Living overseas is an adventure most military spouses dream of. But as anyone who has lived overseas knows, it comes with some challenges. One of those is the expense of flying home.
One military spouse wrote in and said, “I think it's totally unfair of the military to station us overseas in Japan and not pay for any flights home for the entire tour. Yes, we could fly Space-A, but it's not realistic because it's not predictable, and we are almost two hours away from the terminal.”
Being away from family is hard, and it often seems harder when an ocean - or two - separate you from them. You can’t just drive home if you want.
But, it’s not the military’s responsibility to bring you back to your home town.
Generally speaking, the military gives service members two options when it comes to some assignments, such as those in South Korea and Japan.
They can either go for a one-year hardship tour solo and receive a mid-tour R&R visit home on Uncle Sam's dime, or they can request to take their family with them for a two-year accompanied tour and not be flown back to the States at all.
Not every accompanied request is granted. Even getting stationed with your service member is a major perk. If you don't want to be there, you could stay stateside and let him or her serve and visit you via Space-A solo.
It’s important to remember that an accompanied tour is something many military families want but are not granted.
To make things a little easier on your pocketbook for stateside visits, the Defense Department does pay for flights home -- but they are through Space-A. Yes, that's unpredictable, but it is a paid-for flight.
Honestly, saying that two hours is too far to go to deal with flights discredits the folks stateside in rural locations who don't have Space-A access but still must travel just as far or farther to deal with traveling from their duty station. Good luck finding an airport within two hours if you're stationed at Fort Irwin, California, for example.
We hate to say “someone else has it worse, so be grateful for what you have,” but that’s what we’re thinking. Living overseas has its pros and cons and we suggest your focus on the pros.
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