Winter 2012 military families by ameriforce publishing

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Military Families by

AmeriForce Publishing

Magazine WINTER 2012

Planning for Retirement Saving for College

Creating Holiday Traditions Use your smart phone QR code app to view online

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Letters Check out our ALL NEW Web Site!

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From the Editor

Military Families by

The holidays bring traditions of all kinds — family traditions, religious traditions, even traditional foods we look forward to eating each year.

Military families often find themselves far from home and/or apart from one another when the holidays roll around. As always, these families find creative ways to make it work. Many families (mine included) tend to get together with other military families for a big holiday dinner...with the added bonus of no family visit stresses (hey, look on the bright side, right?)

When my husband came home weeks before Christmas on his mid-tour leave from Afghanistan a few years ago, we celebrated Christmas with him a few weeks early, and had “another Christmas” with my family in Alabama. My girls really enjoyed the “extended Christmas,” and I told them how lucky they were — most people just get one!

AmeriForce Publishing

Planning for Retirement Saving for College

Creating Holiday Traditions Use your smart phone QR code app to view online

ENTER ONLINE TO WIN A LUXURY SPA VACATION FROM THE WORLDRENOWNED CANYON RANCH® www.AmeriForce.net/SWEEPS

Your retirement may be years away or just around the corner. We take a look at the tips, tricks and resources you may need to get ready for your separation from the military on page 16.

No matter what your holiday brings, we at AmeriForce wish you and your family a very happy one!

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Cover photo by James Brey

And if you are traveling this holiday season, be sure to check out our article outlining various military discounts you can use. This issue also features a gift guide on page 24, and you can see how you can save money while checking off your shopping list on page 10.

The end of the year brings thought of college application deadlines, but no matter what the age of your children, you can help them prepare for the college application process. See page 20 to see how.

Magazine WINTER/2012

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Send your ideas/photos to: Editor@AmeriForce.net Receive FREE digital editions: www.ameriforce.net/WEBSUBSCRIBE Order FREE magazines for your unit: www.AmeriForce.net/ORDER

Warm Regards,

Advertise to over 2.25 million military members: www.AmeriForce.net/ADVERTISE Jennifer G. Williams, Editor

ALERT!

Urge Congress Not to Reduce YOUR Military Benefits!

Visit www.AmeriForce.net/SaveOurBenefits.asp for more information. www.AmeriForce.net

3

Contents

ALSO INSIDE: Briefs ................................. page 28

Page 6

Creating or Remaking Traditions

by Janine Boldrin

Military families are flexible in so many ways — holiday traditions included!

Page 10

No (Holiday Shopping) Regrets

by Janine Boldrin

How to spread holiday cheer without breaking the bank.

Page 14

Budget Travel Military-Style

by Bennett Leigh

Take advantage of those military discounts if traveling for the holidays.

Page 16

Get Ready For Retirement

by Julie Steed

Tips, tricks and resources for planning your military retirement.

Page 20

College Prep For Parents

by Julie Steed

It’s never too early (or too late!) to prepare for your child to go to college.

Page 24

Here’s To Happier Holidays!

Compiled by Julie Steed

Our gift-giving guide for everyone on your list.

Page 30

Family Stories

by Jennifer G.Williams

The Military Families Magazine by AmeriForce Publishing is published quarterly for active duty service members and their families. Copies are available through participating MWR and affiliate offices at no cost. Requests for distribution can be made online at www.AmeriForce.net/order, or by emailing requests to Copies@AmeriForce.net. We do not take individual subscriptions, but digital copies of each magazine are available on our website at www.AmeriForce.net. Editorial comments can be emailed to JenniferW@AmeriForce.net.

The Military Families Magazine is published by AmeriForce Publishing, Inc., North East, Md., a private company. Information and advertisements in this publication do not constitute endorsement by any branch of the military or the Department of Defense. No part of this publication may be copied without the express written permission of the publishers. AmeriForce Publishing, Inc., the publishers, and publisher’s agents make no endorsement of any advertised services or products and none should be inferred. Printed in the United States. © 2012 AmeriForce Publishing, Inc.

publisher ........................ Brian Dunbar editorial director ............. Jennifer G. Williams production manager........ Diana Tyo design coordinator .......... Lynda Modaff

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Advertising Offices

Pleasant Surprises.

