“All the cumulative policies” Trump has promoted, including tax cuts and deregulation, “can’t be upended by a temporary Middle East skirmish,” Hassett said on Fox News. “This is really an economy that can’t be slowed down” added Hassett, director of the National Economic Council.

Hasset spoke as air raid sirens once again sounded in Israel and across the Gulf States to guard against another round of drone and missile strikes from Iran but before reports from the region said that a U.S. warplane had been shot down over Iran and the fate of the crew was unknown.

Later reports from several outlets said that one of the members of the two-member crew had been rescued by U.S. forces and a search was continuing for the second.

Hassett’s rosy analysis was prompted by the monthly jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showing that U.S. employers added 178,000 jobs in March, blowing past estimates that about 60,000 jobs would be added to payrolls.

In a post on X, White House spokesperson Kush Desai said, “The March jobs report blew out expectations with strong construction job growth and a surge in manufacturing job creation as trillions of dollars in investments begin to materialize.”

However, the March jobs report was based on BLS data collected by mid-March, which was before the Feb. 28 start of the Iran war, and did not gauge the impact of $4 gasoline, $104 crude or wild swings in the stock market indexes. The markets were closed Friday, and so the impact of the BLS report on the markets would have to wait for them to re-open Monday.

The jobs report also showed that the national unemployment rate ticked down from 4.4% in February to 4.3% in March, while the jobless rate for all veterans came down from 4.1% in February to 3.9% in March.

The closely-watched unemployment rate for post-9/11 veterans also came down from 4.8% in February to 4.5% in March.

Health care added 76,000 jobs in March, construction added 26,000 and manufacturing added 15,000, while federal government employment continued to decline in March, losing 18,000 jobs, the BLS said. Since October 2024, the number of jobs in federal government has declined by 355,000, or 11.8%.

Justice officials allege that S & K Towing Inc., of San Clemente, California, violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act by selling or disposing of as many as 148 vehicles without a court order, even when they knew, or should have known, that the vehicles were owned by military members.

Some of the vehicles were registered to addresses on Camp Pendleton, including rooms in the barracks. In other cases, the company auctioned off vehicles even after being told the owner was in the military, according to Justice officials. Some of the vehicles contained military equipment, uniforms and awards.

The lawsuit, filed March 25 in federal court in the Central District of California, alleges that S&K Towing Inc. towed hundreds of vehicles from the base from Aug. 28, 2020, through at least April 15, 2025, under a memorandum of agreement with the base to respond to calls for towing services made by the base police department. The alleged illegal auctions or disposals of the vehicles also occurred during that time frame.

Justice officials asked the court to rule that the company violated the SCRA; to award appropriate monetary damages to the service members, and take other steps needed for restitution; to order the company to take steps to eliminate future illegal conduct; and to assess civil penalties.

CarMax to pay at least $420K to settle allegations of illegal repossessions of troops' cars

According to California law, when law enforcement or a governmental agency directs the removal of a vehicle to a storage facility, the receiving facility holds a garageman’s lien against the vehicle.

The facility may enforce its lien by conducting a public sale of the vehicle or by disposing of the vehicle to a licensed dismantler or scrap iron processor. While operating its business, S & K Towing — which also operates a vehicle storage facility — regularly enforced its liens by selling motor vehicles through public lien sales or to dismantlers or scrap iron processors, according to the lawsuit.

“Towing companies must respect and abide by the federal laws that protect members of our Armed Forces,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, in the announcement of the legal action.

“Service members are often absent for extended periods due to training and deployments and may not know that their vehicle has been towed,” she stated. “The SCRA plays an important role in providing these service members with adequate legal protections, including notice and the opportunity to have towing and storage fees adjusted in light of their military service.”

When reached by telephone, S & K Towing declined to comment about the allegations in the lawsuit, nor did they have any comment about whether S & K Towing still has an agreement with Camp Pendleton to provide towing services. Information was not immediately available from base officials about whether that agreement is still in effect.

The agreement required S & K Towing to comply with all applicable state and federal laws, but Justice officials said the company had no SCRA policies or training materials and took no steps to verify owners’ military status before selling or disposing of the towed vehicles.

An automated database run by the Defense Manpower Data Center and provided by the Defense Department is intended to help lienholders and others check whether individuals are protected by the SCRA.

A military legal assistance attorney at Camp Pendleton notified S & K Towing by letter and by phone in May 2024 that they were violating the law by selling or disposing of service members’ vehicles without a court order. The person who identified himself as a manager/owner of S & K Towing responded by saying, “We do this all the time,” according to the lawsuit.

Then, Justice officials contend, after that notification, S & K Towing continued to sell and dispose of service members’ vehicles without getting court orders.

Justice officials urge service members and dependents who believe their SCRA rights have been violated to contact their military legal assistance office. Contact information can be found at legalassistance.law.af.mil/.

Defense officials are specifically interested in issues where state governments are the primary agents for positive change, according to the request for information posted in the Federal Register on Tuesday by the Defense Department’s office of the deputy assistant secretary of defense for military community and family policy.

They’re asking for input on what should be considered for 2028.

Submissions are due by April 23. Information on how to submit the input can be found in the Federal Register notice. The notice includes information that should be included, such as a title for the issue; the description of the issue with a problem statement about who is affected and whether the issue could be solved by change in state procedures, state regulations or state laws; a description of a potential solution; a description of the current status of the issue; and contact information for any needed follow up.

“The proposed solution should positively impact the quality of life of service members and their families, positively contribute to readiness, or both,” according to the Federal Register request for information.

Each year, officials in DOD’s State Liaison Office choose policy priorities for states to consider that cause barriers because of the mobility and uncertainty of military life. They’ll consider the public’s input in crafting their priorities.

Over the years, DOD’s State Liaison office officials have worked to inform state legislators and others about steps they could consider to help ease burdens related to a number of issues, such as easing the transitions of military children into new school schools and military spouse employment, including the transfer of professional licenses when spouses move to a new permanent duty station.

For 2026, the DOD State Liaison’s Office priorities for states to consider are:

• Exempting DOD-certified in-home child care providers from state licensure requirements.

• Speeding up the adoption and implementation of professional licensure compacts to ensure seamless portability, reduce financial strain and support long-term military family stability.

• Including military clauses in state family leave laws to help spouses address urgent family needs without risking income or job insecurity — when the service member is activated or in training, for example.

• Providing solutions for military homeschoolers, such as expanding access to school extracurricular activities and sports.

• Improving local implementation of policies that support military-connected children, and help families by clarifying requirements and streamlining access to information on state and local education websites.

• Providing state support for military families with special needs, ensuring timely establishment of services when families relocate and reducing procedural burdens.

• Providing open enrollment so that students can remain in their current school in spite of moving from temporary to permanent housing.

• Adopting policies that facilitate concurrent juvenile jurisdiction between the military and civilian authorities.

• Enhancing state laws to further protect victims of interpersonal violence by increasing access to civilian protective orders for victims, and mandating required sharing of information between military and civilian law enforcement authorities.

• Establishing statewide military-focused councils that consider military family readiness and dedicate at least one seat to member of the military community.

There’s not enough data to determine the risk of long-term health effects caused by exposure to that kerosene-based aviation fuel, known as JP-5, according to the report, which was based on research conducted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

The authors did find “limited, suggestive evidence linking jet fuel exposure to short-term respiratory, gastrointestinal, skin and mental health symptoms,” which many military families experienced early on after the fuel leak.

The researchers cited the dearth of information and data about the detection, treatment and long-term effects of exposure to jet fuel in the 282-page report, titled “Clinical Follow-up and Care for Those Impacted by the JP-5 Releases at Red Hill.”

The research was sponsored by the departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs.

In a Thursday webinar, researchers said the limitation of data needs to be addressed so that long-term health effects can be better understood. They recommended various long-term research efforts.

Meanwhile, medical providers caring for people who were potentially exposed to the contaminated water should document exposure history, carefully evaluate and document symptoms and ensure continuity of primary care, the researchers recommended.

About 93,000 people were affected by the Navy’s two accidental releases of JP-5 in 2021. The fuel releases contaminated the drinking water supply for Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam and the Aliamanu Military Reservation.

Immediately after the contamination, Navy officials told families it was OK to drink and bathe in the water. Some families experienced severe rashes, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal problems, as well as respiratory problems, mental health symptoms and other issues.

Military officials later gave families the choice of moving to hotels while the fuel was being flushed from the water distribution system and paid their expenses.

'Why weren't you there to protect us?' Hawaii families grill Navy leaders about toxic water

More than four years later, families continue to be concerned about their long-term health, including their children. Many babies were bathed in the contaminated water. Some people have had persistent, continuing symptoms. About 2,000 military families have filed lawsuits against the government alleging negligence and harm to their health.

