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The National Financial Capability Challenge is a non-monetary awards program designed to increase the financial knowledge and capability of high-school aged youth across the United States. It challenges youth to take control of their financial future by learning more about personal finance, and it challenges teachers and schools to incorporate the important information and topics into their curricula. The program encourages schools to get involved in financial fitness. All teachers who sign up to participate in the Challenge will receive a “teachers’ toolkit” to help them incorporate the topics into their curricula.

In March 2010 students will take a voluntary online exam designed to illustrate the relevance of financial capability, allow students to demonstrate what they have learned, and assess their financial knowledge. In April, top scoring students from each school will receive awards. In addition, a select group of outstanding schools and educators will be recognized.

All U.S. high-school aged students (ages 13-19) are encouraged to take part in the Challenge. Teachers, schools, school districts, home-school parents, and youth groups can register to participate.

To register:

If you are a high school teacher, home-school parent, youth group leader, principal or superintendent, you can sign up for the Challenge.

If you are a student, please encourage your teacher or group leader to sign up starting December 15, 2009!

Check out the official National Financial Capability Challenge site for more details on this free program!

Project HIRED, whose job placement, training, and employment services have helped hundreds of people with disabilities find the right job with the right company for the last 30 years, announced today that they will host local and regional public officials, federal agencies, local business executives and disabled veterans at a Wounded Warrior Workforce Conference on Thursday, January 28, 2010, in San Jose.

The conference represents Project HIRED’s launch of its Wounded Warrior Workforce initiative, which will be a specialized sub-set of Project HIRED client services designed to provide veterans with disabilities the tools and resources they need to successfully transition into the civilian workplace. In addition, the Wounded Warrior Workforce program will also offer employers strategies and services for adding these dedicated and skilled heroes to their organizations.

One seminar will be held from 1:00 pm – 4:30 pm (PST) for veterans with disabilities who have completed (or will soon complete) rehabilitation and are ready to return to the workplace. The other seminar will be in the morning from 8:00 AM-12:00 PM, bringing together employers interested in starting or expanding their own program for hiring these veterans.

The event will be held at:

• Project HIRED, 1401 Parkmoor Avenue, Suite 125, San Jose, Ca. 95126.
• Veterans with Disabilities: Project HIRED’s Wounded Warrior Seminar
• Employers, Exhibitors, Veterans Support Organizations and Public Agencies, or General Public: Project HIRED’s Employer Seminar

Give a little, and get a little back!

With the final months of winter upon us and some of the coldest temperatures yet to be faced, it is important for Americans to remember those who do not have a warm home, 23 percent of whom are military veterans*. At a time when these veterans need help the most, Sears is rallying support for them. Today the retailer announced it has teamed up with AMVETS to support “Operation Blanket,” a program created to collect blankets that will be distributed to military veterans.

Customers are invited to show their support and donate gently used blankets from Jan. 31 through Feb. 18 at a Sears store  in one of the states participating in “Operation Blanket”:  California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin.

In exchange for their donation, Sears will provide each customer with a coupon for 20 percent off any one home fashion or home décor item, or a coupon for 10 percent off any one housewares, luggage or furniture item (mattresses are excluded). Customers will receive a coupon for each blanket they donate.

AMVETS will distribute all collected blankets to veterans through its thrift shops and local veteran posts in select cities across the country. Sears will also make a $5,000 donation directly to AMVETS to further support their military veteran programs.

*U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and the Urban Institute, 1999

From the American Forces Press Service

Military families now have free access to an online network of quality caregivers who can assist with everything from babysitting to dog walking.

Sittercity is the nation’s largest online source for local babysitters, nannies, elder care providers, dog walkers, housekeepers and tutors, and contains more than a million caregiver profiles, officials said.

Military members and their families can activate their membership by going to http://www.sittercity.com/dod.

The Sittercity Corporate Program, funded by the Defense Department, offers military families — including active duty, Guard and Reserve — with a paid membership to the site.

The paid membership enables military families entry to a custom-built Defense Department Web site portal where they can match up caregivers to their situation; gain instant access to caregiver profiles that include background checks, references and reviews; and find military-certified care providers as well as caregivers who are military-subsidized and authorized access to a military installation.

While the membership is free, servicemembers will be responsible for the hiring and payment of caregivers, officials said.

Military members and their families can activate their membership by going to http://www.sittercity.com/dod.

To give troops a soft spot to rest their heads, Sleepy’s, the family-owned east coast mattress company, has developed a pillow donation program in partnership with Give2TheTroops, a non-profit organization which sends care packages to the military. Through a program called “Comfort Our Troops,” when consumers purchase any Tempur-Pedic pillow at one of Sleepy’s 700 retail locations between January 28 and February 28 Sleepy’s will send a travel pillow to troops overseas via care package from the Give2TheTroops organization. The pillows will be packaged with other “comforts of home” such as snacks and toiletries.

”Sleepy’s is proud to engage our community to support the men and women who serve our country through the ‘Comfort Our Troops’ program,” said Adam Blank, Chief Operating Officer at Sleepy’s. “We hope that when they lay their heads down, they are reminded how truly grateful we are for their service.”

