01 · Speak the language
The acronyms drill never defined.
One line each. Then the door. If you cannot name the portal, you cannot enroll.
98 terms. Official page still wins.
DEERS
Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System
The roster TRICARE, TAMP, and ID cards actually read. Wrong DEERS, dead enrollment.
RAPIDS
Real-Time Automated Personnel Identification System
The appointment desk that prints the CAC, dependent ID, or retiree card.
BWE
Beneficiary Web Enrollment
The cash register inside milConnect. Prime, TPR, TPO, TPRO, TRS, and TRR enroll here — if DEERS is right.
TRS
TRICARE Reserve Select
Selected Reserve medical. Not automatic. Flat 2026 premium, any rank.
AGR
Active Guard Reserve
Full-time Guard or Reserve. Active-duty TRICARE, not TRS. 20 years of active federal service is a regular retirement, not gray area.
FTNGD
Full-Time National Guard Duty
Title 32 full-time. Same TRICARE mistake as AGR: do not buy TRS.
ADDP
Active Duty Dental Program
Civilian dental for ADSM / AGR when the military clinic refers you or you are remote (more than 50 miles from a DTF). Family is ineligible — they buy TDP.
ADSM
Active Duty Service Member
What TRICARE calls a Title 10 or AGR sponsor. Regular-component active duty is its own start card. AGR is the other full-time door.
PSA
Prime Service Area
The ZIP near a military hospital or clinic where TRICARE Prime lives. Run the Plan Finder. Do not guess.
TPR
TRICARE Prime Remote
Active duty who live AND work more than 50 miles (or a one-hour drive) from a military hospital or clinic. Not Select. Not TRS.
TPO
TRICARE Prime Overseas
Duty station overseas. ADSM must enroll where available. Family usually needs command sponsorship.
TPRO
TRICARE Prime Remote Overseas
Remote overseas. Same command-sponsorship rule for family. Retirees cannot enroll.
PCM
Primary Care Manager
The doctor Prime assigns you. Pick one in BWE or they pick one. Write down the name and phone.
GENESIS
MHS GENESIS patient portal
Military clinic appointments and messages. Not enrollment. Not milConnect.
QLE
Qualifying Life Event
Marriage, birth, PCS, retirement from active duty. Opens 90 days to change Prime or Select. Open Season is the other window — not for ADSM sponsors.
TDP
TRICARE Dental Program
Teeth for Selected Reserve and for active-duty families. Separate from TRS and from ADDP. Usually United Concordia.
FEDVIP
Federal Employees Dental and Vision Insurance Program
Vision (and retiree dental) on BENEFEDS. Not milConnect. Own open season.
TRR
TRICARE Retired Reserve
Gray-area medical. Premium plan, not TRS money. Ends when retired pay starts.
TAMP
Transitional Assistance Management Program
180 days of TRICARE with no premium if DEERS shows it. Day 181 is a cliff.
SGLI
Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance
Life insurance while you serve. Check the amount and the beneficiary in milConnect.
VGLI
Veterans’ Group Life Insurance
Convert SGLI after separation. 240 days with no health questions. Holiday does not pause the clock.
FSGLI
Family SGLI
Coverage on a spouse or child. It dies when the sponsor’s SGLI dies unless you convert.
VALife
Veterans Affairs Life Insurance
Whole life for eligible veterans with service-connected disability. Not VGLI. Different product.
BDD
Benefits Delivery at Discharge
File the VA claim 180–90 days before ETS while the aid station still knows your name.
TAP
Transition Assistance Program
The brief. It does not file BDD, TAMP, or GI Bill for you.
ETS
Expiration Term of Service
The day the uniform comes off. Every clock on this site is measured from it.
COE
Certificate of Eligibility
The paper a VA lender needs. Not a homeowners policy. Reuse is a remaining-entitlement question.
10-10EZ
VA health-care application
Enroll in VA health even if you have other insurance. Free. Do it before you need a clinic.
21-526EZ
Disability compensation application
The claim form. VA does not charge to file it. A mill that wants a cut of back pay is optional and not required.
ITF
Intent to file
Locks a potential effective date. One year to finish the claim. Starting 21-526EZ online with a verified login often does this without a separate form.
DBQ
Disability Benefits Questionnaire
A form a clinician fills in. Public PDFs live on VA.gov. VA will not pay you back for a private one.