There are no diagnostic or screening tests to determine past exposure, and there are no specific laboratory tests for detecting JP-5 in blood or urine. The report recommended research to develop and validate biological markers of petroleum associated with exposure to jet fuel, supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institutes of Health, DOD and VA.

There are no known medical procedures that can detox or neutralize the effects of JP-5, the researchers stated.

In addition to their extensive review of available scientific evidence, the researchers visited Red Hill and the Honolulu Board of Water Supply and held 15 meetings with those affected in the community, including service members, military families, civilians and other Oahu residents. They also held additional in-person and virtual listening sessions.

A central theme that emerged from these community interactions was the breakdown of trust between residents and the medical system, researchers found. Families reported repeatedly trying to seek help for themselves and their children, while their conditions worsened.

Those individuals who were affected by the fuel leaks have been encouraged to sign up for registries, including the University of Hawaii Red Hill Independent Health Registry and, for the DOD population, the Red Hill Defense Occupational and Environmental Health Readiness System (DOEHRS) Registry.

But the researchers recommended that DOD link their Red Hill registry with patients’ electronic health records and claims data. Many in the mobile military community who were affected have relocated, and their electronic health record follows them.

Researchers recommended that DOD maintain this registry and expand it to include all individuals who lived or worked at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam or Aliamanu from May 6, 2021 to March 18, 2022.

Based on their review, the Academies researchers recommended other actions that could make a positive impact on the lives of people who are affected by these incidents in the future, such as developing a standardized environmental sampling and chemical analysis methods to test for petroleum contamination in drinking water.

“For military families, the event was experienced as a breach of trust, while for many civilians and Native Hawaiians, it confirmed enduring concerns about military activities and their impact on land and water,” the report stated.

“The contamination of drinking water at Red Hill stands as a defining environmental health event for Hawaii and for the nation,” the report continued. “It reveals how deeply the safety of water, the health of communities and the integrity of institutions are intertwined.

“For thousands of families the crisis raises serious questions about drinking water safety and breached trust with institutions.”

Commissaries will soon start charging shoppers for paper and plastic single-use bags.

Starting April 6, customers will pay 5 cents each for plastic bags and 10 cents for paper bags. The move will save the commissary system money, officials stated in their announcement about the change.

It “will allow the Defense Commissary Agency to continue to offer its eligible patrons significant savings while strengthening its fiscal stewardship and reducing operating expenses,” officials stated.

Providing the single-use bags costs the commissary agency $17 million a year, said commissary spokesman Keith Desbois.

The commissary agency receives about $1.5 billion per year in taxpayer dollars to operate these discounted grocery stores as a benefit for the military community. The Defense Department’s goal is an overall savings of 25% compared to commercial stores outside the gate.

Officials encouraged customers to bring their own reusable bags, or purchase them from the commissary. Those stores sell a variety of reusable bags, including hot/cold special bags at different prices, with one basic option listed at 44 cents.

This change doesn’t apply to commissaries in Guam, Hawaii, California and Washington, because of local, state or territorial laws banning single-use bags.

Shoppers who use the commissary’s Click2Go curbside or delivery service will have the option to purchase bags online when checking out. According to the commissary website, customers can also note at the end of their Click2Go order that they will be bringing their own bags.

Those customers using the self-checkout lanes will be prompted to enter the number of single-use bags used at the end of the order, as many commercial grocery stores do in areas where customers are charged for bags.

With the U.S. and Israel attacks against Iran in their third week, Americans’ thoughts and actions have been turning toward sending care packages with various hygiene products, snacks and a host of other items.

But according to the U.S. Postal Service, there are currently 28 ZIP codes where mail services have been temporarily suspended, all of which appear to be Army or Air Force post offices. No ships are currently listed, although mail service is sporadic in many locations because of operational needs and restrictions. There are also 17 Diplomatic Post Office (DPO) suspensions.

The U.S. Postal Service doesn’t share exact locations associated with APO, FPO or DPO ZIP codes with the public, said David P. Coleman, a spokesman for the Postal Service. The decisions about suspensions of service to military and diplomatic post offices are made by the Military Postal Service Agency and the Department of State.

The Military Postal Service Agency serves as an extension of the U.S. Postal Service and provides postal services to Defense Department personnel and their families at locations around the world.

What happens to those care packages if they can’t be delivered?

Packages that were accepted before their particular ZIP code suspension took effect are held for future delivery after the suspension is lifted, Coleman said.

“No packages are being returned to sender at this time,” he said.

If a customer takes a package to a postal counter for mailing, the automated system will inform the postal employee that mail services have been suspended for that ZIP code, and the representative will hand the package back to the customer. If the customer drops off the package in a receptacle, the package will be held for future delivery after the suspension is lifted.

Scott Raab, director of operations for Troopathon, a nonprofit charity that has sent over 1,000 tons of hand-packed boxes of items to troops over the past two decades, said he sent 1,000 boxes to the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford on March 12, and another 2,000 boxes to troops elsewhere that week.

The organization always checks to make sure service members’ ZIP codes are not on the suspension list, he told Military Times. He urges others to check the U.S. Postal Service’s suspension list, which is updated frequently, and has been updated daily this week.

While Troopathon primarily uses the Postal Service, they also have contacts within units, where they can find additional ways to get boxes to troops to fulfill their needs. There’s a form for requesting a care package at Troopathon.org. Troops can request the packages, and families can request them for their deployed service members.

The Troopathon boxes are always free to the troops or their families who request them, and they contain a couple hundred dollars’ worth of items, Raab said. Troopathon also raises money for postage, which is generally about $15 to $20 for each 12X12x6 box. Popular items include basic hygiene products, snacks, cookies, coffee and socks.

One military mother posted on social media about the needs of her son’s squadron at his base in the Middle East after their military exchange had to close. That post quickly spread to other spouse groups, and Amazon found out about it — and contacted her about sending items.

“Now all of these people from all over the world are sending his base thousands of dollars of goodies like protein bars, cans of coffee, energy drinks, tampons, toilet paper, body wipes and toothbrushes,” she told Military Times.

“I don’t know when they’re ever going to get it because they’re not delivering mail, because they have more important things to deliver, but when they do deliver, they’re going to have a whole lot of goodies coming their way,” added the Air Force mother, who asked to remain anonymous.

“I told my son, ‘I understand that you guys aren’t getting any mail, but there’s going to come a time when your people get tired and they’re going to need some care packages just for morale.’”

Those civilians, who aren’t eligible beneficiaries of military medical care, include a variety of people, from Department of Defense civilian employees to other civilians who received emergency and trauma treatment at any military treatment or clinic, both overseas and stateside, since June 21, 2023.

Military medical facilities can provide care to individuals who aren’t eligible beneficiaries in certain circumstances, by law, usually on a reimbursable basis. But the high cost of medical care was putting some of these civilians in financial distress. So Congress passed a provision in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act that gave DOD the authority to protect patients from financial harm, to apply a sliding fee scale and catastrophic fee waiver.

The billing was paused in June 2023 in order for DOD to develop the new Military Health System Modified Payment and Waiver Program, to help these civilians who face financial difficulty.

Once the patient receives a medical bill, if they face financial harm, they are encouraged to apply for the program, officials stated in an email response to questions.

“We encourage all non-beneficiary civilians who received treatment in an MTF or clinic after June 21, 2023 to take full advantage of this program to see how much financial relief they may qualify for when they receive their bill,” officials stated.

While officials did not provide a timeline for the bills, a Feb. 6 Federal Register final rule implementing the program stated it became effective March 9. Information was not available about the estimated total amount of the billing. Each individual bill will vary and is determined by the length and type of treatment.

According to the Military Health System, if patients have other health insurance, the military hospital or clinic where they received care will file medical claims on their behalf. The patient will be responsible for copays, coinsurance, deductibles, nominal fees and non-covered services.

Those without health insurance will get a bill from the military hospital or clinic where they received care.

Each bill will include instructions on how to apply for financial relief through the program.

All complete applications will be evaluated based on the standards outlined in the final rule, applying a sliding fee scale and catastrophic waiver benefits, officials said. The final rule also guarantees flexible installment plans to allow patients to spread out their payments over up to 72 months.

The Federal Register rule outlines an initial process for determining the sliding fee discount and catastrophic fee waiver, using the Federal Poverty Guidelines. Those whose annual household income is at or below 100% of that year’s Federal Poverty Guidelines may receive a full discount on their bill; others receive discounts based on the sliding scale. Those federal guidelines are based on annual household income and family size.

For example, for those in the U.S., except for Alaska and Hawaii, a household of four people with an annual income of $32,150 would be at 100% of the federal poverty level in 2026.

