FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
DOD Helps Military Families Avoid Money Scams
By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, July 1, 2013 - While dodging financial scams seem to have become a part of life, Defense Department officials have measures to protect the military community from such circumstances, a senior Pentagon official said in a recent interview.
Scamming incidents in the military parallel those in the civilian community, Barbara Thompson, director of the Defense Department's office of family policy, children and youth, told American Forces Press Service.
But scammers might target military families because of service members' dependable incomes and frequent moves, opening them up to potential scams that can affect their financial readiness when renting or buying a home and securing car loans, she added.
"It's really important that we look at our entire [financial] readiness campaign as a way to empower our service members and their families to have the flexibility to meet the goals and dreams of their future," she said.
It's vital for military families to do their research and build their awareness against scams, she added, and myriad resources to help in this endeavor are available on and off military installations.
"You may decide to do a move on your own and find someone who doesn't have liability insurance, or doesn't deliver your household goods to your residence [and instead] goes off with them," Thompson said.
She also warned against house closure, auto loan and credit and debit card scams. "Sometimes, they look official and as though they're sponsored by a government agency, but it's deceit," she added.
Installation legal assistance officers can help when such issues arise, and certified financial counselors can provide support, guidance and advice at family assistance centers on military installations, she said. The counselors know the community and are likely to be aware of less-than-scrupulous vendors and service providers, she said.
The Military OneSource website offers a wealth of resources such as financial counseling and tip sheets on how to be a good consumer and avoid pitfalls, Thompson said.
DOD also has federal partners in the battle against financial scams, such as the Federal Trade Commission's Scam Watch, and the Treasury Department's Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, where one can register a complaint that will be investigated, Thompson said.
The Better Business Bureau Military Line compiles information on businesses that are less than reputable, Thompson said, and installation commanders also have the ability to put unscrupulous businesses on a list, she added.
Getting references from friends and colleagues and staying away from businesses that have negative consumer feedback are important steps, she said. Using the installation's credit union or bank also will help to ensure good choices in the community, she noted.
If a military family does find itself to be a victim of a scam, DOD also offers resources to help.
Consulting with the legal assistance officer on the installation only helps with recourse, Thompson said, but also advises the installation of a business that's not reputable to protect other service members and their families.
"You learn a lesson, but you also make sure somebody else is not taken advantage of," she added.
"The bottom line is you have to be a smart and savvy consumer," Thompson said. "You need to really think about your purchases, your purchasing power, and do your due diligence to make sure you're getting the right information and the right product for the money you're going to spend."
Showing posts with label MILITARY FAMILIES. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MILITARY FAMILIES. Show all posts
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Monday, May 6, 2013
DR. BIDEN PRAISES MILITARY FAMILIES FOR THEIR SACRIFICES
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Jill Biden Praises Sacrifices of Military Families
By Nick Simeone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 3, 2013 - Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, told a gathering of military wives today that the deployment of her son Beau to Iraq in 2008 made her realize the sacrifices military families repeatedly endure, a hardship she said most Americans will never know.
"I will never forget being at the deployment [ceremony] just trying to keep it together," Biden said in remarks to the 35th Annual Joint Armed Forces Officers' Wives' Luncheon in Arlington, Va. "My children were there, and I wanted to stay strong."
It was a hard year for the family, she said, coming just as her husband was about to take office as vice president and amid the cycles of deployments driven by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Her family experienced only one deployment, she said, unlike many of those in the audience, who have repeatedly sacrificed as husbands, sons, wives and daughters have served multiple tours.
"My son's deployment gave me a window into your lives, but honestly I don't know how you do it time and time again," she told the group.
Biden said the experience of her son's yearlong Iraq deployment also made her realize how much of the nation is unaware of what military families repeatedly go through, something that inspired her to write a children's book to help others get through it.
"So many Americans don't know anyone in the military," she said. "They haven't been through the challenges of deployment, and they don't really understand what the military experience is really like."
To that end, she said her cameo role several years ago on the Lifetime Network's "Army Wives" program became another opportunity to acquaint Americans with the issues associated with deployments.
"Being part of the show was an incredible platform to share what it's like to be part of a military family with people who might not have knowledge of what it's like," she said.
Of all her experiences over the last four years, Biden said, one of her most vivid memories took place almost two years ago to the day, when U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden during a raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Recalling how her husband had been gone during much of that weekend, out of communication and not home for dinner, she said, she suspected something was in the works, but didn't know for sure until the vice president called her late that evening from the White House and told her to turn on the television.
Then, President Barack Obama announced to the nation that bin Laden had been killed.
"I went outside to wait for Joe to come home," she recalled. "All of a sudden the night came alive, and suddenly I heard the singing of 'God Bless America' from the crowd that had gathered outside our home. I will never forget that."
