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“Where is the baby and when does she get a bath?” My 6-year-old daughter was confused. It was a baby shower, and she was certain that a good scrubbing behind someone’s ears was involved. Before I could explain the “baby isn’t here yet” concept, she was off and running with a pack of other tagalongs to the nearest playground. I was left to join the room of proxy sisters, mothers, and grandmothers gathered around the pregnant woman in the middle of the room.

Proxy families. That’s what we in the greater military family have, because our “real” ones live too far away to readily experience those life changing moments that continue to happen — whether we share the same ZIP code or not. Babies will continue to be born. Weddings still will be planned. There always will be a reason to bake a pan of lasagna. If nothing else, misery loves company.

We miss our blood relatives to be sure, but there is something extra special about the bonds we share with those in our extended families, something that transcends time and is made of a resilient strength borne out of shared hardships.

How could anyone ever take the place of my buddy at Fort Benning, Ga., when we both discovered the Army stopped paying us while our husbands were sequestered away in a swamp somewhere — and we only had $40 bucks between us? What about the colonel’s wife in Germany who choreographed my wedding shower so many years ago? Or my “sister” who called me just last night to make sure my daughter, who had her tonsils removed, was OK? If I didn’t see any of them for 20 years and saw them tomorrow, it would be as though time had stood still.

A family just doesn’t get any more real than that.

— Janet Farley is the author of The Military Spouse’s Complete Guide to Career Success (Impact Publications, 2008) and writes the career advice column JobTalk for the Stars and Stripes newspapers.

Submissions sought for the bestselling Cup of Comfort book series!

It has been said that military life is “not for the faint of heart.” But neither is it without its benefits and blessings. One thing is certain: it is an experience like no other—for both the soldiers and their families.

For this book, we want positive stories about how military life affects the personal lives of service men and women (enlisted and officers), how family affects soldiers’ on the job, and how military life affects family members (primarily spouses, children, and parents but also siblings, grandparents, grandchildren, aunts/uncles, fiancés, etc.). Any situation or subject that is significant and/or unique to military personnel and their loved ones is acceptable. Our goal is to compile a collection of inspiring or uplifting stories that cover a wide range of topics and reveal a variety of perspectives, experiences, and emotions specific to military families. Stories may be written by the service man or woman or a close family member; military service may be current, recent, or past.

Military Families submission deadline: April 15, 2008 (last call)! Find basic guidelines on making your own savory “cup of comfort” story on the series’ Web site.

Overseas Vote Foundation (OVF) has announced a new Web site that will provide user-friendly voter services to servicemembers and their families at https://military.overseasvotefoundation.org. The Web site provides the full complement of automated voter services OVF offers, including voter registration/ballot requests, election official directory services, and state-specific voter information directory.

After identifying which state the voter wants to register in, the system prompts the user for specific information required to register to vote in his/her home state. The built-in error checking ensure the form is filled out properly and is legible for the local election official.

“Our servicemen and women are in a unique position where they are ordered away from home and can’t come home to vote,” said Bob Carey, member of the OVF board. “We need to provide them with the easiest way to register to vote and request their ballots.”

OVF has seen military registrations rise from 3 percent to 13 percent of its total registrations in the first few months of 2008 on their general Web site. For more information on registering to vote via OVF, please visit https://military.overseasvotefoundation.org.

The U.S. Air Force has a new Web site just for its retiree community that is full of news and information, plus it is easy to access and navigate.

The Air Force Retiree Services site is located at www.retirees.af.mil.

This public Web site offers the retirees family community in-depth information on the Survivor Benefit Plan, plus a list of Air Force Retiree Activities Offices worldwide, and various other resources. There also are sections dedicated to the Afterburner and Air Force Retiree News Service.

Visitors can access the sections by using the top navigation bar on the home page. The home page also features the latest Air Force headline news and video clips. There is even a special icon for quick access to the Combat-Related Special Compensation information page.

Managing electronic subscriptions to the electronic version of the Afterburner and AFRNS is now much easier: just click on the word “Subscribe” found on the top navigation bar and unsubscribe an old address and then add a new one when a change is needed.

DoD announced this week that it plans to remove Social Security Account Numbers (SSAN) from all military identification cards by the end of 2010. Instead, the cards will display only the last four digits of the SSAN.