Instructions for applying for financial relief are also available at the MPWP web page. Patients can also contact the Defense Health Agency’s Debt Adjudication office for assistance, Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Standard Time at 210-295-3344, or by email at DHA-MPWP-Inquiries@health.mil.

The center – and two others like it in the pilot program under contract with the nonprofit Armed Services YMCA – are being opened with “lightning speed,” said Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Christopher J. Mahoney, at a ribbon cutting ceremony for the center, expected to open by the end of March. The power of the partnership between Armed Services YMCA and the Defense Department helps empower military families, increasing readiness and resilience, he said.

The Arlington center encompasses the third floor of the St. Athanasius Coptic Orthodox Church, located in a civilian area a few minutes from Fort Myer and the Pentagon. It was built out to meet the requirements of the Defense Department, including special ramps on either side of the building to facilitate the evacuation of mobile cribs and buggies.

The first center in the pilot program opened in Norfolk in May 2025 and is at 100% capacity.

The last of the three centers, opening in Virginia Beach this summer, will open just 28 months after the contract was signed. Military child development centers built in the military construction process can take upwards of five years before opening.

Between the National Capital Region and the Norfolk area, the waiting list has grown to about 2,000. The three centers will reduce that waiting list by more than 600, each with a capacity for 216 children. Families can request spots for their children in the centers at www.MilitaryChildCare.com, the portal for requesting all types of military child care. As of publication, 99 families had requested immediate spots at the Arlington center, with 260 requesting care in advance as they plan for the summer moving season.

More than 600 child care slots coming to these military families

Under the pilot program, parents pay the same fee they would at any DOD-run child development center. It’s based on total family income and the same for children of all ages. Armed Services YMCA bills DOD for the difference in what it costs them to provide the care.

DOD provides subsidies for child care in many settings, including their child development centers, where DOD typically covers about 50% of the cost of child care, with family fees covering the remainder.

Care is available for infants up to age 5, with 19 separate rooms featuring age-appropriate learning programs, toys and activities for each. Miniature stationary bikes for pre-schoolers and a sand table with colorful swimming fish and dinosaurs projected from above onto the sand are just two examples.

Among the many features are storage areas for car seats, as well as extra rooms that focus on gross motor skills that can also provide therapy for children.

Diapers, infant formula if requested, meals and snacks, and all other accoutrements, are provided at the child care centers.

The Arlington child development center will be licensed in Virginia and nationally accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Staff members undergo background checks and are trained with the same methods used in DOD child care centers. The center is inspected by local, state and DOD officials on a regular basis.

DOD runs the largest network of child development centers in the world, with 27,000 staff members caring for 172,000 military-connected children every year, said Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness Anthony Tata. That includes 739 child development and school-age centers, 148 youth and teen centers, and more than 800 family child care homes, he said.

Yet, he said, “We know there’s a gap in child care ... It’s partners like Armed Services YMCA that help close that gap,” Tata said.

DOD is trying to get the persistent 20% rate of spouse unemployment down to the national average of about 4%, he said. “Undergirding all of that is affordable, accessible child care.”

Over the years, DOD and the services have embarked on a number of efforts to increase the availability of child care. Information was unavailable from DOD officials about any other new initiatives underway to address child care shortages, or the number of children on waiting lists overall. There was no timeline available for when DOD expects to decide whether to expand these pilots to other areas.

”There’s no more important time for us to worry about child care than now," said retired Navy Vice Admiral William French, president and CEO of Armed Services YMCA. That 165-year-old nonprofit has a number of different programs focusing on young enlisted families at its 12 branches and 29 YMCA affiliates serving more than 104 military bases.

“But the one program that has the biggest impact on families is child care,” he said.

The Trump administration’s tax and spending package, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law last summer, “was significant tax legislation,” Susan Mitchell, executive director of the Armed Forces Tax Council, told Military Times.

“It’s vital that service members understand these tax changes, especially because many deal with the unique circumstances of military life, and there are unique tax rules that apply to them,” she said.

Mitchell highlighted some of the changes that will affect service members and their families.

Trump Accounts

Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, beginning July 5, parents of children 18 years old and younger with a Social Security number can open up a Trump Account — a tax-deferred savings account — in their child’s name. For children born between 2025 and 2028, parents can claim a one-time $1,000 seed contribution, provided by the U.S. Treasury, via IRS Form 4547 to establish the investment account.

Contributing to the child’s account is optional, but parents, grandparents, friends and employers can contribute up to a combined total of $5,000 each year to the child’s account. The money can’t be withdrawn before the child turns 18, at which point it can be used for qualified expenses like education, purchasing a first home and starting a business. After 18, the standard rules for traditional individual retirement accounts apply. For more information, visit trumpaccounts.gov.

Other One Big Beautiful Bill Act changes

Many of the changes under OBBBA are in effect for tax years 2025 through 2028. Among them are:

New car loans: Interest is tax deductible on car loans used to buy a new vehicle, as of Jan. 1, 2025. It must be for personal use, and the final assembly must have been in the United States. The maximum annual deduction is $10,000. The deduction phases out for single filers with modified adjusted gross income over $100,000 and joint filers over $200,000.

SALT deductions: The deduction allowed for state and local income taxes, property taxes and real estate taxes has increased from $10,000 to $40,000 for most taxpayers.

Tips tax deductions: Employees and self-employed individuals may deduct qualified tips that are received in occupations listed by the IRS. The maximum annual deduction is $25,000. For those self-employed, the deduction can’t exceed the individual’s net income. The deduction phases out for single filers with modified adjusted gross income over $150,000 and joint filers over $300,000.

Overtime tax deductions: Those who receive qualified overtime compensation may deduct the premium pay that exceeds their regular rate of pay — such as the “half” portion of “time-and-a-half” compensation. The maximum annual deduction is $12,500 for single filers and $25,000 for joint filers. The deduction phases out for taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income over $150,000, and over $300,000 for joint filers.

Deduction for seniors: Those who are age 65 and older may claim an extra deduction of $6,000, or $12,000 for a married couple where both spouses qualify. The deduction phases out for taxpayers with modified AGI over $75,000 and joint filers over $150,000. Your Social Security may be taxable, depending on your total income and filing status.

Standard deductions: The standard deduction has increased to $15,750 for single filers or married couples filing separately; $23,625 for single heads of households with dependents; and $31,500 for married couples filing jointly.

Mortgage interest: The mortgage interest deduction is still capped at $750,000 of indebtedness, and the law makes that permanent. This amount won’t increase in future years because of inflation.

Income from payment apps: The OBBBA repeals the requirement for 1099K forms for people who received a minimum of $600 for goods and services through payment apps like PayPal and Venmo. It raises that threshold to $20,000 in gross pay, and 200 transactions. Mitchell notes it applies to payments for goods and services, not money sent to family members, splitting rent or other personal, nontaxable transactions. But any income will still be taxable; the law just cuts down on the paperwork.

Earned Income Tax Credit: This applies to eligible low- and moderate-income workers. You may qualify for the EITC even if you can’t claim children on your tax return. The credit could reduce the amount of taxes owed or increase your refund. For example, for tax year 2025, a married couple filing jointly with three qualified children, with a maximum adjusted gross income of $68,675 might qualify for a credit of up to $8,046. There are special EITC rules and considerations for military members who receive nontaxable combat pay.

Child and dependent credits: The child tax credit is up to $2,200 per child under age 17 at the end of 2025. It’s phased out for single filers starting at $200,000 and for joint filers at $400,000, so it will apply to most of the military population, Mitchell said. To qualify this year, at least one parent and the child must have a valid Social Security number.

In addition, you and your spouse may be able to claim the child and dependent care credit if you paid for the care of a child under age 13 in order to work or actively look for work. It also applies to care for a disabled dependent. For 2025, the credit is a percentage of the child care expenses up to $3,000 per child with a maximum of $6,000 for two or more qualified dependents. The more you earn, the less the percentage of employment-related child care expenses that are allowed. But the OBBBA enhanced the credit — it now decreases more gradually as income rises. For more information, see IRS Publication 503, Child and Dependent Care Expenses. Those who have the dependent care flexible spending accounts can’t use the same child care expenses for this credit. Any money you contribute to a DCFSA reduces the amount of eligible expenses you can claim for the tax credit on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

Adoption of a child: Taxpayers can receive a credit of up to $17,280 of qualified adoption expenses. The full credit is available for a special-needs adoption. For joint filers with a modified AGI over $259,190, the credit begins to phase out.

But $5,000 of the credit is also refundable, meaning that taxpayers could get back more than what they owe in taxes.

529 plans: Effective Jan. 1, 2026, there have been significant enhancements, Mitchell said, including doubling the annual tax-free withdrawal allowed — from $10,000 to $20,000 — in connection with the beneficiary’s enrollment or attendance at an elementary or secondary school. Also, a lifetime maximum of $35,000 per beneficiary may be moved from a 529 plan to a Roth IRA tax-free and penalty-free.

