There is a lot of information out there for military families.
Walk into any ACS, family center, PX, NEX, BX, commissary, or military medical waiting room and you will be inundated with pamphlets, booklets and flyers.
There are base calendars online, separate calendars for youth activities and on-post sports and events. There are hundreds of other websites that offer programs for military families. Even for spouses who consider themselves good at keeping up with the information deluge, it's a lot to compile.
And sometimes, there is so much fluff news that military families lose track of the information that is really, really important - like updates on benefits, troop deployments and pay. Those topics tend to be fueled by rumor, Facebook posts and speculation.
No more. Get your information from the professionals.
The Early Bird Brief is compiled daily by the editors of Defense News and Military Times. That means that the good, bad and ugly will be here. No more fluff, no more re-directing families to happy, base news. Did Congress vote to slash your benefits? You will find the story here. Were troops killed over the weekend? It is here.
The Early Bird is divided into sections: the day's top five stories, defense industry news, Congress, Defense Department, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, Veterans, Afghanistan, Middle East, Europe, Americas, Asia-Pacific and Commentary and Analysis.
It is still a lot of information. But the dividers make it easy to consume. PCSing to Japan, check out the Asia-Pacific section to get an honest read of what is happening there. Is your military member retiring and looking for a job in the defense industry? Check that section to keep up with new contracts and deals the military has made, which may help you decide what company to apply with.
We know it is one more thing to read every morning, but the Early Bird is written so well, in bite-size paragraphs, that with a single glance you will have an unbiased look at what is happening around the military that day.
Sit down with a cup of coffee and look it over. You will be glad you did.
