Official Outlines Absentee Voting Options
by Jennifer on Feb.02, 2012, under National Guard news, military news
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 1, 2012 – Federal officials are urging military members, their families and other Americans living outside the United States to register to vote and request an absentee ballot.
Both can be done easily by downloading a federal postcard application on the Federal Voting Assistance Program website, Bob Carey, the program’s director, said in an interview today with the Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service.
A digital “wizard” takes applicants through the process in about five minutes, allowing them to avoid the 390-page federal voting assistance guide, and provides a preprinted, stamped envelope for the application that must be signed and mailed back to the appropriate voting registrar, the program’s Carey said.
Several states allow signed applications to be faxed or scanned, then emailed in, including Florida, where 14 counties used online ballot delivery for yesterday’s presidential primary election. Some 800 service members downloaded ballots for the election, Carey noted.
Service members should update their address on the site every time they change duty stations and before deployment or upon their return, Carey said.
“The big thing is sending the ballot back,” he emphasized, noting that delivery can encounter delays. “As soon as you get your ballot, try to send it back.”
Most states allow registration very close to Election Day, which is Nov. 6 for federal offices. However, because most ballots are due back by the election, Carey recommended using a federal write-in absentee ballot, available on the website, for those who haven’t received their postcard application within 45 days of the election.
The FVAP website includes deadlines for registration, state voting laws, sample ballots and absentee ballots for every state, Carey said.
“We’ve really expanded the online delivery systems by working closely with the states,” he said. “We can reduce delays from 20 to 30 days to 20 to 30 milliseconds.”
Several states, including California, are moving toward full online applications by automatically using driver’s license signatures, he said.
Program officials are working to make voting easier for troops and civilians overseas, whether by working with states to improve voting laws, or by easing the process, Carey said.
“We have worked closely with all the states,” he said, including sending letters about legislation affecting voting to every state. Carey has testified before legislatures in Minnesota, South Carolina, Texas and New York already this year.
“We will go wherever we need to, to get these laws changed so that the military and overseas voters can have adequate opportunities” to vote, he said.
The program’s workers also are making practical improvements, including sending computer printers and ink cartridges to all combat outposts and forward operating bases to ensure an easy application process, Carey said.
And the efforts are paying off, he added. After sending 2.2 million emails about absentee voting in January, 60,000 postcard applications have been downloaded so far this year, compared to 90,000 in all of 2010, Carey said. The program also d sends out regular voting tips to people who “like” the Federal Voting Assistance Program’s Facebook page, he said.
“We’ve really had a banner year this year in getting the word out, letting people know they have these opportunities and how to successfully use them,” Carey said.
A Pew Center report issued last week shows substantial improvement for military and overseas voters, Carey said, concluding that this year will see substantially fewer registration and absentee voting problems than in the past.
Some problems the program has worked to alleviate include getting laws passed in every state requiring that absentee ballots be mailed out at least 45 days before an election and doing away with requirements that a notary public or a voter from the same state must witness an absentee vote, Carey said.
“The problem is, these are very complex election systems that develop over decades,” he said. “It’s not like we can change one small part without changing the rest.”
But, he added, “that’s what we do — we work with these state legislatures to help them figure out how to do that.”
Most importantly, Carey said, more service members are voting, with participation up 21 percent between 2006 and 2010, including a 33 percent rise in voting among 18- to 24-year-olds, who traditionally have the lowest voter turnout. In 2010, voting among military members was 46 percent, compared to 45.5 percent in the civilian population, he said.
“Everyone has a right not to vote,” he said. “But if they want to vote, we want make sure they have every opportunity to vote.”
Proposal Would Expand Support for Military Caregivers
by Jennifer on Jan.31, 2012, under Military Benefits, Military Healthcare, military families, military news
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON – First Lady Michelle Obama announced on Monday a series of measures intended to increase the nation’s support for caregivers of wounded, ill and injured service members.
Joined by Labor Secretary Hilda L. Solis and senior military leaders, Obama announced the Labor Department’s proposal to expand military family leave protections under the Family and Medical Leave Act.
These proposed rules will, in part, enable more military family members to take the time they need to care for their loved ones without fear of career repercussions, the first lady said.
