Expert: Rod Powers - 12/25/2007

Question
Rod,

I will admit I am in dire straits, my mother is has Multiple sclerosis, its a spinal/neurological disease, that effects movement, coordination, and even the thought process. Recently it has escalated, and she has been forced to be hospitalized / rehab over and over again. I was paying almost all her finances while I was home (or in conus) but I received hot billet orders over seas with but no time to prepare. Now, all the expenses are falling on my brothers due to my inability to contact home, and my issues with organizing pay, plus the costs of settling in to a new command. This is difficult as we are all young 23-26 and are just starting our careers. I need to claim her as a dependant, and I have sent in a packet to DFAS, they sent her a packet of some sort, my brother filled it out and sent it in as well, it has been 5 months now, I have no way of contacting DFAS, nor have I received a response. I am in desperate need of assistance as my mother is in severe danger of losing her house, with her only income coming from social security/disability. These are extremely hard times for me. Please tell me you know of some way for me to get in direct contact with DFAS in regards to current state, or better yet other avenues for me to take. As dramatic as it sounds, losing that house will destroy my mother, and I fear only speed up her disease/death. I am sorry for the inconvenience; please tell me there’s something I can do!

P.s. I am in Japan, so I am a few hours ahead of pacific time


Answer
Hi Josh,

First of all, you can ask your local Finance office (PSD) to contact DFAS and ask on the status, via message. That would probably be easiest.

Don't be afraid to ask your supervisors, chiefs, Command Master Chief, or XO for help. That's what the "chain of command" is there for.

DFAS's toll-free customer service telephone number is: 1-888-332-7411.

You can also post a question to DFAS customer service personnel on their message board at: https://corpweb1.dfas.mil/askDFAS/askMilPay.jsp.

For more information about the United States Military, feel free to visit my U.S. Military information site at: http://usmilitary.about.com

Hope this helps!

Rod Powers
http://usmilitary.about.com