Food Security is not achievable for all in the military and the House passed a draft of the defense bill that provides a provision for an extra allowance for some military members to pay for basic needs. For many young families, groceries are bought with each paycheck and stretched over the following two weeks. If the number of food banks established just for military members is any indication, the bi-monthly pay sometimes isn’t enough. Military spouse employment, and the lack thereof, is a great part of the funds of a family and oftentimes military families are solely relying on the active duty service members pay.

Section 602 of the House’s current National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (H.R. 6395) has a provision for an extra monthly allowance of pay for some service members, on top of a proposed 3% pay raise for all troops. The monthly allowance would be intended for basic need coverage like food, tolietries, clothing and diapers. The annual allowance would be equal to 130% of the Federal poverty guidelines of the Department of Health and Human Services minus the service member’s gross income and divided by twelve for a monthly allowance. Currently, 130% of the poverty leve is $28,200 for a family of 3. Eligibility for the allowance will be conducted by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS), with the hopes for each qualifying member to be notified by December 31 of each year. Each eligible service member will be able to opt-out of the extra pay stipend annually if they desire.

According to research, this type of provision was written into the 2019 House proposal of the National Defense Authorization Act as well but was not included in the final version of the bill. The White House

According to Blue Star Family’s 2018 Military Family Lifestyle survey, 12% of veteran families and 7% of military families reported food insecurity in the previous year with 18% of veteran families and 9% of military families reporting use of an emergency food pantry or charity. The additional allowance will assist in bridging the gap in food security.

The Senate has passed their own version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 (S.R. 4049), and it is yet to be determined what will be in the final, accepted version of the bill will come out of the conference committee. This will be determined after the November 3^rd election. You can follow the bill’s movement and amendments on Congress.gov.

2020 certainly feels like a remix, on repeat, of polka and ska. The ball season is being mixed up as well. Large gatherings are not recommended and military balls are cancelled. Military families are used to going with the ebb and flow and are making plans to celebrate in different ways.

1. Dress down to dress up. Without the etiquette of a long ball gown for a ball, dressing up for this years’ military ball can be as casual as families want.
2. Watching the service specific message. This summer, Army Senior Leaders released their birthday message. In August, the Coast Guard released their birthday message.  In September, the Air Force recognized the resiliency of the force in their birthday message. Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Mike Gilday, released a birthday message in October. The Marine Corps will release the Commandant’s message in November.
3. Donating to their favorite organization. Families are adding up the cost of ball tickets, ball dresses, baby-sitting, up-dos, military uniform updates and donating that sum as a way to celebrate the military birthday.
4. Support local. A night off without cooking is part of the fun of the military ball. This year families are choosing to purchase a meal from a local restaurant as a way to support local and celebrate the night without cooking.
5. No dry cake! Along the same lines as supporting local restaurants, some are choosing a local bakery to buy a dessert to celebrate the ball. No dry sheet cake here!
6. Dance Party. Breaking out the dancing shoes is an annual tradition for military balls. A dance party at home, with everyone in the family, will keep the tradition alive with a smaller gathering.
7. Outdoor Gathering. Small groups are gathering outside tailgate style, keeping distance between family groups as a way to be together, but remain socially distant.
8. Thank a veteran. Making it a family activity and write to veterans at your local Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW). Just like invitations of veterans to military balls, military families are extending their thanks locally.

Ball seasons’ selfies may look different this year, but your military service birthday is worth celebrating. Here is to another year of unknowns and ebb and flow.

TRICARE open enrollment season is here!

The annual period where you can change your health coverage for the next calendar year is open from November 9 – December 14, 2020. Any changes made to enrollment during this period will be effective starting January 1, 2021. Anyone currently enrolled in or eligible for a TRICARE Prime or Select healthcare plan option is able to change enrollment among these plans.

