billion this year, Hall said.

That bump is due to inflation as well as foot traffic in stores. Between October and March, there were 33.5 million transactions, or about 1.56 million more transactions than in the same period the previous year — an increase of about 5%.

Commissaries got a big boost from Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in September 2022 as his “Taking Care of Our People” initiative pumped more money into the stores in order to cut the prices at the register.

By removing the 2017 Defense Department requirement that commissaries had to make a profit to offset operational costs, Austin enabled commissary officials to drop prices by 3% to 5% across more than 30,000 products in their stores. They targeted reductions in items that most or all shoppers want, like milk, eggs and bread.

Overall savings comparisons vary by region. Each is based on market basket research in a geographic area to determine how much, on average, a commissary shopper could expect to save on grocery purchases compared with local commercial grocers in that area outside the gate.

Those eligible for the commissary shopping benefit include active duty, Guard and Reserve members, military retirees, Medal of Honor recipients, and their authorized family members. Veterans with any Department of Veterans Affairs documented service-connected disability rating are also eligible for commissary shopping, as well as Purple Heart recipients, former prisoners of war, and individuals approved and designated by the VA as the primary family caregivers of eligible veterans.

These popular, traditional sidewalk sales will be held at various times throughout the month, depending on the commissary. As the name suggests, they’re generally located on sidewalks immediately outside of a store.

All stateside stores, and those in Hawaii and Alaska, will participate in the sales, generally over two or three days. Discounts vary, but promise to cut customers’ costs over and above their usual commissary savings.

This year, regular commissary prices are already 25% lower on average than those at commercial stores outside the gate, officials said.

Products being offered on sale include: baby products; non-food items such as paper towels, toilet paper, wipes and cleaning products; health and beauty products; pet food; snacks, such as nuts, chips and candy; cold cereals; beverages, including flavored water, juices and energy drinks; international foods; and baking and canned goods.

A number of items are sold in bulk, so check your pantry to make sure you’ve got some storage space, and be mindful of how much your vehicle will hold as you transport your stash home. Shoppers in Hawaii, where commissaries won’t offer plastic or paper bags starting Wednesday, should remember to take plenty of reusable bags with them.

Check the Defense Commissary Agency sidewalk sales web page for specific dates. The first sales are slated to start Wednesday at 11 stores:

• Charleston Naval Weapons Station, South Carolina
• New River Marine Corps Air Station, North Carolina
• Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland
• Newport Naval Station, Rhode Island
• Key West Naval Air Station, Florida
• Fort Cavazos I (Clear Creek store) and Kingsville NAS, Texas
• Arnold Air Force Base, Tennessee
• Beale AFB and El Centro Naval Air Facility, California
• Fort Huachuca, Arizona

Check your local store’s website or ask the store manager for any schedule changes, such as postponements because of weather delays. And as usual, if you’re scheduled to move this summer, keep that in mind as you make your purchases — especially when it comes to things like cleaning supplies, which the movers may not be able to pack in your shipment.

These sales are traditionally held twice a year, in the spring and fall. While they are specific to U.S. stores, customers overseas should check with their commissaries to see if there might be some special deals.

Those eligible for the commissary shopping benefit include active duty, Guard and Reserve members, military retirees, Medal of Honor recipients, and their authorized family members. Veterans with any Department of Veterans Affairs-documented, service-connected disability rating are now eligible for commissary shopping, as well as Purple Heart recipients, former prisoners of war, and individuals who have been approved and designated as the primary caregivers of eligible veterans by the VA.

Efforts to ditch single-use bags are gradually taking effect at U.S.-run grocery stores at military bases around the world, so be prepared with reusable bags. Guam’s commissaries got rid of plastic and paper bags as of March 15, and Hawaii’s commissaries will follow starting April 30. California and Washington will eliminate the bags on June 30.

As for the remaining commissaries around the world, the Defense Commissary Agency plans to continue rolling out reusable bag policies “based on each location’s needs and legislative environment” until each store no longer carries single-use bags, officials said in a release.

Once a store makes the shift, it won’t offer plastic or paper bags at all — not even for purchase, said Tressa Smith, a spokeswoman for the Defense Commissary Agency.

But customers who don’t bring their own reusable bags can buy one. Prices start at 35 cents, regardless of location, with more expensive options available. Commissaries have already sold reusable bags for a number of years.

One retired officer in Washington state told Military Times that he needed 44 free single-use bags for his groceries on a recent commissary run. Purchasing 44 reusable bags that one time would add $15.40 to his grocery bill.

In comparison, he said, his local Seattle-area Safeway charges 8 cents for a single-use bag — totaling about $3.50 each time he needed a 44-bag haul.

While it’s true that single-use bags may be cheaper, consumers can ultimately pay more for them in the long run than by routinely using sturdier reusable bags that can haul groceries for months or years.

Commissaries also offer hot/cold bags for sale. Costs for reusable bags in the civilian commercial market vary widely depending on the manufacturer and the material, with many available for less than $1.

As some areas have adopted “green” laws that look to curb plastic and paper waste, businesses might still offer those options for a price. That varies by location, too. For example, some jurisdictions in Virginia require charging 5 cents per single-use bag, while some in Maryland require 10 cents.

Smith, the commissary agency spokesperson, stressed that not all commissaries are affected yet.

“We are only eliminating single-use bags in Guam, Hawaii, Washington and California at this time,” she said.

By moving away from single-use bags, commissary officials note, the agency “will keep thousands of single-use bags, which take years to break down, out of landfills worldwide.”

Lawmakers are pushing the Air Force and Army to find a solution for Army families in the 7th Special Forces Group at Camp “Bull” Simons and other Navy and Air Force families in the area who have struggled to find child care in the Florida Panhandle. The shortage has pushed some families to drive nearly an hour each way to the closest military child development center — if space is even available there.

“It is incredibly frustrating that a solution for the families that need the [child development center] at Camp Bull Simons continues to be delayed, and that families still don’t have access to a CDC that is within a reasonable commute,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., ranking member of the House Appropriations Committee’s military construction panel, during an April 17 hearing.

“Being expected to drive over an hour each way to drop off your child or pick them up at a child development center is not an acceptable solution,” she said.

Plans to build a CDC in fiscal year 2025 have been pushed to FY26, Wasserman Schultz said, “as it’s not executable in 2025.”

Ravi Chaudhary, assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, energy and environment, said Army and Air Force officials are nearing an agreement “in the coming weeks” on where a permanent CDC should go.

“Bull” Simons is an Army camp but is technically part of Eglin Air Force Base. As part of base realignment and closures in 2005, the camp was carved out of a remote area of an Eglin bombing range that the Air Force uses for weapons testing. Though about 2,600 military and civilian workers live and work there, the camp has few amenities: barracks, a chapel, a medical clinic and an Army and Air Force Exchange shopette, but no child development center, family housing or commissary.

That lack of local child care has proven a major complication for the 7th Special Forces Group, one of the Army’s most elite units that handles counter-drug, counterinsurgency, foreign military training and other covert missions across Central and South America and the Caribbean. Its soldiers were also heavily deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan throughout the war on terror.

Army officials and 7th SFG families want the child development center on the camp near the chapel, where it would be convenient for soldiers. But Air Force officials have said they are concerned about the children’s safety because the camp is adjacent to Eglin’s active bombing range.

Chaudhary told Wasserman Schultz at the hearing that while the Air Force will consider building a child care center inside the perimeter of Camp “Bull” Simons, “my general sense is that the risk calculation is not favorable.”

“I don’t want to get ahead of our Army secretary and Air Force secretary, because it’s their decision to make,” Chaudhary said. But “the feedback that we’ve received from the test community [is] … that it wouldn’t be an option.”

“We want to make sure we do two things,” he continued. “We want to ensure the safety of our members who are at a CDC, and at the same time accommodate them as expeditiously as possible.”

How bad is the child care shortage? Ask these Florida families

Many thought the issue had already been decided.

In October 2022, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth announced the service had plans to begin building a new CDC at the camp in FY25. But that work has stalled as the Army and Air Force struggle to hash out the details.

Despite concerns in the Air Force that putting a child care center near a bombing range would be dangerous, Army Special Operations Command officials have said they are confident in the camp’s safety protocols. They argue that adding a new CDC wouldn’t increase that risk.

