Q: If something happens to me in the Army and I have a husband and kids, what will happen to them? Do they get any service or help if something happens to me? A: There are many Army benefits available from Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense, along with the Social Security Administration. For example, if you are killed or die from a service-connected disability, your dependent children and spouse get from the VA:

• up to 45 months each of education benefits
• a Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) currently at $1,154 per month for your spouse and between $488 per month for one child, up to a maximum of nine children paid at $217.16 per month per child
• payment of the Servicemember Group Life Insurance policy
• a monthly transition payment of $250 per month for two years
• various counseling services

From the Department of Defense, your spouse gets paid a non-taxable $100,000 death gratuity along with other Army benefits such as:

• care, transportation, and internment of your remains
• transportation of your family to the internment site
• pay and allowances disbursement
• casualty assistance

The Social Security Administration pays a monthly benefit to your surviving spouse and each dependent child under the age of 18. In addition to the ones listed here, there are several other tangible and non-tangible Army benefits too numerous to mention in this blog post.