Brian Dunbar Publisher/East Coast Sales 443-674-8151 BDunbar@AmeriForce.net Julie Miller, VP Marketing and Communications West Coast/DC Sales (703) 909-1992 JMiller@AmeriForce.net Mike McNew McNew Media/Detroit 248-647-8043 Mike@McNewMedia.com Ursula Hirschhaeuser Germany +49 (0) 69-15053980 Ursula@AmeriForce.net

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Your Holiday

8 Ways

to Create or Remake Traditions

by Janine Boldrin

If you’re far from family or dealing with a deployment, military life often means having to create new ways to celebrate holidays and special days. Instead of mourning

the

loss

of

your

usual traditions, adopt a flexible attitude to enjoy the people and rituals you hold dear.

“Creating rituals is an important part for your child’s identity and sense of security,” says Meg Cox, author of The Book of New Family Traditions: How to create great rituals for holidays and every day. With little twist, you can maintain your traditions (or create new ones!) when military life gets hectic.

Read on to learn eight ideas your family can use to celebrate special days in a great way even under less-than-ideal circumstances.

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1. Change the date Flexibility is key to developing the traditions that will carry your family through change. If Thanksgiving comes and your service member is deployed, you can save the big celebration for when she comes home. Don’t feel you have to forgo commemorating the actual day; instead, go out with a friend to a restaurant or take the kids on an overnight trip to a favorite nearby destination. When you loved one returns, celebrate the holiday you “skipped” as if it were the actual day. Older children may balk at the idea, so be sure to take their feelings into consideration.

2. Make memories across the miles

If favorite rituals seem impossible to execute because you live far from family, think of creative ways to still make them happen across the miles. Cox tells of a family in her book who has a long-distance tradition during Thanksgiving and Christmas. The entire extended family bakes pies at the same time using their grandmother’s recipe. The grandmother will call up each grandchild during the agreed upon baking time. Whether making food, wrapping presents, or singing a Christmas carol, consider synchronizing a ritual. “You are doing the same thing, at the same time, and thinking of each other and feeling close,” adds Cox.

3. Call on friends When you join the military, you become part of a larger family who can stand in for the extended family you may have celebrated with in the past. Gather up the neighbors for a gettogether at a local cabin for New Year’s Eve or host a pot-luck at the community center for Thanksgiving. Ask everyone to bring food that they grew up enjoying so you can share everyone’s traditions while starting a new one.

4. Combine celebrations “One thing that I like people to think about is flexibility to make up new holidays,” says Cox. Create a “Remembrance Day” filled with the foods and traditions your service member didn’t experience while he was away. Why not cook a turkey, open stockings, and have an egg hunt? Or take a picture a day of the kids while your loved one is away. Give the final collection as a gift during a birthday celebration where each person celebrates their birthday with a cupcake so mom or dad can be in attendance this time around.

5. Focus on others The holidays can seem daunting if you are new to town and haven’t met many people.

Consider volunteering for a local food kitchen or serving at a community event. Check with senior centers, religious organizations, and military community services to find out where you can help. There are many nonprofit organizations that serve fellow military families during the holidays. From preparing a meal to baking cookies for neighbors, find a way to do for others and you may soon have a new family tradition.

6. Remember simple rituals If you are deployed, sometimes the simplest action can reconnect you with special memories and the family you want to be with on a special day. Plan on singing a favorite carol at the same time as your kids, save a present that each of you can unwrap together over Skype, or read their favorite holiday storybook to your entire family over the phone.

Don’t drop everything you usually do because you are gone; instead, think of one or two rituals that you enjoy and if they can be done over the phone or the Internet. continued on page 8

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Your Holiday

continued from page 7

7. Spread out the celebrating

Many families find themselves in the middle of a move during the holidays or a birthday.

As a family, decide what rituals you must do to make family members feel connected and try to make them happen along the way to your new home. From an Easter egg hunt in New York to eating baked ham in North Carolina, you’ll have your list complete by the time you get to your new home.

8. Observe military life Holidays don’t always have to be the ones other people celebrate. By turning your military family’s situations into celebrations, you’ll give recognition to the moments that make our lives unique. Create a “Pre-Moving Day” before a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move to go through all of the rooms in your house and think about the wonderful things that happened in each. This ritual will give your children a chance to process the past in a positive way. By creating celebrations that are unique to your life, you’ll build deep traditions your children will remember and treasure.

For more ideas on how to create or reinvent your traditions, visit www.megcox.com.

All alone?

If you find yourself alone for a holiday, try lighting a candle and reflecting on things you are thankful for, the meaning of the day, or the special memories you have of past celebrations.

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Combining family traditions Religious traditions and personal rituals are important to many people.

Don’t leave one spouse in the dust just because you assume your way is more “special.” Whether you are newly married or a seasoned couple, take the time to discuss the traditions that each of you hold dear for each holiday.

