Cybersecurity is a constant point of discussion in the private and public sectors, and is even beginning to be a more prominent concern among consumers given the magnitude of identity theft's spread in the past few years. The military has been entrenched in cyber warfare for years now, and is working to enhance its defenses through investments in more advanced technologies and service member professional development.
Many experts and distinguished generals have argued that cyberspace is indeed the battleground of the modern landscape, and these assertions are validated when looking at how frequently the government is attacked by hackers. Two new programs launched by the National Guard are showing just how much stock is being placed in cybersecurity within the military today, and both could positively impact the veteran job market as well.
Big move in Maryland
The Baltimore Sun recently reported that the Maryland National Guard will participate in one of the more complex cybersecurity tests around, and the troops therein will be the first to be involved in such a project. According to the news provider, this international simulation brings some of the world's greatest hackers and various military entities together in a faux computer attack, with the former group throwing everything it has at the system's defenses.
The military groups involved will attempt to protect the networks from the hackers throughout the simulation, and are chosen by NATO officials. Interestingly, the source pointed out that the U.S. Department of Defense has already launched initiatives to train a large number of active service members across the military in cybersecurity, and the National Guard appears to be the branch standing in the spotlight of such ventures at the moment.
Given the fact that cybersecurity skills are among the most sought-after abilities in the job market today, such programs to help defend the nation's digital assets can easily translate into stronger employment rates in the veteran community down the line.
New class offered
The International Society of Automation recently announced that it would be providing National Guard troops based in Indiana with cybersecurity training. This nonprofit is among the leading names in cybersecurity training, and estimates 900 service members from across the country and hailing from the Navy, Marines and other wings will participate in this particular event.
Cybersecurity will remain a hot topic in government, military and business for the foreseeable future, and these types of programs are likely to scale up as a result.
Many military servicemembers have families that live with them on-base. However, raising children amidst the hustle and bustle of the base and under strict military schedules can be difficult. AFBA has composed a list of tips to help parents raise families despite the semi-chaos of military life:
1. Establish a routine and stick to it.
Between relocations and the deployment of parents, military children may have a difficult time adjusting. To help your children find stability and normalcy, try to create a schedule with them. This means waking up around the same time each day, following a similar routine throughout the day and going to bed about the same time each night. Erratic sleep schedules or unpredictable daily routines can make it difficult for children to adjust to change.
2. They are children, not cadets.
As a military parent, it can be challenging to separate your work life from your home life, especially when it comes to your children. Do your best to avoid treating them like part of your unit. They will make mistakes, get messy and disobey. They are children, after all. It can be tempting to put them under the same strict regimen as your soldiers. Try to remember that they are young and are learning. This will help keep your relationship from souring.
3. Give them emotional outlets.
Whether they are dealing with a parent deploying or a cross-country move, military children have a lot to deal with. With all of their experiences come plenty of emotions. If your children do not have an outlet for their thoughts and feelings, it could become a problem. Make it clear that your are available to talk with them if they want or set up some time on a regular basis for them to talk with a military youth counselor.
4. Carve out family time.
Sure, military life is hectic, but it is important for children to get family time. If you or your spouse are available, schedule family meals on a regular basis or try to go for a family outing. If one of your is deployed, make an effort to video call your family on a regular basis, if possible. Even a few minutes of face-to-face screen time can be beneficial to both the children and the military parent.
5. Socialization is important.
Change is a big part of military children's lives. It is important that, despite frequent moves, they learn to socialize properly with their peers. Encourage your children to get active in groups on-base and to participate in activities. With a little support, they will learn to reach out to others and make healthy connections.
There is something entirely unique and special about growing up a military child. As a military parent, it is your job to help your children develop good social skills, healthy coping habits and strong family bonds. Hopefully, the tips listed above can help you accomplish this mission.
On Friday, March 18, 2016 the U.S. State Department granted the Pentagon permission to open five new bases in the Philippines. The U.S. struck a deal with the Filipino government officials in Manila and was called the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, according to the Washington Post. The new bases are called the Mactan-Benito Ebuen Air Base, Fort Magsaysay, Basa Air Base, Lumbia Air Base and Antonio Bautista Air Base.
The news source stated that some believe the opening of the bases was inspired in part by the increasing level of Chinese military activity in the South China Sea. However, John Kirby, a State Department spokesperson, told the Washington Post that the move was more about improving relations with the Phillippines.
"It's not about selling it to the Chinese or to anybody," Kirby said. "It's about meeting our security commitments in a serious alliance with the Philippines. That's what this is about."
The Chinese government responded by stating their disapproval of the increased American presence. Officials have declared that improving relations with one country "should not harm the sovereignty or security interests of any other country," as reported by the news source.