3 Options During Open Enrollment:

1. Stay in your plan. If you do not want to change your current plan, you do not need to do anything as long as you are eligible.
2. Enroll in a plan for the first time. If you are eligible for TRICARE Prime or TRICARE Select but are not currently enrolled, open enrollment is the time to do so.
3. Change plans. During this enrollment period you can switch from TRICARE Prime options to TRICARE Select. You can also switch from individual or family enrollment.  

Enrolled Retirees with an initial enrollment date before January 1, 2018 or family members enrolled in TRICARE Select have new fees beginning January 1, 2021.

Can you make changes outside of open enrollment?

In order to make changes outside of open enrollment, you must have a Qualifying Life Event (QLE). A QLE includes but is not limited to a relocation to a new location, marriage, birth of a child or retirement from active duty. A new pregnancy no longer counts as a QLE. Within the 90 period from those events, you can make enrollment changes as eligible.

FEDVIP Enrollment

FEDVIP is the Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program. Eligibility for this program runs open enrollment during the same time as TRICARE. Check eligibility and compare plans here.

What are the TRICARE plans?

There are several TRICARE health plans. Active Duty military and their families living at most military bases are eligible for TRICARE Prime or TRICARE Select. Read more about each plan to know what you are eligible for and what it covers.

The basic plans are TRICARE Prime and Select, with branches off of those based on locations.

TRICARE Prime – Active Duty are automatically enrolled in this program. For families, this program provides are with a military or network provider without copays except in cases of using point-of-service options. Primary Care Managers provider care and referrals as needed to specialists.

TRICARE Prime Remote – Command-sponsored active duty and family members whose sponsor’s home and work addresses are more than 50 miles from a military hospital or clinic.

TRICARE Prime Overseas – Command-sponsored active duty and family members living overseas are seen by military or network providers.

TRICARE Prime Remote Overseas – Command-sponsored active duty and family members living in remote locations overseas including Eurasia-Africa, Latin America, Canada and areas in the Pacific.

TRICARE Select – Family members and retirees are seen by Tricare-authorized providers chosen by them, and no referrals from a primary care manager are required. A deductible, cost share and enrollment fees may be required.

TRICARE Select Overseas – Family members can see any overseas provider without referrals. A deductible, cost share and enrollment fees may be required.

The following healthcare plans can be enrolled in outside of open enrollment if eligibility criteria are met per the links provided below.

TRICARE For Life – TRICARE eligible beneficiaries who have Medicare A and B.

TRICARE Reserve Select –  Qualified Selected Reserve members and their families are eligible for this healthcare plan.

TRICARE Retired Reserves – Retired Reserve members are eligible to purchase this healthcare plan.

TRICARE Young Adult – This premium-based insurance is available for adult children through age 25.

US Family Health Plan – Enrollment is available to those who live in an area where this care is available.

Healthcare options can be confusing. Gather all the information you can to make an informed decision that works best for your family.

October 1^st came, and BAM! It was time for Halloween. Your social media has been filled with images of pumpkins, spooky decorations, and costume ideas. You may be planning a countdown to Halloween complete with daily spooky activities. Halloween spirit is all around us. While costume parades and traditional trick-or-treating may be canceled in 2020, it’s nice to see the spooky spirit continue in other creative ways.

Want a sweet way to share the spooky spirit beyond your immediate community? Maybe you bought Halloween candy with the hope of trick or treating, but it has been canceled in your area. Or in wanting to keep a semblance of normalcy for 2020, you are planning on buying candy even if you don’t have an immediate need. What can you do with that excess Halloween candy? You can treat the troops!

Soldiers’ Angels Treat for Troops program is a candy collection program just for Halloween! Businesses like dentist offices or churches typically collect candy from families in their area in exchange for prizes and then send the candy to the Soldiers’ Angels. Soldier’s Angels then collects all the sent in candy and sends it to troops overseas. While families may not have excess candy this year, they can still donate candy to businesses designated as drop off sites near them.

Want to donate your candy to Treats for Troops?