Wasserman Schultz said she is concerned that the Air Force and Army aren’t properly communicating with local families. Chaudhary said the Army has asked to relay the plan to families once the military services come to an agreement on the path forward.

“The rumors surrounding the CDC are too hard to track,” said Stu Bradin, president and CEO of the Global Special Operations Forces Foundation, who has advocated for Camp “Bull” Simons families. “The optimum solution is to have the facility on an existing military installation where parents work and that is secure. Camp ‘Bull’ Simons would be the best course of action.”

The foundation recommends that a child development center be built to accommodate 500 children; at last count, there were 436 children in the 7th Special Forces Group who were age 4 or younger. The figure doesn’t include children of troops in other units in the area.

Interim solutions

Child care has been a struggle for 7th Special Forces Group families since the organization moved from then-Fort Bragg, N.C., in 2011 to create Camp “Bull” Simons. Their situation illustrates just one example of the difficulties military families around the world often have in finding affordable and safe child care.

Crestview, Florida, where the majority of the group’s families live, is about 20 minutes northeast of “Bull” Simons — which people must pass on the 45-minute-plus drive to reach child care at Eglin. Options in the civilian community are scarce as well.

While studying a permanent solution for child care in the region, Chaudhary said, officials have added spaces for 59 children in family-run day cares, and are renovating one of the child development centers at Eglin. Chaudhary said there are CDC slots available for the “Bull” Simons families at Eglin who want to make the drive.

As another interim solution, the Air Force is renovating a facility to be used for child care in Crestview that’s closer to where more than half of “Bull” Simons families live.

The military is also considering building a new child care facility in Crestview, Chaudhary said. But families like the security that comes with a CDC being on base. Besides security, there are other concerns related to the military lifestyle, Bradin said.

“If they go for the permanent solution in Crestview, it would have to be at the DOD standards,” Bradin said. “The special operations forces at ‘Bull’ Simons and Hurlburt Field are all deployable, and that means the CDCs can have extended hours, should there be a crisis.”

A secure facility in Crestview that can accommodate deployments would be the second-best option, he added.

“What we can’t have is the government investment in a facility that is not secure,” Bradin said. “They have high standards for a reason.”

The memo, signed during a White House ceremony Wednesday by Deputy Secretary of Defense Kathleen Hicks and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Verma, strengthens the Domestic Employees Teleworking Overseas (DETO) program for military spouses.

“We are enabling federally employed military spouses to work remotely from where their service member is stationed overseas and continue their professions with as little disruption as possible,” Hicks said at the ceremony alongside First Lady Jill Biden.

“That matters for military spouses who want to continue down their chosen career path. It matters for the economic well-being of our military families. It matters for our ability to retain valuable talent and expertise in the federal work force, and it matters for our national security,” Hicks said.

All federal employees are prohibited from teleworking overseas without approval from their agency and the State Department. But a number of military spouses who have moved overseas on permanent change-of-station orders have been denied the ability to continue to work for a federal agency overseas under the DETO program, or have seen those agreements rescinded — costing tens of thousands of dollars in lost wages.

Some spouses previously told Military Times that military families were told to foot the bill for security requirements for federal telework overseas, sometimes costing upwards of $10,000.

Under the new agreement, DOD and State Department officials will work together to facilitate approval of telework arrangements for federal employees who are married to military and civilian DOD employees, and who plan to work remotely from their military-managed residences while overseas.

According to the White House and DOD, the State Department will now accept DOD’s safety and security standards, eliminating State Department inspections of military housing and shortening the time it takes to get a telework agreement approved. DOD already requires its overseas housing offices to inspect prospective residences outside of an installation to determine whether they are suitable for living.

DOD will also ensure that all required security or safety upgrades are covered by existing housing allowances, easing the burden on military families.

In addition, DOD will provide a range of security services normally carried out by regional security officers at U.S. embassies and consulates, such as emergency planning, evacuation assistance and initial incident response for serious incidents. This will also help streamline the residential safety and security screening requirements.

Julie Humphreys, an Army veteran and spouse, praised Jill Biden and the Joining Forces staff as “key advocates for workplace flexibility in support of policies that enable spouses to continue to work with the federal government through telework.”

“This ensures military spouses like me don’t have to sacrifice their careers to keep families together,” Humphreys said.

Humphreys works as an attorney adviser for the State Department in Stuttgart, Germany under a telework agreement. She has been employed by State since 2013.

Biden said Humphreys has fought for many spouses on this issue, helping them navigate the DETO process as an expert and an advocate.

Since helping found Joining Forces a decade ago to support military families, Biden said, she has talked to many spouses about their struggles with employment amid the challenges of military life.

The pact’s enactment comes nearly a year after President Joe Biden in June 2023 signed an executive order aimed at allowing military spouses who work for the federal government to transfer their jobs overseas.

“With today’s agreement, we are making that a reality,” Jill Biden said. “It is common sense and long overdue.”

But the work doesn’t end with this agreement, the First Lady said. While military spouses may not wear a uniform, she said, “You serve our country also. And it is our responsibility to serve you.”

“It isn’t just a moral obligation, but a national security imperative,” she said.

Since she became one of the first 4-year-olds enrolled in the Defense Department’s free universal preschool program, which launched last year at M.C. Perry Primary School at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Japan, Leila is thriving academically, socially and emotionally, said her mother Yadira Rojas.

“It’s been amazing for us,” Yadira Rojas said. “Leila talks about her teachers all the time, about how much they teach her, how nice they are, and how they play with her all the time.”

Now thousands more military children will get that same opportunity as the Defense Department prepares to open universal pre-kindergarten at nearly all primary schools on U.S.-run bases worldwide this fall.

The Department of Defense Education Activity, which manages schools on U.S. military bases around the world, launched its universal pre-K program in 2023 with a cohort of 65 4-year-olds at one school — M.C. Perry. The initiative’s success in Iwakuni has prompted DODEA to rapidly expand universal pre-K to another 79 primary schools, for a total of 80 locations, in the 2024-2025 school year.

The remaining 10 primary schools in the DODEA system will get pre-K over the next several years, pending construction and renovation.

Once pre-K classes have arrived in all 90 primary schools, an estimated 6,000 4-year-olds will be eligible, said DODEA spokesman Will Griffin. Any child who will be age 4 on or before Sept. 1 of a coming school year may enroll.

Parents can register through the DODEA Student Information System, but there’s no registration deadline because military families move throughout the year. Parents can visit dodea.edu/upk for more information and to enroll their child.

Families’ reactions to the fledgling program have been very positive, Griffin said.

“One of the struggles … with dual-military families or families with two working parents, service member and spouse, is the challenge in ensuring their kids are in a good situation, whether it’s child care, the Child Development Center, or some kind of educational opportunity,” Griffin said. “This is absolutely a win-win. They have the opportunity to know their child is in a good place, a nurturing, developmental environment that gets them started with a strong foundation to begin kindergarten.”

Yadira Rojas said she’s glad many more 4-year olds will experience what her daughter has at M.C. Perry.

“There’s no way to describe how safe I feel with my child being there,” Rojas said. “I love the teachers and everyone in the classroom. They keep me updated on my child and how she’s doing in the school.”

Rojas, who is employed at the Exceptional Family Member Program office on base, said the pre-K “has helped tremendously with child care. I feel the pre-K is preparing her for kindergarten. And … it gives us breathing room with the finances.”

The U.S. military will spend $75 million to fund universal preschool at the 80 locations next school year, Griffin said.

Supporters of publicly funded universal pre-K contend that starting high-quality education earlier can make a positive difference in a child’s future. Some states offer pre-kindergarten through a patchwork of different public and private programs and eligibility requirements.

The Defense Department operates 160 schools around the world, with about 66,000 students. The vast majority of military children attend schools outside the gate.

The 80 pre-K locations will be in schools with space to accommodate preschool classes, among other requirements. In general, restrooms must be accessible from the classroom; the classroom must be on the first floor of the building; a kitchen must be available for family-style dining and snacks; and the playground must have equipment designed for 3- to 5-year-old students, Griffin said.

Of the 10 schools that are slated to open universal pre-K later on, four are at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Those programs are expected to begin in the 2025-2026 school year.

