Many soldiers enlist in the Armed Forces with the expressed knowledge that they would receive a certain veterans benefits package for life after service. Some soldiers seek pension payments to sustain their quality of life once they leave active duty, while others seek financial help from the military for other endeavors.

One of those endeavors is tuition assistance for continuing education credits. According to Stars and Stripes, despite discussions to reduce or even eliminate the Navy's budget to provide financial assistance to soldiers who are interested in furthering their education, a top official announced that the Navy would not be cutting the level of support from its current 100 percent mark.

Cutting back on budget cuts
The announcement that the Navy would not be scaling back it's tuition assistance program came March 18 at a forum in Mayport, Fla., that was broadcasted to sailors across the globe via the Internet. Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Jonathan Greenert told soldiers that while the possibility of a shared assistance program that would split costs 75-25 may be implemented someday, the Navy would continue to provide full coverage for the time being.

"I want educated sailors; I want you to leave with all the certifications you can so that you can get a job immediately," Greenert told the assembled soldiers, according to Stars and Stripes.

The Navy last operated their tuition assistance program at a 75-25 split in 2002, when officials decided to increase financial support to a full 100 percent. Critics speculated that the discussions surrounding the cuts may be related to the budget reduction mandated by the Pentagon and Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel in recent months.

Paying for a Naval education
For any sailor interested in taking advantage of the Navy's full tuition assistance program before any future drawbacks are instituted, Military.com outlined the financial and eligibility details of the program. Sailors on active duty and reservists ordered to 120 days active service or reservist officers to 2 or more years of service are immediately eligible for tuition assistance.

For financial support, the Navy pays a maximum of $250 per credit hour or $166 per quarter hour, depending on the academic system employed by the chosen institution. No program is to exceed 16 semester hours, 24 quarter hours or 240 clock hours over the course of a fiscal year.

Sailors interested in taking advantage of these military benefits should contact their nearest Navy College Office.

Enlisting in the Armed Forces can be the most significant act a soldier does for his or her country, but it is most often life after service that poses more challenges for individual servicemembers. Civilian life offers markedly different opportunities and demands separate expectations from military service. After an extended deployment, reintegrating into a normal way of life proves difficult for many soldiers.

Reconnecting with family can be one of the most perilous transitions from active service to life after military. Depending on the length of a deployment, soldiers may return to a spouse that looks and acts different than before and a financial situation wholly changed from the one they left.

While these issues can be worked through with the help of another caring adult, a University of Wisconsin study suggests that children pose a singularly difficult issue for fathers returning from deployments. Although the researchers found that the men in the study expressed excitement and interest in learning and engaging with their children upon returning home, the pressures of their service caused troubles in reconnecting with their young and infant children.

Relearning parenting skills
Tova Walsh, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation health and society scholar at the University of Wisconsin and lead author of the study published in a special issue of the journal Health and Social Work, interviewed 14 military fathers who were either preparing to return home or had just arrived back from an extended deployment. Most men were members of the Michigan Army National Guard, and all of them had children ages 6 and under.

Walsh and her colleagues found that the time the fathers spent in the military affected the expectations of both parents and children upon the fathers' return. For one returning soldier, he had been gone so long that his child did not recognize him.

"He (was) looking at me like, 'Who's that?' one father told Walsh as part of the study. "She had to tell him, 'That's Daddy.' I have no idea what our relationship would be like if there was no Iraq War."

Fathers who leave home for an extended period of time for military service may return to find already grown children with preconceptions of who their father might be. 

"A service member who deploys when his child is an infant and returns home when the child is a toddler may find an entirely different child," Walsh said in a statement. "Under these circumstances, fathers find that it takes substantial effort to rebuild their relationship with their child."

The study also found that symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder among the soldiers complicated their transition to fathers during their life after service. The fathers – half of which were diagnosed with PTSD – reported growing irritated too quickly with their children's behaviors and an inability to control their tempers.

Walsh emphasized the need for more comprehensive reintegration services for returning soldiers, especially ones such as those in her study, who want to become better fathers but are at a loss as to how to do it.

Healing with children
The true tolls of PTSD are not completely known, but even less so are the secondary effects that the condition can have on those around one with the condition. 

BrainLine Military explained that children can be highly susceptible to a parent with PTSD, even to the point they may develop symptoms that mirror those they see in their parents. Called secondary traumatization, the child of a military parent may exhibit behavioral issues caused by stress over the initial condition of his or her mother or father.