To find a business near you that is a collection site for Treat for Troops, check here.  There is an interactive map of the United States, or you can search by zip code. When you search by zip code, it is just looking for businesses within your zip code and not close by, so it is easiest to search on the map by zooming into your area. Families that bring in the candy to be dropped off are typically awarded buyback prizes for every pound brought in. In previous years, businesses have offered toothbrushes, gift cards, stickers, art supplies, and even cash!

The interactive map is the best way to search for a site near you. If you are unable to find a drop off location near you, you can mail the donation to Soldiers’ Angels directly at 2895 NE Loop, Suite 107, San Antonio, RX 78218.

What candy can be donated?

• Unopened, individually wrapped candy
• Small bags of loose candy like jelly beans or candy corn
• Chocolate, and no it doesn’t have to separated

What candy is not accepted?

• Handmade candy
• Homemade treats
• Baked goods – store-bought or homemade

When to donate?

Most donation drop-off sites accept candy through the first week of November. Perfect for post-Halloween festivities! Check the drop-off site nearest you for their information.

Do you have a business or know someone a business that would be perfect for a drop off site for Treats for Troops?
Businesses who want to be a Treats for Troops drop-off site must register online with Soldiers’ Angels here. All candy collected by the business must be shipped to the San Antonio, TX location of Soldier’s Angels, and their address is provided to the business once they register as a drop off-site. Businesses are responsible for buying their own buyback prizes.

So, if you don’t goblin up all your candy (haha – get it?), you can send it off to sweeten another person’s day!

Heather Walsh is a mom, Marine wife, Navy child, blogger, and lover of all things crafty and Disney. Professionally, she is a Physician Assistant and writer and has a passion for helping others to stay positive and supported. She has been writing since KidPix was on a floppy disk! She is one of three women who founded MilMomAdventures, sharing travel and lifestyle tips for the military family at www.milmomadventures.com . When she isn’t crafting with her kiddos, going on the next adventure, or writing for MilMomAdventures, she has contributed to NextGen MilSpouse, Daily Mom Military and Military Disney Tips while reheating her first cup of coffee for the tenth time.

After the nation-wide shut down in March and onward, going to the gym hasn’t been as easy. With a lack of child care, no schools, and gym shutdowns to limitations, there has been a large movement to begin building a gym at home. Physical performance and fitness are operationally important (required!) for the military member and serves as a mental health exercise and a break as well. For those reasons and more, here are six recommendations to help you start your own home gym,

1. Floor Mats – Can be utilized for comfort while doing stretches, yoga and body weight exercises. Don’t discount your kids old play mats – they can serve a second-life as your gym mats!
2. Kettlebells – These small yet powerful items can be utilized for multiple exercises, stored in small places, and pack easily for exercise on the road.
3. Jump Rope – Get cardio in no matter where you are, without moving far. Jump ropes can be shared among the adult members of family as part of a round robin exercise routine, and pack well.  Make sure you have a good clear space first.
4. Resistance bands – These come in various thicknesses which provide light to heavy resistance which can challenge the muscles for building strength, but also for providing flexibility. These bands also travel well, and compact enough to fit in a suitcase or sea bag.
5. Pull-Up Bar – With options of door frame mounted or wall-hung. Even if your service does not require Pull-Ups, they are a dynamic exercise that will serve to maintain your health, physique, and improve your push-ups.
6. Dumbbells – For those wanting to invest a little more in their home gym, dumbbells are great. Like kettlebells, they can be utilized for various exercises. They come in weights as low as 1, 3, and 5 lbs. and up from there in 5 lbs. increments to develop strength and power.

The home gym is achievable with these affordable starters. With current restrictions, and the difficulty of lack of child care, home gyms are more popular now than ever before.  And in case you missed it – the beauty of most of these items is their transportability – perfect for the frequent moves of the military family with everchanging home sizes. Remember the Genie in Aladdin – “Phenomenal Cosmic Powers! Itty Bitty Living Space.”