The other six include: Parker Elementary School at Fort Novosel, Alabama; Ansbach Elementary School, Ansbach, Germany; Aukamm Elementary School and Wiesbaden Elementary School, Wiesbaden, Germany; Ramstein Elementary School, Ramstein, Germany; and Kleine Brogel Elementary School, Kleine Brogel, Germany.

Those last six require more extensive renovations or construction, Griffin said. DODEA hasn’t yet set a date to open universal pre-K at those schools.

Providing universal pre-K “means access and equity for all our eligible children,” said Lori Pickel, chief of the curriculum and instruction division at the DOD school headquarters. “Before, we’ve provided pre-K for some. Now the universal entry point for all children into DODEA will be 4 years old.”

Unlike at child development centers, “universal” pre-K is named as such because it has no priority enrollment. Signing up is voluntary and open to all students who meet the eligibility criteria.

The program offers full-day instruction for all, including at schools which previously offered half-day preschool.

Classes will use The Creative Curriculum for Preschool, Pickel said, which is research-based and addresses student learning on the development continuum, and helps teachers target instruction to meet individual students’ needs. It’s play-based curriculum and instruction, and is also aligned with the school system’s college and career ready standards for their K-12 students.

“What they explain to the parents, and what I see when I volunteer, is they use play-based learning,” said Yadira Rojas, who sometimes volunteers in the school. She said the pre-K classrooms have different play areas, such as a kitchen and a science area. For example, when the children learned about winter, they made snow with baking soda and shaving cream, connecting it to a science lesson.

“[Leila] loved that activity. We had to make snow at home, too,” Rojas said.

Like other DODEA classes in kindergarten through third grade, the maximum ratio of students to teachers is 18-to-1, said Michelle Alexander, early childhood branch program manager for curriculum and instruction at DOD school headquarters. Each classroom will have a certified teacher and a teaching aide.

The school systems have hired about 80% of the pre-K teachers needed, and are continuing to work on hiring educational aides. Griffin said the jobs are great employment opportunities for military spouses; Pickel and Alexander are both spouses of military retirees.

“It’s been a long time coming, and it’s here,” Alexander said.

Pentagon and State Department officials on April 17 are expected to sign a memorandum of understanding that will remove many of the barriers to remote work overseas for military spouses, Sheila Casey, executive director of Joining Forces, said Tuesday at a conference hosted by the Association of Defense Communities. Joining Forces is a White House initiative to support military families.

The memorandum aims to improve the Domestic Employees Teleworking Overseas (DETO) program, as required by President Joe Biden’s June 2023 executive order outlining steps to enhance economic prospects for military and veterans spouses, caregivers and survivors.

The policy change will address many of the State Department’s concerns about residential security requirements for federal employees working overseas, Casey said. If successful, the update would expand military spouses’ opportunities to earn income and avoid massive work-related expenses they may incur when trying to telework from abroad.

All federal employees are prohibited from teleworking overseas without approval from their agency and the State Department. But a number of military spouses who have moved overseas on permanent change-of-station orders have been denied the ability to work for a federal agency overseas under the DETO program, or have seen those agreements rescinded — costing tens of thousands of dollars in lost wages.

“We’re cautiously optimistic that this will be a step in the right direction,” said Sue Hoppin, founder and president of the National Military Spouse Network, which has advocated for changes to the DETO program for years. “We all know that removing the barriers to military spouses working overseas won’t involve just any one solution. We’d be interested in seeing more data.”

For example, Hoppin said, will the change result in more military spouses being granted the ability to telework overseas?

“We hope that agencies will start tracking this type of information so we can start identifying some best practices,” she said.

Some spouses previously interviewed by Military Times have said military families were told to foot the bill for security requirements for federal telework overseas, such as bomb- and shatter-proof glass, specific door locks and an alarm system to notify the State Department if there is a break-in. One spouse said she spent $15,000 on required security upgrades.

It’s unclear what the guidelines are for when an agency pays for required security upgrades to a residence, or whether the memorandum will address the issue.

It’s unclear how many military spouses would be affected by the upcoming policy change. Some spouses have told Military Times they estimate that group numbers in the hundreds.

The federal government has sought to remedy the myriad issues that complicate military spouse employment through a number of initiatives.

The Defense Department, which provides a range of education and employment resources for its approximately 580,000 active duty military spouses, has funded the Military Spouse Career Accelerator Pilot, a 12-week program in which DOD pays the stipends of military spouses at civilian employers who may offer them a full-time job at the end of the fellowship.

In 2023, the first year of the three-year pilot program, more than 400 spouses were placed into fellowships, said Liz O’Brien, executive director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation’s Hiring Our Heroes, which administers the program for DOD. Eighty-five percent of the spouses were offered employment by their sponsor company.

Another 200 spouses have been placed into fellowships in the first quarter of 2024, O’Brien said at the Association of Defense Communities conference.

Citing early indicators of its success, congressional lawmakers now recommend expanding the fellowship program and making it permanent as part of a slate of military quality-of-life improvements proposed by the House Armed Services Committee panel on Thursday. The proposal notes that the average salary offered by employers as a result of the 2023 fellowships exceeded $65,500.

Local communities are important to the success of the spouse employment effort, O’Brien said, and encouraged businesses to apply to participate in the fellowship program.

The organization is working on transforming its entire supply chain, Defense Commissary Agency Director John Hall told Military Times in a recent interview here.

The commissary agency has embarked on an “exploratory effort” with Deloitte to examine the process of stocking stores, from the time a product is ordered until it reaches the dock, Hall said. Its supply chain faced sporadic problems even before the coronavirus pandemic upended industry with production delays, cost spikes and staff shortages.

“There will be some things we’ll probably be able to do really quickly to make things better,” Hall said. “But to make it really better in the long run, I think we’re going to have to go through some transformation of the supply chain.”

For military families, supply chain problems translate to empty commissary shelves. That’s become particularly disruptive for troops stationed in South Korea.

The wife of one soldier stationed at Camp Humphreys, outside Pyeongtaek, said commissary shortages have caused hardships for families there. The Army installation is among the U.S. military’s largest overseas bases at around 40,000 troops, civilian employees, contractors and their families.

Patricia Garcia said many families have begun shopping off-post and planning ahead to order nonperishable items from Walmart, Target and Amazon. But she’s concerned that’s not always an option for young families with limited finances, and some items aren’t available off-post, either.

Garcia provided multiple photos of bare shelves, with goods like beans, tomato sauce and tortillas in short supply. In one recent week, some small red potatoes were the only option in stock.

“What grocery store runs out of potatoes?” she said.

“There are no shortages in the exchange that I’ve noticed, and we go there just as frequently,” she added.

Commissary officials had a commitment from some product carriers that they could reach South Korea from the West Coast within 16 days, starting in January, Hall said. But “they’ve not yet met those standards,” he said.

“They had some maintenance issues. I’m not sure where they’re at on resolving those issues,” he said. “If we can get 16-day transit times to Korea, that’s going to solve many of our supply chain problems there.”

Cutting that delivery time has been Hall’s focus since taking the helm of the commissary agency in June 2023, when the trip to South Korea took 42 days.

Addressing supply chain problems can help officials raise the overall in-stock rate, or the percentage of goods that are available at a given time, for commissaries to 98%. Right now, the figure stands at 95% for commissaries overall.

“95% is good, but [the difference between 95% and 98%] is that’s $200 million of product that’s not available to our customers on a yearly basis,” Hall said.

According to information provided by a commissary official at the American Logistics Association conference in March, the in-stock rate for commissaries in South Korea was 91.6% in January. The average in-stock rate for commissaries in the lower 48 states stood at 95.7% in January; for overseas stores, it was 94.1%.

Officials are working with industry suppliers and placing orders for more deliveries to the commissaries where the need is greatest. In some cases, they have airlifted critical items — such as frozen, dry and chilled products — to South Korea and elsewhere.

Even if food does make it to commissary shelves, its quality may be questionable.

Garcia said there’s even been an issue with some boxed products, like cereal, which have tasted like soap and cleaning supplies. The commissaries will replace the item if customers take it back to the store, she said, “but the soap thing comes up every other week.”

Keith Desbois, a spokesman for commissary stores in the Pacific, said the issue has been addressed with the product distributor.

“Non-food products were accidentally loaded [alongside] food products before being shipped overseas,” he said. “Due to the long shipping time required to get the product to our overseas stores, this contributed to the off-taste of certain food products.”