Families that observe a cycle of trauma should consider communicating with each other about their issues and possibly seek out professional help, BrainLine Military recommended. These resources may be available through veterans benefits.

Even when they function as intended, federal bureaucracies are inherently slow processes. For recipients of military honors, the time between their act of valor and their reception of the award can take months, if not years.

For Spc. Santiago J. Erevia and Sergeant First Class Melvin Morris, both Vietnam veterans, the process took almost half a decade. Erevia, Morris, Jose Rodela and 21 other deceased servicemembers will be awarded the Medal of Honor Mar. 8 after a federal review of the impact racial discrimination against Jewish-, Hispanic- and African-American soldiers had on the disbursement of the nation's highest military honor, Stars and Stripes reported. The review found that though all 24 servicemembers received the Distinguished Services Cross, their races were unfairly used a reason to keep them from receiving the Medal of Honor.

Making up for lost time
Erevia was providing medical care for injured troops in Vietnam in 1969 when the rest of his platoon pressed forward with an attack, Stars and Stripes explained. When another Viet Cong squad fired on his position, Erevia single-handedly neutralized four enemy bunkers with hand grenades and machine guns before returning to finish his medical treatment.

Morris, who was also active during 1969, evacuated two fellow soldiers from behind enemy lines while destroying several enemy bunkers and suffering three gunshot wounds in the process.

Despite their actions, a 2002 federally-mandated review of 6,500 Distinguished Services Crosses found that Erevia and Morris' medals were awarded in error. Prejudices against their heritages kept them from receiving the nation's highest military honor.

Of the 24 servicemembers scheduled to be honored at the White House, 21 will be awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously. Some of those veterans passed away over the years after their tours of duty, while others die in the line of fire, some even as they were committing the acts that gained them the recognition they are about the receive.

Waiting for the call
Morris, now 72-years-old, moved back to Florida for his life after service and was at home in May 2013 when he got a call from the White House, NPR reported.

"He says a high government official wants to speak to you. And put him on the line, he say: This is President Obama," Morris told NPR in an interview. "Man, and I dropped down to my knees."

Morris explained how the president apologized on behalf of the U.S. government for its oversight of his actions in Vietnam, but that he would be receiving the Medal of Honor as soon as possible.

Morris insisted that as far as he was concerned, his race was never an issue during his service. While he does not look fondly back at his experiences in Vietnam, Morris told NPR that his courageous actions were merely a result of him doing his duty.

"You know, war is war," Morris said. "And we do what we're told to do and we don't determine the outcome. I just feel sad for having known people that didn't return. Those are my real heroes."

Posthumously awarding medals
While Morris survived his ordeal in Vietnam, a number of the upcoming recipients of the Medal of Honor did not. Pvt. Miguel Armando Vera was killed in action during the Korean War when he held off an enemy advance so the rest of his squad could retreat to a safe position, the Miami Herald explained.

Vera, originally from Puerto Rico, will be represented at the ceremony by his now 73-year-old nephew Joe Rodriguez, a Marine Corps veteran in his own right. He credits his uncle's service and sacrifice with inspiring his own stint in the military. 

Rodriguez told the paper that he plans to move his uncle's body from a burial plot in Puerto Rico to a new spot in Arlington National Cemetery.

Ever since the Obama administration released its budget proposal for the 2015 fiscal year, it has been dissected from numerous perspectives. While some sectors of the economy, such as health care information technology, are expected to see increased discretionary spending, the defense budget and military families might be hit particularly hard by cuts.

Only weeks removed from the repeal of cuts to cost of living adjustments to benefits for veterans, military benefits would stomach a significant loss somewhere upwards of $5,000 annually, an advocate group estimated, according to The Washington Times. Amidst other widespread cuts to military spending, some critics are wary that such deep financial drawbacks to the all-volunteer force could have dire consequences in the future.

Estimating impact
President Obama unveiled his budget proposal for the 2015 fiscal year on Mar. 4, and even before it was reviewed, various organizations were wary that their discretionary spending would take a significant hit. According to the Military Officers Association of America, as reported by The Washington Times, no group will take on such a financial and personal burden as much as the military community.

The MOAA calculated that the average Army sergeant's veterans benefits will be reduced by as much as $5,000 annually under the new budget. The Washington Post also explained that base commissaries will no longer receive the large subsidies they normally require to run without the need for profits. Active-duty servicemembers would also see a 5 percent increase in the cost of military housing, and pay increases would be limited to 1 percent annual raises.

