A Quick Guide to Working with the Military as an Employer

An FPLS match should be accepted as a verification of employment and wages. Additional verification of employment is unnecessary. The next step is to submit the income-withholding order to DFAS Cleveland, OH to start withholding pay.

By automating the generation of income-withholding notices, states can meet their two-day turnaround requirement. States that have automated this process have benefited from substantial increases in collections.

Military retiree information is not provided to the NDNH. For information on military retiree pay for the past year, the child support caseworker needs to request an FPLS external locate (through his/her state child support office) to the Department of Defense. DoD returns these requests on a monthly basis. Include the retired military service personnel's name and Social Security number (SSN).

An income-withholding order to attach the pension or annuity of a retired military member should be sent to:

Information on retired Federal government civilian employees is not provided to the NDNH. For information on any retired Federal government civilian employee's pay (pension or annuity) for the past year, the child support caseworker needs to request an FPLS external locate (through his/her state child support office) to the Department of Defense (DMDC). (DMDC will respond on behalf of the Office of Personnel Management.) DMDC returns these requests on a monthlybasis. Include the retired federal civilian employee's name and SSN.

Matches provide resident address, employment status, and amount of monthly retirement. Retired pay will change once during the calendar year (usually in January) when there is a cost of living adjustment (COLA). Therefore, there is no need to re-verify these wages on a quarterly basis.

An income-withholding order to attach the pension or annuity of a retired, civilian employee of the Federal government should be sent to:

DoD has recently announced that it will no longer respond to verification of employment/ payroll data requests about active and reserve military, and civilian payroll records,because this information is already provided to the FPLS through quarterly wage reporting to the NDNH.

DFAS will respond to the following requests for information regarding military personnel:

These requests should be sent to a particular pay site, depending on the branch of service.

Army (Active Duty FEIN is 359990000; Reserve Duty FEIN is 351819323)

Navy (Active Duty FEIN is 349990000; Reserve Duty FEIN is 341586724)

Marine Corps (Active Duty FEIN is 539990000; Reserve Duty FEIN is 539990000)

Air Force (Active Duty FEIN is 849990000; Reserve Duty FEIN is 849980000)

Retired Military Pay (FEIN is 340727612)

DFAS will respond to the following requests for information regarding DoD civilian personnel:

These requests should be sent to a particular DFAS pay site, depending on the DoD employer.

DoD civilian employees - Army:

DoD civilian employees - Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, other DoD agencies and civilians overseas:

DoD provides the FPLS with new hire and quarterly wage information through the Defense Manpower Data Center (DMDC) for civilians working for DoD. This information, including address information, is also available from The Work Number.

Income-withholding orders for military personnel (active, reserve, retired) should be sent to the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) office in Cleveland, Ohio:

The DFAS Income-Withholding Customer Service Number is (216) 522-5301.

The DFAS web site for income-withholding information is http://www.dfas.mil/money/garnish.

The web site includes a Questions and Answers fact sheet on how to obtain payroll information on DoD military and civilian employees.

If a reservist is called to active duty, DFAS does NOT submit a new hire report for this person. If a civilian employee, who is in the reserves and working for the military is called to active duty and DFAS already has an income-withholding order on file, DFAS will roll over the withholding to the employee's military pay. If the employee works for another federal agency, the state should issue an income-withholding order to DFAS. (When a reservist with a child support order is called to active duty, the employer might not notify the child support office, and the income-withholding order would not be satisfied.) The FPLS (NDNH) quarterly wage report would notify the state of the change in the employee's employer, thus alerting the state to issue a new income-withholding order.

When a military member with an income-withholding order for child support retires, the order does not automatically attach to the retirement pay (pension) of that member. However, DFAS is building an electronic interface that eventually will allow the active duty pay system to alert the garnishment operation that the child support order should be attached to the retirement pay of the military member who is retiring. Until that interface is in place, the child support office should contact DFAS as to why the child support payment has stopped. This will alert DFAS Garnishments to send the withholding order to be processed against the member's retirement pay.