First lady Michelle Obama, on March 2, recognized female veterans during a reception in Washington, D.C., reported ABC News. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi organized the event to celebrate Women's History Month.
At the reception, Obama encouraged women ex-servicemembers to share their stories.
Retired Air Force Brigadier Gen. Wilma Vaught joined the military in 1957, almost 10 years after Congress passed the Women's Armed Services Integration Act, which allowed women to enlist in the armed forces. Vaught left the Air Force in 1985 and went on to serve as president for the Women in Military Service for America Memorial Foundation, reported RealClear Politics. The nonprofit lobbied the federal government to construct a monument to female veterans. Workers broke ground on the project in 1995 and completed it two years later. Vaught retired from the organization Jan. 1, 2016.
The first lady honored Vaught by presenting her with the American flag that flew over the U.S. Capitol on that day.
"Thanks to brilliant, fearless women like Gen. Vaught, today more than 200,000 women are serving our country in just about every role and rank," Obama said. "They are flying fighter jets, training new recruits, they're graduating Army Ranger School – and I met those graduates. They are awesome – fierce. And as you've already heard, they will soon be welcome in every combat unit in our armed forces."
Former U.S. Army Reserve photographer Kate Hoit served for eight years and did multiple tours in Iraq. Upon returning home, Hoit and a fellow male veteran went to register at their local Veterans of Foreign Wars office. Staff at the VFW branch mistook her for a military spouse.
"I was pulled aside and asked if I needed the military spouse application," she told ABC News. "I asked why, and they said, 'You know, you're a younger woman.'"
Hoit now works for Group 6, an advocacy group committed to changing perceptions about female veterans.
Obama addressed the problems young women like Hoit still face when they return home from service. She renewed the Obama administration's commitment to support female veterans by shining light on women servicemembers and continuing to expand military benefits for women. Under President Barack Obama, over 2,400 healthcare providers have established specialized services for female veterans.
"When these women have sacrificed so much and served so bravely, they should never have to hide their accomplishments," the first lady said. "They should never have to worry about whether their service will be valued equally. And just like every veteran who has served this country, they should be getting every single one of the benefits they've earned."
The Department of Defense wants to reform its recently amended retirement plan, reported the Military Times. The agency on Feb. 9 set out its intentions in its 2017 budget request.
Changing military benefits
President Barack Obama in November signed into law legislation that fundamentally altered the military's retirement plan, reported The Associated Press. The $607 billion bill replaced the DOD's inflexible 20-year plan with a blended retirement system that includes pension and investment schemes, reported the Military Times. It also expanded specialized programs for personnel making the transition into life after service. Under this new system, which is set to start in 2018, four of every five servicemembers will leave the military with some sort of retirement plan.
According to The Washington Post, the DOD surveyed over 150,000 servicemembers and veterans before compiling the new plan. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel thanked the nine-member panel for developing a modern retirement system that offers coverage to all military personnel.
"[The commissioners] have developed a wide-ranging set of recommendations on reforming and modernizing the package of benefits we provide to America's men and women in uniform and their families," the secretary said in a statement.
Changes coming
In its 2017 budget request, the DOD proposed a handful of changes to its blended retirement system. The agency plans to roll back its investment match policy and only offer full payment matches to personnel who have reached a five-year service threshold. Conversely, it will expand the match program for senior leadership. Currently, the DOD stops match payments for senior servicemembers who stay in 26 years or longer. The change will allow long-time officers to participate in the match program until they retire. The agency intends to up the federal cap on match contributions from 5 to 6 percent, as well.
The DOD's new retirement plan enacted in November included a mandatory minimum for continuation pay that applied to troops who stayed in for at least 12 years. It now plans to discard this system and institute a more personalized solution that resembles its traditional retention bonus system.
Adjustments drawing criticism
Some say the changes disproportionately favor older servicemembers intending to climb the ranks Others believe the DOD is degrading its new retirement system by putting budgetary concerns over personnel issues.
"Money is driving the attitude at the Department of Defense," Michael Higgins, a retired Air Force veteran and one of the nine committee members who developed the retirement plan passed in November, told the Military Times. "If you tinker with it, you are really going to change servicemembers perspective on this system. And if you do that, you put the system at risk."
Cultural researchers have united the families of two U.S. soldiers who served in World War II with the dog tags of their lost loved ones, reported The Associated Press and The Buffalo News. Researchers found the tags in Saipan, Japan and Nettuno, Italy, respectively.