C&P
Compensation and Pension exam
The claim exam. Free. A contractor may do it. Missing it can sink the claim. Show up.
TDIU
Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability
A path to 100% pay when you cannot hold substantially gainful work. Form 21-8940. Not a mill product.
IMO
Independent medical opinion
A private doctor’s letter. Optional evidence. VA does not require you to buy one, and does not reimburse it.
22-1990
GI Bill application
Education benefits. Run the Comparison Tool first so you are not guessing at a school.
HLR
Higher-Level Review
A more senior reviewer looks at the same evidence. No new records. One of three AMA lanes.
AMA
Appeals Modernization Act
The 2019 review system. Supplemental, HLR, or Board. Pick one lane at a time.
C-file
Claims file
Everything VA has on your claim. Request it with VA Form 20-10206. Read it before you argue.
STR
Service treatment records
The aid-station paper. Often inside the C-file. Also requestable from the National Archives.
OMPF
Official Military Personnel File
The personnel jacket: orders, evaluations, the DD-214. NPRC / eVetRecs.
DD-214
Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty
The one document everyone will ask for. Keep a copy that is not only in a portal.
GI Bill
Education benefits (several chapters)
Post-9/11, Montgomery, SR, DEA. The Comparison Tool is the first click, not a Facebook group.
MGIB
Montgomery GI Bill (Chapter 30)
The older active-duty education benefit. Different clock than Post-9/11.
MGIB-SR
Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve (Chapter 1606)
Drill-status education benefit. Not the same pot as Post-9/11.
DEA
Dependents’ Educational Assistance (Chapter 35)
School money for qualifying spouses and kids. The veteran does not spend it on themselves.
VR&E
Veteran Readiness and Employment (Chapter 31)
Training and employment for service-connected veterans. Separate from GI Bill.
TSP
Thrift Savings Plan
The federal 401(k). BRS matching is not automatic if you never contribute.
BRS
Blended Retirement System
Pension plus TSP match. Most people who entered after 2018 are on it.
FEHB
Federal Employees Health Benefits
The federal-civilian medical plan. Dual-status Guard technicians sit here. If you are eligible, TRS and TRR generally will not take you through 1 Jan 2030.
Login.gov
Federal identity account
The government’s own key. Opens VA.gov, milConnect, TSP, BENEFEDS.
ID.me
Partner identity account
The other VA.gov key. Use it if you live overseas, have a PO Box, or no SSN.
38 CFR
Title 38, Code of Federal Regulations
The book. Part 4 is the rating schedule this site imported. Not a paid condition list.
Combined rating
VA combined disability math
50 + 30 is not 80. Whole-person math. Run the calculator, then read the pay table.
VSO
Veterans Service Organization / accredited representative
Free help filing, if they are on VA’s accreditation list. Password still stays yours.
NPRC
National Personnel Records Center
St. Louis. They hold most older OMPFs and many STRs. eVetRecs is the online door.
IPPS-A
Integrated Personnel and Pay System – Army
Army Reserve points, AYE, and a lot of the paper that used to live in a records jacket.
AYE
Anniversary Year Ending
Your retirement year is not the calendar year. 50 points inside the AYE or the year is lost.
LES
Leave and Earnings Statement
Proof the allotment actually started. Enrollment is a rumor until the line shows up.
CAC
Common Access Card
The chip. Login.gov still works at the kitchen table when the reader does not.
IRR
Individual Ready Reserve
Not Selected Reserve. TRS does not follow you here. Navy Reserve Voluntary Training Units are in this bucket on the TRICARE page.
SELRES
Selected Reserve
Drilling federal Reserve or National Guard. TRS, TDP, Chapter 1606, the 50-point year. Not AGR. Not IRR. Guard is its own start card.
ARNG
Army National Guard
State militia under Title 32, federalized under Title 10. Traditional drill buys TRS. SAD is not TRICARE. Own start card.
ANG
Air National Guard
Same dual status as ARNG. Federal TA is the Air Force door, not ArmyIgnitED.
NGB
National Guard Bureau
The joint bureau. Education support, family programs, the .mil map to your state.
SAD
State Active Duty
Governor’s call. Usually state pay, not TRICARE, not a VA day. Confirm USERRA on DOL.gov.
T32
Title 32
State control, federal pay. Many disaster and FTNGD missions. Guard home-loan path can count 90 days under 32 USC 316, 502, 503, 504, or 505.