The Exchange has been getting more of these items in stock recently, so check them out if you are looking to start or stock your home gym.

Heather Walsh is a mom, Marine wife, Navy child, blogger, and lover of all things crafty and Disney. Professionally, she is a Physician Assistant and writer and has a passion for helping others to stay positive and supported. She has been writing since KidPix was on a floppy disk! She is one of three women who founded MilMomAdventures, sharing travel and lifestyle tips for the military family at www.milmomadventures.com . When she isn’t crafting with her kiddos, going on the next adventure, or writing for MilMomAdventures, she has contributed to NextGen MilSpouse, Daily Mom Military and Military Disney Tips while reheating her first cup of coffee for the tenth time.

The CDC releases guidelines for fall celebrations

With pumpkin spice lattes back and a bit of chill in the air, thoughts turn to the largest family gathering of the year, Thanksgiving. Families travel from all over the country to gather for a large meal, football games and parades. For military families, the holidays often mean travel to your hometown or family coming to visit you. This year with the COVID-19 pandemic, is it safe to have a large group of 20-30 in a home with no hope of social distancing? Can you enforce mask wearing? So how do you celebrate safely? The CDC recently released a set of guidelines to help mitigate your risk.

Before you plan to host a holiday celebration or attend one, check local regulations at local and state levels. Assess the current COVID-19 levels of the community where the event will take place. This factor as well as the location and duration of the affair contribute to the risk of getting infected. The safest way to celebrate is virtually or with just members of your immediate household. Anybody sick with COVID-19, has symptoms of COVID-19, been exposed to a person who has COVID-19 or anybody at higher risk of the illness should not attend.

CDC Guidelines on how to mitigate risk:

• Do not hold your event if there are higher levels of COVID-19 in your community or where you are traveling to. Do not allow people to attend who are coming from higher risk areas.
• If possible hold your event outside. Many parks have large pavilions to rent which allow for distancing. If you hold indoors open windows to increase ventilation.
• The longer the event the greater the risk. Plan a shorter one to be safer.
• Check your local restrictions on the number of people who can attend the event. The more people the greater your risk. Evaluate the space to make sure everyone can social distance.
• Enforce safe behavior by requiring masks, social distancing of at least six feet and frequent handwashing or the use of hand sanitizer. Plan to have extra masks, tissues, and hand sanitizer available.
• Have all attendees avoid contact with people outside of their households for 14 days prior to the event. After the event if you have been exposed to a lot of people outside of your immediate household
• Avoid close contact. No hugs, kisses, or handshakes. Waving is a good substitute.
• Food Safety – For those in contact with the food wash hands often. Have one person serve the food so multiple people are not in contact with the serving utensils. Use single serving condiments. According to the CDC, currently there is no evidence that handling or eating food directly spreads COVID-19.
• Throughout the event clean and sanitize high touch areas. After the event wash all linens such as tablecloths, napkins, and kitchen towels as well as hand towels.

Although travel poses its own risks it may be a good option for multi-family get togethers. Pick a central destination for extended family to meet. Ideally a place within driving distance for everyone so no one must fly. If you do fly look for airlines that don’t book all the seats on a flight. Check out a full-service resort or a rent a separate cabin for each family. A resort allows separate sanitized rooms and lots of space on the property to spread out. The event planner can help plan a meal served in an event room which will allow for social distancing while dining. Some cabin resorts have facilities for groups and if you keep your numbers down can be a safer option. Outdoor activities like hiking or walks on the beach are safer ways to spend time together than sitting door to dinner in a packed dining room.

What are your plans for Thanksgiving? How do you plan to keep your family safe? Share your tips in the comments.

