The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) today announced that its National Cemetery Administration (NCA) is partnering with Carry The Load, a nonprofit organization that provides active ways to connect Americans to the sacrifices made daily by the U.S. military, Veterans, first responders and their families.

NCA will participate in Carry The Load’s Memorial May awareness campaign, which covers 40 states, leading up to Memorial Day 2019.

Posted by ED Staff

April is “The Month of the Military Child,” and serves as a reminder that military children serve our country alongside their parents and face challenges that most other students don’t think about, let alone experience themselves. Each military child deserves the chance to flourish in an education environment that best leverages their unique learning style and cultivates their talents. Unfortunately, while service members fight and defend our freedoms abroad, military families are too often denied education freedom at home.

By Devon L. Suits, Army News Service

Soldiers with over 16 years of service who want to transfer their Post-9/11 GI Bill to a dependent must do so before July 12, or risk losing the ability to transfer education benefits.

Last year, the Department of Defense implemented a new Post-9/11 GI Bill Transfer of Education Benefits, or TEB, eligibility requirement, which instituted a "six- to 16-year cutoff rule," said Master Sgt. Gerardo T. Godinez, senior Army retention operations NCO with Army G-1. 

From Navy Exchange Service Command Public Affairs

The Navy Exchange Service Command’s (NEXCOM) Navy Lodge Program boasts 39 facilities worldwide and their mission is to provide military guests on permanent change of station (PCS) orders with a necessary quality of life benefit. In line with that mission set, the Navy Lodge Program is offering families a chance to save on their stay. This year marks the 11th year in a row that the Navy Lodge Program will provide PCS guests with a PCS discount scratch-off card.

Navy Lodge room rates currently average 45 percent below comparable civilian hotels and since 2012 the scratch-off card has saved their military guests an additional $1,555,000. The Navy Lodge scratch-off campaign will go until February 29, 2020 and will give families the opportunity to save 10, 15, 25 or 100 percent off their PCS stay.

Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs

The Air Force now has an enterprise-wide mobile app designed to provide Airmen with streamlined access to information they need for their lives and careers.

Air Force Connect was one of six ideas to compete as a finalist in the 2018 Spark Tank competition, which provided the authority and funding to launch the app Air Force-wide. The app is designed to offer Air Force organizations at all levels a way to deliver timely and relevant information to Airmen, their families and members of the local community. The app is now available in the Apple App Store and Google Play.

From Navy Exchange Service Command Public Affairs

Based on recent changes to the Wounded Warriors Federal Leave Act of 2015, the Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM) announced the creation of a new Disabled Veterans Leave policy for its associates.

“NEXCOM is excited to offer this great benefit to our community’s disabled veterans,” said retired Rear Adm. Robert J. Bianchi, CEO of NEXCOM. “As a Navy command, we understand better than most civilian employers that our veteran workforce may need additional time off for medical appointments due to their disability. In fact, over half of our 14,000 personnel have some military affiliation, so I appreciate our Human Resources team taking advantage of this new benefit for our veteran associates. Our nation’s veterans are a critical component of our NEXCOM team, so it’s important that they have the resources available to take care of their health and well-being.”

By Spc. Justin Stafford

Hundreds of people attended the memorial and funeral of a World War II Soldier in his hometown of Troy, Indiana on March 30, 2019. Most of them never met him.

Pfc. Clifford M. Mills, a Soldier who fought with the 319th Glider Field Artillery Battalion, 82nd Airborne Division, was buried 75 years after his death during Operation Market Garden in 1944.

By Susan A. Merkner

Entries may be submitted April 1 through April 30 for the 2019 Young Lives, BIG Stories contest sponsored by U.S. Army Installation Management Command G9 Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation. 

The essay and artwork contest is open to active-duty Army, Army National Guard, Army Reserve, Army spouse or U.S. Army retiree children in preschool through grade 12.

From Navy Voluntary Education and Naval Education and Training Professional Development Center (NETPDC) Public Affairs

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (NNS) -- Six of the top 10 colleges accepting Tuition Assistance (TA) are participating in the Navy College Program for Afloat College Education (NCPACE), available to Sailors on type 2 or 4 sea duty.

"Our goal for the NCPACE program is to provide eligible afloat Sailors the same quality education available to those on shore duty," said Lisa Teeling, Navy Voluntary Education NCPACE program manager. "Between the available Instructor-Led (IL) and Distance Learning (DL) courses, almost any curriculum is available through our participating schools, which include the majority of the top schools for TA."

By Devon L. Suits April 24, 2018

ARLINGTON, Va. -- Actively seeking opportunities to help others is something that Aaron Hall, a 16-year-old Minarets High School junior from O'Neals, California, constantly strives to do.

"Life is from B to D -- from birth to death -- but there is a C in between. That C stands for the choices we make during our lives," Aaron said, paraphrasing his favorite quote from an anonymous author.