"When you combine all these different issues, you have quite a bit of a financial impact," retired Air Force Col. Mike Hayden, head of government relations at the MOAA, told The Washington Post. 

While Hayden's comments were diplomatic, other retirees the paper reached out to were markedly less so.

"It is a slap in the face to every soldier that has served or will serve," retired Army Maj. Karel Butler told The Washington Post. "The stress that your family goes through, that your body goes through in a 20-year career, it is tremendous. And for them to even consider reducing those benefits is a slap in the face."

Complicating factors
In a blog post on WhiteHouse.gov, the Obama administration claimed that the new budget would ensure that military families would see sustained funding for education, childcare and other forms of support. About $2.4 billion would be allocated to medical efforts supporting wounded servicemembers, with $747 million specifically marked for research and care for Traumatic Brain Injury issues.

These effort may not be enough to persuade the military community to support the new budget, however. By cutting benefits for veterans, some believe that it may actually hurt the Armed Forces' ability to recruit new members in the future.

"Any young person would look at [veterans benefits] and say, 'I would want to join,'" Kinyell Haymore, a 10-year Navy veteran told The Washington Times. "So now, if you take that away from them, you might not get the quotas that you want."

Recruitment and swelling troop numbers may not be the goal of Hagel and other military officials at all. The National Journal reported that the Pentagon has repeatedly requested permission from Congress to close a number of bases across the country. Congress, however, has denied those requests.

The Base Realignment and Closure process governs any and all efforts to reduce the military's footprint in the U.S., but in Europe – where the Pentagon can operate with its bases freely – the infrastructure of the military has already been reduced by 30 percent since 2000.

The Armed Forces are made up of individual soldiers, but their ability to work together as a unit contributes to the military's overall effectiveness. Part of that ability includes looking like a cohesive group as well.

To maintain that image of a disciplined and coordinated group of servicemembers, the Army will be publishing a new set of uniform guidelines that will govern how soldiers are expected to groom and present themselves while on active duty, Military.com reported. The updated regulations are expected to be return the Army's uniform policies back to stricter pre-2006 levels.

Policing military fashion
Military.com explained that the upcoming Army Regulation 670-1 will compile new grooming policies for soldiers that have previously been released in individual messages. The new stance is expected to take a much stricter approach on certain embellishments popular with troops in recent years, such as tattoos. 

Army Secretary John McHugh told the website that troops can expect the new regulations to take effect within the next few weeks. 

Though tattoos are no longer expected to be allowed below the elbow or knee, soldiers with preexisting ink will not be penalized, according to the Army Times. With only a few weeks remaining to take advantage of the grandfathering process, troops may be scrambling to get or finish designs for their life after service before the new policies kick in.

Providing comprehensive information
The Army is compiling all relevant information for soldiers into an easily digestible pamphlet format, as opposed to the more than 50 individual communications sent out over the last several years.

"We are dedicated to ensuring soldiers and leaders have easy access to policies to ensure our Army maintains a professional, neat, and Soldierly appearance, which is the foundation of our profession," the Army said in a statement to the Army Times.

Military officials also indicated that the new policies are aimed at preserving "a conservative military image" that has proved pivotal for for troops effectiveness, self-discipline and sense of identity as a servicemember of the U.S. Military.

The Army Times speculated that the policy change may be related to recent sequestration cuts that will reduce troop strength to around 420,000. The regulations were loosened in 2006 to help recruiting efforts, but with the expected drop in numbers, the Army Times explained that officials may feel more confident in enforcing stricter uniform and grooming regulations without regard to larger questions of military effectiveness.

While Hollywood may have a penchant for over-dramatizing historical events, there are few who would claim that the events chronicled in the 2001 miniseries "Band of Brothers" were embellished. Rather, many critics say that it was the real actions of William Guarnere and his fellow soldiers of Easy Company during World War II that defy belief.

Military.com reported that Guarnere, 90, passed away Mar. 8 in his hometown of Philadelphia. While he may have lived a relatively obscure life after military service, the WWII veteran's story was brought to light by historian Stephen Ambrose's 1992 book and immortalized by the television series.

War-time exploits
Guarnere was only a year out of high school when he enlisted in the Army from his home in South Philadelphia. As readers of the book and viewers of the series know, Guarnere was placed into the 101st Airborne Division that would parachute behind enemy lines days before the D-Day invasion.

