Favorite Part of Being a Military Family?

**McD** · 10-21-2010, 10:44 AM

Out of curiousity, what is your favorite part of being a military family?

Personally, I enjoy the discounts, how attractive hubby is in his uniform (especially his buns

), and the whole honor/duty/tradition bit.

**Mamaof2rugrats** · 10-21-2010, 10:49 AM

We don't get too many military discounts where we are at. My favorite part is just the stability of it. I know my DH has a job and a paycheck,period.

**wanderlusting** · 10-21-2010, 04:24 PM

The military has always "taken care" of me. My dad was in the Air Force and I went from being his dependent to DH's

I love:

-steady paychecks

-healthcare. Sometimes it's a headache but it's great knowing it's there. I don't even want to know how much I would have had to spend on the week for my twin boys' stay in the NICU if we weren't in the military hospital!

-travelling. I've lived half my life outside of the U.S. I've seen so many places and experienced so many cultures

-retirement pay. DH has 9 years to go and he'll start getting his retirement pay at 38!

**wanderlusting** · 10-21-2010, 04:28 PM

The military has always "taken care" of me. My dad was in the Air Force and I went from being his dependent to DH's

I love:

-steady paychecks

-healthcare. Sometimes it's a headache but it's great knowing it's there. I don't even want to know how much I would have had to spend on the week for my twin boys' stay in the NICU if we weren't in the military hospital!

-travelling. I've lived half my life outside of the U.S. I've seen so many places and experienced so many cultures

-retirement pay. DH has 9 years to go and he'll start getting his retirement pay at 38!

**McD** · 10-22-2010, 09:56 AM

Oh yes! Forgot about healthcare!

We were on TriCare when I had Wesley and he also spent a week in NICU. Total costs would have been approx. $40-60K iirc. Total out of pocket expense for us: $0.

**Nishu** · 10-22-2010, 10:40 AM

This is a great thread!

I love pretty much everything about it. I love the health insurance, I love moving every few years. I love the sense of community with other military families especially in our sub community. I love the commissary.

My husband received his pay and benefits while going to college, and the Navy paid the tab for his tuition too. Hopefully, we'll be going to Monterey, CA in a few months where my husband will get his master's free of charge while getting all his pay and benefits.

In a weird sorta way, I even kinda like the deployments. For us they're short and fairly predictable. The kids and I get to travel and live like a bunch of single ladies for awhile. When he's home, if we're out we always get back by the time that he gets off work so that we don't miss out on family time, but when he's away we can spend the evening walking through the mall or hanging out at the library.

My husband's original contract is up in less than a year and for the first time since he joined we had to really think about whether or not to stay in. He's the one who does the work and spends months away from his family at a time, so I kinda left it up to him and told him that we would be absolutely fine either way. I'm glad he decided to stay in because when I actually thought about it, I realized that I didn't want to be civilian family.

**Mamaof2rugrats** · 10-22-2010, 01:19 PM

My husband has 9 and a half yrs left too. Tricare although a total pain IMO is a huge benefit and we would be in even more debt without it that's for sure!
For us the yr long deployments ( my DH has been in 10 yrs and deployed 4 times, each between 12 and 18 mths long) are really the only drawback.

**wanderlusting** · 10-22-2010, 02:59 PM

I forgot something else! I like base housing! We've lucked out and have lived in nice base housing units. I love not having to worry about rent or utilities. And if anything breaks, they're always quick to have a repairman over.