“Health officials inspected the food products and found no risk to patron safety,” he added.

The $15 cantaloupe

Garcia said families at Camp Humphreys are also complaining about high prices, particularly for fruits and vegetables.

Jalapeño peppers at the Humphreys commissary were selling for $5.89 a pound, compared to $1.28 a pound in Arizona, she said. One cantaloupe was $15.

Garcia said she spent $305 for groceries at the commissary in early March, then ran all of the items through the Walmart app.

“It would have been $230 in Arizona where my family is,” she said. “That’s per week for a family of three. When the typical Army assignment is two years, that’s nearly $8,000 extra we’re spending on groceries compared to what we’d be spending in the U.S.”

Celery was priced at $17 a bunch, although it was recently reduced to $2.99, after the commissary went to local sources to supply the stores, Garcia said.

Buying produce and some other products locally overseas “is something we need to do more of,” Hall said. In a number of overseas areas, commissary officials have sought local sources for certain products where they are available and meet U.S. veterinary standards.

Grocery prices have risen in part because of the cost of transporting products overseas. Last year, the commissary agency spent $93 million moving products overseas, Hall said.

“We have to factor that into the prices of what we charge overseas,” he said. “That’s a real constraining factor for us.”

Years ago, the agency received taxpayer dollars to cover the cost of that transportation so it could provide products to overseas military customers at prices similar to those in stateside commissaries. But that funding is no longer available.

Prices for fruits and vegetables worldwide fluctuates daily, depending on availability, the season, and from where they’re sourced, commissary officials said. Commissary personnel and contractors are trying to find higher-quality produce and fairer prices.

“We have also assigned additional [commissary agency] representatives to commissaries in the Pacific to review the quality and pricing of products and to work with the contractor and our stores to improve these issues,” Desbois said. “Quality and affordability are at the forefront of our focus. … We will continue to work diligently until we succeed.”

A main goal of the commissary agency’s supply chain study is to lower costs for suppliers and, ultimately, for customers.

“Our suppliers deal with [the commissary agency] differently than they deal with commercial grocery chains,” Hall said. “Their costs to supply DeCA are higher than their costs to supply commercial grocery chains because of the supply chain.”

“I want to lower the supplier costs, because I’m convinced they will lower the costs to DeCA in the form of lower prices” for customers, he said.

Hall also wants to get more control over the supply chain. The commissary agency currently doesn’t have a contractual relationship with the companies distributing products to stores from the suppliers — the growers and manufacturers.

Gaining more control over the supply chain would improve the commissary agency’s ability to account for costs and product availability, Hall said.

“The contractual relationship is between the suppliers and the distributors. So I don’t say who stocks what, where, and I don’t say who uses what distributor,” he said.

About 200 service members will move their household goods over the next four months under a new contract that centralizes shipping under a single manager, said Andy Dawson, director of the Defense Personal Property Management Office at U.S. Transportation Command.

No snakes in couches: What to know for a smooth PCS move in 2024

The initiative will begin with up to 50 shipments a month, from April through July, in five areas: Norfolk, Va.; Jacksonville, N.C.; Seattle/Tacoma, Wash.; Camp Pendleton, Calif. and San Diego, Calif.

“We’re just excited to get the transformation underway,” Dawson told Military Times in an interview Tuesday. “It’s very exciting to be part of something this significant that will ultimately impact the quality of life of every single service member, the Coast Guard personnel, and family member, since moving is such an integral part of the military way of life.”

The rollout will be slow and deliberate to ensure the technology and processes work smoothly, and to avoid creating problems for the other 99% of service members who will continue moving under the usual system. Officials have tested the new system at the participating locations and held trainings to familiarize people with the new way of doing business, among other work to prepare troops, government workers and the moving industry for the changes.

Troops may qualify to take part in the first moves if the ZIP codes of their current and new locations are within 50 miles of each other. Those local moves usually occur when someone separates or retires from military service; when they move into or out of quarters, barracks or dorms on base; or under other special circumstances.

The new process essentially outsources the management of household goods shipping, with TRANSCOM’s oversight. It consolidates all of those moves under a $6.2 billion contract awarded to HomeSafe Alliance, a consortium of companies that will act as the sole manager of household goods moves.

Installations involved in the initial phase are:

• Naval Station Norfolk, Va.
• Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C.
• Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C.
• Naval Base Kitsap, Wash.
• Naval Station Everett, Wash.
• Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash.
• U.S. Coast Guard Base Seattle, Wash.
• Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.
• Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, Calif.
• Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego, Calif.
• Naval Base San Diego, Calif.
• Naval Base Ventura County – Port Hueneme, Calif.
• Naval Air Station Lemoore, Calif.
• U.S. Coast Guard Base Portsmouth (will be included before May)

TRANSCOM began the effort to improve the moving experience for service members and their families in 2018 after a particularly brutal moving season. Nearly six years later, Dawson said he expects TRANSCOM will begin awarding those shipments to HomeSafe by the end of the week.

“We expect the first packing or first move to occur in mid- to late April,” Dawson said.

If all goes according to plan, officials will start scaling up the number of moves in August and September, with 250 moves in August, or 2% of the month’s moves; and 500 in September, about 4% of moves that month. They’ll first ramp up shipping at the initial slate of bases before expanding to interstate moves and other locations across the United States.

From there, DOD and HomeSafe will continue growing the number of domestic shipments handled under the new system into 2025, until the domestic phase-in is complete. International shipments under the contract will start no earlier than September 2025 by gradually phasing in moves.

Mold, broken furniture just a start to this family's PCS nightmare

How it works

Service members won’t need to ask for access to the new system. The legacy portal will automatically refer them to a new system if they might qualify to participate in the first moves.

All service members will use the Defense Personal Property System portal, which asks for information about where the move starts and ends. From there, those who may be eligible to move under the new contract will be routed to the Defense Department’s new MilMove site, where they can upload permanent change of station orders, share contact information and request their move.

The local military personal property office will provide more information and move counseling to the service member, and assign the shipment to HomeSafe. Service members will be referred to HomeSafe Connect to manage and track their belongings, and communicate with the contractor, throughout the move.

Once someone logs in and creates an account, they can access their information on mobile devices. The more modern technologies of MilMove and HomeSafe Connect are more user-friendly than the Pentagon’s previous site, Dawson said.

Under the legacy system, whether someone’s move goes smoothly depends on the caliber of the moving company they are assigned. But DOD’s current system has no centralized accountability for the moves that are conducted by hundreds of companies — and that can lead to trouble.

“Now the shipment is awarded to HomeSafe. [HomeSafe Connect] is a fully automated system they’ve developed and all their subcontractors are mandated to use the system,” Dawson said. “You’ll see standardization driven across the department … which I think will help with the expectations from service members as they relocate over time.”

HomeSafe Alliance’s contract aims to solve longstanding problems for service members and families whose belongings are too often lost or damaged during moves.

HomeSafe will be fully responsible for the shipments, bringing accountability to the program from the time a moving company is assigned, through packing, hauling and unloading, to handling any loss or damage claims.

The Global Household Goods Contract is potentially worth up to $17.9 billion over nine years. HomeSafe Alliance is a joint venture of KBR Services and Tier One Relocation. Among the consortium of companies is Sirva, which includes North American Van Lines and Allied Van Lines.

TRANSCOM began to shift away from its longtime piecemeal approach in early 2023, after protests of HomeSafe’s win had subsided.

“A lady called and said they hadn’t found their yellow python. They didn’t want to concern anyone, she said, but it may have gotten in the couch that was packed up days ago,” said Brittany Brooks, vice president of Conser Group, a moving company based in Florida.

When the truck’s doors opened, animal control was at the ready. And indeed, there was the python, still alive and sealed into the couch by a thick layer of paper and plastic wrap.

While not every military family owns a snake, the anecdote highlights an important point for those making a permanent change of station move this year: Communication is key.

As you start arranging an upcoming move, talk to your moving company about your specific needs, any extenuating circumstances, pets, schedules and more. The more information, the better — even if you think it’s unimportant, Brooks said.

“Share it with us. We’ll decipher what’s need-to-know,” Brooks said in an interview with Military Times about this year’s moving season. “Having that proactive, organized conversation from the beginning is really crucial.”

