By Jan Childs
Want the adventure of a lifetime? Take advantage of the opportunity to do an overseas tour.
According to a December, 2013 Department of Defense report, some 66,000 U.S. military members were stationed in Germany and another 39,000 in Japan. – the two regions servicemembers are most likely to be able to bring their families along for a two- or three-year tour.
Samantha Mahon worked as a paramedic in Charleston, S.C. when, in 2011, her husband, a sailor in the United States Navy, got orders to Norfolk, Va.
Because Virginia offered reciprocity, or the ability to practice her job under the license of a different state, she was able to continue working as a paramedic after the move, in Portsmouth, Va., for a private transport company.
They have endured a decade of war. Collectively they have moved across country and back again, thousands of times. They go years without seeing family members. They lose touch with their closest friends just to repeat the cycle again and again. They often are the victims of abuse as the strain of war weighs heavy on their family. They sometimes live in poverty and for thousands, their parents have been killed or broken in combat.
These are not soldiers. These are their children.
Stop reading this right now, and go hug your military child.
Kids serve too.
It is that simple.
When mom and dad are home late after training, gone for a year to deploy and miss countless holidays, birthdays, school plays and even playtime after school because of military commitments, their kids feel the effects of military life.
They are military too. They move when the service member moves. They are emotionally changed during deployment. They hurt when their parent is injured.
Military children may not wear the uniform but they enjoy the rewards and carry the pain that comes with serving, just like their parent.
I was 28 weeks pregnant with my second baby. I had a 1-year-old. And, my husband was deployed.
I’m still not sure what happened. It might have been the lunch we ate out. The chicken did taste funny. Maybe we just ate too much salsa. Or maybe the waitress was carrying a virus.
But the day after that celebratory lunch, mid-deployment, my daughter and I got a stomach virus. A reeling, violent stomach virus.
Spring cleaning is time for bringing in the new and tossing the old. For many military spouses, it coincides with PCS season. As families prepare to move on to their next military adventure, they are getting rid of everything from outgrown clothing to household items.
But, if you are staying put or just arriving at a new duty station, spring is also a great time to look for bargain items. Deciding what to sell, donate or how to get the most for your stuff can sometimes be more confusing than moving orders and military acronyms.
Ahhh, say it with me.
For those of you who began your spring break this week, relax. No school lunches. No run to the bus. No dash off to work.
Spring is here and it is about time.
It felt like the longest winter ever. For those of you still shoveling melting snow, the feeling continues. But spring break gives us a chance to stop and breathe. No running, no hustling to events and homework and baseball practice.
By Tiffany Shedd
We made it! It's finally spring, even if we did get another 3 inches of snow on the office first day.
Spring is a season of new beginnings. While it is definitely a season for trees and plants to blossom, it's also the beginning of another season altogether - PCS season. Moving can be stressful under normal circumstances, but moving with a special needs family member can seem like the end of the world. But maybe it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are few tips to help make your PCS less stressful.
Military retirement pay is changing.
This week President Obama sent a letter to congressional leaders signaling support for the 15 recommendations drafted by the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission in January.
While the president didn't specifically endorse the changes, change is coming.
Overall, the recommendations would drop military retirement pay by about 20 percent. To close the gap, troops will be offered a traditional retirement account.
Once upon a time, at a college far, far away, a sophomore princess was learning the finer points of line and color in artistic works. Okay, so the princess was just me, and I was taking Art Appreciation 110. But the sophomore part is totally true.
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