“We want to recognize the extraordinary dedication, sacrifice and service of our nation’s caregivers, not simply with words, but with deeds,” Obama told the audience gathered at the Labor Department here. “These are men and women and children who will do anything for their loved ones, no matter the cost, no matter the sacrifice, no matter the consequences.”
The Labor Department’s proposed expansions of the Family and Medical Leave Act will help more caregivers of troops and veterans tend to their wounded loved ones, Solis explained. FMLA, enacted in 1993, enables eligible employees of covered employers to take unpaid, job-protected leave for specified family and medical reasons.
“Many service members come home stressed, ill and injured,” Solis said. “They need attention, care and support from the people that love them the most. And we’ve got an obligation as a nation to make that possible.”
The proposal will, in part:
– Extend the 26-week unpaid leave entitlement to family members caring for recent veterans with a serious injury or illness incurred in the line of duty, including conditions that may arise up to five years after leaving the military;
– Allow family members to take time off from work before, during or after a spouse, child or parent’s deployment to tend to service-related matters, such as military briefings or making financial and legal arrangements; and
– Increase the amount of time an employee may take to spend with a loved one who is on rest or recuperation leave from five days to up to 15 days.
These proposed rules, the first lady noted, will ease family members’ minds as they care for their wounded loved ones. Caregivers will be able to stay near a loved one in a hospital longer, and will be on hand as they transition home “all without worrying about whether they will lose their job.”
Obama recalled a story of a mom who became caregiver to her Marine son last summer. The Marine had lost the lower part of both of his legs after stepping on a homemade bomb in Afghanistan. Through his recovery, the first lady said, the Marine’s mother was there, feeding him meals and sleeping by his bedside.
Obama recalled what this mom told her: “All I cared about was knowing he was alive. I knew we could figure the rest out.” The FMLA, the first lady noted, gave this caregiver mom the flexibility and time she needed to “figure it out.”
Another caregiver, RyAnne Noss, was on hand to recount her caregiving journey.
Noss’ husband, Army Sgt. 1st Class Scott Noss, was injured in February 2007 when the Chinook helicopter he was riding in crashed in the mountains of southern Afghanistan. He was on his eighth deployment.
Of the 14 survivors, he was injured the worst, Noss said, suffering a severe traumatic brain injury that left him mentally conscious but semi-comatose.
Noss, who was pursuing a doctorate degree in chemical engineering at the time, dropped everything to be by his side. He was 100 percent dependent on her, she noted. She fed him, administered his medications and became an advocate for his care. “Along the way,” Noss noted, “I learned how important it was to take care of myself.”
With the support of family and friends, Noss completed her degree at Auburn University. The couple is now home in Alabama, she said.
“I’m proud to have been by Scott’s side through his rehabilitation and proud to have him home now with me where he continues to require around-the-clock care,” she said. “I’m proud to be my husband’s caregiver.”
Noss lauded the measures under way to help caregivers like her. “Today is a great day for every caregiver,” she said. “These announcements from the Department of Labor will help us all to insert some more stability and certainty into our lives, and I can tell you from personal experience, we appreciate all the help. Every little bit counts.”
The Labor Department’s proposal is just a few of many steps the Obama administration is taking to support caregivers, the first lady noted, citing legislation the president signed to help caregivers receive stipends, training, counseling and other assistance. The Defense and Labor departments also have strengthened their caregiver support, she said, working together to support caregivers whose loved ones are dealing with TBIs and post-traumatic stress.
Additionally, she added, the VA has helped caregivers receive health insurance and helps connect them with support coordinators who can direct them to resources.
But the government can’t do it alone, she said, citing examples of how other individuals and organizations are stepping up to help.
Building on successful pilot programs at Fort Belvoir, Va., and Fort Carson, Colo., the USO, Hire Heroes USA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce plan to host 14 career opportunity days focused on the employment of wounded, ill and injured warriors, their spouses and caregivers.
The Chamber of Commerce’s new Military Spouse Business Alliance has committed to hosting a career forum and hiring fair exclusively for wounded warriors, their spouses and caregivers at the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., in May.
Finally, Operation Homefront and the Semper Fi Fund, both nonprofit organizations, have added volunteer opportunities that support caregivers and their families to the Joining Forces website.
Americans have an obligation to serve service members and their families as well as they’ve served the nation, the first lady noted.
This need for support, Obama said, is what spurred her and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, to launch the Joining Forces initiative last year. The campaign aims to raise awareness of military families and to rally the nation around them.