While most soldiers were concerned for themselves, Military.com explained that Guarnere had learned his brother was killed fighting in Italy just days before his jump. His fearless actions during countless firefights after the jump and until the completion of the war in 1945 earned him the nickname "Wild Bill."

"He was without a doubt one of the bravest and best soldiers in all of Easy Company," historian Jake Powers told NBC Philadelphia. "He was one of the best combat leaders not only in his company but also the division. If there was a fight going on with the 1st Platoon or 3rd Platoon, Bill would miraculously show up and leave 2nd Platoon to go help."

Guarnere's tour of duty would be cut short when he lost a leg attempting to rescue a fellow soldier from an artillery barrage as Easy Company marched across Belgium.

Guarnere's life after service
Though Guarnere was no longer a solider, he never let go of Easy Company completely. Powers told NBC Philadelphia how the veteran would coordinate reunions for the surviving members of the company with constant newsletters and personal notes.

Decades before their exploits would become widely known – Guarnere would not tell his own son about his experiences in WWII – Powers believed that he was the real reason Easy Company stayed in contact after so many years.

"He was the glue that held the Company together," Powers said.

The 2013 Boston Marathon will not be forgotten by the city's residents or the community at large, and as organizers prepare for the 2014 race, some well-meaning participants are being left out.

As expected, a higher level of security will permeate all aspects of this year's race. CNN reported that the Boston Athletic Association has already banned backpacks, handbags, suitcases, large signs and unregistered runners from areas in or around the race course. The event is expected to draw double the amount of spectators and has already capped out entrants at 36,000 – a full 9,000 more runners than the 2013 event.

However, due to the restrictions on large bags and unregistered participants, a military group known as Tough Ruck that walks the 26.2-mile course with fully loaded military backpacks in memory of fallen soldiers will not be allowed to run the 2014 Boston Marathon.

Tough luck
According to Military.com, Tough Ruck founder Stephen Fiola found himself in an unusual situation when the heightened security measures were announced by the BAA. Fiola was at the finish line when the explosions occurred in 2013 and helped runners to medical tents.

"My first reaction was of course disappointment, but I understand that there are safety and security concerns," Fiola told Military.com. "We knew that there were concerns, but we did not know that a policy was going to come out prior to the BAA announcement."

Fiola, a current National Guardsman, said that just like the participants and spectators of the 2014 marathon, prospective Ruckers skyrocketed as well. No more than 30 soldiers and others looking to give back during life after service signed up to walk the course last year, but Fiola had already received 746 applications from servicemembers interested in the race this spring.

Sneaking into the race
Because soldiers in Tough Ruck do not officially register to run the Boston Marathon, they are part of a much longer tradition of "bandit runners," or participants who race without official measurements of their time. Bandit runners have always been part of the popular event that draws an increased number of registrants every year, and their amateur spirit has kept stringent attempts to prohibit them from the course off their backs.

Fiola and his fellow Tough Ruck members do not plan on fighting the BAA's restrictions. Instead, they have already scheduled to hike 26.2 miles of the Minuteman Trail that runs through the Greater Boston Area.

Fiola told Military.com that for the fallen soldiers they honor, where Tough Ruck marches is less important than that they march at all.

All servicemembers deserve praise for the service to their country, but some like Marine Lance Cpl. William Kyle Carpenter go so far above and beyond their call of duty that even the highest praise awarded by the U.S. may not seem like enough.

Initially wounded in a 2010 grenade attack in Afghanistan, Carpenter will most likely be the latest veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to receive the Medal of Honor, according to the Marine Corps Times. Carpenter would be the 10th soldier and second Marine to receive the award since the wars began.

Carpenter's self-sacrifice
According to the Marine Corps Times, in 2010 Carpenter was standing guard alongside Lance Cpl. Nicholas Eufrazio on a rooftop in Marjah district of Afghanistan when an unidentified insurgent lobbed a grenade in front of the soldiers' feet. Without time to act, Carpenter laid his body over the grenade and possibly saved Eufrazio's life in the process.

Stars and Stripes explained that the recommendation for the Medal of Honor comes almost four years later because it proved difficult for Marine investigators to determine what actually happened during the attack. Other than Carpenter and Eufrazio, there were no other witnesses. Due to the injuries both soldiers sustained from the blast, Carpenter was left unable to remember any details of the incident, while Eufrazio was not able to speak due to his injuries until 2012.

Medical examiners initially determined that from the location of the blast on Carpenter's torso, there could be no other explanation than Carpenter sacrificing himself to save the life of his friend.