And ask your children what is important for them to do each holiday. Not putting up a Christmas tree during the middle of a move may seem sensible to you, but may create a huge void for your child. As you discuss each ritual, your family will develop a “new and improved” list of traditions based out of the strong roots of your own childhoods and your kids’ imaginations.

Janine Boldrin is a freelance writer and military spouse living near Fort Campbell, KY.

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Your Finances

No

(Holiday Shopping)

Regrets: Learn what mistakes to avoid before buying gifts for next year

by Janine Boldrin

If, after each holiday season, you have a pile of bills and not so much money to pay them, it may be time to take a serious look at how you purchase gifts. Check out this list of common mistakes families make when it comes to buying presents and learn how to fix them. Armed with this information, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be on the path to a happier holiday this year and next.

Ellie Kay and Boys. Photo by Jimi Allen.

10 www.AmeriForce.net

Mistake: Not creating a holiday gift budget.

Fix: Many families try to fit holiday purchases into their regular budget and fail to set aside an amount of money they will spend during the holidays, says Ellie Kay, mom of seven and author of 14 books, including The Sixty Minute Money Workout. Kay was a military spouse and is the mom of a graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy and a cadet at the U.S. Air Force academy.

Fitting holiday expenses into your December monthly budget will most likely result in more consumer debt. Instead, you should determine your gift budget and save up that sum throughout the year.

If December has already arrived and you don’t have money saved, don’t abandon budgeting altogether. Decide an amount you feel comfortable spending that won’t put you in debt for a long time, says Kay. Work back from there, breaking down how much you’ll spend on each person on your list.

Mistake: Buying for too many people.

Fix: Overspending is probably one of the biggest mistakes that families make when it comes to holiday gifts. A big part of the problem is not determining who requires what kind of gift.

According to Kay, families should break down

their gifts into three different lists.

Look at who you are thinking of buying for to determine if each person really needs a purchased gift or can be put on the card list, make/bake list or definitely on the purchase a present list. By shifting people to a card or a homemade gift, your expenditures should decrease.

Six Tips for Not Breaking the Bank when Buying Gifts www.militarywivessaving. com

Mistake: Spending too much on each person.

Fix: Before heading to the mall, write down the name of each person you want to buy a gift for and how much you are going spend on them. By being specific, you’ll avoid budget creep when you find a “perfect present” that is out of your price range. Keep a master list to eliminate duplicate buying. People usually won’t return overbought gifts but will instead give both gifts and break their budget.

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Mistake: Relying on rushed shopping.

Fix: If you purchase last minute, you’re probably going to overspend, because you’ll be forced to buy whatever you find. While it may seem like procrastination is hard-wired into your persona, changing your buying habits will lead to better gifts and spending less on shipping. With your gift list and budget in hand, start watching for sales and spread out your spending by marking your calendar with one or two gifts to buy each month.

continued on page 12

continued on page 12

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Your Finances No (Holiday Shopping) Regrets . . . continued from page 11

Six Tips . . .

continued from page 11

discounts. Do this all year to save for your holiday shopping! You can read more about it at shopkick.com/about.

Mistake: Going overboard on the kids.

Fix: It can be easy to get carried away when it comes to buying holiday gifts for the kids. Think about establishing a gift limit within your family. “We let our kids pick three gifts they wanted and they had to be modest,” says Kay. “If getting three gifts was good enough for baby Jesus, it was good enough for them.”

Kay adds that this approach puts less of the focus on the kids’ own wants during the holiday season. Setting reasonable limits and having an open dialogue about what your family can afford can also be the springboard to teaching kids more responsible consumer habits that will serve them well as they get older.

Mistake: I’ve already overspent!

Fix: Stop spending and start paying off Instead of beating yourself up over bills, put a plan in place to start paying down your debt before the next holiday. “When it comes to holiday debt, stop the spending,” says Kay. “Even though there may be good sales in January, cut off the debt flow. Take the credit card out of your wallet and put it away.” Start tackling your bills by paying off one credit card at a time. Each card you pay off will give you the incentive to keep going.

Begin changing now Giving nice presents to family and friends may bring you short term joy, but don’t let that joy put your finances on the wrong track for the upcoming year.

Put a plan in place for tackling your holiday bills and start working on how to keep from overspending the following year. Tackling this problem will bring balance back into your budget and may also help your family to experience a less stressful New Year.

Janine Boldrin is a freelance writer and military spouse living near Fort Campbell, KY.

12 www.AmeriForce.net

Check out the Exchange. The Exchanges are, in my opinion, a wonderful place to find deals on holiday items. One, there is no sales tax, so already you’re saving money.

