Army Emergency Relief, the service’s de facto nonprofit, has launched a new online portal that allows soldiers and their families to apply for support without visiting a physical office — a significant digital upgrade aimed at improving speed and access to aid.
The online portal allows soldiers across the active duty, National Guard and reserve as well as eligible family members and retirees to apply for financial help, upload documents and track requests.
“It has really revolutionized things,” Tony Grinston, AER’s CEO, told Military.com.
Read Next: Soldiers Face Tougher Reenlistment Rules as Army Plans Troop Reductions
However, Grinston added that everyone across the force needs to create an account — ideally, before they need assistance — to speed the process up for whenever they might need help.
“I need everyone to know, they need to go through the online application first,” he said. “We want people to do that, especially with hurricane season coming. When we’re trying to get you money, we don’t want you wasting time.”
In September, Hurricane Helene hit the southern U.S. including the Army‘s Fort Eisenhower in Georgia. The service reported that there were 1,100 applications from the base community for assistance with basic needs following the storm.
It’s a major modernization move for the Army’s 83-year-old charity, which has long been criticized for relying on a paper-heavy, outdated process that slowed down aid to soldiers in crisis.
In many cases, soldiers would have to go to offices to have their claims processed, which can be an enormous strain if troops and families need financial assistance quickly and impossible for part-time soldiers who rarely live close to an Army base.
“For National Guardsmen or reservists, they don’t have an AER office to go to,” said Grinston, who previously served as the Army’s top enlisted leader.
AER gives grants and loans to service members and families in need, often for sudden costs like home damage from weather events or emergency travel like visiting a sick family member.
The nonprofit, which has operated since 1942, is technically independent from the Army, but works hand-in-glove with military leadership. Last year, it allotted $41 million in non-interest loans and $8.3 million in grants.
Most young soldiers make less than $40,000 per year, and about 25% of service members were considered food insecure in 2018 and 2020, according to a 2024 study by the Department of Agriculture.
AER has made several policy tweaks in the last year to how it distributes money.
In December, it began offering grants of up to $2,000 for domestic travel and $4,000 for international trips to troops who need to fly for emergencies such as a death in the family. The offering differed from its previous model of splitting assistance between zero-interest loans and grants.
The nonprofit also made it easier for victims of spousal abuse to access financial assistance. Previously, victims needed to go through their abuser’s chain of command to request support.
Related: Army’s Former Top Enlisted Leader Takes Helm at Nonprofit Aimed at Helping Soldiers in Need