Hi all! I am new on here, but just wondering how many of you have or had issues with EFMP and Command Sponsorship?

Kayla - posted on 10/02/2012

My 10 month old and he has acid reflux under control for 6 months now. He's on zantac and my hubby first orders are to crete will it be a issue with command sponsor ship

Rachel - posted on 05/23/2012

So... I have epilepsy and we were declined EFMP benefits...... and my husband went to Japan..... even worst They basically put me thru a "Lets inflict multiple seizures if you want to move over there" atmosphere. We cant change his orders....and we are only E-3 so....chances of getting sponsored....LOW to NONE. After finding out that we were denied.... I believe we became E-2. I was involuntarily seperated from my spouse....and have special needs. And... the worst part is... the Navy DOESNT CARE. Did I take care of myself at all the first year of deployment? I was lucky if I ate and took a shower. My parents had to come clean. The second year of deployment... I am forced to deal with myself... but I cant guarantee that my husband will still be there by the time leave comes around. Did the Navy purposely punish me? I think they did.

Melissa - posted on 08/27/2011

We are a special needs family (two of our kids are Navy Cat 4 & 5) and haven't had any difficulties with the EFMP. For the people who are moving or thinking of moving, remember that you must have an updated status, or it can delay orders. It's helpful to become involved with an EFMP support group in your area and to find out who your EFMP liason is. I didn't personally find the EFMP coordinators to be helpful at all, but it was probably an isolated incident. We are planning to move to a non-approved billet within a few years, so I did the work to find out now what will have to happen in order for that to go through.

Philomena - posted on 08/26/2011

Nina, it is interesting you are having a problem with sponsorship. My husband was in South Korea last year and we were not able to go because of my daughter's asthma and my epilepsy. Since we have been in Fort Drum we have found out that same daughter also has PDD-NOS. And that they should have allowed her to be signed up for the EFMP because of the ashma. It is required. I think they either do not know what they are talking about or somewhere the chain of information is getting screwed up too often.

Nina - posted on 08/25/2011

Thanks for the replies. EFMP can sure be frustrating and a big headache! My husband got orders for Yongsan Army Garrison in Seoul South Korea way back in April. Our son has PDD-NOS (an autism spectrum disorder) and we weren't enrolled in EFMP at the time of my husband's orders because we always saw a Tricare approved doctor off post and my son's therapy sessions were off post too. So it was never an issue...but I guess we were flagged as having a family member with a special need and were therefore kind of forced to enroll in the EFMP program...but like I said we started this process of trying to get command sponsorship way back in April...and we are stillllll waiting....my husband has been over there a month already without us. It's killing me! Before he left he was only back since the end of March this year (from being deployed a year in Afghanistan and the year before he was deployed to Iraq) so to only have him with us for such a short time and then to have to go again without family to his next duty station just sucks! Grrrrr! :-(

Elizabeth - posted on 08/24/2011

The EFMP coordinator here in Hawai'i decided to enroll me in the program based on my history of depression after my doctor said she didn't recommend me for it. It actually came out of nowhere and I've never even met the doctor that put me in it. My husband finally just got orders to Germany which were held up because of the EFMP crap and guess what, my daughter and I ARE NOT approved for travel because they are waiting hear back from Germany (supposedly) and the EFMP program there. To top it off my husband's orders were pushed up so we're leaving almost a month earlier than planned and we already have our pack date to move, which is the 16th of September. We want to take leave, but we can't buy any tickets until we know his orders won't get changed again.
The EFMP people are SLOOOOW and I find it ridiculous that they can't approve it already so we can take care of things here in Hawai'i. It's been almost two months since I was enrolled.

Philomena - posted on 08/23/2011

Hi. My name is Philly and my husband has been in the army for 7 yrs. My experiences with EFMP have not been so good. True it is a good idea to have a group for people with health issues but it is not all it is cracked up to be. I have a chronic health issue, epilepsy, and we were assured that my husband would not be sent anywhere that did not have a hospital on the base. Not true. We are now in Fort Drum. No hospital. Closest hospital is 20 min. away. My daughter has asthma and her doctor wrote on the application that she should be kept out of extremely cold weather. Fort Drum? Extremely cold weather. And they don't care. I hope your experiences are better than mine.

Amy - posted on 08/18/2011

Hey, my husband and I just got married Feb 15th this year and I got to Germany almost 4 weeks ago. We had other issues that didn't deal with the whole EFMP and command sponsorship problems. After I finaly got our marriage certificate, got my named changed and recieve my new SS card (which took 6 weeks total for both, like I said we had issues lol) It only really took 4 months to get here. It probably would have taken less but we made a few mistakes along the way. Like I mailed in my papers to my husband in Germany instead of emailing them to him, so it took longer for him to get them. And I also forgot to sign something so they had to mail it back. Just a few small things that because mail is so slow ended up taking longer to do. And also we had to deal with that whole government strike for a week so everything stopped. So I would guess it wouldn't take more then 4 months. If you have any questions or just need someone to talk about it I'm always available. Just send me a message. ~Amy