“I hope everyone in this country will ask themselves one simple question,” she said, ‘What can I do to support these great military families who have given us all so much.’ That’s the one question we all need to ask.”
Obama said she hopes service members, veterans and their families feel the love and support of their nation. And if they haven’t felt it yet, “I promise you that it’s coming, that I promise you.
“We are going to work every day until every last one of you feels the pride and the honor that this entire country feels,” she said. “As long as we all just keep joining forces to support these amazing families, we will be able to serve all of you as well as you’ve served us.”
Program Supports Ready Reserve Soldiers, Families
by Jennifer on Jan.30, 2012, under National Guard news, military families
Army National Guard
ARLINGTON, Va., Jan. 30, 2012 – The Army Reserve, the Army Human Resources Command and the Army National Guard have joined to provide Individual Ready Reserve soldiers and their families a way to connect with the military community.
By affiliating Individual Ready Reserve soldiers and their families with a local reserve-component unit, the IRR Affiliation Program creates a support network intended to improve readiness and encourage soldiers with valuable skills to continue their service, officials said.
After the Army Reserve initiated the program, Army Lt. Gen. William E. Ingram Jr., director of the Army National Guard, recognized its value and committed the Army Guard as a partner, bringing connections to hundreds of units through armories and family programs in communities nationwide.
“[The IRR Affiliation Program] is a total support network, and the [Army National Guard] wanted to be a part of it to ensure that soldiers and their families are connected to the Army family,” said John Schmidt, a program lead from the Army Guard’s personnel policy division.
A pilot program in several states determined the IRR Affiliation Program’s potential benefits, as well as the impact on each unit’s full-time staff and necessary changes to regulations, policies and systems. The five-month test connected more than 4,000 Individual Ready Reserve soldiers with local Army National Guard units.
The pilot program revealed that the program required minimal additional work for states, units, and local commands, because it provides access to networks and resources that already are in place, officials said.
“Most Guard units have a support network already built,” explained Gregory Heffner, a program lead. “The program is simply about maintaining a connection — it is more of a referral program. If a soldier has an issue, hopefully, they will pick up the phone.”
Army Guard officials announced Jan. 26 that the IRR Affiliation Program will expand nationwide and encouraged all states and territories to participate.
“The director of the Army National Guard recognized that these soldiers are an important part of the Army family,” Schmidt said. “From when the soldier joins the Army on the first day to their eight year re-up, we are going to keep them in touch with the Army family.”
Through the program, soldiers can establish and maintain communications with their affiliated unit, which will be within 50 miles or 90 minutes of travel from their home of record. Soldiers and their families can participate in unit activities and access information and services such as medical readiness resources, employment programs, career counseling, state government and Veterans Affairs information, and family readiness services.
Affiliated soldiers continue to be assigned to Human Resources Command and are not assigned to the National Guard or the Army Reserve, officials said. Individual Ready Reserve soldiers may still receive orders to muster from Human Resources Command, they added, but are not required to participate in any activities, including training, with their affiliated unit.
Also, officials said, soldiers are not required to maintain contact with their affiliated unit. Soldiers who choose not to participate in any events will be required to acknowledge their awareness of the program, their affiliation with a reserve-component unit and their understanding that resources and support always will be available to them while assigned to the Individual Ready Reserve.
“The intent is to have every armory participating, and the expansion of the program will ensure that each soldier has access to a local community,” Heffner said. “We want them to be able to walk into their local armory and ask questions.”
The IRR Affiliation Program connects soldiers with the Army family, and “is their first stop to gain access to services that are their privilege and their right,” Schmidt said.