Organization and planning are at the core of a successful relocation for troops and moving companies alike. Movers are now preparing to tackle peak PCS season, which runs from May 15 to Aug. 31 each year.

“We are doing everything we can from a resource perspective,” Brooks said. “Many of us are currently in hiring stages, in training stages with our crews, fine-tuning our equipment [and] making sure we’ve got the materials pre-ordered and ready to go.”

“When the bookings start to flow through for the military side, I think we’ll find that capacity is ready,” Brooks said in March.

Historically, more than 120,000 shipments — about 40% of the annual total for Defense Department’s household goods program — are moved during peak season, according to officials with U.S. Transportation Command, the organization in charge of shipping troops’ belongings around the world. In 2022, for example, the military logged nearly 303,000 household goods shipments.

“We are anticipating similar numbers for this year,” officials told Military Times in an email.

Shipments don’t equal the number of moves because some service members send out multiple shipments over the course of a single PCS.

Industry’s capacity to facilitate those moves in 2024 — such as the number of available trucks and drivers, and workers to pack and unpack everything from clothing to cars — looks similar to 2023, said Dan Bradley, vice president for government and military relations at the International Association of Movers, which represents about 2,000 companies in 170 countries.

“The private and corporate markets are still slower, so that competition is probably down right now for resources” such as drivers and equipment, said Bradley, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel. “With those other markets being down, I think people are generally hungry for shipments, so they’re looking forward to peak season, and looking forward to getting shipments started.”

U.S. Transportation Command, for its part, has tried to improve the moving process for troops and their families. For instance, the command aims to cap the number of moves at 9,000 per week during peak season to avoid overloading the moving industry and allowing companies to better plan for the summer demand.

TRANSCOM has also stressed to the moving industry the importance of communicating with their entire supply chain and military customers, only taking on shipments they can safely handle, and proactively reaching out to customers when things don’t go according to plan. A service member’s local transportation office can also help set clear expectations about the moving process to help families prepare.

Many of the military branches have started offering more flexibility around when troops must report to their new duty stations. A service member’s current chain of command can often work with the unit they’ll join at the new location to smooth out any delays in arrival, according to TRANSCOM.

TRANSCOM is in the midst of implementing a new contract aimed at fixing many of the longstanding problems that have plagued service members when shipping household goods, like pickup delays, lost and broken belongings, difficulties with filing claims and more.

This spring, the command will start moving household goods under a single manager for a limited number of troops at five locations as part of the new contract. About 99% of service members making a move this peak season will remain under the current system.

Here are a seasoned military spouse's tips for a smoother move

Secrets to successful military moves

For military families, successful moves take weeks of planning and organizing.

The common element movers see when successfully shipping household goods is organization, Conser Group’s Brooks said.

Culling items to discard, donate or sell will help make a shipment lighter, especially for those who are nearing the authorized weight limit. Aside from the physical aspect of moving your belongings, finding housing, new schools and a myriad of other needs are a big part of the process, too, not to mention spouse employment.

Since spouses take on much of the burden of preparing for a move, “we need to make sure we’re as easy to do business with as possible,” Brooks said. That includes flagging resources like DOD’s new pet PCS travel reimbursement, which offers troops up to $2,000 to move a dog or cat to or from overseas; or $550 if moving within the lower 48 states.

TRANSCOM recommends service members check out the PCS resources and tools available on Military OneSource, which covers dozens of tips on everything from preparing the home and belongings before the moving crew arrives, to what to do in case of loss or damage to your property.

If military customers have questions or concerns about shipping personal property, they should call their local transportation office. Phone numbers are available via the Military OneSource installations locator.

Brooks recommends putting together a binder, whether physical or electronic, with documents related to the move, relevant contact information and TRANSCOM resources.

PCS tips and tricks

• When contacted by the moving company assigned to your move, ask whether that person will be your point of contact through the pre-move survey, packing, loading, delivery and claims, if needed. Ask if you can call or text with questions.
• Talk to that representative up front, before the move, about your expectations at delivery. You’re entitled to request that the company fully unpack your belongings at the destination, but let them know in advance. “If it’s a large enough shipment, we may need to proactively schedule a second day to come out and help reassemble the rest of the furniture and take away boxes,” Brooks said.
• Collect medications and personal documents for each family member; packed suitcases; valuables such as jewelry; and other important items, such as purses, wallets, credit cards, cash, checks, pet paperwork and school information. Carry them with you; don’t ship them. Set them aside in your locked vehicle or a room marked “Do not pack” before the movers arrive. And don’t forget to keep iPads and other items handy to entertain children during the trip.
• If you’re moving within the continental United States and will have your vehicle, pack items you’ll need when you first arrive, such as diapers, toilet paper, hand soap and cleaning supplies. Even if you expect a door-to-door move, pack some sheets, towels, an air mattress and other items, in case of delays.
• Service members can move up to 2,000 pounds of professional gear that won’t be counted toward your weight limit. Spouses can move up to 500 pounds of professional gear. Separate that and let the movers know.
• Empty the trash cans before the movers get there — and don’t forget trash in the nursery, bathrooms and garage.
• Make sure dishes and laundry are washed and dried ahead of time, and removed from the dishwasher and the dryer.
• If possible, make arrangements for child care for young children on packing and loading days. Some organizations, such as the Air Force Aid Society, will pay for some child care for PCSing families.
• Keep your pets separate from the rest of the household goods in a room with a sign on the door that reads, “Don’t enter. Pets inside.” Even if a pet is friendly, you don’t know how it will react when they see strangers in the house. Cats may jump into boxes when they’re frightened. “We’ve had cats pop out of shipments in our warehouse before,” Brooks said.
• Pull furniture away from the wall a week or two before the move, to let the back of the furniture air out. Appliances should be unplugged and aired out beforehand, too.
• If you clean your rugs and upholstered furniture, give them plenty of time to dry. Moisture is a recipe for mold.
• When the crew arrives to start packing, find out who’s in charge before anything happens and walk them through any special instructions. “If a family says, ‘We’ve got two kids and a cat and they’re going to be here,’ … we can at least make sure we’re prepared when we walk in,” Brooks said.
• Drivers may try to make the move more fun for children, like encouraging them to decorate boxes. “I love the drivers who bring the crayons and stickers,” Brooks said. “The kids get excited when they see their boxes at the new destination.”
• Always contact your local transportation or household goods office if something goes wrong and you can’t resolve it with the moving company.

DIY moves

If you’d rather handle a move on your own, multiple avenues to do so are available. Troops and their families can rent portable moving and storage containers, as well as trucks or trailers; hire a moving company; use their own vehicles; or ship boxes through a small package carrier such as the U.S. Postal Service, FedEx or UPS.

The incentive to move on your own, in part or in full, is the money: You are allowed to receive 100% of the cost the government would have paid a moving company to perform that move. You can keep any money the military doesn’t spend on your relocation, minus taxes. Contact the local transportation office or household goods office before moving to make sure you meet all the requirements to get paid.

Be extremely careful when choosing a commercial mover, Bradley and Brooks said. Rogue operators can offer an artificially low price, then dramatically increase the price when they arrive. Some have held service members’ household goods hostage, refusing to deliver them unless they ponied up exorbitant amounts of money. And no company should ask for a deposit before the move.

Just because you find someone on Google doesn’t mean they’re reputable, Brooks said. Bradley noted that if a company’s address turns out to be a third-floor apartment on Google Maps, they’re probably not reputable.

TRANSCOM suggests using a moving company registered with the federal government. You can find a list of companies that are registered with, but not endorsed by, the U.S. government on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s website. The site also offers free resources and tools to protect yourself from scammers.

The International Association of Movers also has a free directory of moving companies that are vetted by the organization. Companies don’t have to be a member of the association, which verifies the directory’s data. Brooks and Bradley suggest searching by area, choosing three to five companies based on their qualifications and calling to ask for a pre-move survey and quote.

Beware of scammers that target service members under stress, Brooks said: “It’s sick. And it frustrates our industry.”

Grocery deliveries will start in the western United States around midsummer before rolling out nationwide, Defense Commissary Agency Director John Hall told Military Times in an interview Tuesday. Hall announced the program’s expansion the same day at a meeting of the American Logistics Association, a trade association representing companies that sell to commissaries, exchanges and morale, welfare and recreation entities on bases.