NGB-22
Report of Separation and Record of Service
Guard equivalent of a career DD-214 when you leave the state. Request it from the TAG before you clear.
NGB-23
RPAM / retirement points statement
The points authority while you still serve. IPPS-A or the state RPAM. NPRC does not hold current Guard jackets.
TAG
The Adjutant General
Your state’s senior Guard officer. Personnel, incentives, and the education office live here, not on a Facebook page.
RPAM
Retirement Points Accounting Management
The Guard points system behind the NGB-23. Forty-nine is a lost year.
IDT
Inactive Duty Training
The drill weekend. Recut from TRICARE: 30 days or less stays inactive — TRS plus line-of-duty care, not Prime.
LOD
Line of Duty
Injury, illness, or disease incurred or aggravated on orders of 30 days or less, including travel to duty. Family is not on LOD.
USERRA
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act
Federal reemployment and anti-discrimination law for drill, AT, and activations. DOL VETS administers it. ESGR mediates.
ESGR
Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve
Free ombudsman mediation with the civilian employer. They do not enforce USERRA. 800-336-4590 option 1.
Gray area
Retired Reserve, not yet 60
20-year letter, no retired pay. TRR and FEDVIP dental live here. Regular retiree TRICARE does not.
NOE
Notification of Eligibility (20-year letter)
The letter that makes you gray area. A points printout is not the letter.
MOS
Military OneSource
DoD counseling, tax, and financial help. Free. Call 800-342-9647. Type the .mil URL yourself.
PACT Act
Honoring our PACT Act of 2022
Toxic-exposure claims. File on VA.gov. A denied old claim is often a supplemental, not a new Facebook group.
MHA
Monthly Housing Allowance (Post-9/11)
The GI Bill housing number. It follows the school’s ZIP, not your hometown, in most cases.
OSGLI
Office of Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance
The contractor that runs SGLI and VGLI. VA.gov is still the public door.
CHAMPVA
Civilian Health and Medical Program of the VA
Health coverage for some family members of permanently and totally disabled veterans. Not TRICARE.
TFL
TRICARE For Life
Wraparound coverage once you have Medicare Part A and Part B. Part B is the on-switch. Most people at 65.
SBP
Survivor Benefit Plan
Monthly premium from retired pay that buys a survivor annuity. DD 2656. Not VGLI. Not TRICARE.
CHCBP
Continued Health Care Benefit Program
Premium bridge 18–36 months after TRICARE or TAMP ends. Buy within 60 days. DD 2837 to Humana Military.
SpouseWorks
SpouseWorks Scholarship (formerly MyCAA)
Up to $4,000 for a spouse license, certification, or associate degree. Military OneSource portal. Not Chapter 35.
UCX
Unemployment Compensation for Ex-servicemembers
State workforce agency, not VA.gov. DD-214 in hand. Recut from DOL.
BTSSS
Beneficiary Travel Self-Service System
How most veterans file mileage for VA or authorized community-care appointments. VA does not guess it.
SMC
Special Monthly Compensation
Extra pay on top of the combined rating for specific losses. The pay table has a separate page.
WEAMS
Web Enabled Approval Management System
The list of GI Bill–approved schools. The Comparison Tool sits on top of it.
RCSBP
Reserve Component Survivor Benefit Plan
90 days from the 20-year letter. DD 2656-5. Do nothing and Option C is automatic if you have a spouse or child.
HCFSA
Health Care Flexible Spending Account
Pre-tax medical dollars on FSAFEDS. Recut: regular-component active duty and AGR. Not milConnect.
TYA
TRICARE Young Adult
Premium plan for unmarried adult children after they age off the sponsor plan, up to 26. Not automatic.
TEB
Transfer of Education Benefits
Sponsor moves Post-9/11 months to family in milConnect. Service obligation. VA.gov is where the dependent later files.
PCAFC
Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers
VA stipend program. Form 10-10CG. Veteran must be in VA health first.
EFMP
Exceptional Family Member Program
Mandatory enrollment when a dependent has specialty medical or educational needs. Drives command sponsorship and PCS.
ECHO
Extended Care Health Option
Extra TRICARE help for qualifying family disabilities. Usually sits on top of EFMP.
CRDP
Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay
Lets some retirees keep retired pay and VA compensation. Usually automatic if you qualify. CRSC is the combat-related application.
COOL
Credentialing Opportunities On-Line
The map of MOS-to-license. Credentialing Assistance is the cash register at the service portal.