National Guard hosts virtual conference on diversity
by Jennifer on Jan.19, 2012, under Military History, National Guard news
By Army National Guard Sgt. Darron Salzer National Guard Bureau ARLINGTON, Va. (1/19/12) - The chief of the National Guard Bureau outlined his vision for diversity within the National Guard during the first National Guard Bureau Virtual Diversity Conference - held completely online on Wednesday. Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley said the goal of the virtual conference was to present to all Citizen-Soldiers, -Airmen and civilians the vision and strategy of Guard leadership in the area of diversity management - and the use of a virtual conference allowed that message to reach a larger audience. "As your chief of the National Guard Bureau, it is my role to work with your adjutants general to ensure that the National Guard remains a mission-ready force," he said. "Effective diversity management is essential to military readiness and mission accomplishment." McKinley said steps to improve diversity management throughout the Guard have been taken, one of them being the establishment of the National Guard Bureau Joint Diversity Executive Council. "The goal of this council," he said, "is to identify and adopt the best practices for recruiting, retaining and developing a very diverse workforce - and sustaining a climate of equality in the National Guard." "The council adapts these practices from various resources to recommendations that are appropriate to the National Guard's military and civilian structure," said Phyllis Brantley, chief of National Guard diversity and special-emphasis programs. Some of the accomplishments of the council thus far include: a comprehensive diversity policy, a leaders guide on diversity, resources for state-level Joint Diversity Councils and training and mentoring for state-level JSDCs from NGB staff. "We as an organization have made significant progress, but much more is needed - especially in our military leadership diversity," McKinley said. "It's a problem with cyclical effects. Through the work of our adjutants general and other National Guard leaders, I am confident that we can move toward a future workforce that more clearly reflects the population of our great nation." McKinley said accessing and adopting some programs from the civilian sector is one way that the Guard could use to achieve its diversity goals. "Another step to reaching our goals on diversity and inclusion in the Guard is for each state, territory and the District of Columbia to establish state joint diversity councils and assign a liaison to work with the NGB Joint Diversity Executive Council," he said. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Denise Jelinski-Hall, the National Guard's senior enlisted leader, said in order for the organization to remain relevant, "we must understand diversity and how to strategically capitalize on the strength of our Soldiers, Airmen and civilians." "Diversity must be recognized as an enhancement of the character of our organization," McKinley said. "Change is never easy, but I remain confident in the Soldiers, Airmen and civilians of the National Guard to get this work done," he said.
Mrs. Dempsey: Military Families Take Care of Each Other
by Jennifer on Jan.18, 2012, under Military Benefits, National Guard news, military families, military news
American Forces Press Service
Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his wife, Deanie, enjoy a USO show with service members at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, Dec. 16, 2011. Through social media and contacts with service members and families, Deanie Dempsey discusses issues that include programs for military families overseas, jobs for military spouses, military family health, and her travels with the chairman. U.S. Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Cody Ramirez
DURHAM, N.C., Jan. 18, 2012 – Caring about military families comes naturally to the wife of the nation’s top military officer. She’s been an Army spouse for nearly 36 years, and their three children have served in the Army.
Since Oct. 1, when Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey became the 18th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Deanie Dempsey’s full-time job has been to communicate in every way she can with military families about topics that affect them.
“Wounded warriors have always been near and dear to my heart, but [I'm interested in] pretty much any of the family issues,” Dempsey told American Forces Press Service during a trip here with the chairman Jan. 13.
“We’ve done a lot with spouse employment and post-traumatic stress disorder,” she said, “and making sure we take care of [military families] and not break faith” with them in a time of defense budgetary constraints.
Through accounts on the social media websites Twitter and Facebook, through contacts with service members as she travels with the chairman, and even through personal notes to military spouses, Dempsey discusses everything from programs for military families overseas and jobs for military spouses to military family health and her travels with the chairman.
In December, she joined her husband on his first USO holiday tour as chairman, a fast-paced trip through five countries in six days.
In Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia and Germany, they hosted four celebrities and brought holiday gifts to troops that included hockey equipment, soccer equipment, holiday cards from schoolchildren in the United States, and 10,000 cupcakes donated by DC Cupcakes in Washington.
“I thought [the USO tour] was absolutely amazing, and I was really impressed with the stars,” she said. The celebrities were recording artist Jordin Sparks, actress and model Minka Kelly, seven-time NBA champion Robert Horry and comedian Thomas “Nephew Tommy” Miles.
“They were good people who really were thrilled at the prospect of going to see troops,” Dempsey said. “If they smiled for one picture, they smiled for a million, and they were working on as little sleep as we were.”
On the last night of the tour, she and the chairman had a small ceremony with the celebrities.
“Marty got up and said some things about each one of them, and they were all in tears by the end,” she said. “They got that the week was about the soldiers, not about them, and the joy that they brought to all those service members for that week.”
On the stop in Iraq, the Dempseys joined Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and other U.S. and Iraqi military officials at the closing ceremony for U.S. Forces Iraq.