Where the program will become available depends on the delivery range of companies that are picked to provide the service. Hall said there are early indications that companies are interested in almost all of the commissary locations in the continental United States.

Officials expect to solicit contract bids from delivery companies soon.

The commissary agency has run a grocery-delivery pilot program at eight commissaries for nearly two years. Customers have logged nearly 28,000 transactions, averaging $128.70 per order, since June 1, 2022, according to the Defense Commissary Agency.

When the pilot began, two companies held contracts to ferry food and other goods from stores to customers’ homes. One of those companies, ChowCall, took over deliveries for all eight commissaries in March 2023. About 60% of ChowCall’s deliveries head off base, while 40% stay on base, according to Todd Waldemar, the company’s chief executive officer.

Their customers range from active duty families to troops living in barracks, retirees and disabled veterans — and people who want to get a head start on shopping or grab a bite to eat while at work.

“We’ve delivered a bunch of orders to aircraft hangars,” Waldemar said.

The service can be especially helpful to young families of troops who are deployed.

“If you’re living on base, your spouse is deployed, 99.9% of the time you can’t get diapers and formula delivered to your house,” Waldemar said.

That’s changed for those who live near a commissary that currently falls under the pilot program. Right now, those include Scott Air Force Base, Illinois; Fort Liberty South, North Carolina; MacDill AFB, Florida; Fort Belvoir and Naval Station Norfolk, Virginia; Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; and Marine Corps Air Station Miramar and Naval Base San Diego in California.

“We’ve had a lot of positive comments. … Some people do a lot of orders,” Waldemar said, noting one repeat customer has placed 98 orders. One sailor in the unaccompanied housing at NS Norfolk has placed 56 orders, the CEO said.

When the pilot first launched in 2022, most delivery fees hovered around $4 per order. Those low fees made it financially difficult for companies to cover operating costs like gas prices and drivers’ salaries.

When ChowCall took over last year, they were allowed to launch a new pricing structure with fees that change based on a customer’s distance from the commissary. Delivery fees now range from $10.99 to $16.70 for a trip of five miles or less, to $29.99 for a 16- to 20-mile trip.

Residents don’t pay for the installation of the Level 2 charging stations, which can be installed in garages and carports, where the programs are available. They do pay for the amount of time they use to charge their vehicles with these new charging stations. But otherwise, military families don’t pay for utilities currently in privatized housing, where they may have been plugging in their cars to wall outlets.

“Residents have requested Level 2 EV charging because it’s safer and faster than other charging alternatives,” said Justin Kern, executive general manager of Lendlease Communities, in a response to Military Times. “Level 2 charging can take as little as five to six hours to reach a full vehicle charge. In contrast, Level 1 charging (plugging an EV directly into a regular home electrical outlet) is potentially unsafe and can take 24 hours or longer to complete.”

According to Kern, about 7,800 homes are eligible for the chargers at the bases Lendlease has rolled out so far. In late 2023, the pilot program was launched at Soaring Heights Communities at Davis Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Arizona; and Cavalry Family Housing at Fort Cavazos near Killeen, Texas. This year, Lendlease rolled out the program at Atlantic Marine Corps Communities at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, Havelock, North Carolina. Later this year, the charging stations will come to Hickam Communities in Honolulu serving Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam; and the Island Palm Communities serving seven installations on Oahu.

Depending on the results of these rollouts, Lendlease will consider expanding to more of its communities, Kern said.

The companies are using a national provider of EV charging services, TRO Energy Solutions to cover the cost of installation, setup and maintenance of the individual Level 2 charging stations. Residents don’t pay for those costs, which can be upwards of $1,000, depending on the area. Residents enroll in a monthly charging subscription for ongoing usage, using the ChargeTime app.

Other military landlords that have begun to provide electric charging stations at homes include:

• The Michaels Organization recently delivered its first electric charging stations to residents at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland and MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. The company plans to deliver these charging stations to all the privatized family housing it owns and manages at 11 military installations across the country, officials announced.
• Balfour Beatty Communities began their pilot program last summer offering Level 2 in-home charging stations at Naval Submarine Base New London, Connecticut; and Vandenberg Space Force Base, California.
• Hunt Military Communities launched four pilot locations with in-home charging stations late last year, including Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana; Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Joint Base Pearl-Harbor Hickam, Hawaii; and Marine Corps Base Hawaii.

Pricing for the charging options is based on regional utility costs, Kern said. Lendlease residents subscribe to one of three monthly packages for different tiers of energy usage, based on anticipated miles driven per month. Any unused kilowatt-hours or miles roll over to the next month.

The faster the charging, the higher the cost, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

According to Edmunds.com, it costs about $11 to charge an electric car with a 65 kilowatt-hour battery at home using a Level 2 charger, assuming electricity costs $0.17 per kilowatt-hour, which is the national average. The Level 2 charger can be run on a 240-volt household outlet, usually in the garage or driveway.

Department of Defense officials paused utilities billing across privatized housing a few years ago. The utilities and rent are included in the monthly allotment paid to their housing landlord, which generally equals their entire Basic Allowance for Housing. A number of residents are using their regular home electrical outlets, Level 1 charging, 120-volt wall plug-ins, for their cars. It’s not known when the services will resume billing residents for utilities.

But they are paying for the EV charging, which is Level 2 EV charging equipment.

Military Times spoke with Susan Mitchell, the Defense Department’s tax counsel and executive director of the Armed Forces Tax Council, about tips and areas of particular interest to troops and families.

Fortunately, if you’re in the military, there’s no need to pay a tax preparer or for military-specific tax help. Free tax software is offered through Military OneSource’s MilTax resources, which are attuned to unique military benefits and needs. You can file federal and up to three state tax returns through this software.

In addition, service members and family members have access to military tax consultants with special training in military-specific situations through Military OneSource.

“I always like to advise service members the fastest and most reliable way to file their taxes is electronically, and to choose direct deposit if they’re expecting a refund,” Mitchell said.

There are 14 installations in the United States running Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) tax centers where you can go to get tax-preparation help in person, according to the Military OneSource locator. These locations — with Internal Revenue Service-certified volunteers who are also trained in military-specific tax regulations — are open to service members of all branches and, in some cases, to retirees. It’s best to call ahead; some require appointments. A limited number of these centers operate overseas, including three in Japan and one in England.

The basics

All Defense Department tax statements, including W-2 statements, are available through the military’s myPay site, https://mypay.dfas.mil/.

There are longstanding tax filing extensions available for certain service members. While the federal tax filing deadline is April 15 this year, troops stationed outside the United States and Puerto Rico can qualify for an automatic two-month extension until June 15, both for filing and for paying taxes that are due. That extension is designed to help troops who may have trouble getting all the documents they need.

Those overseas who are unable to file by June 15 can request an additional extension to Oct. 15. But remember that any taxes due must be paid by April 15 (or by the June 15 deadline if overseas). If not, you could be subject to both interest charges and a failure-to-pay penalty, Mitchell said.

Tax filing deadlines for service members deployed to combat zones are extended for the period of their service in the combat zone, plus 180 days after their last day in the combat zone.

This year, service members in designated disaster areas should check to see whether filing extensions apply to them, Mitchell said. For example, deadlines are extended for taxpayers affected by severe storms and flooding in San Diego; wildfires in the Spokane, Washington area; and those affected by storms in parts of Michigan, West Virginia, Maine, Rhode Island and Connecticut. Check the IRS page on disaster relief situations for more information.

Tax brackets: There are still seven tax rates for 2023, but the income levels have shifted slightly to account for inflation, Mitchell said. There was roughly a 7% increase in the amount of taxable income in each tier, she said, “so hopefully service members won’t find themselves paying more taxes than they have previously, with some of these changes due to inflation.”

For example, single service members with taxable income ranging from $44,726 to $95,375 would be in the 22% tax bracket. Married couples filing jointly with taxable income from $89,451 to $190,750 would be in the 22% tax bracket. For more information visit the IRS tax rates page.

Standard deductions: After adjusting for inflation, the standard deduction is now $13,850 for single filers and for married couples filing separately; $20,800 for single heads of household who are generally unmarried with one or more dependents; and $27,700 for married couples filing jointly.

“That’s fairly high, and I suspect that most of our service members are not going to itemize because that standard deduction is so high,” Mitchell said.