Dr. Biden, along with First Lady Michelle Obama, champions the White House's "Joining Forces" initiative, which seeks support for military families and works to connect service members, veterans and military spouses with the resources they need to find jobs at home.
Jill Biden Praises Sacrifices of Military Families
By Nick Simeone
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 3, 2013 - Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, told a gathering of military wives today that the deployment of her son Beau to Iraq in 2008 made her realize the sacrifices military families repeatedly endure, a hardship she said most Americans will never know.
"I will never forget being at the deployment [ceremony] just trying to keep it together," Biden said in remarks to the 35th Annual Joint Armed Forces Officers' Wives' Luncheon in Arlington, Va. "My children were there, and I wanted to stay strong."
It was a hard year for the family, she said, coming just as her husband was about to take office as vice president and amid the cycles of deployments driven by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Her family experienced only one deployment, she said, unlike many of those in the audience, who have repeatedly sacrificed as husbands, sons, wives and daughters have served multiple tours.
"My son's deployment gave me a window into your lives, but honestly I don't know how you do it time and time again," she told the group.
Biden said the experience of her son's yearlong Iraq deployment also made her realize how much of the nation is unaware of what military families repeatedly go through, something that inspired her to write a children's book to help others get through it.
"So many Americans don't know anyone in the military," she said. "They haven't been through the challenges of deployment, and they don't really understand what the military experience is really like."
To that end, she said her cameo role several years ago on the Lifetime Network's "Army Wives" program became another opportunity to acquaint Americans with the issues associated with deployments.
"Being part of the show was an incredible platform to share what it's like to be part of a military family with people who might not have knowledge of what it's like," she said.
Of all her experiences over the last four years, Biden said, one of her most vivid memories took place almost two years ago to the day, when U.S. forces killed Osama bin Laden during a raid on his compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Recalling how her husband had been gone during much of that weekend, out of communication and not home for dinner, she said, she suspected something was in the works, but didn't know for sure until the vice president called her late that evening from the White House and told her to turn on the television.
Then, President Barack Obama announced to the nation that bin Laden had been killed.
"I went outside to wait for Joe to come home," she recalled. "All of a sudden the night came alive, and suddenly I heard the singing of 'God Bless America' from the crowd that had gathered outside our home. I will never forget that."
Dr. Biden, along with First Lady Michelle Obama, champions the White House's "Joining Forces" initiative, which seeks support for military families and works to connect service members, veterans and military spouses with the resources they need to find jobs at home.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
LEARNING FINANCIAL LIFE SKILLS
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Official Urges Planning, Offers Resources for Fiscal Fitness
By Amaani Lyle
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2013 - It's important for children to learn financial life skills early on to maintain financial security and avoid woes in adulthood, a Defense Department official said.
Barbara Thompson, director of DOD's office of family policy and children and youth, said in an interview with American Forces Press Service and the Pentagon Channel that the department continues to encourage military families to sidestep debt by creating a feasible spending plan and using resources that are available to them for achieving financial stability.
"It takes planning. Part of the family readiness system is making sure that families are financially stable, and that includes ... the service member, the spouse and the children," she said. "As [children] get closer ... to being independent, you want them to have life skills that [enable them] to take care of themselves financially and make sure they don't get into debt."
Officials encourage military families to tap into resources such as the Military OneSource website and its Military Youth on the Move application and Jumpstart's Reality Check. The sites, Thompson explained, offer tailored information that supports financial savvy in youth and adults.
"There's a huge focus on children across the federal government and their financial literacy, because ... we recognize that the earlier they learn, the more prepared they are for adulthood," Thompson said.
Jumpstart visitors, for example, can download vetted, evidence-based curriculums, programs and information provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Thompson said. "It's important for parents and educators to have a variety of resources, because we're all at different stages of learning," she added.
Parents, Thompson noted, should guide their children toward a meaningful, successful career and encourage interaction with guidance counselors, who can help children gauge their aptitude for various skill sets.
DOD child development programs also provide assistance, supporting children from birth through age 12 with field trips, math skills and money management.
In addition to parents, significant adults in children's lives -- such as teachers, ministers or youth directors -- can help to convey similar messages about the importance of saving, earning and maintaining a good credit score and paying down debt.
But Thompson warned of financial pitfalls as children approach adulthood, particularly during their college years, when many people become mired in student loan debt.
"It's important to analyze what you want to do, how you want to do it, and take advantage of the grants and scholarships that are available," Thompson said.
Alternatively, Thompson said, senior leaders recognize that about 50 percent of military children either have decided to enter the military or are seriously considering it following high school graduation.
"So we want to make sure they're on a sound footing when they enter their basic training," she said. "It's never too early to start."