Memories on the Japanese coast
Historian Genevieve Cabrera in 2014 found dog tags bearing the name Thomas E. Davis protruding from a field in Saipan, the site of a fierce 1944 battle between American and Japanese forces. Cabrera gave the tags to the nonprofit organization Kuentai-USA which searches for the remains of U.S. soldiers killed in the Pacific Ocean theater in World War II. With the help of the AP, Kuentai-USA found Davis' sister, 82-year-old Dorothy Hollingsworth in Dayton, Ohio.
Hollingsworth and her brother grew up on a farm in Roachdale, Indiana with five other siblings. Davis in September 1941 joined the 165th Infantry Regiment of the 27th Infantry Division of the New York Army National Guard and earned a Silver Star in June 1944 for pulling a wounded soldier to safety amid heavy Japanese artillery fire. He died April 30, 1945 during the invasion of Okinawa. Davis was 27.
"He was a great guy," Hollingsworth, who was only seven years old when her brother left home, told the AP. "He was always laughing and singing and whistling."
Kuentai-USA will soon meet with the Davis family to hand over the tags. Hollingsworth told the wire service she planned give the tag to her 57-year-old nephew.
Laid to rest in the homeland
Pasquale Gentile of Buffalo, New York enlisted in the Army at the start of World War II and served in war zones in Africa and Italy. Over a year after landing in Nettuno on Italy's western coast, Gentile died April 24, 1945 in Parma, almost 400 miles inland. He was 30.
It was near Nettuno that hiker Andrea Tamburrini discovered one of Gentile's dog tags.
"When I realized it was an American dog tag, I thought it was a sign. I found it five days before the 72nd anniversary of the landings in that area, which occurred Jan. 22, 1944," Tamburrini said in an interview with The Buffalo News. "It was almost as if destiny had determined that this soldier's story would continue during this specific time frame to mark the significance of the events."
The hiker handed off the tag to the American Battle Monuments Commission in Nettuno which, with the help of The News, contacted Gentile's niece Patricia Blatner, 58.
"I feel it has been destined by fate that uncle Pasquale's story be told, and I am proud to take part in telling it," Blatner said in an interview with The News.
Gentile, the son of Italian immigrants, grew up in Buffalo with two brother and two sisters. Gentile's father laid tracks for the Steam Rail Road while his mother Mary raised him and his siblings. Mary died in the 1930s, leaving Gentile's father to work and raise the children alone. Unfortunately, his father was unable to adequately care for the children and they were placed in an orphanage and moved into separate foster homes. As a result, Gentile and his siblings lived separate lives and rarely met up.
Blatner said she was proud to receive her uncle's lost tag but was saddened by the memories of his life.
"I have a sad heart for my uncle. My dad was able to come back from the war and make a life for himself. But Pasquale was never able to do that. My dad named me Patricia in honor of his older brother," she told the newspaper.
Veterans are discharged from the armed services with some of best training imaginable, but when it comes to securing high-level civilian employment, sometimes just a bit more schooling can make a world of difference.
Korn Ferry and Harris Corp., two tech and manpower giants, are joining to offer a free Leveraging Military Leadership Program for both active duty servicemembers and veterans who have recently transitioned into their life after service, the Military Times reported.
This is the same leadership training given to the CEOs and senior executives of Korn Ferry. Veterans participating in the program will be led through three months of coaching, instruction, lectures, assessments and group exercises. Sounds a bit like basic training.
Now entering its fourth year, the program has assisted more than 250 servicemembers of all military branches. Retired Army Col. Robert Fagan called it a monumental experience.
"Most military transition courses start with the action plan in mind, such as resumes, networking and LinkedIn profiles," said Fagan in a news release. "This program takes you through the journey to self-exploration and self-awareness that allows you to develop a vision and a strategy, thereby making your transition more purposeful, meaningful and focused."
Leadership programs like that on offer from Korn Ferry and Harris Corp. are part of a country-wide effort to recruit veterans for civilian jobs. The Columbus Dispatch reported that overall unemployment for veterans over 18 years old is at 4.3 percent, well below the national average.
Companies like Prudential, which has had a veterans hiring office since 2010, have played a big part in providing employment opportunities to veterans and their families.
"Veterans bring significant value to the workforce, including practiced leadership skills, discipline, the ability to perform in stressful situations and a solid work ethic," said Chuck Sevola, a former Army officer and current head of Prudential's Office of Veterans Initiatives.
"We recognize the sacrifices made every day by these men and women," said Sevola, "and believe their experience and leadership can only make our company stronger."
Veterans, the GI Bill is the biggest and most important investment in your education the U.S. government has ever made. Don't let it go to waste.
