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Military Spouse magazine today released its fourth annual list recognizing the most successful companies in hiring and recruiting from the talent pool of 1.1 million spouses of military troops – 93 percent of whom are women.

“For decades corporations have resisted hiring military spouses, using their transient lifestyles as an excuse to hire civilians instead,” said Babette Maxwell, co-founder and executive editor of Military Spouse. “Technology has ushered in a more mobile workplace, plus corporate America recognizes the key to success is choosing the best possible employees.”

With 1,686 military spouses in its ranks, USAA offers special programs to support the unique circumstances military spouses face, earning the company its second consecutive year at the top of the list. Military spouses working at USAA are provided access to a Work Life Referral counselor to help find alternative child care options during deployments. USAA also sponsors intranet sites specifically designed to support deploying employees and spouses with financial, legal and benefits-related information and guidance.

“We do everything we can to ensure our employees have everything they need to be successful – great training, a superb work environment, support for spouses of deployed service members, growth opportunities, and great child care – just to name a few. And now we are expanding opportunities across the country and piloting a small number of work-at-home opportunities to help make our spouse jobs more mobile,” said Erica Banks, a major in the Air Force Reserve and director of USAA’s Military Programs.

Between 15 and 20 percent of the 1,800 employees with TriWest Healthcare Alliance are military spouses, earning it the No. 2 position on this year’s list.

“We specifically seek out the employment of those who are supporting a family member who serves,” said David J. McIntyre, Jr., TriWest Healthcare Alliance president and CEO. “It allows us to stay focused on who we are responsible for taking care of: the military family.”

TriWest runs an internal operation called “We Care,” which, among other things, offers flexible scheduling during deployment and provides free phone cards to the employees whose spouses are deployed, as well as care packages for the deployed service member.

Top companies were selected from a pool of approximately 2,500 which earned a minimum of $1 billion in annual revenues. Companies were evaluated on their efforts to recruit military spouses, results in recruiting them and policies affecting them.

Rounding out the top 10 employer rankings after USAA and TriWest Healthcare Alliance – in order of rank – were T-Mobile, Army & Air Force Exchange Service, CSC, Adecco, RE/MAX International, The Home Depot, Health Net Inc. and Kelly Services, Inc.

LTC Eric Wolf, Former Chief, Past Conflict Repatriations Branch, Casualty & Mortuary Affairs Operations Center, attended the MOAA/USNI Defense Forum Washington a few weeks ago.

He’s decided to write a 3-part blog series on the symposium- part one being an introduction to the next two posts where he’ll be writing about his impressions in-depth.

Stay tuned on that front! In the meantime, you can read his intro post online.

Civil War: America’s Epic Struggle (US$.99) from MultiEducator, Inc. is a comprehensive interactive zooming technology multi-media course in American history.

Civil War is an iPad app containing a diverse, comprehensive multimedia collection of the most important documents, maps, and photographs in the history of the Civil War at a tiny fraction of what textbooks and documents would cost.

More than just an eBook with links, the program contains interactive audio and visual educational features that can only be experienced with Apple iPod and iPad technologies.

The gives users instant access to hundreds of original documents, photographs, maps, video, presentations, and even statistics.

Marc Schulman, the app’s creator and an Apple developer since 1982, believes that this has significant implications to teaching and to education. “It brings education alive in ways people have not imagined. This has phenomenal implications to creative publishers and educators. The total experience is now what really matters.”

The Arc, a national organization that supports individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their families is engaging military families connected to individuals with I/DD to determine their disability needs through a national survey.

The Arc is partnering with the National Military Family Association (NFMA) and other military channels to distribute a special version of The Arc FINDS (Family and Individual Needs for Disability Supports) survey to military families who have a family member with a disability.

The Arc FINDS (Family and Individual Needs for Disability Supports) is a free, online survey designed to tap into the knowledge and perspectives of families and individuals with disabilities on issues which arise across an individual’s life span. Results will provide greater understanding about what disability-related services and supports are being received currently, where gaps exist, and what new supports may be needed from the military family perspective.

Survey questions cover areas of advocacy, education, transition, employment, housing, community participation, civic engagement/voting, transportation, caregiving, and demographics.

Access the survey online. Please direct questions to Ann Cameron Caldwell, Chief Research and Innovations Officer at Caldwell@thearc.org.

According to a story on the DailyBreeze.com, “soldiers who leave for combat duty as law-abiding citizens sometimes don’t return the same people…” Sigh. File this one under “Sad, but true.”

Looks like the court system is catching up to the military on this one, as they finally begin to recognize that servicemembers are sometimes returning home from combat with unseen injuries.

Read the full article on their website and let us know what you think. We’re intrigued by this latest development.

Money quote:

“These men and women come back from long deployments with personal and emotional experiences that are unique,” said John Lonergan, a Torrance deputy district attorney and colonel in the Army reserves who has advised the project. “We want to make sure they get appropriate treatment.”

The veterans court will start with a maximum of 50 cases at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles. All military personnel will be eligible, particularly those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries and other mental conditions.

Wreaths Across America (honored by MOAA in 2008 with a MOAA Distinguished Service Award) and supporters are working to bring a bus load of Veterans and Gold Star Mothers along on our week long journey to Arlington.

