Military Retiree issues

There is a VA clinic but not a VA medical center. There is a National Guard base but the PX just closed (it will reopen as a "territory" store). I know that there are a lot of National Guard flights and some other military flights that leave here. We have yet to take space-A travel from here but it is available. USAA covers Autos & renters but not Homeowners in the territory.

American Legion Post on STX. A lot of Air National Guard flights in the past however with the prosecution of 2 wars the availability was limited.

There is also a VA office where you can get the forms needed for a discount in car registration and for VA plates. The VA clinic will issue vouchers to visit local doctors as needed or give you a round trip ticket to the VA hospital in PR. I am a class 1 veteran and get all my prescriptions free through the VA pharmacy here in STX.

The VA pharmacy in STX is now closed. The pharmacist left and they said they are not going to replace her.

You can still get prescriptions in the mail from the PR VA. If it says no more refills then you can take it to the VA clinic in STX for a renewal and will be mailed from PR. I did that for my last 2. Had no idea though that the pharmacy had been closed since November.

Good Day, I am also a military retiree, moved to St Croix 3 years ago, and now work as a civilian for the Virgin Island National Guard.

St Croix is very supportive of their veterans and has a pretty good size National Guard.

Space A is available with frequent flights to St Thomas and san Juan. several times a year they go stateside. I am working on finding out more infomation on Air Guard flights, told frequent flights to Maryland.

Several businesses give you a veterans discount, Home Depot, Carlos Furniture, Plaza Extra for groceries, to name a few.

If you have Tricare, accepted by many doctors.

VA Outpatient client. Any services not available on St Croix or St Thomas, appointments are set up in Puerto Rico. If appointment travel is not covered by VA, you pay upfront and get 100% reimbursed vy the VI government thru the VA office here. Little slow, but you get your money as long as you have a documented appointment at the VA in Puerto Rico.

And when you arrive in Puerto Rico, VA has a shuttle pick you up and drop you off from the airport-----pretty damn efficenet, most of the time I wait no more than 5 minutes to be picked up.

Veteran reps. at the Department of Labor to help with job assistance.

VI government also has home buying assistance , ie so much money and waiving of fees if you go thru VI housing authority to assist a veteran for buying a house, this is in addition a VA mortgage.

Several American Legions on St Croix and St Thomas.

Special license plates for veterans which are either free or cheaper than normal registration.

In my opinion from my experiences here living on St Croix, military and veterans are treated the same and or ltlle better than most states.

Feel free to private message me for any additional questions.God Speed

It is my understanding that for the VA will fly you to PR if you have at least a 50% disabled rating or higher, or it must be a service connected disability.Also if the retired vet has TRICARE with no rated service connected disability the VA will not pay for a PR Hospital appointment. The rules change like the weather, newly separated Vets (both Regular, Reserve and National Guard who served in Iraq and Afghanistan are eligible for VA medical care up to 5 years after separation from active duty or discharge no disabled rating necessary.

Thanks for all the very helpful replies.

We arrived this past weekend and have been looking at rental homes. The fresh air and sunshine are making me feel decades younger! Although the cockroach that got in my bed and sabotaged my sleep Sunday night didn't make me feel very happy. Ah, well - I got over it.

I'm retired (20 yrs), but my spouse is active duty with the Air National Guard. I normally use VA healthcare, but can also go with TRICARE. Our teens will be using TRICARE here.

I will update on this message thread if I learn anything about hops on the Air side, unless we decide to start a new thread on military space-A.

Thanks again for all the help. It'll make our transition much nicer.

It would be great if you would share any info you find out in a new thread for space A. That way it could be updated as things change. I have a call in to someone to get info on space A - 2nd time I've tried so we'll see if it works this time!

Important Tip on using the VA on St Croix.

You must take your DD214 and register at the outpatient clinic.

Yes, even if you have a VA card from the states, you still need to register .

Do it as soon as possible......before you need to use it.