From the moment you leave the service, you have 10 years to use all your veterans benefits under the Montgomery GI Bill and 15 years to use your benefits accorded under the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
When those years are up, so too is your eligibility to attend any college or university under the program. No matter how good the reason, the government will under no circumstances extend those benefits for you if you fail to take advantage of them within that 10- to 15-year window.
In entering your life after service, you'll have a number of tough choices to make – namely, do you attend school full-time, get a full-time job, or try to balance an education and employment?
Whatever path you choose, do not let your GI Bill benefits gather dust. Here's why using them is so important, according to the Transitioning Veteran blog:
New opportunities
Having a college degree, certification, vocational training or some kind of apprenticeship on your resume will grant you access to a wide range of new opportunities in the civilian world. Because many employers look for job candidates with a college degree these days, obtaining one and coupling it with your military experience and related skills puts you way ahead of the pack.
A safety net
Veterans know better than most how quickly a situation can change down range.To a certain extent, the same applies to the civilian workforce. Should you be laid off or your employment situation change – with a move, for example – having a degree or certification will help you get back into your field more quickly or else acquire a similar position elsewhere.
Salary boost
When it comes to money, your education can make a big difference in how much you're taking home at the end of the day. A Pew Research study from 2014 found that the earnings difference between those with a degree and those without one was about $17,500 annually. That's the kind of salary boost you don't want to leave on the table.
The GI Bill is one of the easiest ways a veteran can transition from military service to having a degree and a comfortable salary in four or five years. Don't let it go to waste by giving your money to a predatory school – not all for-profit schools are bad, but be careful – or at one that just isn't the right fit for you.
Most of all, though, just don't let the opportunity to succeed pass you by. You've worked too hard and sacrificed too much to let that happen.
One of the unfortunate realities for U.S. veterans returning from active duty is that their physical, emotional and financial status has almost always been affected by their service. In addition to any disabilities, there is always the risk that they will have to confront discrimination based on their chosen profession.
According to The McAllen Monitor, nearly half of returning veterans sought care at the VA using veterans benefits, many of them for mental illness. Texas is home to the second-largest population of veterans in the country, which means that there is plenty of need for affordable legal services to navigate the complicated legalese of civilian life. Thankfully, a program to do just that now exists.
The Texas Civil Rights Project recently announced a new Veterans' Rights Program aimed at assisting the 40,000 or so veterans living in the Rio Grande Valley.
"Veterans not only have the challenge of re-acclimating to civilian life – seeking health, education and other benefits to which they are entitled – but also often have the added challenge of navigating that process with physical or mental disabilities that they acquired during service," said Emma Hilbert, the program's attorney, in a statement to Equal Voice.
"Added to these challenges, some veterans face discrimination because of such a disability or their status as a veteran," Hilbert continued.
Former servicemembers living in the Rio Grande Valley already have the support of hundreds of organizations and groups, but Felix Rodriguez, Hidalgo County's veterans service officer, said that the legal rights office would offer the kind of protection many veterans are missing.
Any veterans or family members of veterans having trouble gaining access to public resources or residences will find themselves heard and represented at TCRP.
"I have veterans with legal matters who don't know where to go and it's a good thing we have this program now so we can send them here and they can get the relief they are seeking," Rodriguez told The Monitor.
One of the largest and most popular schools in the country for military tuition assistance has regained the favor of the Department of Defense. The Wall Street Journal reported that, following alleged recruiting violations, the University of Phoenix was put on probationary status by the DOD in October 2015, which meant that it could no longer recruit on military bases or enroll veterans using the tuition-assistance program.
Though the school is no longer on probation, it will be under closer scrutiny moving forward. The DOD has also retained the right to end the school's status in the tuition-assistance program should any non-compliance issues resurface.
"Our commitment to compliance, transparency and continuous improvement remains constant," said University of Phoenix President Timothy P. Slottow in a statement. "We are grateful to leaders at the Department of Defense and in Congress for supporting a clear process and high standards from all educational institutions, and for ensuring military students are able to use their educational benefits for career-relevant programs at University of Phoenix."
An internal review was conducted by the DOD to determine how the for-profit college responded to the probation. Over the last several months, it was established that the department's concerns – none of which were made public – had been adequately met.
The Military Times, however, obtained a letter which addressed the complaints. They included the university's efforts to gain access to military bases without prior approval from the chain of command, as well as the misuse of military seals and trademarks.
According to data from the DOD, the University of Phoenix enrolled more than 9,000 tuition-assistance students in 2014, who altogether took about 28,000 classes at the cost of upwards of $20 million. It is even more popular with veterans, the Military Times reported. More than 49,000 students used the Post-9/11 GI Bill there in 2014 – more than any other school in the country.