Also of note

Unreimbursed moving expenses: Active-duty service members can still deduct unreimbursed moving expenses related to permanent-change-of-station moves. While DOD covers many expenses, there still may be some that aren’t fully reimbursed. Use IRS Form 3903 to deduct those. The OBBBA added the intelligence community to those eligible for this deduction.

Reserve component members who stay overnight when they travel more than 100 miles from home can deduct their unreimbursed expenses related to their duty. These expenses are limited to rates federal employees receive, including per diem.

Capital gains taxes: Military homeowners get an extra benefit when it comes to tax exclusions of profit from the sale of their residence. Generally, taxpayers avoid paying capital gains taxes on the sale of their home as long as they’ve owned and used it as their principal residence for at least two of the five years before the sale. The amount of profit that can be excluded from taxes is $250,000 for single taxpayers, and $500,000 for married couples filing jointly.

But military taxpayers can extend that qualifying time period by 10 years, up to 15 years, if they’re assigned to a duty station at least 50 miles from the house for a period of 90 days or more.

Military spouse residency for tax purposes: Under the Military Spouse Residency Relief Act, as amended by the Veterans Auto and Education Improvement Act of 2022, military spouses may elect to use one of three states for purposes of taxation: the military member’s domicile, the spouse’s domicile or the permanent duty station of the service member, regardless of which state where they currently reside. Additional info is available at militaryonesource.mil.

Filing taxes

Troops stationed outside the U.S. and Puerto Rico can qualify for an automatic extension to file and pay taxes until June 15, but will have to pay interest on any taxes not paid by the regular due date. Those overseas, as well as those in the U.S., can also request an additional extension to Oct. 15 using Form 4868.

Tax-filing deadlines for service members deployed to combat zones are extended for the period of their service in the combat zone, plus 180 days.

Most allowances, such as the Basic Allowance for Housing, aren’t taxable, but there are exceptions, such as the Basic Needs Allowance. The IRS has ruled that the Warrior Dividend payments of $1,776, sent to all service members in December, are not taxable.

When service members are serving in a combat zone, or in direct support, their income for any month in the zone is generally tax-free.

Defense officials began offering flexible spending accounts for dependent care and out-of-pocket health care costs in the last few years, allowing service members to contribute set amounts of pretax earnings to help defray their costs by reducing their taxable income. Service members have an additional grace period, through March 15, to incur eligible child care expenses, that can be reimbursed from the previous year’s contributions to their dependent care flexible spending account.

Free tax prep and filing help

Service members and their families have access to free, military-specific tax software and consultants, offered exclusively through Military OneSource’s MilTax resources. This is the only free tax preparation software designed for the military and the unique tax rules that apply to the military, guiding you through preparing and filing your federal tax returns and up to five state returns. Filing electronically is the fastest and most reliable way to get your taxes done, and to get your refund, Mitchell said.

According to the IRS, most refunds are issued within 21 days for taxpayers who file electronically and choose direct deposit. The IRS has a tool for checking on the status of your refund that you can find here.

Your eligibility for MilTax is verified through the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, widely known as DEERS. You get access to the MilTax free tax preparation software through militaryonesource.mil.

Connect with MilTax consultants by calling 800-342-9647. There are also overseas dialing options. Or you can log in to your Military OneSource account to start a secure live chat and schedule a consultation. They’re available 24 hours a day. These are experienced tax preparers who have certifications in their field, such as enrolled agents or certified public accountants. These MilTax consultants are available to those eligible for Military OneSource regardless of whether you use the separate MilTax software.

Also, some U.S. installations operate a volunteer income tax assistance tax center with tax preparation services. Check with your military legal assistance office or Military OneSource locator.

All DOD tax statements, including W-2s, are available through the military’s myPay site at mypay.dfas.mil.

Avoid common mistakes and scams

According to the IRS, the most common mistakes people make when filing their taxes are the wrong Social Security number, mathematical errors and omitting an item that an employer had already submitted with income.

“Make sure you’ve received all the income documents. If you receive something later, you can and should submit an amended return,” Mitchell said.

You should use the same number that’s on your Social Security card. If you use the electronic tax preparation software, you can usually avoid math mistakes, Mitchell said. She also advises printing out your return before filing it electronically to check for possible errors.

Scammers usually target people by impersonating the IRS to try to get you to share personal information. They try to scam people through mail, telephone, text, email and social media; the IRS doesn’t initiate contact with taxpayers in these ways, Mitchell said.

Among the warning signs that it’s a scam: the message is unexpected, rushes or threatens you; offers refunds, credits or deductions; pressures you for personal or financial information; tells you to “pay now or else”; or they don’t let you question or appeal the amount of “tax” you owe. Odd or misspelled words in web links can take you to harmful sites instead of IRS.gov.

If you choose to pay to get your taxes done through a paid preparer, be aware that if you borrow the money from that preparer that you expect to get as a refund, then you’ll pay a portion of that refund to the preparer for their fee. And they typically charge interest. By law, these loans, called tax refund anticipation loans or refund advance loans, can’t charge more than a 36% annual percentage rate.

For students in universal pre-kindergarten through grade 5, the lunch price will be $3.75. For those in grades six through 12, it will be $4. Breakfast for all grades will be $2.25.

Families who qualify for free meals based on federal guidelines receive lunch and breakfast at no cost. Children of families who qualify for reduced-price meals will still pay 40 cents for lunch and 30 cents for breakfast.

The DOD school meal programs are operated by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the Navy Exchange Service Command and the Marine Corps Community Service. The programs are subsidized by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

According to AAFES officials, their lunches are priced, on average, about $2 below the actual cost of $5.50 per plate. The Department of Defense Education Activity and USDA reimburse the exchanges for the direct costs not covered by sales.

By law, DoDEA schools, as participants in the U. S. Department of Agriculture meal program, must raise paid student lunch prices to a level comparable to the rates used for USDA reimbursement.

The DoDEA Student Meal Program meets the same USDA guidelines as schools in the continental United States, providing nutritional meals that contain whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and milk to students.

In 2025, AAFES provided 3.6 million meals at more than 70 schools in Europe and the Pacific.

For two years during the pandemic, parents didn’t have to pay for the meals, which were provided at grab-and-go locations.

According to the consent agreement, CarMax repossessed the vehicles of “at least 28 service members who were in military service or had been called to military service,” during the period from March 1, 2018, through at least Oct. 24, 2023. Each service member will receive $15,000, plus any lost equity in the repossessed vehicle.

CarMax will also pay a civil penalty of $70,380 to the U.S. government.

Hyundai subsidiary reaches settlement over troops’ repossessed cars

“The Department of Justice is proud to defend the rights of those who serve in our military and will continue to vigorously enforce the laws that protect them,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, in the announcement about the settlement.

Under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, businesses are prohibited from repossessing service members’ vehicles without a court order, as long as the service member made at least one payment on the vehicle before entering military service. This allows a judge to consider the factors involved, such as deployment, and possibly delay action against the service member.

Justice officials allege that in some cases, CarMax repossessed some vehicles even after the owners told CarMax that they were in the military. The company also allegedly failed to extend the SCRA protections to reservists who had received orders to report for active duty.

According to the consent agreement, CarMax neither admits nor denies the allegations.

In a statement emailed to Military Times, CarMax officials stated, “CarMax Auto Finance has cooperated fully with the DOJ to reach a resolution to the allegations and has further strengthened our existing compliance program. The resolution between the DOJ and CarMax Auto Finance does not constitute an admission of wrongdoing by CarMax Auto Finance.”

Since 2003, CarMax Auto Finance has provided relief to more than 26,000 service members and dependents, in line with the SCRA, in the form of finance charge reductions and protection from vehicle repossession, CarMax officials stated.

Troops to receive $3.5 million in settlement over vehicle leases

The company has taken action to enhance its processes for complying with the SCRA, expanded proactive screening and outreach and reinforced employee training, officials said.

CarMax is required to notify each affected service member by letter within 30 days, and must establish and maintain multiple cost-free methods for affected service members to contact them, including an email address, a website and a toll-free phone number. CarMax must also request that all the credit bureaus delete the negative information for accounts belonging to affected service members.

The settlement agreement also requires CarMax to send Justice officials its proposed SCRA policies and procedures for motor vehicle repossessions, including the review of military service information provided by borrowers, and searches of the Department of Defense Manpower Data Center database.

The agreement, which will be in effect for four years, lays out additional reporting requirements for CarMax.

Tricare Prime beneficiaries who see a primary care manager at a military hospital or clinic may be able to get a virtual appointment for urgent care if their local military treatment facility is booked, Tricare officials announced Thursday.

