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Living across the world from your friends and family can be hard. The drastic time difference limits communication and the COVID-19 pandemic makes it almost impossible to travel home.
The Department of Defense introduced Funded Environmental and Morale Leave (FEML) on 19 Nov. 2021, as a way for personnel stationed in Japan to travel home. Since then, service members and their families have been completing the process and venturing home for the first time since COVID-19 began.
Carah Kucharski and her husband, U.S. Marine Corps 1st Lt. David Yoder, with Marine Air Support Squadron 2, Marine Air Control Group 18, 1st Marine Aircraft Wing, are one of the many families that have applied FEML when choosing to travel home.
“We utilized our travel to visit our immediate family,” said Kucharski. “We are approaching the end of our tour on Okinawa, and have not been home since 2019.”
There are a few requirements when using FEML, all of which can be found with Common Access Card access.
“Utilizing the SharePoint for travel requests was easy and very fast,” said Kucharski. “Once flights were confirmed, the leave and DTS [Defense Travel System] process was initiated, and we booked our follow-on travel from Seattle to our home states.”
One of the most important things to remember when traveling with FEML is to complete and bring all your required documents prior to checking into the Air Mobility Command (AMC) terminal.
“Overall, the process was easy and fast; the command has been incredibly supportive of families wishing to utilize FEML,” said Kucharski. “Coordinating who and where to visit over our three-week visit was the biggest challenge!”
Homesickness can cause people to experience loneliness and low motivation, and Kucharski said that being able to go home brought up the spirits of her whole family.
“Visiting family without the stress of how to get home has allowed us to really focus on rest, recuperation, and reconnecting with parents and siblings who have grown and changed over the past 30 months,” said Kucharski.
It is easy to forget that time keeps going when you are not around family. Children grow into teens, parents and grandparents grow older. Visiting loved ones can be a shock to some service members, especially if it has been months or years since they have traveled home.
“For us, family bonds are an important foundation of our mental health,” said Kucharski. ”Technology allows us more connection across the world than ever before, but no dog-ears filter or virtual bingo game can replace the feeling of giving a father a hug, or celebrating a birthday with a brother. While it is hard to say goodbye again, having that time after so long has reinvigorated us for the next adventures and challenges the Marine Corps will bring.”
For many service members and families, FEML provides a truly groundbreaking opportunity when it comes to being able to visit home in this pandemic, said Kucharski.
| Date Taken: | 02.04.2022 |
| Date Posted: | 02.22.2022 19:17 |
| Story ID: | 413965 |
| Location: | OKINAWA, JP |
| Web Views: | 73 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, FEML, providing you a way home, by LCpl Stephanie Varela, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