Itemizing deductions: There are people who have enough tax deductible expenses that they may benefit from itemizing. Those rules haven’t changed much, Mitchell said. The deduction for state and local income taxes, property taxes and real estate taxes is still capped at $10,000. The mortgage interest deduction is limited to $750,000 of indebtedness. Those who had $1 million of home mortgage debt before Dec. 16, 2017, will still be able to deduct the interest on that loan.

Only unreimbursed medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of the adjusted gross income can be deducted.

For charitable donations in 2023, the annual income tax deduction limits for gifts to public charities are 30% of adjusted gross income for non-cash assets, and 60% of AGI for contributions that are made in cash.

Earned Income Tax Credit

The Earned Income Tax Credit applies to eligible low- and moderate-income workers, subject to certain qualifying rules. You may qualify for the EITC even if you can’t claim children on your tax return. The credit could reduce the amount of taxes owed and perhaps increase your refund. There are special EITC rules and considerations for military members who receive nontaxable pay such as a housing allowance or who are stationed outside the United States. For more information, visit the IRS page on the EITC for military members.

This credit is phased out at certain income levels and number of dependents. It is completely phased out for married couples filing jointly with an earned income of $63,398 or more with three or more children. The maximum EITC for that group is $7,430.

“The great thing about EITC is it helps lower-income taxpayers reduce the amount of tax that’s owed, on a dollar-for-dollar basis,” Mitchell said. “So a refundable credit means a taxpayer could be eligible for a refund even if they have no tax liability for the year.”

That’s typically better than a deduction, which reduces the amount of your income that is subject to tax.

Child and dependent credits

Child tax credit: For tax year 2023, the child tax credit is $2,000 per child, age 16 or younger. It’s also subject to phase out as income rises, starting at $400,000 for joint filers and $200,000 for single filers. For other qualified dependents you can claim a $500 credit.

Child and dependent care credit: You may be able to claim the child and dependent care credit if you paid for the care of a qualifying individual to enable you — and your spouse, if filing a joint return — to work or actively look for work, according to the IRS. Generally, you may not take this credit if you are married and filing separately. However, to learn more about exceptions to the rule, see “What’s Your Filing Status?” in IRS Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses.

For 2023, the amount of the credit is a percentage of the child care expenses up to $3,000 per child with a maximum of $6,000 for two or more children, paid to a day care provider for dependent children under the age of 13, or for a disabled dependent. There’s no age limit for a disabled dependent.

The more you earn, the less the percentage of employment-related child care expenses that are allowed. Once your adjusted gross income is over $43,000, the maximum credit is 20% of your employment-related expenses, according to the IRS.

Education credits

The American Opportunity Tax Credit is a partially refundable credit that pays for education expenses for students in the first four years of college. Service members can claim up to $2,500 per student, and if the credit brings the tax bill to zero, you can have 40%, or up to $1,000, refunded to you.

The Lifetime Learning Credit covers up to $2,000 in qualified education expenses per tax return, and can be used for expenses related to all kinds of educational opportunities from degree programs to technical classes. You can claim both the AOTC and the LLC on a return, but you can’t claim both for the same student or the same expense.

Student loan interest deduction: You may deduct the lesser of $2,500 or the amount of interest you actually paid during the year. Income limits have increased. For joint filers, for example, the phaseout for eligibility for the deduction begins at a modified adjusted gross income of over $155,000.

Educational assistance from an employer: You can exclude up to $5,250 of those benefits from taxes.

Changes to form 1099K

The IRS is now treating the 2023 tax year as a transitional period regarding reporting transactions involving payment apps such as PayPal and Venmo. For 2023, the 1099K forms are required only for people receiving $20,000 or more with 200-plus transactions, like the previous rules.

The American Rescue Plan of 2021 changed the rules to require reporting for taxpayers who received $600 or more in the year, but feedback from taxpayers and payment processors who were confused by the new rules led the IRS to delay the $600 new reporting threshold requirement, Mitchell said.

For tax year 2024, the payment processors will report transactions of $5,000 or more on form 1099K, and taxpayers can expect to receive those forms in January, 2025.

Also notable

Adoption of a child: Taxpayers can receive a credit for up to $15,950 of qualified expenses. The full credit is available for a qualified special needs adoption, even it costs less. For joint filers with a modified adjusted gross income of over $239,230, the credit begins to phase out.

Educators’ deductions: A number of military spouses are teachers, and they can deduct up to $300 of out-of-pocket expenses for supplies, books, and other classroom materials. This deduction can be claimed even by those who take the standard deduction. Those eligible include anyone who is a teacher, counselor, principal, aide or other educator in public or private schools, who has worked at least 900 hours in the school year.

Unreimbursed moving expenses: Service members can still deduct unreimbursed moving expenses related to Permanent Change of Station moves. You can’t deduct for any services provided by the government, or reimbursed by the government. But while DOD covers many expenses, there still may be some that aren’t reimbursed. Use IRS Form 3903 to deduct those.

Transportation and parking: Monthly limits for the tax-free qualified benefits increased to $300 for 2023, up from $280 in 2022.

Standard mileage rates: The military move mileage rate is 22 cents per mile. Business mileage increased to 65.5 cents per mile, and medical mileage is 22 cents per mile.

Capital gains taxes for military homeowners: Military homeowners get an extra benefit when it comes to tax exclusions of profit from the sale of their residence. Generally, taxpayers avoid paying capital gains taxes on the sale of their home as long as they’ve owned it and used it as their qualifying principal residence for at least two of the five years preceding the sale. The amount of profit that can be excluded from taxes is $250,000 for single taxpayers, and $500,000 for married couples filing jointly. But military taxpayers can extend that qualifying time period by up to 10 years, for a total of up to 15 years, if they’re assigned to a duty station that’s at least 50 miles from the house for a period of 90 days or more.

“Nanny tax” threshold: If you hired a nanny or other household employee and paid at least $2,600 in 2023, you were responsible for withholding taxes from their pay and then paying taxes of your own.

“Kiddie tax” takes less of a bite, with income limits increasing, Mitchell notes. The first $1,250 of a child’s unearned income is tax free for those 18 or younger, or if the child is a full-time student under age 24. The next $1,250 is taxed at the child’s rate. Any excess over $2,500 is taxed at the parent’s rate.

Energy credits: If you installed qualifying exterior windows, doors, skylights, insulation materials, purchased a qualifying new furnace, hot water heater, or central air conditioning, you may be eligible for a tax break of up to $1,200 per taxpayer per year, with a $600 limit per item on most types of property, Mitchell said. There’s a higher credit of up to $2,000 for a separate category of heat pumps, water heaters and biomass fuel stoves.

If you installed equipment such as solar panels or solar water heaters, you could get a residential clean energy credit valued at 30% of your qualifying expenses.

Those who purchased a used electric vehicle or used fuel cell vehicle from a licensed dealer for $25,000 or less may qualify for a clean vehicle credit of up to $4,000 or 30% of the purchase price. There are income limits. For example, your modified adjusted gross income must not exceed $150,000 for married couples filing jointly.

If you bought a new electric vehicle or fuel cell vehicle, that credit is $7,500, if all eligibility requirements are met. For example, the modified adjusted gross income must not exceed $300,000 for joint filers. (See the IRS checklist for more information on eligibility requirements.)

Military to offer tax saving health care accounts for troops

Tax-savings accounts

In 2024, service members have been able to use dependent care flexible spending accounts for the first time. Enrollment for the accounts was during open season the previous fall, and is administered through the Federal Flexible Spending Account Program, known as FSAFEDS, which is sponsored by the Office of Personnel Management. Service members determine how much money to set aside pre-tax from their paychecks, and it’s deposited into a flexible spending account. Starting in 2024, service members who have enrolled through FSAFEDS are submitting substantiated claims for their dependent care expenses through FSAFEDS, to get reimbursed for their expenses. Make sure you’re submitting those claims in a timely manner to keep that money flowing back to your bank account.

Defense officials are also working with the OPM this year to offer health care flexible spending accounts to service members for 2025. Enrollment will be during open season in the fall. While Tricare provides health insurance for service members and their families, these can help reduce the costs of expenses like co-pays for health care visits and prescriptions, orthodontia, contact lenses and glasses, in vitro fertilization, over-the-counter pain relievers and many other items.