Media attention and the Medal of Honor
Carpenter has received increased media attention recently as a result of several interviews with Reader's Digest and an appearance on Katie Couric's nationally televised talk show. Even as he is about to receive the nation's highest honor, Carpenter promised on a Facebook page dedicated to him called "Operation Kyle" that he would never take his second chance at life for granted.

"I just want to thank and remind all of you how much it means and how truly appreciative I am for every comment, message, word of encouragement and prayer you have sent my way since that day in November 2010," Carpenter wrote. "You have helped get me to where I am today and for that I will be forever grateful."

The military may be all about uniformity, but some soldiers desire a little individuality every now and then.

That was exactly the case for the Marines' preference for rolled sleeves on its uniforms – up until 2011, when a direct order mandated long sleeves even in desert climates. After years of complaints from servicemembers, however, Gen. James F. Amos, Commandant of the Marine Corps, has relented and re-authorized the iconic rolled-up-sleeves look of certain Marines around the world.

On a roll
Amos wrote in a statement on the Marine Corps' website that he understands how important identity and individuality are to soldiers who become Marines. As rolled sleeves were one of the only ways that the Corps could differentiate the look of its uniforms from those of the other branches up until 2011, Amos believed that a return to this look would raise troops' morale across the globe.

"I've thought a lot about this over the past 2 .5 years; I realize that it's important to you," Amos wrote in the statement. "Sleeves up clearly and visually sets us apart."

The change signals a shift in strict uniform policies that have prohibited soldiers from keeping their hands in their pockets for an extended period of time. While the ability to roll their sleeves may be a welcome transition for many servicemembers, only those stationed outside of combat zones and wearing summer clothing will be permitted to cuff their sleeves when the new policy goes into effect March 9.

Shifting uniformity
While the sleeve roll may have been made famous by Marines in movies and TV shows, the style has a long history within the service. The Wall Street Journal reported that the informal look of the rolled sleeve was actually a highly ritualized part of the soldier's routine in preparing his or her uniform.

In addition to polished boots and pressed shirts, rolled sleeves had their own regulations – rolled from the inside out, three inches wide and resting two inches above the elbow. There were slight variations such as the less neat "Gunny Rolls," or sleeves cuffed by battle-hardened gunnery sergeants less concerned with appearance than combat effectiveness.

Recent changes to Marines' uniforms such as wrinkle-free fabric and suede combat boots removed much of the daily work Marines had to put into their appearance. However, Amos' announcement received more than 30,000 Facebook likes in one day, according to The Wall Street Journal, indicating that some soldiers might enjoy a return to the days of rolled sleeves and spit-shined shoes.

The most elite and selective fighting force in the U.S. has been used extensively throughout the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Special operations forces have been at the forefront of several major missions in the Middle East since the military's first engagement in the region in 2001, but according to a ranking officer within Special Operations Command, these forces have become overextended and have gone beyond their operational parameters. In order to be the most effective soldiers they can be, special operations forces may have to recommit to their original purpose.

Unseen missions to frontline warriors
Special operations forces have long been deployed on missions of unparalleled importance that never see the light of day in the press. In the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, however, the same soldiers have been placed on a more regular duty, rooting out insurgents and tracking down the heads of militant bands. Military.com reported that according to Air Force Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold, vice commander of SOCOM, this is not how special operations forces can best protect the country.

"You've read about the U.S. forces either kill or capture missions and the like against the senior leaders of Al Qaeda – sometimes referred to as a decapitation strategy," Heithold said during a discussion at the National Defense Industry Association. "Is that going to work? No."

Heithold explained how in a meeting with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he recommended a drawdown of resources allocated to SOCOM. In 2001, Heithold counted 21 extremist groups the U.S. kept tabs on, but despite the increased presence of special operations forces, that number had ballooned to 57. Rather than sending his highly trained soldiers on assassination missions, Heithold would rather they be sent on "indirect missions" like training foreign military groups that take longer to produce results, but are more effective on a larger scale.

Back to basics
SOCOM itself urged that a smaller footprint for its soldiers does not necessarily mean a smaller impact through its missions. The force's website enumerated several key concepts – humans over hardware, strength over size – that prize a small, specialized group of soldiers who are able to carry out high-intensity missions over a large battalion of troops whose training may vary. SOF cannot accomplish its missions alone, however, and depends on the rest of the Armed Forces to accomplish large scale goals. Its this symbiosis that Heithold would like to return to, with SOCOM carrying out niche missions around the globe.