Patients can contact the Military Health System Nurse Advice line online or by phone at 1-800-TRICARE (874-2273). A nurse will assess whether they can get a virtual appointment that day or the following.

“This is part of the Defense Health Agency’s effort to improve health care access,” said Army Lt. Col. Ryan Shubat, chief of the Defense Health Agency’s primary care and mental health health care optimization, in the announcement.

The service is offered in the United States for eligible beneficiaries aged 12 and older, but not overseas or in U.S. territories.

Providers can address common urgent care issues, officials said, such as sinus congestion and infections; coughs; allergies; sore or hoarse throat; rashes; acne; muscle and joint pain; and headaches.

The nurse will ask about a patient’s symptoms, and decide whether the symptoms can be treated virtually. If it works for the patient, the nurse will set up the virtual appointment with a health care provider. Appointments are available from 6:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Providers can write prescriptions and send them directly to the patient’s pharmacy.

All virtual urgent care providers meet high standards for patient care, officials said. Each provider has credentials and privileges at a Defense Health Agency military hospital or clinic.

The visit is recorded in the patient’s electronic health record.

During a hearing on quality-of-life issues before the Senate Armed Services Committee’s personnel subcommittee, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David Wolfe cited a lack of available appointments for health care, and problems with Tricare’s reimbursement rates for health care providers in communities.

“What we’ve all seen over the length of our careers is a gradual erosion in the availability of that health care for our service members and their families,” Wolfe said.

This has been an issue for years, and problems with health care access have been exacerbated by new Tricare contracts implemented last year.

In spite of the time, effort and money spent on improving quality of life for service members and their families, “when you get down to the tactical level, there’s a gap,” said Chief Master Sergeant of the Space Force John Bentivegna. “They’re not feeling it day to day. They’re not feeling it around the kitchen table. They’re not feeling it when they call to get an appointment. They’re not feeling it when they try to get child care.”

The enlisted leaders talked about a range of issues, including their concerns about suicide and mental health, improvements to barracks, child care availability and uncertainty about pay related to federal shutdowns.

The services and the Defense Department have been working to increase child care slots. But Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., raised concerns about the persistent and long waitlists for military child care, citing waitlists of 7,800 children at the end of 2025.

“When I come back to ask these questions a year from now, are we still going to have a waitlist that’s 7,800 babies long?” she asked.

Warren contends the services haven’t done enough to attract and keep child care workers. The attrition rate is about 50% for child care workers in military child development centers, Warren said, and she criticized the Army, Navy and Air Force for not upgrading the pay scales by April 2025 as required by law.

When asked why they leave, workers say it’s low pay, according to Warren.

“You have the tools from Congress. We’ve already given them to you and you haven’t picked them up and used them,” she said.

However, Wolfe and Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John Perryman said they’ve been told that their services have already upgraded their pay scales, and it has made a difference in the staffing.

“We have moved out with [using] the authorities. We are making significant progress in reducing our waitlist,” Perryman said, while noting it’s not okay to have 1,400 children still waiting for care.

“Right now, we’ve got about 2,700 [children] with unmet need across the Air Force. And that’s absolutely not where we want to be,” Wolfe said. “We are committed to making sure that this number goes down over time and does not creep back up.”

But Warren said parents don’t have time to wait. “They don’t have a year that they can just set aside while they’re waiting around on a 1,400 or 2,700 waitlist. They’ve got to have child care now.”

To the Space Force and Marine Corps, she said, “You nailed it. And let’s keep it up because that’s what we’ve got to do.

“We can’t say that we are a military that cares about our families if we pretend to provide child care and then we’ve got a waitlist that’s got 7,800 babies waiting on it.”

“Senior commanders own the stick on this one,” said Lt. Gen. Chris Mohan, commanding general of Army Materiel Command, which is spearheading the effort to improve food for soldiers. Mohan said he expects beer and wine to be a point of discussion with Lt. Gen. Kevin Admiral, the commanding general of Fort Hood, Texas, where 42 Bistro, the first of five pilot locations, will bring the new campus-style dining beginning on Feb. 18.

The contract for the pilot locations allows for the option of selling beer and wine in these venues. Mohan said his advice to Gen. Admiral will be to look at the feedback from soldiers and the data about the usage. He also noted that they will want to consider what this does to the family environment, as the pilot plan hopes to attract families to dine in.

Decisions on beer and wine will be a deliberate process, Mohan stressed. “The key thing I’m focused on is breakfast, lunch and dinner for those soldiers who don’t have another option, who live in the barracks.”

During a media call with reporters about the new pilot venue, Mohan laid out some examples a commander might consider, such as selling beer and wine on Friday nights.

The decision will involve a negotiation between the local dining venue contractor and the senior commander, with AMC having a role, Mohan said.

The contractor, Compass Group, is processing the appropriate paperwork needed for selling beer and wine, “if and when that senior commander wants to cross that rubicon,” Mohan said.

Taxpayer funding will not be used, with the contractor paying a fee from the sales to the Morale, Welfare and Recreation fund.

“I know this has been an emotional topic for some, but we serve beer and wine at the bowling alleys that could be right next door,” Mohan said, as an example of other locations on bases that sell beer and wine.

“We trust our soldiers and we tell our soldiers, ‘Hey look, go carry a rifle, but on Friday night you can’t have a beer in a restaurant.’ I think we have to take a step back and trust our soldiers... Put bumpers on it, but let’s trust them.”

The 42 Bistro, named after the 1942 establishment of the camp, is scheduled for a grand opening on Feb. 18 and will be accessible seven days a week from 6:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Soldiers on the Essential Station Messing program — especially those in the barracks using a meal card — will have an entitlement of $39, or “freedom dollars,” per day to use at the dining facility. Those not on the meal card program will pay for items separately.

There have long been complaints about the quality and accessibility of food on certain installations. The Army’s campus-style dining initiatives are aimed at providing a remedy and helping soldiers who may not have the resources to go elsewhere.

The Fort Hood venue will be operated by Compass Group, which has a long history of providing food for airport lounges and select Division I universities, said Lt. Gen. Chris Mohan, commanding general of the Army Materiel Command.

“We owe it to soldiers to get this right,” Mohan said in a call with reporters, adding that there have been no changes to the food service program in about 20 years.

The 42 Bistro is slated to offer more than 3,000 recipes spread across seven food stations. Each venue will have an executive chef and registered dietician on staff.

Compass Group will also offer a food truck that will shuttle 42 Bistro options to different locations on the base.

Following the Fort Hood opening, Army and Compass Group officials plan to open four more pilot venues, starting with Fort Carson, Colorado, in March or April.

Venues at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and Fort Drum, New York, are expected to open this summer, with one more expected to open at Fort Stewart, Georgia in 2027, according to AMC spokeswoman Kim Hanson.

The Army will collect customer feedback on the five pilot programs to inform the next stage of expansion, Mohan said. Depending on results, other installations could follow, though overseas bases will be harder to bring online because of host nation agreements, Mohan noted.

Senior commanders will determine which dining facility will be converted, Mohan added, using criteria such as proximity to barracks.

The $39 entitlement, meanwhile, includes $9.57 for breakfast, $15.86 for lunch, and $13.57 for dinner. If the soldier does not use the allotted amount for a certain meal, it can carry over to another meal or snack that day.

However, if the soldier has not used the entire $39 that day, it does not carry over to the following day. The entitlement will update after each transaction.

If troops go over the $39 entitlement, they will have the option of using another payment method for extra costs.

Mohan praised the effort and noted that it has been a three-year journey, during which the Army “fought the monster of bureaucracy.”

A House subcommittee on Tuesday discussed proposed legislation on illnesses linked to service-connected exposures as well as extended benefits for spouses whose veteran dies from service-connected conditions.

The legislation discussed by the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs included:

• H.R. 5339: A bill that would expand health care and compensation to service members who reported to duty on and after Sept. 11, 2001, through November 2001, when the building was declared safe.
• H.R. 4469: A proposal that would prohibit the Department of Veterans Affairs from requiring veterans to provide a documented dosage amount for radiation exposure.
• H.R. 1685: A plan to extend compensation to surviving spouses of veterans with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.

If approved, the bills could provide thousands of veterans and spouses with access to VA health care and disability compensation.

The Pentagon 9/11 bill, known as the Susan E. Lukas 9/11 Servicemembers Fairness Act, would extend PACT Act benefits to those in the building in the weeks following the terrorist attack.

Lukas, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, has chronic respiratory issues and fibromyalgia linked to exposure to asbestos, dust and other matter dispersed during the impact and fireball when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the building’s E Ring.

During an interview with Military Times on Wednesday, Lukas recalled going into work on Sept. 12 and leaving footprints in the fine dust distributed throughout the building by the ventilation system.

