This blog is dedicated to the men and women who face long stretches away from their families as they serve our country. We appreciate the work you do for us.

When a military deployment looms, the emotional stress of leaving can be overwhelming. While time spent with family is crucial as you get ready to leave, there are also important preparations you need to make before you go. The tips below will help ensure your paperwork is in place and hopefully help alleviate some of the concern you’re feeling.

5 Tips to Prepare for a Military Deployment

1. Secure Your Financial Situation
   Create a financial game plan with your partner or spouse as soon as possible. Finances are a major reason for stress between couples, and a good plan helps to put you on the same page. Run through how to access any financial accounts and important bank information online and offline. For your partner, it’s also important that they understand how to create and manage your common budget while you are away. Make sure you both know how you’ll be communicating (about financial and just general life issues) while one of you is gone. 
2. Legal Issues
   It is imperative that any wills and powers of attorney are up to date. All identification cards should be updated as well. Important documents, such as your birth certificate or social security card should be put away in a safe place. It might be a good idea to secure a lawyer in case any legal issues come up. 
3. Mail Forwarding
   Any military family, especially one that moves around a lot, can benefit from confidential mail forwarding. This ensures that you get your mail no matter how often you move. If you’re single and not leaving behind a family, you’ll need a way to make sure you don’t miss an important package or notification while you’re gone. That’s the beauty of mail forwarding. Find a mail forwarding service that’s flexible and can forward your mail anywhere… even better if they can update your address quickly if you’re constantly on the move. 
4. Administrative Needs
   Create a list of emergency contacts for everyone… and consider a family care plan as well. DEERS, Tricare, dental, and SGLI enrollment should all be confirmed. You can create a resource list to use whenever outside assistance is needed. It’s also very important to attend pre-deployment briefs so that you have access to all the important information needed. 
5. Vehicles
   Have you thought about what happens to your car when you’re gone? It’s worth creating a game plan for your deployment. Make sure that all insurance and registration documents are up to date, and keep duplicate sets of keys on hand. The titles to all vehicles need to be kept in a safe place as well.

Knowing your paperwork is in order and your family is prepared will hopefully take some of the stress out of your deployment. If you’d like to learn more about how we can help, give us a call at 702-220-6245 or send us a message!