Defense officials said this change is an effort to thwart identity theft — an acknowledgement that a lost ID card puts the cardholder and the military sponsor at risk for such theft.

The changes will be phased in for different beneficiary groups, with military family members being the first in line for updated cards this year. Within three years, all DoD-issued ID cards will show only the last four digits of the SSAN.

MOAA is extremely pleased at this announcement.

Two years ago, at MOAA’s urging, the House Armed Services Committee tasked DoD for a report and recommendations for an alternative to printing the SSAN on the ID card in order to protect servicemembers and their family members from identity theft.

We acknowledge that this is not an easy change for the Department to implement, and applaud Defense leaders’ efforts to make this important measure a priority.

Researchers in Arizona are confident they can use the motion of a servicemember’s activity to generate power.

Henry Sodano, Ph.D, professor of engineering at Arizona State University, is developing a backpack strap that’s able to turn motion into power by using ambient energy.

Using an elastic metallic polymer, the backpack straps have been able to generate between 20 and 100 volts of electricity. With a soldier carrying between 15 and 20 pounds of batteries to power radios, satellite links, lights, infrared goggles, GPS units, and laptops, the straps could help reduce the amount of weight a servicemember carries.

Previous development attempts were flawed because they required more energy than they generated, Sodano says. However, his strap is made out of polyvinylidine fluoride, a known piezoelectric material similar in strength to nylon. The piezoelectric effect is such that when strain is put on a material, it generates an electrical charge.

Because the straps must have electrodes to discharge the energy generated, Sodano used an unusual type — a nano-structured electrode that’s chemically bonded to the polymer and built up one molecular layer at a time until it has the required properties.

The backpack straps, Sodano says, were developed in conjunction with NanoSonic Inc. of Blacksburg, Va. for the Office of Naval Research through a Small Business Technology Transfer grant.

NanoSonic’s president Rick Claus, Ph.D., says that because power requirements and consumption have decreased for many types of electronic equipment, batteries are smaller.

“You can power equipment with small amounts of power now, and we think there is promise for specific applications,” Claus says. “I don’t know about powering night vision goggles right now, but with a small radio you’d be able to integrate this material into your clothing and get power that way.”

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).

If you or a servicemember you know dreams of being in front of the camera and wants to share with America — and the rest of the world — real stories about real people affected by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this might be the chance you’ve been waiting for.

Coinciding with the five year anniversary of the Iraq War, Brave New Foundation, in partnership with Iraq Afghanistan Sevicemembers Network, is launching a nationwide casting call for Iraq and Afghanistan servicemembers and veterans to host a new online magazine show, “In Their Boots.”

“In Their Boots” will give voice to servicemembers, veterans, and their families by presenting their stories about how their lives have been impacted, here at home, by our nation’s campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. Told from the perspective of men and women in uniform and their families, “In Their Boots” will transcend any political or ideological agenda, to give viewers an opportunity to see the personal and emotional sacrifices and the courage illustrated by servicemembers and their families.

This is a rare opportunity for servicemembers, veterans, and their families to offer the public an objective, politically-neutral, real-life perspective on what it means to commit to your country.

This nationwide search for a host will encompass open auditions via online submissions at www.intheirboots.com, and outreach though various military media outlets. The ideal host will embody the courage of the American spirit, convey with passion the gravity of the stories presented, and possess the ability to engage in articulate and insightful interviews and conversations. To get more information on the program or audition, log onto www.intheirboots.com and go the “Audition For Host.”

Michael A. Monsoor will posthumously be awarded a Medal of Honor.
Photo courtesy of The Washington Post.

Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor fought dozens of battles in the streets of Ramadi, shouldering his MK48 machine gun without complaint in the 130-degree heat of Iraq’s violent Anbar province.

In May 2006, only a month into his first deployment to Iraq, the 25-year-old Navy SEAL from Garden Grove, Calif., ran under fire into a street to drag to safety a wounded comrade who was shot in the leg, earning a Silver Star for his courage.

On Sept. 29, 2006, another act of valor would cost Monsoor his life — and save the lives of three comrades. For that act, he will posthumously be awarded a Medal of Honor on April 8, the White House said yesterday.

To get the rest of this story, please visit The Washington Post.