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Faces Behind the Hero: Ally, Navy Wife, Mom, Veteran, Blogger Extraordinaire
I am continually amazed at the strength of the military-spouse! This week’s ‘Face Behind the Hero’ is another wonderful example of wit and wisdom; spice and life; juggler of so many hats! What a wonderful opportunity she has given us to see just a glimpse of her thoughts as a navy-wife. Thank you, Ally. Thank you to all of the military-spouses out there holding up the homefront.What branch is your husband in? Navy How long has he been in? 11 years How long have you been married? It will be 6 years in April! What is your favorite wedding-day memory? There are so many to chose from! I guess the…
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Week in Review: Week of March 14 – March 20 (Military News)
Here are ten of our most popular military-related articles for the week on MilitaryAvenue.com: Face of Defense: Guard Members Skate in Roller Derby: Some soldiers will do almost anything to stay in shape. Three soldiers from the Oklahoma Army National Guard are lacing up their roller skates, strapping on elbow and knee pads and taking to the rink as members of the Oklahoma City Red Dirt Rebellion Rollergirls. For those new to the sport, this isn’t the roller derby of the 1970s, when practically every move was choreographed as in professional wrestling. … Two New Government Rules That Help Military Families: The U.S. government has issued two new rules this…
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Faces Behind the Hero: Erin, Army Wife & Veteran
This week’s “Faces Behind the Heroes” is Erin, an Army wife, mom, dog-lover and veteran. Talk about wearing a few hats! I am so glad Erin took the time to answer some questions so that we could get to know this very special Army Wife. What branch is your husband in? US Army How long has he been in? 7 years this JuneHow long have you been married? 3 ½ years What is your favorite wedding-day memory? Actually, we got married by mail because of being overseas. We went on a 5 mile PT run with our unit the morning we got our marriage certificate back… Not anything most brides…
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Faces Behind the Hero: Shannon, Navy Wife
What a blessing it is to get to know our military community! I put the call out on Friday afternoon with a desire to get to know ‘The Faces Behind the Heroes’, spouses, parents, military-brats, and I have been overwhelmed with responses. Thank you! Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Shannon! A beautiful and thought-filled Navy Spouse. I hope you enjoy getting to see a small glimpse of her Navy way of life. Thank you, Shannon! 1. What branch is your husband in? US Navy, active duty 2. How long has he been in? 13.5 years 3. How long have you been married? 10 years; we married (3) months…
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Disney World!
Disney World! A piece of heaven on earth… at least for this military-family. We jetted out on July 24th. A family of five. A family that survived a year deployment. A family that needed the opportunity to just be with each other. To smile. To laugh. To be. We had saved all year for this vacation. We opened a CD with USAA and socked money into Savings when we could. We had a garage sale for some spending cash and the boys did extra chores around Grandma’s house for some souvenir money. Money was not going to be a stresser. Friday evening, July 24th, over a year after we started…
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Transfer of Education Benefits under the Post 9/11 GI Bill
I just finished a very informative joint Roundtable discussion with the Department of Defense and the Veterans Administration hosted by Lt Jennifer Craig of the DoD’s New Media Directorate within the Public Affairs office at the Pentagon. Mr Keith Wilson, Director of VA Education and Mr Bob Clark, Deputy Director of DoD Accession Policy provided a great forum for providing information about this new program kicking off on August 1st! So far, 107,000 applications for the transfer of GI Bill benefits to a family member have been received and over 80,000 have been approved! Are you aware of this new program? Need more information? Are you eligible to use it?…
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Your “Education Bank Account” and the New GI Bill
An “Education Bank Account”? It does make sense; we have an account for many things: such as, how much time and effort we put into our job; our lifestyle; our car(s); our families; friends; church, etc. You add to each account as you place resources into them which can be your funds, your time, your emotions, etc. So as we finish the series on your Education Bank Account what we have learned? We know education is important to your job progress, promotions and lifestyle; there have been huge strides to make it easier for veterans to place value into their accounts with off duty or full time student status; the…
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Veteran Education and Your “Education Bank Account” has Gained Interest
I am going to continue my blog series on your “Education Bank Account” and what great strides have been made to help you increase the balance of your account. One of the best parts of an education bank account is that you can make withdrawals for a new job or opportunity and when you check the balance it is still there! How fun is that? Besides the real money account at your bank grows faster when you do have an education account that is growing! I would again like to thank Dr Hancock of Central Michigan University for sharing her time with me so I can write this series. She…
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Veteran Education and Your “Education Bank Account”
Did you know you started your “Education Bank Account” when you finished Basic Training? A veteran receives a minimum of two hours of college Phys Ed credit for just completing basic! Nice! I just met with Dr Merodie Hancock, the Vice President/Executive Director of Central Michigan’s Off-Campus Programs who shared some great information about veteran education opportunities! Dr Hancock has extensive experience working with veterans and helping them pursue their educational goals. She commented that her classroom experience with veterans was exciting and that she found them to have numerous strengths including: diversity, a global view and being incredibly informed. That was the start of a great interview and I…
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Mrs Obama’s Visit to Fort Bragg
I realize I’m preaching to the choir on this one … but I was reading an article this morning about Michelle Obamas visit to Fort Bragg and it struck a chord with me. “I encourage everyone out there, within the sound of my voice, to reach out on your own — through schools, PTA, Little Leagues, churches, workplaces — and find out if there’s a soldier or a soldier’s family right there in the community who needs a little extra support,” Mrs. Obama said in her speech. “They’re there. Something as simple as offering help with car pool duty can make the world of difference to a parent who’s trying…