Marguerite Cleveland is a freelance writer who specializes in human interest and travel stories. She is a military brat, a veteran and now a military spouse.  Her military experience is vast as the daughter of a Navy man who served as an enlisted sailor and then Naval Officer. She served as an enlisted soldier in the reserves and on active duty, then as an Army Officer. She currently serves as a military spouse. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two sons. Visit her website www.PeggyWhereShouldIGo.com

Halloween is eerie and amusing. In September and October, the weather cools, sweaters come out, crockpots are filled with chili and the weekends are filled with pumpkin picking and Halloween themed activities. Instead of visits to theme parks for their Halloween-themed parties or fall festivals with bobbing for apples, this year will be fueled by creative ways to celebrate the spirit of the holiday.  While the celebrations will be different this year, they are creative and safe ways to celebrate Halloween.

1. Make costume making a contest at home. If everyone isn’t of an age to whip out the hot glue gun and sew sequins, make it a drawing contest! Make plans for fun costumes to make together by drawing ideas for family costumes. Challenge each other to be creative with what you have in the house. This will minimize going out for a shopping trip for costumes and utilize what you have on hand in a fun way. Get ideas for costumes using your solid color outfits on primary.com’s DIY costume section.
2. Wear costumes once a week. Let’s be honest parents – we all love the costume activities throughout the month of October because we can get that unit cost down on that costume we bought. Keep that weekly spirit alive by designating a costume day a week. Maybe a Freaky Friday? Most of the country is virtual schooling anyway!
3. Make fall treats at home. While large group gatherings aren’t recommended by the CDC currently, staying at home to make all the fall treats is still doable. Make popcorn balls, pumpkin cake, and apple cider at home. Check with local farms near you to see if they are offering curbside pickup of their treats to enjoy at home.
4. Boo your neighbors and friends. Booing friends has become a tradition that we look forward to every year. So much so that we start prepping the next years basket in the current season! Booing can be done safely. Prepare baskets with store-bought items. If you want to provide extra precautions consider wrapping the basket in cellophane and “quarantine” it prior to delivery of said “Boo.” Given the different levels of comfort, text or call the person you are “boo”ing beforehand to make sure they are okay with it and let them know what precautions you took. If you are “Boo’d” and you don’t know who dropped it off, you can quarantine it for a few days before digging into it.
5. Decorate your home outside. It is common for families to walk or drive around neighborhoods to take in holiday décor, why not decorate outside the home encouraging the neighborly spirit and take a walk enjoying the décor in your neighborhood?!
6. Make it a Quarun-team Halloween. If you have a group of families or friends that have been socially distancing together, consider doing a round robin at just those homes or backyards for a Halloween themed activity or treat. It will keep up the Halloween holiday spirit without the large gathering.  
7. Keep Trick or Treating Outside. While haunted houses (and garages) are awesome, closed spaces are not ideal this year. Don’t forget to wear cloth masks and avoid large crowds. Trick or treat with tongs to put candy into bags to minimize touching and once you are home from trick or treating, resist the urge to raid the bag for a few days allowing for your candy to “quarantine.” 
8. Have one person hand out candy. To minimize multiple hands being in the bowl, have one person hand out the candy directly into the trick-or-treaters baskets. Other creative ways to trick or treat are to put candy on a laundry line for children or on straws in their yard to “pick” off the line or the ground.

If you or your child have been exposed to COVID-19 or may have COVID-19, it is recommended you do not participate in in-person Halloween activities like trick or treating or handing out candy to trick-or-treaters. Instead, stay home, rest, and cuddle up with The Great Pumpkin. Call your doctor or pediatrician as needed.

While this year has certainly required creativity for the everyday, it is in full effect for Halloween this year. Now as Shakespeare said in MacBeth, “double, double toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble.”