“A cozy bed is one of the things that our soldiers miss the most while they are away,” said Andi Grant, President and Founder of Give2TheTroops. “The ‘Comfort Our Troops’ program is a great way for people to give our soldiers a little piece of home and help them sleep a little easier.”

To purchase a pillow in support of the “Comfort Our Troops” program, please visit one of Sleepy’s 700 retail locations beginning January 28. For information on the program, please visit Sleepys.com or give2thetroops.org.

…that MOAA is on Twitter!

And yup, we are! Follow @MilitaryOfficer on Twitter to get the scoop on military events, news, and other happenings in the military community. And all in 140 characters or less!

The National World War II Museum’s first International Conference on World War II in 2006 set the precedent for outstanding scholarship and public history on the most pivotal event of the modern era. The Museum continues this important initiative on March 18-20 in New Orleans as the 2010 International Conference features riveting presentations of the most comprehensive knowledge and perspectives on World War II.

As a highlight of the 2010 Conference, The National World War II Museum is working with HBO to present an exclusive, behind-the-scenes program on the making of the HBO Miniseries, THE PACIFIC, featuring the creative team involved in this blockbuster premiering nationally on HBO in March.

The “dean” of World War II historians, Dr. Gerhard Weinberg, will present the opening keynote address, “Visions of Victory,” showing how eight war leaders, including Hitler, Mussolini and Tojo, planned to change our future if they had emerged victorious.

Highlighted presenters include:

• Rick Atkinson
• Carlo D’Este
• Robert Edsel
• Max Hastings
• Walter Isaacson
• Donald Miller
• Allan Millett
• Gerhard Weinberg

And offering a unique opportunity for our guests: “Meet the Speakers”– an evening of refreshments, book signing and conversation with some of the best and brightest minds in the field of World War II history.

Conference tickets are now on sale and registration options include hotel and conference packages as well as one day passes to events. Register for the conference online, or for more information, visit www.ww2conference.com.

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress American Folklife Center has planned national and local events, activities and initiatives during 2010 to mark the 10th anniversary of its congressional mandate to collect, preserve and make accessible the personal accounts of American war veterans.

VHP contributors have recorded and submitted more 68,000 personal recollections to the Library to date, making it the largest oral-history collection in the United States. The project depends on a vast network of volunteers, both individuals and organizations, to record stories and submit original photographs, diaries, letters and other personal documents that tell the history of our nation during wartime from the perspective of the men and women who were there.

Plans for 2010 include:

• Launch of a “toolkit” to help VHP contributors plan local events and develop community-engagement programs
• Initiatives to gather more stories of minority and women veterans
• Events to mark the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II and the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War
• A host of online and in-person programs to mark cultural heritage months.

VHP accomplishments include:

• A National Teach-In on Veterans History that was webcast live to more than 2,000 schools, hosted by VHP and HISTORY™ as part of the Take a Veteran to School Day initiative
• More than 25 web presentations that highlight the stories of the diversity of the veterans who served our nation
• Hundreds of community engagement programs with the U.S. Congress; colleges, universities and schools; the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs; civic organizations; faith-based groups; veteran-service organizations; libraries; and other organizations that continue to contribute to VHP
• Opportunities for thousands of students to participate in inter-generational service learning programs
• Two books published in conjunction with National Geographic: “Voices of War: Stories of Service from the Home Front and the Front Lines” and “Forever a Soldier: Unforgettable Stories of Wartime Service,” which feature stories from the VHP collection,
• Interviews with veterans from every congressional district.

The Veterans History Project was created in 2000 by Congress as a national documentation program of the American Folklife Center to record, preserve, and make accessible the first-hand remembrances of American wartime veterans from World War I through the current conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand the realities of war.

Fifty years is a long time to use any single design, but in the case of the Army’s T-10 parachute, it has stood the test of time. Yet change is inevitable and the Army’s new chute, the T-11, has undergone 3,200 test jumps and is starting to be fielded to units.

The T-11 — intended to be used in mass parachute assaults from altitudes as low as 500 feet above ground level — offers slower rates of descent, greater equipment carrying capacity, and decreased oscillation under the canopy. The maximum deployment altitude of the T-11 is 7,500 feet above sea level, and it can deploy at speeds up to 150 knots indicated airspeed.

The T-11 will replace more than 52,000 of the current chutes used by Army airborne units over a seven year period. Three firms — Aerostar International (Sioux Falls, S.D.), Airborne Systems North America (Santa Ana, Calif.), and BAE Systems (Phoenix, Ariz.), — share in the $200 million contract.

Greg Kraak, director of U.S. military programs for BAE Systems, calls the T-11 “something different” from its predecessor.

“The T-11 allows us to accommodate increased loads, which is necessary because the typical American’s physical size has grown in the last 50 years,” Kraak says. “And with the level of protective gear soldiers wear and carry, their protective plates, weapons, batteries, and equipment, they are heavier now when they come out of airplanes.”

BAE Systems will produce its first T-11 chutes in February and expects to deliver 2,200 by the end of the year. Approximately 10,000 T-11 parachutes are to be delivered to the Army by the end of 2010 by all three contractors.

Kraak points out that because the T-11 chute “brings the soldier down softer and with a slower rate of descent, it reduces the risk of injury, which is a great advancement over the older T-10 chute.”

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 mystery novel, Full Moon, and several books on historical military small arms.