A to Z the Military Way:  D to DON (or I’m Just Going to Tune You Out Because I am Now Officially Lost)

By:  Mary Anderson

D is for Delta.  Oh Delta, you sneaky little letter!  Delta is not only how the letter D is said in the NATO alphabet, it is also synonymous with one of the greatest group of warriors in modern-day history.  But shhhhh, it’s secret!

D-day – Deployment Day.  Boooo or yaaayyyyy, depending on who you are.  Most spouses (yeah, I admit, not all) are very sad to see this day approach.  It is a hard time for spouses and the service members.  But many service members are excited to go (do not confuse that with missing his or her spouse and family and being scared!).  It’s what the service member trained for.  But it is still hard!

D+90 – 90 days after D-day.  This can be D+30, D+60, etc.  It’s just a count.  Helpful note:  Do NOT do this at your own house.  It will drive you insane.  There is nothing worse than seeing that your spouse has 485 days until he or she returns home – trust me! And yes, we are an Army family, why do you ask?

DA – Department of the Army.  I blame DA for everything.  Husband deploying – stupid DA.  Moving twice in one year – stupid DA.  Storm that ruins my picnic – stupid DA.  Okay, maybe that last one is a cheap shot – I blame the DA!

DAF – Department of the Air Force. On their webpage they state, “We do the impossible every day.”  Great! Can you get my teenager to pick up her room?

DECA – Defense Commissary Agency. Is anybody else weirded out by the baggers?  The first few times someone followed me out to my car with the groceries I wanted to stop them and carry them all myself.  Now I pretend I’m rich and we are going to my super cool rich person car, which in this case is a Mini Cooper.

DEERS – Defense Eligibility and Enrollment Reporting System.  DEERS is “a worldwide, computerized database of uniformed services members (sponsors), their family members, and others who are eligible for military benefits” (Tricare, 2011, para. 2).  You must be enrolled in DEERS to be eligible for Tricare and to obtain an ID card.  If there is an issue in DEERS fix it immediately unless you want your birthday messed up for the next 20 years in the system.  Hmmm, maybe I can make myself younger.  I already made myself 10 pounds lighter.

DFAS – Defense Finance and Accounting Service.  The organization that we all blame when our pay is screwed up!  (Is this only me?)  I have had some memorable fights with DFAS.  But I have also worked with some outstanding personnel there as well.  It’s always a tricky business when money is involved.  I remember this episode of That 70s Show when Jackie received her first paycheck and yelled out “Who is this FICA guy and why is he taking all of my money?”  Yeah, I feel her pain!

DoD – Department of Defense.  Not nearly as cool as the Shoe Department, but it gets the job done.

DoDEA – Department of Defense Education Activity.  “Teaching the children of Department of Defense military and civilian families worldwide” (DoDEA, 2012, para. 1).  DoDEA is the umbrella organization of the education that the military established for children.  No snide remarks here.  It’s actually a pretty good agency, one that my children have benefited from for years.

DON – Department of the Navy.  “In the Navy, yes, you can sail the seven seas, in the Navy, yes, you can put your mind at ease,…in the Navy, in the Navy” (Village People).  Seriously, that should be the Navy’s theme song.

References

DoDEA. (2012).  About DoDEA.  Retrieved from http://www.dodea.edu/home/about.cfm

Military Acronyms, Intialisms, and Abbreviations.  (n.d.) FAS.  Retrieved from      http://www.fas.org/news/reference/lexicon/aca.htm

Tricare. (2011).  DEERS.  Retrieved from      http://tricare.mil/mybenefit/ProfileFilter.do;jsessionid=QQSDb2xM93FYSR2smLq5L20J            bvmsbp1dwydT2npN0pcgGchhngNh!440469877?puri=%2Fhome%2Foverview%2FElig            ibility%2FDEERS

Mary is an Army veteran and an Army wife.  Between her and her husband they have 8 deployments/hardship tours between them.  God has blessed them with two amazing girls who Mary firmly believes that God made part-monkey just to mess with her!  She is currently working on her masters in adult education.  For fun Mary likes to travel around Belgium where she currently lives.  She has to date gotten lost in over 20 countries and counting!