Two, the Exchanges will price match other local stores, so if you see something cheaper at Target, but want to save on tax, price match it. And three, the Exchanges will let you price match and use coupons, so it ends up being a triple-win (no sales tax, lower prices, plus coupon savings). The Exchanges online (shopmyexchange. com, mynavyexchange.com) will also price match other online sites. Simply give them a call when you’re ordering!

Save throughout the year. Deposit an amount into your savings account, even if it’s only $5, toward your holiday purchases. You can also choose to make some drastic changes. I used to go to Starbucks every day, sometimes twice, and that meant $1100 a year in coffee! Take the money you would have spent and put it in that savings account you just opened for holiday gifts. It may be hard at first, but they say it takes 21 days to break a bad habit!

Pick affordable gifts. Around the holidays, people are giddy with excitement because they get to see loved ones and genuinely want to make others happy. We have a natural instinct to want to “make people like us” and some people think that they can do this by buying others expensive things. A great resource for affordable gift ideas is one of my favorite sites, www.pinterest.com. You can get all sorts of inexpensive and even do-ityourself ideas for holiday gifts that your loved ones will adore.

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Budget Travel

by Bennett Leigh

With the holidays fast approaching, military families everywhere face the dilemma of traveling to see friends and family, and how to do so economically.

If you have the time and flexibility, many military families take advantage of their Space-A travel benefits.

For security reasons, military flight information is not generally published online. The best way to find out about Space-A flights is to call the passenger terminal and ask about flights. The busiest terminals often have regularly scheduled flights and offer the best opportunity for Space-A seats. Visit the Air Mobility Command (AMC) Website at www.amc.af.mil/amctravel/index.asp to check out the closest terminals and to register to use the service. For more information on Space-A Travel, see the sidebar.

If you don’t have the time to spend on Space-A, many airlines offer military discounts, but be sure to check these discounts against other discounts the airline may

S p a c e - A f l i g h t s leave from military passenger terminals on installations throughout the U.S. and around the world. You must sign up for flights on a register maintained at each passenger terminal. Policies and procedures for Space-A travelers vary by installation, so make sure you understand the rules for registration at each terminal you are trying to fly from.

Passenger registration. You can sign up on the terminal’s register up to 60 days in advance. You may sign up for more than one destination — and at more than one terminal. When you sign up, make sure you have your military ID and leave papers (if necessary).

Some terminals accept fax or e-mail sign up, but procedures vary by terminal.

Once registered, you are assigned a passenger category.

These categories determine how seats are assigned.

Within each category, passengers are prioritized based on the date and time they registered. Available seats are assigned first to Category I passengers, continuing through the categories until all empty seats are filled.

Category I. Active-duty service members and their accompanying families traveling on emergency leave.

Category II. Service members and their accompanying

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offer — sometimes, the posted military discount is not the best deal.

If you are taking to the roads, take heart in the predictions of lower fuel prices this holiday season. Be sure to ask at restaurants and hotels along the way for possible military discounts. You can even check out your preferred hotel or restaurants online before you leave to see if they offer any discounts.

If you like using travel sites that compare several airlines and hotels, take the best price given, then contact the airline or hotel directly to see if they can beat the thirdparty online price.

Planning ahead and doing a little research can always help you save money. Don’t be afraid to flash that ID card — it can save you a bundle!

Bennett Leigh is a military spouse and freelance writer living in Northern Virginia

family members traveling on EML. This normally includes command-sponsored family members who are stationed OCONUS. Category III. Service members and their accompanying families traveling on ordinary leave, reenlistment leave status, and unaccompanied family members of service members deployed 365 consecutive days or more. This category also includes service members and their families on house-hunting leave.

Category IV. Unaccompanied family members on EML orders and eligible family members of service members deployed 120 days or more.

Category V. Students whose sponsor is stationed in Alaska or Hawaii and students enrolled in a trade school in CONUS when the sponsor is stationed overseas.

Category VI. Retirees and their accompanying family members. This category also includes Guard and Reserve members who are traveling within CONUS, Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories.

For more information on Space-A travel, visit the Air Mobility Command (AMC) Website at www.amc.af.mil/ amctravel/index.asp.

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Your Retirement

Get Ready For Retirement

by Julie Steed

Tips, tricks and resources for planning your military retirement.

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Are you eligible for retirement in the next few years?

Don’t let it sneak up on you. A successful retirement takes planning and forethought, but resources are available to help you make the transition be as smooth as you’ve always envisioned.