“We obviously understood, there was the fire, there was the jet fuel, there were the plastics, there was the asbestos,” Lukas said. “We did realize that there were things burning, but we really didn’t think about toxic exposures, whether we should be wearing masks.”

The bill, which has bipartisan support from six lawmakers, would provide affected veterans an expedited pathway to receive VA health care, if they don’t already have it, and disability compensation for conditions connected to exposure.

The cohort of service members, which Lukas estimates number roughly 10,000, do not qualify for compensation under the World Trade Center Health Program or the PACT Act, the landmark legislation that extended health care and benefits to more than a million veterans exposed to hazardous materials while serving in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere overseas.

The bill that would prohibit the VA from requiring veterans to provide a dose estimate for their exposure to radiation, the PRESUME Act, is sponsored by Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev.

Geared toward veterans of the Cold War who participated in classified testing, the bill would eliminate the requirement that these “atomic veterans” prove a certain radiation dose to access benefits.

“Veterans were often exposed without their knowledge and today they are asked to furnish documentation that is controlled entirely by the government,” Titus said during the hearing. “When the government controls all the evidence, veterans shouldn’t bear the burden of proving the impossible.”

The Justice for ALS Veterans Act, H.R. 1685, would extend VA Dependency and Indemnity Compensation to surviving spouses of all veterans who die from the devastating disease.

According to bill sponsor Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., service members are twice as likely as the general population to get the illness and die within two to five years of diagnosis — short of the eight-year disability threshold required to receive DIC from the VA.

“It’s imperative we close this loophole that has prevented surviving families from obtaining support,” Fitzpatrick said during the hearing.

VA officials at the hearing addressed the legislation. On the Justice for ALS Veterans Act, the VA supports it, provided there is a way to pay for it, according to Jennifer Bover, executive director of the Veterans Benefits Administration.

But, Bover added, the department takes issue with part of the bill that would provide DIC benefits for other unnamed conditions with mortality rates similar to ALS.

“The concept of ‘high mortality rate’ lacks a standardized government definition as there is not a universal set of metrics to define this concept,” Bover said.

The VA also does not support the PRESUME Act, because, officials said, proving dosage is not a requirement for the VA to grant service connection.

According to James Smith, the VA’s deputy executive director for policy and procedures for compensation service, a veteran who can prove they participated in a radiation risk activity and has a diagnosed radiation-related illness would qualify.

The VA also does not support the Pentagon 9/11 exposures bill, according to Smith, because the covered conditions listed in the legislation are “too broad.”

“We could be more specific with the conditions that potentially have been caused by whatever toxic [substances] may have been present ... in that space,” Smith said. “As an organization we support identifying those exposures and making sure we are taking care of veterans. However, there needs to be more research in this area.”

Subcommittee chairman and former Navy SEAL Rep. Morgan Luttrell, R-Texas, noted that the PACT Act spells out a list of illnesses that are connected to airborne environmental hazards.

“I expect movement on this one,” Luttrell promised. “This is absolutely ridiculous, first and foremost. As far as the Global War on Terror, they were the first ones to feel it. And for them to not be included...”

The pieces of legislation debated by the subcommittee on Tuesday have a way to cover their costs. Luttrell promised to work with the sponsors to offset cost so they could advance the bills to the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

The Winter Olympics will begin with the opening ceremony on Feb. 6 through Feb. 22, with more than 2,900 athletes from 92 countries and territories competing across 116 events.

Those eligible can stream the full coverage if they have an active ShopMyExchange.com account. Live streams of some practice and warm-up sessions and additional video content including event recaps, highlights, viral moments, interviews and more are included, officials stated in their announcement.

For those who don’t use the free service verified through ShopMyExchange.com, the streaming service through Peacock costs $10.99 per month, with advertising, or $16.99 per month, without advertising, according to the Peacock website.

To access the free streaming from computers or personal devices, viewers can visit NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports App, in the U.S., and choose the Exchange as their service provider. The ShopMyExchange.com site will verify those with an active account.

Content rights restrictions will apply to overseas locations where on-base residents must subscribe to internet service through an authorized provider, officials stated.

For more information on the free viewing, visit the Exchange’s Olympic Hub page, and the NBCOlympics information page.

This partnership between AAFES and NBCUniversal began in 2016, and has alternated between the summer and winter games every two years, with the exception of the Tokyo Games, which were delayed until 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, said AAFES spokesman Chris Ward.

In the announcement, AAFES director and CEO Tom Shull described the free offering as a “quality-of-life multiplier so the games can be viewed wherever service members and their families are called to serve.”

“We believe moments like the Olympic Games have a unique power to connect people across the world,” Gary Zenkel, president of NBC Olympics, added.

The costs for the voluntary dental program depend on the sponsor’s military status, as well as how many people are covered in the plan. Dentists are available in the United Concordia dental network in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Active-duty service members don’t pay for dental care, but the dental program offers coverage for their family members, as well as National Guard and Reserve members and their eligible family members.

The monthly premium for one family member of an active-duty service member in pay grades E-4 and below will increase by $0.14, up to $8.79 per month. For more than one family member, the monthly premium will increase by $0.37, up to $22.85.

For sponsors in pay grades E-5 and above, the monthly premium for one family member increases by $0.19, to $11.72. The monthly premium for more than one family member will increase by $0.49, to $30.47

The largest cost increase for the dental program comes for nonmobilized Individual Ready Reserve members buying coverage for themselves and family, increasing by $1.72 a month, to $105.48.

This coverage is separate from medical coverage, and requires separate enrollment. To enroll, the sponsor must have at least one year of military service remaining. The new premiums take effect automatically for those who are already enrolled.

The dental program is a pay-ahead program, meaning payments are for the next month of coverage. The new monthly rates take effect March 1, but families will see the change in their February bill. The rates are effective through February 2027.

Beneficiaries can find out more information about enrolling and payment options here.

In 2025, many military families saw decreases in their monthly Tricare dental premiums, with some active-duty families seeing their premiums drop by nearly one-third.

The resumption varies across the service branches, and by installation, and starts with mock billing before actual billing begins.

The Air Force appears to be further along in restarting its billing program, based on responses from the other services to Military Times’ questions. The Navy and Marine Corps expect to resume their billing at some locations at some point later this year, with the Marine Corps beginning with housing in Hawaii.

At least two privatized housing communities — Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, and Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas— have informed residents about mock billing from February through April. Actual billing begins in May.

Like the old utilities program, which went by the same name name, the new Resident Energy Conservation Program establishes a baseline amount of utility usage for a housing unit, and rewards residents with rebates if they use less energy than the baseline. Residents who use more than the baseline range are charged for excess consumption.

The previous utilities program was discontinued in 2021 following complaints by residents about the fairness of the program, particularly the accuracy of the meters measuring gas and electricity usage and the billing.

For the new utilities program, Defense Department guidance requires installations to conduct a three-month mock billing period before the actual billing begins, but Marine Corps families will have a six-month period.

Mock billing gives residents clear information about their usage and gives them time to adjust before actual billing starts, said Carolyn Baker, spokeswoman for Hunt Military Communities, which operates the privatized housing at Maxwell and Little Rock. Hunt is the largest military housing owner, with about 190,000 residents in nearly 60,000 homes on U.S. installations of all service branches.

Utility bills for base housing are returning; few details offered

Hunt is implementing the utilities billing program across its housing communities, Baker said, but all policy decisions, including whether and when to restart at each installation, are made by DOD and the military services.

Five out of the 10 Air Force privatized housing partners have taken steps to implement the program, said Air Force spokeswoman Laurel Falls.

The plans for implementing the billing vary by installation, Falls said, but landlords who elect to start the program must follow Air Force and DOD guidance.

DOD sets the methodology for establishing the baseline usage and requirements for meter accuracy, and similar homes are grouped together for a fair comparison. DOD guidelines also set a monthly payment and rebate threshold, typically $50 above or below the baseline average, Baker said, “so that only significant outliers would see a charge or rebate in a given month.”

The calculations for determining the Basic Allowance for Housing each year include the median cost of rent for various types of homes in a given area, plus the average cost of utilities. Service members living in privatized housing pay their BAH directly to their landlord.

Starting Feb. 28, active duty family members who live far from a military hospital or clinic, and who are enrolled in Tricare Prime Remote in the United States, will get their covered prescriptions for free.

They’ll have $0 copayments for prescriptions filled at retail network pharmacies as well as through the Tricare Pharmacy Home Delivery, according to an announcement Tuesday by the Defense Health Agency. It applies to all covered prescriptions, including generic drugs, brand-name drugs and non-formulary drugs.

“This change will help military families without access to military pharmacies keep their pharmacy costs down,” said U.S. Public Health Service Cmdr. Teisha Robertson, chief of the Pharmacy Integration Branch at the Defense Health Agency, in an announcement of the waiver. Patients can fill prescriptions at military hospitals or clinics at no cost.