You can help sponsor a veteran or Gold Star Mother’s trip by purchasing a $5.00 Macy’s coupon booklet on the WAA web site.

The “The Shop for a Cause” coupons can be used at all Macy’s on Sat. Oct. 16th, 2010 to receive exclusive 20% or 10% savings in most departments and 25% off a single item. Customers are also eligible to win a $500 gift card- no purchase necessary.

100% of the $5 coupon book price goes to sponsoring veterans or mothers who otherwise could not make the trip.

Get your booklet online!

For more information on the “Shop for a Cause” program or questions about the trip contact Wreaths Across America at info@wreathsacrossamerica.org

Looking for an interest-free student loan to start or complete your education? Well, if you’re the dependent of an active or retired military servicemember, then MOAA’s the place to go! (Warning, name dropping in 3…2…1…) At least according to U.S. News and World Report.

Check out their list, and good luck with your applications!

The American Wartime Museum, a new national museum in the Washington, D.C. area, has announced its future location on a prime, 67-acre site at Interstate 95 in Prince William County, Virginia. This world-class museum will focus on the stories of American men and women who have served our country in uniform and on the home front from World War I forward.

Unique features of the American Wartime Museum will include authentic replicas of wartime scenes called “Landscapes of War,” operational tanks and aircraft, live-action demonstrations and interactive exhibits for the entire family. The museum will also house the National Veterans Visitor Center – a place where MOAA members can hold reunions, connect with other veterans and record their wartime stories.

Through its immersive experience, the American Wartime Museum will engage visitors in learning about their heritage, their freedom, and the sacrifices of millions of Americans – from veterans of all military branches, to POW/MIAs to those who supported the cause at home.

Initial site work for the museum begins this fall while the grand opening is planned for Veterans Day, November 11, 2014. To learn more about the American Wartime Museum, visit www.nmaw.org or email your story of service to info@nmaw.org.

Knowing where the enemy is located and his or her strength and disposition has been an overriding concern for military commanders down through the ages. But if a research project under way bears fruit, modern-day commanders will be able to see through the foliage and know where the enemy is located and where he’s headed.

The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is involved in a program called Foliage Penetrating Ground Moving Target Indicator Radar Exploitation and Planning (FOPEN-GXP) that would pinpoint concentrations of dismounted soldiers as they move through dense forests or foliage using Foliage Penetration Reconnaissance, Surveillance, Tracking and Engagement Radar (FORESTER).

Developed by Syracuse Research Corp. in North Syracuse, N.Y., the FORESTER system flies on the UMQ-18A unmanned helicopter (A 160T Hummingbird) made by the Boeing Company.

Mark Peterson, DARPA public affairs office spokesman, says the objective of FORESTER radar is to detect and track dismounts moving under trees, as well as vehicles under trees, to a range of 30 kilometers, filling a surveillance gap that currently exists.

The system works by having the helicopter fly into the wind and then hover over a spot on the earth, maintaining zero ground speed. The radar’s antenna is rotated to point to the center of the region of interest, and the radar then lays down a sequence of beams to cover that area.

The radar can cover a 90 degree sector every 40 to 50 seconds.

Because FORESTER is able to filter out the radar signatures of moving water, windblown foliage and animals, it then can show the size, position and direction of travel of foot soldiers moving in the foliage.

The system also has been tested on a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter.

While the FORESTER radar currently weighs in the neighborhood of 600 lbs., the intent is to reduce that weight once the radar goes into production.

Peterson observes that ground-based FORESTER applications are possible, such as a foliage penetration radar mounted on a tower that would be able to detect dismounts under foliage that were within the radar’s unblocked field of view.

As to making FORESTER into a man-packable size, he adds that in principle it’s possible, but it’s not part of the DARPA program at this point.

DARPA is seeking agencies to develop and integrate a set of tools to enhance the radar data into workstation modules.

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.

The Department of Veteran Affairs Veterans Benefits Administration has announced its partnership with the Richmond International Raceway (RIR) and driver Landon Cassill during NASCAR Weekend featuring the Air Guard 400 and the Virginia 529 College Savings 250 on September 10th and 11th, 2010 in Richmond Virginia.

This partnership is part of a growing effort to ensure the nation’s Veterans and service members learn of the opportunities and benefits offered by the Post-9/11 GI Bill.

“The GI Bill has had a positive impact on a lot of people,” Cassill said. “I have a good friend who served in the military and he is currently using the GI Bill to get his education. In my outreach to family members to see if anyone was using the GI Bill, I actually educated a cousin who did not know he was eligible and is now looking into the benefits that he is entitled to. I can see how the GI Bill can affect someone’s life as it has for my friend. I am looking forward to helping get the word out and having a great run with the Post-9/11 GI Bill colors on our car at Richmond.”

About Race Weekend:

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Air Guard 400 will be held September 10 & 11th, 2010 at Richmond International Raceway, located at 600 East Laburnum Avenue, Richmond, VA 23222. For tickets and directions visit the Richmond International Raceway website or call (866)455-7223

The Air Guard 400 from Richmond International Raceway will be televised live on ABC starting at 7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, September 11th.

In addition, “My Story”, a public awareness campaign featuring PSA’s that profile six Post-9/11GI Bill recipients, will be showcased. View the PSAs online!