TAP Into Resources Early When Keith Freeman decided to retire from active duty after 26 years in the Army, it was a last minute decision. His wife, Teresa, says that their six-month transition period made the entire process more difficult than they had expected. “Start early and take advantage of ALL resources provided to assist in the transition,” she says. “I encourage spouses to also attend the retirement briefings that are required for service members.”

The Transition Assistance Program (TAP) assists service members with the transition from military to civilian life and is available 24 months prior to retirement. TAP includes 3-day workshops at selected military installations around the globe where attendees can learn about career planning, resume preparation, current labor market trends and job interviewing techniques.

Individual military installations also have Transition Assistance offices and programs to assist retiring service members.

Transition checklists begin 24 months prior to your retirement date and will walk you through the process step-by-step.

“Take time to learn about retirement benefits such as health care and dental, life insurance, disability, survivor benefits program, etc. Ask questions, and take full advantage of the benefits your service member has earned,” suggests Teresa.

No Money To Save?

Jason Hull, Army veteran and owner of Hull Financial Services suggests taking the following steps to “find” money to save each pay period: • Take a look at your budget. Are you sticking to it? Where are you falling short? Your budget should be your monthly game plan for getting control of your money.

• Take small steps and force yourself to save. Even if it’s $20 or $50 per month, start somewhere. Chances are you will find you really didn’t need that money after all.

• Downsize in two ways. First, look at automatic subscriptions and recurring payments like subscriptions to magazines you don’t read and cable channels you may never watch — then eliminate them. Secondly, downsize your material possessions. Sell the stuff you don’t need or use.

• Get an extra job. Use the extra money to pay down debt. Remember how tired you are from doing all of the extra work and promise yourself you’ll never let it happen again.

continued on page 18 Photo by Lynda Modaff

www.AmeriForce.net

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Your Retirement continued from page 17

Get Your Financial House In Order If you’ve never saved or invested for retirement, or if you think you may be lagging behind, it’s not too late to get your financial house in order. Even if you save money faithfully, it’s a good idea to make sure your retirement plans and aspirations align with your family’s budget and needs.

If you plan to have a second career after the military like most veterans, it’s still important — even necessary — to prepare yourself for financial upheaval and future retirement from the civilian sector.

Jason Hull, Army veteran and owner of Hull Financial Services, suggests veterans and active duty service members take care of their finances independently of special programs or anticipated assistance. “Don’t count on anyone but yourself for your financial independence . . .The one person who cares the most about your survival, your independence and your well-being is the person [who] looks at you in the mirror every single day, and that’s the person you have to rely on.”

Hull recommends taking these four steps to start planning, saving and investing for retirement:

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• Create a written budget. “It is not possible for you to know where your money is unless you actually track it,” says Hull. “To budget, you have to have an idea of what bills you need to pay every month. You need to know where your money is going and where the money needs to go. By doing a budget monthly, it will start to give you an idea of where the holes in your spending lie.”

• List family priorities. “Sometimes there is dissidence between what we think is important and where we are spending our time and resources. Align where you are spending your money with what you think is truly important in your life,” says Hull.

• Map out what it will take to get your from where you are to where you want to be and incorporate that into your budget. “For example, say you want to have $10,000 saved for your oldest child’s college fund by the time she’s 18 and she’s currently 13. That’s $2,000 a year or $166.67 a month that you have to save,” explains Hull.

• Automate as much as possible. “Make saving and investing an automatic part of your plan so that you can’t talk yourself into doing something else with the money,” says Hull.

Loon and boaters on Horse Lake in Minnesota at sunset. Photo by Lynda Modaff

Prepare For The Unexpected When Kathleen H.’s husband retired from the Army, the family was unprepared for buying a house. “We had always lived on post, and buying a house was awful. We made some financial mistakes, but, knock on wood, we’ve recovered.”

Additional Resources Check out these resources to get more information about preparing for your military retirement:

TurboTap.org • Careeronestop.org • www.dol.gov The Military Guide to Financial Independence and Retirement, and the-military-guide.com, both by Doug Nordman

Hull agrees that retirees often underestimate the cost of actual living expenses. “You’re either provided with a house on base or nearby, or you’re provided with a stipend [while on active duty] . . .

It will take 6-12 months of really tracking where the money goes for [retirees] to get a good feel for how much it will actually cost to live.”

The Freemans were surprised by the amount of time it took for Keith to find a job that would keep him home with his family. “We chose to stay at our last duty station because of the job opportunities in the area and on post, but that proved to be more difficult [than expected] as a lot the positions required deployment — which we were hoping to avoid,” says Teresa.

Hull suggests preparing for unexpected financial upheaval in advance of your retirement date.

