So you’ve married into the military, huh?
As an eight-year veteran of the U.S. Air Force and an Air Force wife for seven years, I feel qualified to tell you a few things. Today, I plan to tell you about the three magic things you need to know: your spouse’s rank, unit and duty phone number.
There is no doubt about it. You must know all three of these things. Rank is everything in the military and knowing it can save you and other people a great deal of time and energy. Rank can also make the difference between cashing a $50 check and cashing a $300 check at the NCO Club. Knowing your spouse’s unit is like knowing your home address. If you don’t know it, you’re just another annoying civilian walking around in circles. The duty phone number is a must too. If you have an emergency at home and need to go to the hospital, you can’t tell the attending physician to wait until your husband gets home to contact your next of kin. You also can’t depend on your husband’s celkl phone being on while he’s on duty. Know the duty phone. You never know when you may need it.
There are some other things you should know as well as the essential three noted above:
Calling your husband’s unit and asking for him by his nickname isn’t advised. Use his full name when asked for it.
As soon as you’re married, commit his Social Security Number to memory. No matter where you go or what you do, any military service will most likely need to know your sponsor’s Social Security Number or, at the very least, the “last four” (the last four numbers of your spouse’s Social Security Number.
Know who your spouse’s supervisor is (rank and last name). If your spouse cannot be reached in an emergency, his/her supervisor is your next choice of people to contact.
Know who your spouse’s First Sergeant is. The purpose of the First Sergeant is to assist their troops with personal issues that may get in the way of their doing their duty. If your spouse is deployed to parts unknown (this happens) then the person you want to be in touch with is his/her First Sergeant. This is the person who can contact your spouse or spouse’s supervisor quickly as well as help you out with any issues you may be going through at home.
Lastly, always know the phone number to your local American Red Cross Chapter. To find your local Red Cross, go to: http://www.redcross.org/where/chapts.asp. It isn’t easy to play telephone tag during an emergency, so when one strikes and you need your spouse to be home quickly, whether he is at work on base or deployed to the Middle East, simply call your local Red Cross, anytime day or night, and they’ll take care of the details.
It isn’t easy being a military spouse, but the best way to handle any situation is to be as prepared as possible.
welcome to Military Life!