“Today I attended the casing of the colors in Baghdad and it was pretty emotional,” she wrote in a Facebook post Dec. 15.
“As I sat there listening, I couldn’t help but think of my family members (husband, son, daughter) who all were a part of this effort,” Dempsey wrote. “I felt like I was representing all spouses and mothers who couldn’t be here. I also thought of all those who had paid the ultimate sacrifice. We will never forget you.”
Dempsey calls being a military spouse, especially as the wife of the nation’s top military officer, a full-time job.
“All through Marty’s career, we’ve always taken that command-team philosophy seriously, so I support him,” she said.
When the chairman travels stateside, Dempsey said, his hosts at the military facilities he visits “always want to show the general everything that’s perfect and good.”
“Then I go and talk with spouses and … find out there is a lot of good, but there also may be something that’s not so good, and they’re not afraid to tell me,” she said. “I think that’s the benefit of having somebody else there — another set of ears.”
As Dempsey supports the general in his hectic schedule of work and travel and communicates with military families to share her strength and experience, she continues an ancient tradition among military families to look out for each other.
“It is unlike any other occupation,” she said. “I used to tell people I could get in the car on the East Coast and drive to the West Coast and never spend a night in a hotel.
“It might be that I haven’t seen you in 15 years, but if I’m driving on I-70 through Kansas and you’re at Fort Riley … you’re telling me to come over, because there is that close-knit family atmosphere where you want to take care of everybody because you’ve been there,” she added. “It’s what we do.”
National Guard State Partnership Program emphasizes building relationships
by Jennifer on Jan.18, 2012, under Military History, National Guard news, military news
Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the chief of the National Guard Bureau, and Serbian Army Lt. Gen. Miloje Miletic, chief of staff of the Serbian Armed Forces, review Serbian troops following McKinley's arrival in Belgrade, Serbia, on Sept. 10, 2010, for National Guard State Partnership Program activities. (U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill)
A small, but innovative, program demonstrates the U.S. military’s “very agile and flexible” capabilities in working with partners, the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said recently.
Meeting with reporters in January after the announcement of President Barack Obama’s new strategic guidance for the U.S. military, Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr. brought up the National Guard’s State Partnership Program as an example of an ongoing effort that lines up well with the new strategy.
“It’s a very high-leverage program where individual states will partner with another nation in Europe or Africa or Asia,” Winnefeld said. “It’s proven to be a very, very valuable high-leverage tool for us, … so we plan to build on things like that to help us on these innovative approaches to other parts of the world.”
In a subsequent interview with American Forces Press Service, Air Force Col. Joey Booher, chief of international affairs for the National Guard Bureau, said the program is where “the rubber meets the road.”
“It’s a [Defense Department] program that’s managed by the National Guard Bureau, but executed by the states,” he explained. “The states, the adjutant general, the state coordinator who works with the combatant commander’s staff and the partner nation [work] to meet collective security cooperation objectives.”
Booher said the fall of the Berlin Wall and U.S. military leadership’s engagement with the former Warsaw Pact nations were the impetus for the program’s creation.
“The U.S. was trying to engage with the former communist nations that were in the Warsaw Pact, and using active duty troops might have been a little too offensive to the Russians or the folks that were in there, so the idea was to use the small footprint of National Guard troops,” he said.
The state adjutants general partnered with Air Force Lt. Gen. John B. Conaway, then the chief of the National Guard Bureau, to explore how to do this, Booher added.
Booher noted the National Guard was a “perfect fit” because of its force structure and capabilities such as disaster response, consequence management, interaction between the state governments and the federal government.
“What the goals of the program were back then were promoting American principles and values while supporting democracy abroad, and also building institutions to keep Americans safe and the world peaceful,” he said. “Those were the broad objectives we had.”
The colonel lauded the program’s success as it approaches its 20th anniversary in 2013. The first three partnerships were developed in 1993 with the Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, he said, and all three partnerships still are going strong.
“It started off with [those] three countries, and right now we have 63 partnerships spread throughout 69 countries around the globe,” he said. “So if you’re just looking for growth in the program, … that’s a testament to what its accomplished in its goals and objectives.”
Booher said the original partnerships were between Michigan and Latvia, Pennsylvania and Lithuania, and Maryland and Estonia.
“What we do is partner one country with one state, and that way the continuity is there,” he said. “Why do we do that? The best thing that you get out of this is the relationship. So we feel the state partnership — that enduring, persistent relationship over time — that’s money.”