“Save as much as you possibly can.

Don’t take aggressive investments.

Put every extra cent that you have into a savings account or money market account; something that is liquid so that you have money to live on in the interim.” Hull also recommends saving 30 to 60 days of leave so that a paycheck will be coming in for a month or two after retirement.

Julie Steed is a writer, mom, and Air Force spouse. She writes from her home near Ft. Bragg.

40TH ANNUAL

SYMPOSIUM AND EXHIBITION

Building Bridges to success through education for the Military coMMunity FEBRUARY 25-28, 2013 HILTON SAN DIEGO BAYFRONT

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is an active proponent for the professional development of those serving in the military education community by providing a forum for the exchange of information on educational programs, strategies and innovation among its members and associated partners. i n f or Mat ive s es s ion s • s oc ial e ven t s e x pan s ive t r ade s how • n et w or kin g for exhiBits and sponsorships: 410-997-0763 ccme@epponline.com • www.epponline.com for registration: www.ccmeonline.org

www.AmeriForce.net

19

Education

College Prep For Parents How to prepare for your child to go to college — at any age

By Julie Steed

College – for some of you, it seems

High School Students

like it will be an eternity before your

If you have a child in high school, it’s crunch time! Get involved in the application process so you can help your teen make informed decisions about schools that fit within your budget that also suit his goals and personality.

kids will be heading off to a postsecondary school. For others, the event is right around the corner.

Either way, it’s not too early (or too late) to start prepping for the big event. If you have a child, you’ll want to read on to learn how you can plan financially, and help your child prepare academically, so that college is a successful experience for you both.

Do It Now Elizabeth Venturini, College and Career Strategist and President and Founder of College Career Results (collegecareeresults.com), suggests parents complete the following steps when helping their teen work towards college application and acceptance:

1. Build a college career plan with your child as early as their freshman year in high school. To fulfill this task, your child should meet regularly with their high-school guidance counselor. As a parent, you should develop a working knowledge of the academic requirements for high-school graduation and admission to top-colleges and keep on top of standardized test dates and application submission dates.

2. Learn about college finances and attend college financial aid workshops when your child is in his freshman or sophomore year of high school.

This will help you become familiar with financial aid terminology and will allow you to investigate the financial aid options (and scholarships) available at schools he might like to attend.

Learning about the financial process will also help you set realistic boundaries about how much you can afford to pay for college while still saving enough for retirement.

3.

Create a college criteria list with your teen so that she will have an enjoyable college experience (see sidebar on page 22). Criteria should define the type of school she would like to attend based on academics and social/ geographic preferences.

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photo by Kristian Sekulic

Venturini also recommends providing your child with an interest assessment, encouraging him to read frequently to build vocabulary skills and encouraging him to take the most rigorous classes he can handle.

Don’t Do It Alone

Parent of A Young Child?

Start Saving Now.

The Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC, militarychild.org) offers three workshops specifically geared towards military high school students and the college application process.

1. Chart Your Course (CYC) for Success Through High School and Beyond focuses on whether or not your teen is taking the correct classes in high school.

CYC can help you and your teen map a solid academic plan for high school to ensure on-time graduation despite multiple relocations.

2. The College Application Process one-hour workshop helps parents navigate the college application processes. This workshop, conducted in a classroom setting, addresses college criteria, choosing the right college, getting letters of recommendation and more.

3. The College Application Process three-hour workshop is for parents and students. This workshop is an expanded edition of the onehour workshop and includes a mock interview, resume-writing session and addresses how to make your child’s application stand out from the crowd. Recommended for parents and students (10th or 11th grade).

Middle School Students

Hank Coleman, an active duty Army Major, financial planner and personal finance writer (hankcoleman.net), offers the following tips about investing for college — regardless of your child’s age.

• Start Small. You can set up direct deposits to most state 529 College Savings Plans directly from your checking account, which makes investing easy and transparent.

Many 529 plans let you start investing with as little as $25 per month.

• Increase Savings With Raises. You can increase your college savings investments every January equal to your cost of living pay raise, live off of the same salary that you were earning the previous year, and not even feel a dent in your wallet.

• Just Get Started — Transfer Funds Later. If you children decide not to go to college or if they earn a scholarship, you can transfer the benefits from a 529 College Savings Plan to other children or beneficiaries.

You can also make adjustments to your investments moving funds from one mutual fund to another.

You’re not off the hook if you have a child in middle school. While the planning stages for college are not as involved for kids in grades 6-8, there are definitely things you can be doing to prepare yourself and your child for the college application process.