Official Urges Planning, Offers Resources for Fiscal Fitness
By Amaani Lyle
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 1, 2013 - It's important for children to learn financial life skills early on to maintain financial security and avoid woes in adulthood, a Defense Department official said.
Barbara Thompson, director of DOD's office of family policy and children and youth, said in an interview with American Forces Press Service and the Pentagon Channel that the department continues to encourage military families to sidestep debt by creating a feasible spending plan and using resources that are available to them for achieving financial stability.
"It takes planning. Part of the family readiness system is making sure that families are financially stable, and that includes ... the service member, the spouse and the children," she said. "As [children] get closer ... to being independent, you want them to have life skills that [enable them] to take care of themselves financially and make sure they don't get into debt."
Officials encourage military families to tap into resources such as the Military OneSource website and its Military Youth on the Move application and Jumpstart's Reality Check. The sites, Thompson explained, offer tailored information that supports financial savvy in youth and adults.
"There's a huge focus on children across the federal government and their financial literacy, because ... we recognize that the earlier they learn, the more prepared they are for adulthood," Thompson said.
Jumpstart visitors, for example, can download vetted, evidence-based curriculums, programs and information provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Thompson said. "It's important for parents and educators to have a variety of resources, because we're all at different stages of learning," she added.
Parents, Thompson noted, should guide their children toward a meaningful, successful career and encourage interaction with guidance counselors, who can help children gauge their aptitude for various skill sets.
DOD child development programs also provide assistance, supporting children from birth through age 12 with field trips, math skills and money management.
In addition to parents, significant adults in children's lives -- such as teachers, ministers or youth directors -- can help to convey similar messages about the importance of saving, earning and maintaining a good credit score and paying down debt.
But Thompson warned of financial pitfalls as children approach adulthood, particularly during their college years, when many people become mired in student loan debt.
"It's important to analyze what you want to do, how you want to do it, and take advantage of the grants and scholarships that are available," Thompson said.
Alternatively, Thompson said, senior leaders recognize that about 50 percent of military children either have decided to enter the military or are seriously considering it following high school graduation.
"So we want to make sure they're on a sound footing when they enter their basic training," she said. "It's never too early to start."
Friday, August 10, 2012
FISHER HOUSE FOUNDATION HELPS FAMILIES OF WOUNDED WARRIORS STAY NEAR TREATMENT CENTERS
FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Family Matters Blog: Heroes Program Helps Families Travel
By Lisa DanielAmerican Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Aug. 9, 2012 - Families of wounded warriors already are benefitting from a program that started last month to make it easier for them to travel with their loved ones for medical treatment.
The Defense Department and Fisher House Foundation have teamed up to oversee the Hotels for Heroes program, which allows the American public to donate their unused hotel reward points to families of wounded warriors so that they might stay for free in hotels around the country while their family member receives medical treatment.
"The family members of our wounded heroes should never have to stress about the financial burden of travel," David Coker, president of the Fisher House Foundation, said at a July 16 ceremony. "We are honored to help facilitate the process and are confident that the American public will help make this new program a success."
Cindy Campbell, the foundation's vice president for community relations and media affairs, said Aug. 7 that the program already has provided 60 nights of lodging for military families.
"We're very fortunate in that many of the hotel chains banked a lot of points for us," she said. "That has allowed us to go ahead and get started. And a lot of people already have donated points, but we are going to go through these quickly."
Sadly, Campbell said, "there is a huge demand" from families who must travel to locations without one of the 57 Fisher Houses, or where they are full. The houses near large military medical centers fill up quickly.
The program's sponsors are optimistic, given the success of its sister program, Hero Miles, that has allowed them to give away more than 30,000 plane tickets since it was created in 2003, Campbell said.
The annual need for hotel rooms "is a very substantial six-figure number," she said, "so this is really going to help us out."
Jessica Allen, whose husband, Army Staff Sgt. Charles Allen, is recovering from a roadside bomb, used Hero Miles to fly herself and her two daughters back and forth to her husband's hospital bed during his recovery and rehabilitation.
"Hero Miles saved our family from a crushing expense – and gave our daughters the chance to be with their dad when he was in the hospital and learning to walk again," Allen said at the program's launch ceremony. "Hotels for Heroes will do something similar, and I am thankful to all the people who have and will donate their unused hotel points to benefit our military families."
Six major hotel companies – Marriott, Wyndham, Best Western, Starwood, AmericInn and Choice Privileges Hotels – are participating in the program.
The program fills a void, Campbell said, in allowing the American public to give back. "It's a very simple way for business travelers while they are racking up so many hotel points, to give back," she said.
People can donate points by going to their hotel rewards club website, which has a tab for Fisher House donations.