The waiver will save these active duty family members $16 for a 30-day supply of generic drugs and $48 for brand-name medications filled at retail network pharmacies. For those using the mail order pharmacy, it will save $14 for a 90-day supply of generic drugs and $44 for name-brand drugs.

These families who are filling prescriptions for non-formulary drugs will save $85, and will still be required to get a medical necessity approval from Express Scripts. Otherwise they’ll have to get the prescription filled at a retail pharmacy and pay the full cost of the drug.

By law, families can enroll in Tricare Prime Remote if both the sponsor’s home and work addresses are more than 50 miles, or a one-hour drive, from a military hospital or clinic.

About 58,000 active duty family members are enrolled in Tricare Prime Remote in the United States, and will benefit from the waiver, according to Tricare officials. That number doesn’t include those enrolled in Tricare Prime Remote Overseas.

This waiver doesn’t apply to those overseas, according to Defense Health Agency officials. Active duty families enrolled in Tricare Prime Remote Overseas will still pay the pharmacy copayment.

Tricare beneficiaries don’t pay for prescriptions at military pharmacies. Active duty personnel don’t pay cost-shares or co-pays at retail pharmacies for covered medications.

Active duty family members won’t have to take action for the change to take effect, and they won’t have to file their own claims for reimbursement, officials said. Those who fill a covered prescription starting Feb. 28 will automatically have a copayment of $0.

“We welcome this new policy, which honestly is long overdue,” Eileen Huck, director of government relations for the National Military Family Association, told Military Times. “Families shouldn’t have to pay more for their prescriptions simply because they are not stationed near a [military treatment facility.]

“We appreciate that DHA recognized the needs of families in Tricare Prime Remote locations and made this change.”

In an increasingly digital world in which it is easy to mask identity, lawmakers should ensure federal agencies “don’t have a monopoly on enforcement,” Rohit Chopra, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau from 2021 to 2025, said during the Jan. 21 House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Democrats discussion.

“We should be rethinking our enforcement strategy and policy approach,” added Chopra.

That might mean amending laws to give state attorneys general more enforcement authority in protecting troops and veterans, he said, and in many cases give private citizens the ability to pursue legal action.

The staff at CFPB has been “obliterated” over the last year with the change in administrations, said Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), the ranking member of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee.

“We went through this whole thing with [the Department of Government Efficiency] to root out waste, fraud and abuse,” Takano said. “But there’s tremendous fraud being perpetrated, and we’re not equipping our government to protect American citizens.”

A federal judge in December blocked the Trump administration’s attempt to defund the CFPB. Since its opening in 2011, it has returned $21 billion to consumers, according to Chopra.

In 2024, meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission received about 210,000 consumer fraud complaints from troops and their families, with losses totaling nearly $600 million.

Chopra said the CFPB and the FTC haven’t brought a single enforcement action over the past year related to violations of the Military Lending Act, or abuses in the Veterans Affairs mortgage program or G.I. Bill.

Among other things, the Military Lending Act puts a 36% cap on many consumer loan interest rates for active duty troops and their families.

“CFPB and the FTC have to be fully funded and staffed and doing their job,” said Jeremy Villanueva, associate legislative director of Paralyzed Veterans of America. “By the time a law comes out, people have already been victimized. CFPB is supposed to be out there ahead of that.”

Professional scammers are reactionary, Villanueva added, and will quickly find a way around new laws and regulations.

Officials at the CFPB and FTC did not respond to a request for comment as of publication.

The VA Office of Inspector General investigates fraud schemes that damage VA programs and diminish services provided to veterans, caregivers and survivors, David Case, VA deputy inspector general, said during the roundtable.

In fiscal 2025, their investigators pursued 150 criminal fraud cases, he added.

While job scams target anyone, military spouses may be especially vulnerable because of frequent moves, said Ally Armeson, executive director of Cybercrime Support Network.

“You become desperate, you’re looking for any job. ... You fall into a job scam.”

Suddenly, there’s no job, and the spouse has paid money or lost information to a scammer, added Amerson, a veteran and military spouse.

“It’s incredibly challenging ... to build a career as a military spouse and to find a profession that’s compatible with the military lifestyle,” said Eileen Huck, director of government relations for the National Military Family Association.

Huck added that some spouses are reeled in to multi-level marketing jobs, which may operate as illegal pyramid schemes. She also cited some used car dealers as entities that prey on young troops.

“They’re paying thousands on a credit card they’re not prepared for,” she said. “They don’t always have the financial expertise or knowledge before taking on obligations.”

Identity theft, romance scams, education scams, crypto scams and disability claims scams are among the many schemes that target the military community, advocates told lawmakers.

Armeson said her organization has a recovery group that attempts to help victims who have lost money, but restitution — if any — can take years, and victims only get back a fraction of what they lost.

The median amount victims have lost in crypto scams is $230,000, she said, citing organizational data. For romance scams, that number is $130,000.

In the veteran community, meanwhile, select schools often make false promises to secure troops’ guaranteed GI Bill money, said Will Hubbard, vice president for veterans and military policy at Veterans Education Success.

Seven of the top 10 schools with the highest GI Bill money accrual have experienced high volumes of student complaints, he said, and even faced state law enforcement actions.

“This is a systemic issue. We need to hit the root cause,” Hubbard said.

Tech companies should also be regulated, held accountable and forced to warn people about scams, said Gretchen Peters, founder and executive director of Alliance to Counter Crime Online.

Some social media platforms are able to detect individual scammers within about two weeks of setting up a new account, she added.

Chopra said it has become easy to extract personal information about troops with social media and other platforms. Data brokers also sell information about the military community to scammers, he added.

This enables them to figure out “who is really looking for romance, who is looking for a car, who is actually in financial distress,” he said.

With military moving season just around the corner, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Friday announced the establishment of the Personal Property Activity, elevating the importance of oversight of military household goods moves as a key mission. In a Jan. 21 memorandum, he stated the PPA will report to him through the under secretary for acquisition and sustainment.

The new group’s mission will be to “guarantee high quality, reliable and efficient household goods and vehicle shipment services for the more-than-300,000 warfighters worldwide who move somewhere every year,” Hegseth said.

If there are failures in the process, “our job is to correct it and make it right, not deny that it happened,” he added.

For decades, military families have experienced problems with missed pickups and deliveries, broken and lost household goods and a cumbersome claims process. In his video, Hegseth described examples of dressers missing a leg, couches looking like they had been dragged down the street and a service member’s family’s belongings that were packed upside down in boxes, spilling out and getting crushed.

“We listened to the concerns of our warriors,” Hegseth said.

Hegseth fired the director of the personal property program last summer, and directed the formation of a task force to find solutions. That task force is headed by Army Maj. Gen. Lance Curtis. Hegseth also named Curtis as the PPA’s first commander.

“When our warfighters are worried about their household goods, they aren’t focused on their mission,” Curtis said in an announcement of the reform. “We are ending that distraction. Mission readiness is non-negotiable.”

Over more than 30 years, defense officials have made several attempts to reform and improve the government’s handling of the household goods move process.

The most recent was a massive effort to privatize the management of the moves under the $6.2 billion Global Household Goods Contract. DOD terminated the contract in June, citing inadequacies by the contractor, HomeSafe Alliance.

Hegseth’s designation of PPA as a special activity removes the responsibility and oversight of the personal property program from the U.S. Transportation Command.

Here are some of the changes the task force has already implemented, according to PPA spokesman Army Maj. Matthew Visser:

• This year, service members moving during peak moving season — generally May to September — can start booking moves March 20 (if they have orders to move), one month earlier than booking started in previous years.
• There have been increases in per diem paid when a family is inconvenienced because of a mover’s delays. In addition to the service member, per diem is allowed for dependents — up to 75% of what meals and incidentals would be. The inconvenience claims are paid by the moving company.
• Personal property business rules have been updated to provide more competitive compensation for industry. After listening to movers’ concerns about lack of competitive rates, the task force identified this issue as a limiting factor in getting the best movers.
• A call center has been established for troops and families to communicate directly.

End to end

The PPA will oversee the personal property process end to end — from the time the service member books a shipment to the claims process, if required — Hegseth said.

The new group will also have capabilities that commands have, such as acquisition, legal and resource management.

“This is enduring,” said Visser. “No longer will the Defense Personal Property Program not receive the attention and oversight that’s needed. There will be a commander who will be responsive and responsible for the program.”

PPA will be headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, and there will be a “small growth” in the number of personnel, Visser said.

Hegseth directed that PPA be established by May 1 and fully operational within one year. The task force will continue to issue guidance for the Defense Personal Property Program until the PPA reaches initial operational capability, according to Hegseth’s memo.