Heather Walsh is a mom, Marine wife, Navy child, blogger, and lover of all things crafty and Disney. Professionally, she is a Physician Assistant and writer and has a passion for helping others to stay positive and supported. She has been writing since KidPix was on a floppy disk! She is one of three women who founded MilMomAdventures, sharing travel and lifestyle tips for the military family at www.milmomadventures.com . When she isn’t crafting with her kiddos, going on the next adventure, or writing for MilMomAdventures, she has contributed to NextGen MilSpouse, Daily Mom Military and Military Disney Tips while reheating her first cup of coffee for the tenth time.

By Marguerite Cleveland

The Department of Defense (DoD) recently extended the use of expired Uniformed Services ID Cards (USID) until June 30, 2021. USIDs are the identification cards used by family members and retirees. This extension only applies to USIDs and not expired Common Access Cards (CAC) used by active duty and civilians working on an installation or Volunteer Logical Access Credentials (VoLAC) which will now expire on September 30, 2020.

The original extension was issued in April 2020 and designed to help maintain operations at DoD ID card offices and to minimize the number of non-essential required visits to an office. The process was changed to temporarily extend the expiration dates on the cards during the COVID-19 pandemic so that less people were visiting ID card offices. Those with an expired USID can continue to use it to access their military benefits including health care, access to the installation, and Commissary privileges.

Those with expired CAC or VoLAC cards will need to visit an ID card office to replace their expired cards. Check your local installation for hours, COVID-19 requirements and whether you will need to make an appointment.

The DoD can remotely issue first time USIDs for family members and retirees. Lost or stolen cards can also be issued remotely. These ID cards are issued with an expiration date not to exceed one year from the date it is issued. The minimum age for initial USIDs for family members changed in April 2020 from age 10 to age 14.

Mobilized reservists and their eligible dependents will continue to use the reserve-component USIDs to obtain authorized active duty benefits.

Marguerite Cleveland is a freelance writer who specializes in human interest and travel stories. She is a military brat, a veteran and now a military spouse.  Her military experience is vast as the daughter of a Navy man who served as an enlisted sailor and then Naval Officer. She served as an enlisted soldier in the reserves and on active duty, then as an Army Officer. She currently serves as a military spouse. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband and two sons. Visit her website www.PeggyWhereShouldIGo.com

The world is kind of a lot right now, to be honest. We’ve all been socially distant from other people for forever, the news isn’t great and also we can’t travel.

No wonder you’re stuck in a rut! But you can do these 13 self-care things to unstick yourself and get back to living your best life.

13 Self-Care Things for When You’re Stuck in a Rut

1. Face Mask Relaxing

When the world gets to be too much, my skin shows it first. Which means it’s face mask time! I love the Aztec clay masks or the overnight Watermelon mask from Trader Joe’s. They refresh my skin and are easy on my bottomline.

2. Long Soak with Extra Bubbles

While I’m enjoying my mask, you’d better believe I’m soaking in a hot tub with all of the bubbles. So many bubbles. Mr. Bubbles is the hands-down best bubble bath solution: lots of bubbles plus that nostalgic scent!

3. Soothing Tea, Hot or Iced

A cup of tea. There’s just something about sipping tea, hot or iced, that makes me feel a little better. Right now, I’m loving iced hibiscus tea with just a little extra sweetness. In the winter, catch me sipping on Celestial Seasonings Lemon-Ginger tea for it’s throat soothing qualities.

4. Strip Your Feet

You can’t control much, but you can control the state of your feet. Indulge in a foot peel at home. Over the course of a week or so, all the dead skin on the outside of your foot will literally peel away, leaving behind incredibly soft, smooth tootsies.!

5. Listen Up

Pop in your earbuds and listen to something other than the news. We’ve been jamming out to the Hamilton soundtrack in my house. And when I’m alone it’s 100% true crime, all the time. Listening to something can be such an escape from the normal routine of life!

6. Walk it Out!

As Elle Woods would remind you, “Endorphins make you happy.” Exercise builds up those happy endorphins. So go take a walk outside, because fresh air also helps to lighten your mood!