Those relationships are a critical factor, Booher noted, especially in light of the recent announcement the U.S. Army will replace two brigades in Europe with rotating units.
“The State Partnership Program is that connective tissue back to the States for DOD, for the Guard, for the country teams [and] for [the] State [Department],” he said.
The State Partnership Program now provides 31,309 troops and military experts to United Nations peacekeeping efforts,” Booher noted. “These critical partner-country deployments reduce pressure [on] U.S. forces worldwide and reduce the need for more direct and costly U.S. military involvement in future contingencies,” he added. Booher cited the Colorado-Jordan F-16 relationship as an example.
“You have Jordan, who participated in the Libyan effort, helped and facilitated by Colorado Guardsmen to get them up to a point where now they’re able to take on NATO taskings on their own without our heavy support,” he said.
Looking forward, the colonel said, the program’s goal is to be the best force provider for the Defense Department’s security cooperation goals. “That’s what I see,” he added. “If the [combatant commanders] have a requirement [or] if DOD has a requirement for security cooperation, then we’re there and ready to support, as resources allow.”
Booher said he believes the State Partnership Program also is efficient in terms of budgetary concerns.
“This is a great ‘bang for the buck’ in a time of reduced budgets,” he said. “And again, as Admiral Winnefeld said, we need innovative approaches, and SPP is a low-cost, high-impact, very valuable high-leverage program that is very relevant to our new defense strategy.”
The colonel noted that the vice chairman brought up the $13.5 million dollar program in his press briefing without prompting, out of many other DOD programs he might have talked about instead.
“I think that might be a testament to just how valuable this has become,” he said. “This is a good program. This is good for America.”
DOD Extends Schools’ Signing Deadline for Tuition Assistance
by admin on Dec.16, 2011, under Military Benefits, National Guard news, military news
American Forces Press Service
The Defense Department on Thursday announced a 90-day deadline extension for schools seeking to participate in the department’s tuition assistance program.
The department has instituted a memorandum of understanding participating schools must sign to qualify to receive funding for courses service members attend under the program. The signing deadline for those schools has been shifted from Dec. 31 to March 30, 2012.
Robert L. Gordon III, deputy assistant secretary for military, community and family policy, told the Pentagon Channel and American Forces Press Service that “the memorandum is designed to help ensure oversight in DOD-funded education, and ensure service members can make informed choices about their education.”
DOD’s tuition assistance program funds post-secondary education for current service members, and is separate from the veteran education benefits available through the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
About 320,000 service members across the force currently use tuition assistance, Gordon said, and tuition assistance costs totaled $545 million in fiscal 2011.
The program helps build a more ready force, he said.
“A knowledge-based force … that continues to learn and grow, is of course more ready to defend this country,” Gordon said. “It is also about ensuring that our service members are able to acquire the knowledge and the education so that once they leave the service, they can be very competitive for jobs in a 21st-century economy.”
The opportunity to pursue a college degree also helps service members become self-fulfilled, he added.
While more than 1,900 schools have signed the memorandum, Gordon said, DOD officials hope the deadline extension will allow even more schools to participate, increasing the choices available to service members.
Key provisions of the memorandum require that schools provide timely course enrollment, withdrawal and cancellation information and grades, as well as an evaluated education plan outlining the courses needed for a degree.
The agreement also addresses course credit transfer, limits academic residency requirements and requires schools to evaluate military training and experience for course credit.
Military members typically change duty stations at least every three years, and may change schools more than once while pursuing a degree.
Gordon said the memorandum “focuses on the kinds of rules applied to our military service members … ensuring that they have every opportunity to earn a degree, because of the uniqueness of the military lifestyle.”
Gordon noted that service members enrolled in any Department of Education-accredited school can currently receive tuition assistance, within program guidelines. That eligibility will continue through the coming months, whether or not a service member’s school has signed the memorandum, he added.
Gordon emphasized tuition assistance remains available for service members.
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In honor of AAFMAA’s 133rd birthday on 13th January, 2012, AAFMAA is giving you a gift! AAFMAA had this video made which captures the American spirit, American values and the unfurling of the World's Largest American Flag that AAFMAA sponsored out at Fort Carson in September. Enjoy and thank you to the many long standing, loyal members and friends.
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