Do It Now “Starting as early as middle school, parents can begin developing the interests, talents and education platform of their children to help them look forward to going to college,” says Venturini. “It’s an ideal time for parents to encourage their students and to observe the interests and activities their child naturally enjoys and gravitates to.”

Also on the middle-school parent to-do list: help your child develop good study habits so that she will be prepared for high-school level classes.

photo @ YinYang

continued on page 22

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21

Education

continued from page 21

Don’t Do It Alone The MCEC offers a one-hour workshop just for parents of middle school students. Chart Your Course: Keys for Success in Middle School, examines the social and academic aspects of school including effective communication, organization and the importance of routines.

Additional Programs for Military Kids

“Parents need to help their teens set themselves apart from their peers with more than just having good grades and a resume of accomplishments,” says Venturini. She suggests military kids use their unique life experiences to work to their benefit. “It is important that military kids demonstrate their ability to quickly handle new experiences such as academics, social situations and different living conditions. They [can] stress how their unique life experience and ability to interact with many different people, cope with uncertainty and stressful situations and think for themselves can help them handle a rigorous college curriculum in new surroundings.”

Create a College Criteria List collegecareeresults.

Some questions to ask include:

militarychild.

•

•

• • • •

•

• • • • •

22

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Julie Steed is a writer, mom, and Air Force spouse. She writes from her home near Ft. Bragg.

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36,000 ACTIVE-DUTY STUDENTS. ON BASE. ON-SITE. ONLINE.

Wherever your mission takes you, anywhere in the world, you’ll find University of Maryland University College (UMUC). We offer courses on base or on-site in more than 25 countries— and over 90 undergraduate and graduate programs entirely online. That’s our mission, because since 1947, UMUC has been educating America’s armed forces.

Ì

AT YOUR SERVICE SINCE 1947

University of Maryland University College is the nation’s largest public university.

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Gift Giving

Here’s To Happier Holidays!

It’s time to make your list and check it twice — this gift guide will get you well on your way to filling those boxes and bags with gifts they’ll love.

Compiled by Julie Steed Photos used with Permission

DIY

Three-Strand Sliding Bead Bracelet

If you’re looking for an inexpensive way to treat your friends and family, why not try a homemade gift like this cute bracelet made by Army spouse Megan O’Donnell? Here are Megan’s tips for creating your own sliding bead bracelet:

Supplies Waxed cord Beads Bead cones

Stash The Stress A hot cup of tea on a cool winter day — can’t you just feel the stress melting away? From busy moms to the career-focused friend, the overworked people in your life will enjoy being spoiled with a beautiful tea chest pre-filled with Stash Tea Bags.

The signature tea chest (pictured — $49.50, stashtea.com) includes a selection of Stash’s most popular flavors. Looking for something a little less traditional? Stash also offers a bamboo chest featuring a selection of holiday-flavored teas ($36.95).

Fasteners

Directions Cut three pieces of waxed cording to about 10 inches.

Tie them together with a knot about 3 inches from one end String some beads on each piece of cording. (The beads should not fill the cording so they can slide around).

When you’re finished with the beads, tie a knot at the other end, about 6 inches from your first knot, or however large you’d like the bracelet to be.

Put a bead cone on both ends.

Attach fasteners.

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Magnetic Stocking Stuffers Affordable, recycled, handmade, useful and appropriate for almost every adult on your list (and kids with lockers, too), these magnets are irresistible. Kate Grenier, sibling of a U.S. soldier, creates these handy gifts from recycled bottle caps and offers design choices for every personality. Visit kategrenier.com to see all of the options available ($15.95).

Special Delivery The Classic Series selection from The Wine of the Month Club is a great gift for friends far and near. Let someone else handle the packaging and shipping after you customize this gift based on your budget.

Rest easy knowing that a bottle of red and a bottle of white are guaranteed to arrive in excellent condition. ($43.99 and up, wineofthemonthclub.com)

Top Tool Give him a gift he’ll really use. The Leatherman Wave Black is the most popular Leatherman ever, featuring over 17 tools in one flat-black, pocket knife-size case.

From work to the weekend, this multi-tool has an amazing range of capabilities. He (or she) can use it to strip wires, open bottles and cans, slice, dice, saw and more ($68, leatherman.com).

Lightweight Library

Outdoor Versatility It’s a cooler, it’s a changing mat, it’s a . . . great gift for your outdoorsy friends.

The Poler Wunder Bundle is billed as an insulated, soft-sided cooler, but it can also be used to keep food warm, as a changing mat in wet or snowy conditions, as a reflector to attract attention in emergencies and even as a diaper-changing pad for parents and babies on the go ($25, polerstuff.com).