Tips and cautions

Those in the military community aren’t immune from making the common mistakes made by those in the general public. That includes entering wrong Social Security numbers, making math mistakes, or omitting income documents that an employer has already reported as income to the IRS, Mitchell said.

“That’s why I recommend using the electronic software. It will perform the more complex calculations and catch any math errors that might happen when filing a paper return,” Mitchell said. Always use the same names exactly as they appear on your Social Security card, and always double check to make your bank account numbers are correct.

She also suggests printing a paper copy of your electronic return and reviewing it for possible errors.

• Getting a refund? Check the status of your refund at the IRS web page, “Where’s My Refund?”
• Didn’t receive a tax document? Mitchell advises first contacting the employer or issuing agency. If they can’t get a copy, contact the IRS for help at 800-829-1040. After you provide your information, and your employer’s information, the IRS will contact the employer, but will also send you a substitute form to report the information that’s on the missing document. If the employer sends a document later with different information, the taxpayer may need to file an amended return.

It bears repeating: If you feel comfortable doing your taxes online at home, look into the free MilTax software, and remember you have trained tax consultants available by chat or phone through the MilTax resources of Military OneSource. You may be able to go to a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance site at an installation nearby, or qualify for assistance at a VITA location in the civilian community.

Before you sign agreements with other tax preparers who charge fees, make sure you have clear information about the fees involved, and any fees involved in their extra services.

It’s against the law for these tax preparers who offer “refund anticipation loans” to charge interest of more than 36% Annual Percentage Rate to active duty members and their families, and fees are calculated into that rate.

The plan to grow the program comes as fewer than 100 troops across three services have begun receiving the need-based stipend, created as a financial safety net for low-income troops with at least one dependent. If enacted, it would mark the initiative’s second expansion since it became law in late 2021.

On average, BNA participants in the Army, Navy and Air Force currently receive between $17,100 and $27,000 in taxable aid a year.

Defense officials want to expand the pool of people who may qualify for the financial aid initiative to include families who earn a gross household income of up to 200% of the annual federal poverty level, Pentagon Comptroller Michael McCord said during a Monday budget briefing. That cutoff currently stands at 150%.

“The FY 2025 budget request includes $245 million to raise the income eligibility threshold for the Basic Needs Allowance,” according to Pentagon budget documents. “This proposal would help ensure that service members would not have to rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).”

The income ceiling varies based on a household’s size and location. For instance, the 150% cap currently stands at $30,660 for a family of two, or $79,080 for a family of eight, in the 48 contiguous states. If expanded to 200%, the Basic Needs Allowance would become available to those making $40,880 for a family of two, or $105,440 for a family of eight.

Family advocates support any expansion of the Basic Needs Allowance “to help ensure that it reaches military families who need it,” said Eileen Huck, the senior deputy director for government relations at the National Military Family Association.

“I’m not sure how many families would benefit from increasing the ceiling to 200% of federal poverty guidelines, but we commend the [Biden] administration for recognizing that more needs to be done to support struggling military families,” she said.

The monthly payments are calculated by taking 150% of the current year’s federal poverty baseline and subtracting the previous year’s gross household income, then dividing that total by 12, according to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.

To dole out the stipend, service officials first screen all military members and notify them if they are potentially eligible to benefit from the program, signed into law as part of the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act.

Then it’s up to troops to apply for the money by providing information about their gross household income. Service members can apply even if they aren’t told they might qualify. People are most often deemed ineligible because their gross household income, including their spouse’s earnings, exceeds 150% of the federal poverty level.

Service members who receive the aid must recertify each year that they still qualify, or notify officials when changes occur that may affect their eligibility, like an increase in gross household income or change in household size.

Raising the bar for eligibility by thousands of dollars could help bring more families into a program that has struggled to attract those who need help the most.

Just 77 military families across the Air Force, Army and Navy received the Basic Needs Allowance in 2023 — about 1% of almost 6,000 troops deemed potentially eligible for the program, and far less than 1% of the nearly 450,000 active duty enlisted troops with families in those branches, spokespeople for each service told Military Times. Enlisted troops typically make about half or less of what commissioned officers earn.

Recipients get an average stipend of more than $1,000 each month. They include:

• Army: 12 soldiers in the grades of E-1 to E-6, with an average household size of eight people, received the stipend as of Jan. 11, according to Army spokeswoman Heather Hagan. The Army notified about 5,600 soldiers that they were potentially eligible for aid; 12 people had applied as of Jan. 11. All 12 were awarded the funds, Hagan said. The monthly stipends average $2,250 for soldiers.
• Navy: 31 sailors in the grades of E-1 to E-7, with an average household size of eight people, received the Basic Needs Allowance as of Dec. 31, said Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. John Stevens. In 2023, Navy officials identified 161 sailors who were potentially eligible for the stipend; 82 sailors applied after a local screening by their command. Of the sailors who were deemed ineligible or otherwise did not receive aid, it was primarily due to additional household income, such as a spouse’s earnings, Stevens said. The monthly stipends average $1,425 for sailors.
• Air Force: 34 service members in the grades of E-2 to E-7, with an average household size of five people, received the Basic Needs Allowance as of Dec. 31, said Air Force spokeswoman Master Sgt. Deana Heitzman. In 2023, Air Force officials identified 170 service members who were potentially eligible for aid. Of the 292 troops who applied for the stipend, 258 were ultimately disqualified. The monthly stipends average $1,851.80 for airmen.

The Marine Corps did not answer by press time how many of its members have received the Basic Needs Allowance.

Nearly half of junior enlisted spouses coped with food insecurity

It’s “hard to reconcile” that fewer than 100 families are receiving that aid, Huck said. But she’s unsurprised the numbers of Basic Needs Allowance recipients are low, given that DOD includes other household income and the military’s housing allowance when determining eligibility.

“I’m just stunned by the disparity” between the services, Huck said.

Experts particularly questioned what happened in the Army’s selection process that led only 12 people from a pool of 5,600 potentially eligible soldiers to apply.

While a Rand Corp. analysis of who might be eligible for the stipend indicated few troops would qualify, “I can’t explain why people who appear to be eligible are not applying,” said Beth Asch, a senior economist at the federally funded think tank.

”You have to think some families fell through the cracks,” Huck added.

The Army did not respond to a request for further details by press time.

Previous changes

Officials have already raised the Basic Needs Allowance’s income cutoff once before, adding nearly 2,000 people to the pool of those who may qualify for aid.

The income ceiling rose from 130% of the federal poverty line to 150% last year. Defense Department estimates showed the higher cap could qualify about 2,400 more families for the stipend.

In reality, around 1,850 families joined the list of possible aid recipients, the services told Military Times.

When the eligibility cap was raised, about 1,600 of the 400,000 soldiers who were screened were told they could get the stipend, said Hagan, the Army spokesperson. That brought the total number of soldiers notified of eligibility in 2023 to about 5,600.

Raising the ceiling also grew the number of potentially qualified airmen from 41 to 170, and of potentially qualified sailors from 44 to 161, Air Force and Navy spokespeople said.

It’s unclear how many more people could qualify for the Basic Needs Allowance if the program is again expanded to 200% of the federal poverty line.

Food insecurity persists

The gap between eligible troops and BNA recipients persists amid a spike in living costs, from grocery prices to housing expenses, and as many military families continue to struggle with food insecurity.

About 25% of active duty spouses reported being food-insecure as part of the Defense Department’s 2021 Survey of Active Duty Spouses. Yet only 3% of spouses who responded to the survey reported using SNAP benefits, formerly known as “Food Stamps,” in the previous 12 months.

The survey also found that 31% of enlisted spouses are food-insecure, including 45% of spouses of junior enlisted service members in the grades of E-1 to E-4; 30% of spouses of midlevel E-5s and E-6s; and 16% of spouses of senior enlisted troops at E-7 and above.

The federal government labels food insecurity in two categories: “low food security,” or when someone routinely lacks a variety of good-quality, desirable food options, but typically eats enough; and “very low food security,” or when someone experiences multiple instances of “disrupted eating patterns and reduced food intake.”

Of the 25% of active duty spouses who are food-insecure, 15% reported low security and 10% reported very low security.

Three-quarters of active duty spouses who responded to the survey reported being “food-secure” — having enough access to quality food so all members of their households can live active, healthy lives.