WE GOT YOU FAMILY SUPPORT
Deployment changes life for the whole family.
Whether you are preparing to leave, supporting the homefront, serving away from home, or adjusting after the return, you do not have to figure it out alone. Start with trusted support built for military life.
THE DEPLOYMENT CYCLE
A practical starting point for every phase.
Every deployment is different. Use these steps as a conversation guide, then confirm requirements and benefits with the service member’s unit, legal office, support center, or Military OneSource.
Before deployment
Build the plan together before the pace picks up.
- Update the family care plan, emergency contacts, and caregiver information.
- Review powers of attorney, wills, financial access, and legal needs with the installation legal office or JAG.
- Confirm DEERS, TRICARE, child care, school contacts, and medication plans.
- Agree on a realistic communication plan and what information must stay private.
- Save unit family-readiness contacts and important phone numbers where the family can find them.
During deployment
Protect routines, connection, and the well-being of everyone involved.
- Keep household and school routines as steady as possible.
- Stay connected in ways the mission allows, without measuring the relationship by call frequency.
- Use confidential counseling, chaplains, family-readiness groups, and trusted friends before stress becomes a crisis.
- Use Red Cross Hero Care for verified family emergencies.
- Ask for help with child care, finances, employment, or transportation when the load becomes too heavy.
Return & reintegration
Homecoming is a process, not a single day.
- Expect routines, roles, and relationships to need time to adjust.
- Reintroduce parenting and household responsibilities gradually.
- Give children and partners room for mixed feelings and honest conversation.
- Avoid rushing major decisions while the family settles into a new normal.
- Reach out early when sleep, anger, anxiety, isolation, or relationship stress is not improving.
TRUSTED NATIONAL RESOURCES
Start with the support that fits your need.
These official programs serve active-duty, National Guard, Reserve, and eligible military families. Eligibility and services vary, so use each program’s website or phone line for current details.
Military OneSource Deployment Support
Information and person-to-person support for planning, stress, relationships, parenting, finances, legal questions, and reintegration.
Open deployment support →Plan My Deployment Checklists
Custom checklists for predeployment, time apart, reunion, and reintegration—built for service members and family members.
Build a deployment checklist →Military & Family Support Centers
Find installation and state support for deployment readiness, counseling, financial readiness, school liaisons, relocation, and family programs.
Find a support center →American Red Cross Hero Care Network
Send a verified emergency message to a deployed service member and ask about connections to eligible emergency financial assistance.
Start an emergency message →Parenting Through Deployment
Age-aware guidance for preparing children, staying connected, watching for stress, and easing the returning parent back into family routines.
Open parenting resources →Sesame Street for Military Families
Free videos, activities, and parent tools that help young children understand deployment, transitions, big feelings, and homecoming.
Explore family activities →MilitaryChildCare.com
Search and request military-operated child care and review off-installation fee-assistance options for eligible families.
Search military child care →Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program
Connect with deployment-cycle events and resources for National Guard and Reserve service members, families, and communities.
Visit Yellow Ribbon →Free Financial Counseling
Talk with a military-aware counselor about budgeting, debt, deployment pay, creditors, saving, and financial stress.
Get financial support →Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
Learn about protections that may apply to interest rates, leases, court matters, taxes, insurance, and other obligations during military service.
Review SCRA protections →USERRA Employment Rights
Understand reemployment and anti-discrimination protections connected to uniformed service, including Guard and Reserve duty.
Review USERRA help →SpouseWorks Career Support
Find career coaching, education resources, scholarships, employer partners, and job-search support for eligible military spouses.
Explore SpouseWorks →HOW AMVETS RIDERS CAN HELP
Support the family carrying the mission at home.
With the family’s permission, a Chapter can provide steady, practical support without replacing military or professional services.
- Make regular Buddy Checks with the service member and family.
- Help with meals, rides, yardwork, or small household needs.
- Connect the family with verified military and community resources.
- Remember birthdays, holidays, homecoming, and the weeks after reunion.
Overwhelmed and unsure where to begin?
Call Military OneSource at 800-342-9647. Support is available 24/7, and a consultant can help identify the right military or community resource.