The Benefits of Military Service: A Primer on Eligibility for Health Benefits and More

The U.S. Armed Forces is a self-contained community populated by approximately 5 million military servicemembers and their families and 23 million veterans serving in the seven uniformed services (Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps). Like all good communities, the U.S. Armed Forces provides services and benefits to its members to retain them in service and to partially compensate for the sacrifices members and their families make when they become part of the community. Along with health insurance and health care, the best-known of these benefits, come other, less well-known perquisites of membership, including travel, entertainment, and death benefits.