Multiple quarterly wage (QW) reports for one noncustodial parent in the military could be received by a CSEA because a person could be both a DoD civil service employee and a reservist. In fact, there are many people working for DoD in both capacities. When the CSEA receives the first QW match, itshould send the income-withholding order to DFAS Cleveland for garnishment. Garnishments will be applied to all pay available at that time.

DFAS has an electronic child support submission system that can process individual income- withholding requests via an on-line web system called "Kids First." Mass case processing is also supported via a batch interface to this system using the OCSE CSENet 2000 system. More information on Kids First, and how to access it, is available from the DFAS Cleveland field organization at (216) 522-5118or visit the DFAS Kids First section on the OCSE web site at http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cse/stsys/tab99.htm. To sign up for Kids First, contact Larry Sharpley at (216) 522-5435, ex. 41677.

The military health care program is called TRICARE/CHAMPUS (Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services). A system called DEERS (Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System) maintains the information on the military service personnel (known as the sponsor) and dependents enrolled in this program. The process for obtaining medical support from military parents is described below.

Before the DEERS enrollment can be completed, an attempt will be made to have the sponsor sign the paperwork. The amount of time for this process will vary depending on the location and the assignment of the military member. If the sponsor is unwilling to sign, the verifying official may sign on behalf of the sponsor after all efforts to obtain the sponsor's signature have failed and those efforts have been documented.

Once enrolled in DEERS, the child is eligible to receive medical care in two ways. The child may be able to obtain medical care and medications from military hospitals and clinics. The child can also use the cost share medical coverage, TRICARE, with civilian health providers. Getting health care from a uniformed service hospital or clinic, when available, saves money and paperwork. Military bases have Health Benefits Advisors to assist custodial parents on medical options and choices.

TRICARE uses the term "shared" rather than "covered" because the cost is shared by the beneficiary after an annual deductible cost is satisfied. Claims to TRICARE can be submitted up to a year after treatment. Entitlement to DoD medical benefits is determined by either the child's date of birth, or the date(s) of the sponsor's military service, not the DEERS enrollment date. A TRICARE handbook explaining coverage is available by writing or calling:

A legal dependent (one for whom paternity has been established) of a military personnel is eligible for TRICARE medical services through DEERS. The custodial parent can enroll the dependent at any military installation. If a caseworker wants to learn whether a child has already been enrolled in DEERS, he/she should write to the following address:

Include the name and Social Security number (SSN) of the military service personnel, as well as the name, SSN, and date of birth of the dependent.

Send the National Medical Support Notice to DMDC. Currently DMDC will respond with a letter in-lieu of the form. Once an active duty military member and family members have been enrolled in the DEERS, they have medical benefits. These medical benefits do not include dental or vision care.

Send the National Medical Support Notice to:

Please do not send requests for medical coverage information for medical support orders to the DFAS in Cleveland.

Medical insurance information on DoD civilian employees may be obtained from the human resources department of the employing agency. OCSE is also working with DoD to establish a central site for obtaining medical information on DoD civilian employees.

For military pay information, refer to http://www.dfas.mil and first click on "Money Matters" and then click on "Military Pay." From this screen click on "Pay Rates" for pay tables, or click on "Military LES" (Leave and Earnings Statement) to understand the military LES.

The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) handles all payroll for the military. DFAS has named two points-of-contact in the military for redirecting any child support payment (and spousal support if appropriate) to your SDU. These points-of-contact can assist you in redirecting both garnishments (income attachments) and voluntary allotments for all the armed services, including payments to retirees:

If you have a question about a child support check that DFAS submits on behalf of a DoD civilian employee, there are three Civilian Pay Centers that may be able to help you:

DoD Navy civilian, Marine Corps civilian and overseas DoD civilian employees:

DoD Air Force civilian and other DoD agencies' civilian employees:

DoD Army civilian employees:

The OCSE military liaison officer is Larry Holtz, whose duties include working with the Department of Defense on child support related statutes and regulations; providing guidance to child support agencies on military matters; and resolving issues between the Department of Defense and Child Support Enforcement agencies. You may contact him at: