Message Center

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of Mother’s Day, Wal-Mart has teamed up with nonprofit organization Operation Shower to honor 100 expectant moms whose spouses are deployed during their pregnancies. On May 2, 3, and 10, Wal-Mart and Operation Shower will host baby showers at several military installations throughout the nation: USS Nimitz, Calif., Twentynine Palms, Calif., Scott AFB, Ill., and Ft. Bragg, N.C.. Wal-Mart and its suppliers have donated thousands of dollars in gift items to these special mothers.

Started in 2007, Operation Shower gathers donations from companies, large and small, for new moms and moms-to-be whose spouses are deployed during their pregnancies. The “Shower in a Box” gifts include necessities and little indulgences for mom as well as baby, such as robes, DVDs, keepsakes, bath products, formula and toys.

“We’re overwhelmed by the support Wal-Mart and its suppliers have shown for the mothers who are at home caring for the family while their spouses are deployed serving our country,” said LeAnn Morrissey, co-founder of Operation Shower.

Wal-Mart also celebrates the 100th anniversary of Mother’s Day by featuring the top 100 gifts for mom on its popular gifting sites — helpaguybuy.com and helpachickpick.com.

To learn more about Operation Shower or to make a donation or sponsor a shower, visit www.operationshower.org.

Children of DoD employees accompanied their mothers and fathers to work at the Pentagon Thursday, Apri1 24 for National Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day.

National Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Day is a national public education program created by the Ms. Foundation in 1993. It began as Take Our Daughters to Work Day and evolved into its present format in 2003.

The fourth annual celebration at the Pentagon Courtyard was sponsored by Connect and Join, which provides communication services to military families, and the Defense Department’s America Supports You program. America Supports You highlights citizen support for armed forces members at home and abroad.

Throughout the day, the children enjoyed snacks, made arts and crafts, and learned more about what their parents do at the Pentagon.

To read more, visit www.americasupportsyou.mil.

In the not-too-distant future, it might be battlefield robots, not humans, that recon hostile territory, engage the enemy, disable improvised explosive devices, and even care for the wounded.

Unmanned aircraft and some robots already have been deployed in Afghanistan and Iraq, performing functions once done only by humans. And continuing research and development at the Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Command center in San Diego is enhancing the effectiveness of the next generation of robots.

“Our lab is trying to give UGVs (unmanned ground vehicles) autonomy to make them smarter so they require much less oversight from the human operator,” says Bart Everett, SPAWAR’s technical director of robotics.

Current UGVs are tele-operated, meaning a human operator controls them. But according to Everett, smarter robots that don’t need to be controlled at that level would open up applications where humans could be removed from a dangerous area.

“In a scenario where we’re putting man-portable robots out there, we have another challenge in that they’re moving around and everything changes every time they relocate,” Everett says. “And because they’re small, lightweight, and battery operated, you can’t put a lot of sensors and computers on them.”

According to the Army’s Future Combat Systems initiative, other robot projects include:
• a small robot, RHex, that can walk, climb stairs, and swim, using six legs;
• a hand-launched surveillance aircraft called the WASP, with a 16-inch wingspan and weighing a half-pound. It carries two color cameras;
• the RISE robot that climbs up walls and trees; and
• a quadruped robot called Big Dog that can carry up to 200 pounds and negotiate all kinds of terrain.

While contractors are quickly working to get the next generation of robots into the field, actual development and testing takes time. But with smaller, faster computers, tiny cameras, and very small sensors, robots will become much more autonomous in the future, Everett predicts.

“It’s really hard to make small robots do that much now because you’re so limited by space and power,” Everett says. “And if you make it small enough to be man-portable, you may make it too small to climb over the stuff they’re typically going to encounter.”

However, he says, by using a type of mobility that enables the robot to climb or jump, instead of drive on wheels or tracks, maneuverability becomes a huge benefit.

“A good example is a police dog and its handler where the dog can go into smaller places, jump over things, and run faster than the human,” Everett says. “So the next stage in terms of mobility is possibly legged locomotion for more maneuverability, or even innovative propulsion systems, like snake robots.”

About the author: Alan M. Petrillo is a Tucson, Ariz. freelance writer who works in a wide variety of fields, writing for national and regional magazines and newspapers. He’s also the author of the historical mystery, Full Moon (JoNa Books, 2005).

The American Bar Association (ABA) has undertaken several initiatives to support and recognize military lawyers. The ABA recently announced it’s offering free memberships to judge advocates in their first five years of law practice. This is a savings of hundreds of dollars in membership fees.

Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius signed legislation into law April 9th that will ease the transition for military children as their servicemember parents move from assignment to assignment during their careers. Kentucky Governor Steve Beshear followed suit the next day.

Twenty-one other states are actively considering the compact and 14 of those state legislatures have bills submitted in one or both chambers. Kansas is the first state to adopt the compact. Adoption in ten states makes the compact operational.

The compact, developed by the Council of State Governments, education experts and the Department of Defense, addresses common problems that affect military students as a result of frequent moves and deployments. States that sign on to the compact agree to work collectively with other compact states to create uniform standards of practice, including the transfer of records, course placement, graduation requirements, redundant or missed testing, entrance-age variations and other transition issues.

“Passage of this interstate compact will have a lasting, positive impact on our military families,” said David S.C. Chu, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. “Quality education is a primary quality of life concern. In fact, education is so important that that it directly impacts military recruitment, satisfaction with assignments, readiness, and ultimately, retention. We ask a lot of our military families. Easing this burden is the right thing to do. We appreciate all the support and effort to implement the compact. We look forward to more states signing on.”

Approximately 1.5 million children of military families attend schools other than those sponsored by the Department of Defense and military families move about three times as often as their civilian counterparts, Arsht said. This legislation will positively impact the 19,000 school-age children of military families residing in Kansas and 30,834 school-age children in Kentucky.

“This compact really means a lot to military families,” Arsht said. “Once in force, it means that a move to a new school will no longer prevent students from taking the classes they want or deny them extra-curricular activities. They won’t have to repeat a class and or delay graduation because they are completing a new state’s requirements. The compact creates consistency and certainty for families as they move from one school to another. Our families also serve our nation. We are grateful for this tangible way states are showing their appreciation.”

Photo Courtesy of Jayme Burnett

Members of the Cobra Medics Group show off their newly shaved heads.

U.S. Army Physician Maj. Stephen S. Roberts and more than 50 members of the Cobra Medics Group recently participated in St. Baldrick’s head-shaving event at the Troop Medical Clinic at Camp Liberty in Baghdad, Iraq, on Sunday, April 6.

With a mission of Shaving the Way to Conquer Kids’ Cancer, St. Baldrick’s coordinates worldwide head-shaving events, with volunteer “shavees” raising money for childhood cancer research. Roberts spearheaded the event.

The Marines are looking for a few good women.

Actually, they will take as many as they can get. Faced with the difficulty of recruiting during a long and unpopular war, the United States Marine Corps has started marketing itself to women in a concerted way for the first time. It is running ads in magazines like Shape, Self and Fitness, which appeal mainly to female readers, as well as through more mainstream outlets like “American Idol,” where the message is a unisex one of patriotism rather than macho swagger.

Read the entire article from the New York Times.

College graduation often is the symbolic completion of our children’s progression from the simplicities of youth to the responsibilities of adulthood. However, adulthood comes with a price — the class of 2008 will be graduating with an average of $20,000 in student loan debt and an average credit card balance of nearly $3,000. Financial challenges for new college graduates are further complicated because many of the most promising job markets are clustered in major cities, where the cost of living is substantially higher than national averages.

Financial constraints might explain why young adults ages 18 to 24 are the least likely of any age group to have health insurance, according to the National Coalition on Health Care. In most cases, college graduates are dropped from their parents’ insurance policies when they are no longer enrolled fulltime.

The facts make a strong case for parents to embrace the role of financial advisor as their children transition to the adult world. Make sure they understand what they owe, and what they need to earn to cover expenses and service their debt load. Consider that in the academic world, goals are clear-cut and the ways to achieve them are plainly defined. “After graduation, pathways blur and what was once a solid line through a series of educational institutions has now disintegrated into millions of different options,” according to Alexandria Robbins and Abby Wilner, authors of Quarterlife Crisis (Penguin Putnam, 2001), a book devoted to helping parents and students understand the major life changes that accompany college graduation. “Many college students don’t realize the impact that money, or lack of it, will have on their after-college lives.”

Also, consider purchasing short-term health insurance to bridge the gap between graduation and employer-provided healthcare. Not having health insurance carries serious risks, including having a life-threatening medical emergency without the resources to pay for treatment and the possibility of developing a serious illness that could preclude future coverage. Typical short-term medical insurance, such as the plan offered by MOAA to members, spouses, and children, provides coverage to a lifetime limit of $2 million for periods between 30 days and 12 months for about $50 a month, depending on age, deductible, and terms of coverage. For more information about this plan, visit www.moaainsurance.com/ShortTermMedicalPlan/tabid/62/Default.aspx

With so many job options available, it’s increasingly difficult for graduates to decide on a particular career path, and recruiters are becoming more comfortable with a young person who has held three or four jobs in six or seven years. This is a good time to explore different career possibilities and take a risk while commitments are few and dreams are big, but parents shouldn’t let a young adult’s sense of invincibility discount the importance of prudent financial planning and adequate health insurance.

About the author: Jim Carman is a graduate of the MIT Sloan School of Management and a retired Navy Captain. He writes and lectures on career transition topics.

For soldiers returning home from the war, a place to recover, someone to talk to who understands, and general counseling services are all basic needs that sometimes go unfulfilled.

The Returning Heroes Home project seeks to alleviate the stresses and isolation associated with returning home as a wounded warrior by creating a home environment where soldiers can get the services they need and deserve in a familial environment.

The Warrior and Family Support Center (formerly known as the Soldier and Family Assistance Center) in Fort Sam Houston, would meet these physical and emotional needs of America’s heroes – our “Wounded Warriors”.

Watch the video to find out more about the Returning Heroes Home project.

A British journalist kidnapped two months ago in the southern city of Basra while on assignment for CBS News was freed Monday.

A team of Iraqi army soldiers found Richard Butler when they raided a house in central Basra on Monday afternoon, said Maj. Gen. Mohammed al-Askari, a spokesman for the Defense Ministry.

His release provided a boost to Iraqi security forces, whose performance during a recent operation against militias in Basra drew criticism and led to the dismissal of 1,300 Iraqi soldiers and policemen.

For the full story, please visit The Washington Post.