7. Stretch Yourself

Yoga has long been a method to relax and rest your body and mental state. There are tons of great practices to stream on YouTube. My fave right now is Yoga with Adriene. She’s got a gentle, highly adaptable practice that invites movement for every body.

8. Lay Down

Honestly, sometimes laying down is a great way to literally take a load off. Unroll that yoga mat or lay down a picnic blanket.

Just lay there, eyes shut. Maybe listen to music or a podcast.

9. Add Color

Remember when you were 5 and could color for hours? Reconnect to the moment with a nice set of Crayolas and an adult coloring book!

10. Smell the Roses

Got flowers? Smell them! Enjoying the natural fragrance of flowers can be a huge mood booster. Treat yourself to a pretty bouquet to bring floral joy inside your house.

11. DIY Mani/Pedi

My nails were looking pretty wrecked what with, you know, a pandemic closing salons and spas. So I treated myself to a few new polishes and DIYed a mani/pedi experience at home, foot bath and all.

12. Ignore the News

One of the best things I did during self-isolation was to tune out the news. Instead of a constant stream of news updates and click-baity headlines, I got nothing. Pure silence. Which left me more time to walk outside, do yoga, smell flowers and color.

13. Turn the Page

Now that I’m not tuning into the news constantly, I also have time to read. I’m loving the digital library downloads from both my local library and the Navy MWR Library. Now, I’ve got books in the palm of my hand, whenever I want.

How are you practicing self-care right now? Share your best tips and tricks!

DALLAS – With the swipe of a card, military shoppers worldwide will get a chance to win their share of $25,000 in cash during the MILITARY STAR_® card’s Home for the Holidays sweepstakes.

Through Oct. 15, all shoppers who use a MILITARY STAR card to make two purchases from any military exchange (including ShopMyExchange.com, myNavyExchange.com, ShopCGX.com and exchange concessionaires) or participating Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) facility plus two purchases at any commissary operated by the Defense Commissary Agency will be automatically entered into the sweepstakes.

Five lucky winners—one each from the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard—will each be awarded $5,000.

“This has been a stressful, unprecedented year, and Warfighters and their families could use some holiday cheer,” said Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Kevin Osby, Army & Air Force Exchange Service senior enlisted advisor. “This sweepstakes will make it easier for our lucky winners to spread some much-needed joy to their friends and family this holiday season.”

The MILITARY STAR card is administered by the Army & Air Force Exchange Service. Winners will be announced on or about Nov. 13. For official rules and alternate method of entry, visit https://MyECP.com/CustomerAds/Page/Exchange.

Facebook-friendly version: Through Oct. 15, military exchange and commissary shoppers will get a chance to win $25,000 in cash prizes in the MILITARY STAR_® card’s Home for the Holidays sweepstakes—and entering is as simple as swiping a card. Read more: https://wp.me/p9Q7PG-1uw.

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Since 1895, the Army & Air Force Exchange Service (Exchange) has gone where Soldiers, Airmen and their families go to improve the quality of their lives by providing valued goods and services at exclusive military pricing. The Exchange is the 61^st-largest retailer in the United States. Its earnings provided $2.2 billion in dividends to support military morale, welfare and recreation programs over the last 10 years. The Exchange is a non-appropriated fund entity of the Department of Defense and is directed by a Board of Directors. The Exchange is a 50th Anniversary Vietnam War Commemorative Partner, planning and conducting events and activities that recognize the service, valor and sacrifice of Vietnam Veterans and their families in conjunction with the United States of America Vietnam War Commemoration. To find out more about the Exchange history and mission or to view recent press releases please visit our website at http://www.shopmyexchange.com or follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/ExchangePAO.

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Media Notes:

For more information or to schedule an interview with an Exchange representative please contact Conner Hammett, 214-312-2714 or hammettc@aafes.com.

Follow the Exchange:

Facebook:  www.facebook.com/shopmyexchange

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/shopmyexchange

Instagram: @shopmyexchange