The military services’ shipping offices will remain on installations, helping service members with their moves, but they will report to and be accountable to the PPA, instead of the individual service branch, Visser added.

Movers for America, a coalition of companies, moving professionals and independent owner-operators that move military families, issued a statement applauding Hegseth for “taking decisive action to fix the military’s Permanent Change of Station system and for elevating this mission to the highest levels of leadership within the Department of Defense.”

“Treating military moves as a priority and placing direct responsibility under the secretary sends a clear message that the readiness of service members and their families matters to America’s national security,” the group said.

In a Dec. 17 speech, President Donald Trump announced the payments, which he described as a “warrior dividend,“ would be made to 1.5 million troops, and said they were funded by revenue from tariffs and $2.9 billion in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act enacted last July. The Associated Press later reported that the payments weren’t being funded by tariffs.

Active-duty service members in pay grades O-6 and below, and eligible Reserve Component members, received the payments, which were described by the Pentagon as “supplemental basic allowance for housing payments.”

The IRS said in a release Friday that basic allowance for housing payments are “qualified military benefits,” and are specifically excluded from gross income in federal tax law, so they are not taxable.

“The tax-free Warrior Dividend places $1,776 directly in the hands of our warfighters and their families,” Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said in a Defense Department release Friday.

According to the IRS website, the agency will start accepting tax returns Jan. 26. The deadline to file federal tax returns for 2025, and to pay any taxes due, is April 15, although there are certain extensions available for service members, such as those stationed or deployed overseas.

Federal W-2 tax statements are scheduled to be available on DOD’s myPay site Wednesday for active-duty Army, Navy, Air Force and Space Force. They are already available for active and Reserve Marine Corps; Reserve Army, Navy, Air Force and Space Force members; and military retirees. But Defense Finance and Accounting Service officials note that system maintenance scheduled for Wednesday could affect account functionality between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Eastern Standard Time.

Service members and their families have access to free military-specific tax preparation software through MilTax, as well as free one-on-one help by tax consultants, all provided through Military OneSource. Those eligible can file their federal return and up to five state returns for free. Active-duty service members, eligible family members, survivors and recent veterans up to 365 days after their separation or retirement date can file their taxes for free through this benefit.

Some installations may also offer tax preparation services through their military legal assistance offices, on a space-available basis.

In a memo sent last month to military health system leadership, including military hospitals and dental facilities and support offices, acting DHA Director David Smith said patients have always had a right to a chaperone, but physicians now must offer them for sensitive medical exams or procedures.

Signage will inform patients that they have a right to a chaperone regardless of treatment, according to the memo, but in gynecological, breast or pelvic exams, they must be offered one.

“Having chaperones available is a crucial part of patient-centered care,” said Dr. Paul Cordts, DHA’s chief medical officer, in a statement released Thursday. “Chaperones can help protect both patients and health care staff.”

Last January, former Army physician Maj. Michael Stockin was sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison for sexually abusing patients at Madigan Army Medical Center, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.

Stockin had pleaded guilty to 41 violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, to include abusive sexual contact and indecent viewing with male patients under the auspices of medical exams.

In November, patients of Army Maj. Blaine McGraw, an OB-GYN at Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center in Texas, filed a lawsuit against him alleging that he had secretly recorded and sexually exploited them during breast and pelvic exams.

McGraw was charged in December with 54 counts of indecent visual recording, five counts of conduct unbecoming an officer and other charges. He is in pre-trial confinement awaiting court proceedings.

The American Medical Association recommends that physicians ensure that their patients are aware that chaperones are available on request and that doctors should always honor a patient’s request to have a chaperone — one that is an authorized member of the health care team.

Having a chaperone present, especially during sensitive exams, provides reassurance to the patients and “demonstrates an attention to the patients’ well-being,” according to the association’s code of ethics.

It also is helpful for the “more pragmatic goal of legal protection for the physician,” according to association guidance.

Under the new DOD policy, chaperones are available to serve as a safeguard for patients and staff and are members of the medical team who will maintain privacy but also would report any suspected inappropriate conduct.

The guidelines call for staff to try to provide a chaperone of a certain sex if requested and if one is not available, the exam can be rescheduled. If a patient declines a chaperone, the medical staff must document the request but also can decline to conduct an exam if it is sensitive in nature.

Personnel who may serve as chaperones include physicians, dentists, physician assistants, psychologists, social workers, nurses, medics and corpsmen, medical technicians and support assistants, medical residences and hospital volunteers.

Non-medical personnel such as sexual assault response coordinators, victim advocates or family advocacy personnel may be in a room at the request of a patient in the event of a violence-related exam but they will not count as chaperones, according to the new policy.

Regarding pediatric care, a chaperone is not required for normal checkups for children if a parent or guardian is in the room, but health care staff must offer a chaperone if an exam or procedure is beyond routine.

For adolescents ages 11-17, the policy will follow the guidance for adult chaperones.

“This system-wide chaperone policy is just one part of DHA’s broader commitment to protect all patients and maintain the highest standards of professionalism,” officials said regarding the new policy.

The SCRA provides for service members and their spouses to continue to use professional licenses or certificates in new states when they move because of military orders. It is an update of a 2023 law that allowed such license transfers.

Twenty-eight percent of respondents in a 2024 Defense Department survey of active duty spouses said they had to get a new professional license in such fields as nursing, teaching or realty, after their last PCS move.

“Service members and their spouses report that they are deterred from applying for license portability because they are misdirected by frontline staff,” Dec. 22 letters to all the states from Harmeet K. Dhillon, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said.

“We strongly encourage you to train your public-facing staff about the SCRA,” the letter said, describing some “concerning trends” found in their initial conversations with licensing authorities.

For example, too often, applicants are sent to a generic renewal or application portal that does not include an option for SCRA license portability, she wrote.

“We have found that, even in cases where applicants ask explicitly about SCRA portability, they have been told that no such pathway exists,” the letter stated.

The Justice Department has opened several investigations regarding license portability, according to a DOJ spokeswoman, and “continues to educate state licensing boards, resulting in favorable policy changes,” she told Military Times.

The department can file suits under the law in federal district courts and weighed in on at least one such lawsuit in 2023, in support of a request by military spouse teacher Hannah Magee Portée for license portability.

In that case, Justice called Texas’ refusal to recognize Portée’s Missouri and Ohio licenses actions a violation of the new SCRA provision. Portée won her case.

Parts of the law could cause a new problem

One military family advocate claims the rewritten law could result in exclusion from protection under the act for military spouses covered by interstate licensing compacts if they are moving to a noncompact state. These compacts are agreements among states to recognize each other’s occupational licenses.

Under the rewritten law, troops or spouses with licenses previously valid in multiple states because of such an interstate compact are subject to the legal requirements of their new state and specifically are not eligible for SCRA portability, a change from the old interpretation of the law.

Such compacts, applying in up to 42 states, are fully in force for four occupations.

However, Don Berry, a retired Air Force colonel, of the Arkansas chapter of the Military Officers Association of America said, under the rewritten law, for example the SCRA would not apply to a nurse moving to California with a license covered by a licensing compact because California is not among the 41 states that have adopted a nurse reciprocity compact.

“This is something somebody’s going to need to take a look at,” Berry, who has advocated for occupational license portability for military spouses for over a decade, said.

“Congress will need to make a provision to cover multistate license holders who are relocating to a noncompact state.”

That said, some states’ laws and processes regarding license portability are more favorable to military spouses than the SCRA provision, Berry said.

The rewritten law also addresses other parts of the law, including flexibility for the requirement to provide military orders to the state licensing agency. It allows a letter or any written communication from the service member’s commanding officer, indicating a change in the service member’s duty status, to satisfy the requirement for proof of military orders.

“Because the issuance of official military orders can be delayed, a notice from a commanding officer provides a military family with the head start needed to accomplish the myriad tasks that accompany a PCS — from moving to pursuing license portability,” Dhillon’s letter states.

Other updates included:

• The licensing authority can issue a temporary license if it cannot issue a permanent license within 30 days of receiving the application.
• The licensing authority may conduct a background check on the applicant before recognizing a previous license as valid, or before issuing a temporary license.
• There is no longer any requirement for the applicant to have actively used the license in the two years before the move.

Law licenses

In their rewrite of the license portability provisions of the SCRA, Congress added protections for law licenses, which had previously been excluded under the earlier version of the law.

In a separate letter to state bar and court systems, Dhillon said DOJ recognizes that this is a new requirement, and said officials are already working with one state bar to ensure that it has an SCRA-compliant process for license portability applicants.

“Please keep in mind that demanding anything more from an SCRA applicant than what is required by federal law is illegal,” she wrote. “For example, the law does not allow a state bar to request transcripts, bar exam scores, or [Multistate Professional Responsibility Examination] scores from SCRA applicants.”