Fisher House Foundation is best known for the network of comfort homes built on the grounds of major military and VA medical centers. The Fisher Houses are donated to the military and Department of Veterans Affairs, and families can stay in the houses while a loved one is receiving treatment. Additionally, the foundation ensures that families of service men and women wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan are not burdened with unnecessary expense during a time of crisis.
Sunday, April 15, 2012
DR. JILL BIDEN SPEAKS ON MILITARY FAMILY SUPPORT
Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, speaks about the value of military family support during a roundtable discussion at the Pentagon, April 10, 2012. The roundtable included Deanie Dempsey, wife of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, and honored the winners of the Joining Forces Community Challenge, which is an effort to recognize and celebrate the extraordinary military family support efforts of citizens and organizations across the country. DOD photo by Elaine Sanchez
Dr. Biden, Mrs. Dempsey Salute 'Challenge' Winners
By Elaine Sanchez
WASHINGTON, April 11, 2012 - Leading up to a White House celebration today, two of the nation's top wives personally thanked a group of individuals and organization leaders for their efforts to improve military families' lives at the Pentagon yesterday.
Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, and Deanie Dempsey, wife of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, honored the winners of the Joining Forces Community Challenge during a roundtable discussion.
The Community Challenge, part of the Joining Forces campaign, is intended to recognize and celebrate the extraordinary military family support efforts of citizens and organizations across the country. First Lady Michelle Obama and Biden launched Joining Forces one year ago today to rally Americans around troops, veterans and their families, and announced the Challenge in July to capture the innovative ways people have chosen to support and honor them.
"What you're doing is so amazing," Biden told the group, which had just wrapped up a Pentagon tour. "This is a dream come true that you're out there helping military families."
USO President Sloan D. Gibson, who served as roundtable moderator, invited representatives from each of the six groups to explain their organizations' accomplishments and what spurred them to action. The winners range from a community that ensures families of deployed Guard members have a vast array of support, to a group that offers outdoor retreats to military spouses, to an organization of mental health professionals that volunteers their time, free of charge, to military families.
Whatever the service or support they provide, all embody the spirit of the Joining Forces campaign, Biden said, as they step up to serve and honor troops and their families. "Joining Forces is all about calling on people all across the country to lend a hand," she said.
Biden and Dempsey both passed on their personal gratitude for the groups' efforts. The Bidens' son, Beau Biden, is a captain in the Army National Guard who served a one-year deployment in Iraq, and Dempsey is a military wife and a military mom. Her husband commissioned all three of their children, she said, and their daughter is married to a captain in the Special Forces.
"What you do for all military families, you also do for the Dempsey family," the chairman's wife said. "From a personal standpoint, thank you from the bottom of my heart."
The Joining Forces Community Challenge winners are:
-- Armed Forces Service Center, St. Paul, Minn. The service center is a 24/7 "all free" lounge staffed by volunteers at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport for active-duty military personnel, their families, activated reservists and National Guardsmen and other members of the uniformed services.
-- Defending the Blue Line, Hastings, Minn. This organization works to ensure that children of military members have access to participate in hockey through free equipment, hockey camps, special events and financial assistance toward association and other hockey-related costs.
-- Give an Hour, Bethesda, Md. Founded by Washington, D.C.-based psychologist Barbara Van Dahlen, this organization is dedicated to meeting the mental health needs of military personnel, their families, and the communities affected by the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition to counseling, providers also consult to schools, first responders, employers, and community organizations. Give an Hour has provided nearly 50,000 hours of free service, valued at roughly $5 million.
-- Project Sanctuary, Parker, Colo. This organization brings military families together in the Rocky Mountains after deployments to help them reconnect through recreational activities and therapy. Follow-up support beyond the retreat is also provided, and includes support to families with housing, job placement and veterans' assistance.
-- City of Richfield, Utah. The city has supported its local Army National Guard unit through four deployments since Sept. 11, 2001. Additionally, Richfield provides several programs and services for military families, including a city utility abatement program and distribution of the city's newspaper to deployed soldiers so they can stay in touch with the community.
-- Our Family for Families First Foundation, East Greenwich, R.I. This foundation, chosen by the public as the Challenge's "People's Choice Winner," supports military families pursuing higher education by supporting military children through scholarships and military spouses through grants and assistance identifying educational opportunities.
Other than the People's Choice award, the Challenge winners were selected with input from a panel of judges that included news correspondent and author Tom Brokaw; J.R. Martinez, an Iraq war veteran, motivational speaker and "Dancing With the Stars" winner; San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro; Deanie Dempsey; and Gibson.
At the roundtable, Gibson ticked off the reasons he believes these groups deserve this national honor. They're having a positive impact on military families' lives, are building stronger bonds between military families and their communities, and are inspiring others to bring the same "passion and obvious care and concern" to military family support, he said.
All 20 Challenge finalists will be honored at today's White House event, which also marks the one-year anniversary of Joining Forces.
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