The compact, lightweight design of an e-reader is perfect for people on the go, and we’re told that they’re especially handy to have during a deployment. With an electronic library at the fingertips, book lovers, travelers and deployed service members can read to their hearts content — without collecting a pile of books.

(Pictured, Amazon Kindle Paperwhite, starts at $119)

K-Cup Converter Deployed troops report that access to K-Cups is plentiful, but it’s more difficult to come by a machine that will convert the cups into a steaming mug of Joe. The Keurig® MINI Plus Brewing System is an individual-serving option for your deployed loved one ($99.95, Keurig. com). This model includes a 12-pack variety of K-Cups and can be shipped directly to APO/FPO addresses. Keurig offers free shipping for purchases of $45 and higher. Watch the website for deals that will make this gift a more affordable option. www.AmeriForce.net

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(828) 262-1980 www.SamaritansPurse.org &)& #10532

*AmeriForce Publishing does not promote nor endorse any listed charities. All CFC - participating charities must go through a rigorous checking process through the OямГce of Personnel Management (www.opm.gov/cfc).

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www.ameriforce.net/cfc

Briefs

Managing Military ID Cards Just Got Easier

The Defense Manpower Data Center is making it easier for service members and their families to get and maintain identification cards.

The center has launched its RAPIDS — Real-time Automated Personnel Identification System — self-service portal to allow anyone with the Defense Department’s common access card, or CAC, to apply for family ID or retirement cards or update dependents’ statuses online.

“It’s really exciting,” Mary Dixon, the center’s director, said. “We’ve been working for some time now to try to improve and transform our whole ID card application process so people can do things online and not spend long hours going to a site and waiting to be seen.”

The change may seem procedural, but its impact will be big for those who, without it, have had to spend countless hours waiting in line with their families to get ID cards. Before RAPIDS, service members, retirees and families had to go together to a Defense Manpower Data Center to submit an application form and wait while the ID card is being made, Dixon said.

“This is big project,” she said. “It takes away time from your work, and if you are separated — maybe the spouse is out on a ship or on deployment or your child is away at college – it makes it a huge problem.”

Now, the CAC holder can go onto the RAPIDS site, call up the listing of their dependents, and fill out and digitally sign form No. 1172-2 for their family members to receive an ID card. That family member then can go alone to the closest DMDC office — they are are listed on the website and linked to Google Maps for driving directions — to pick up the card, Dixon said.

RAPIDS is a win for both the department and families, the director said. “You can do this from your desk,” she said. “As long as your computer is CAC-enabled, it could be from your home or office. You can do it without going to a physical site, which is huge.”

The site also allows you to get a DOD self-service user name and password, known as a DS Logon, that allows you to access several DOD and VA websites with the logon information, rather than a CAC. DS Logon, which is available only to CAC holders, also

has a “premium account,” which gives the highest level of access, allowing you to view personal data about yourself in the DOD and VA systems, apply for benefits online, check the status of your claims and update your address records. You must apply in person for the premium account.

DMDC will continue to expand its self-service options to include changing email certificates and information about family members, Dixon said. The upgrades include an effort to put the fingerprints of new recruits into the system, so lost paperwork can easily be replaced, she said.

Dixon said she hopes the site also will one day include alerts for when an ID card is about to expire, and will be integrated with DMDC’s MilConnect website to access all DOD and Veterans Affairs benefits.

“We still have to have the faceto-face, which is important for legitimate ID proofing,” she said.

“But we’re saying, ‘What are the ways to reduce the time you spend at the sites?’”

— by Lisa Daniel, American Forces Press Service

Commissary Rewards Card Now Available Worldwide The new Defense Commissary Agency’s (DeCA)

posted online every two to three weeks.

Commissary Rewards Card is now available at all commissaries worldwide. With this card, commissary customers can access digital coupons and redeem them in any military commissary.

Digital coupons, just like their paper counterparts, have expiration dates and other terms and conditions that must be followed for redemption.

However, unlike paper coupons, digital coupons cannot be accepted for up to six months after expiration overseas. That’s because these coupons are distributed digitally and are instantly available to all customers worldwide, so overseas customers don’t need extra time to use them. When a coupon expires, it will disappear from the customer’s account.

Commissary customers can pick up their cards in-store. After pick up, register your card at DeCA’s website and load digital coupons to your card. When the card is scanned at the register, the coupons are matched to their purchases and automatically deducted from the balance owed. Customers have the option of printing off a list of their coupons before making the trip to the commissary. New offers will be

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Also, DeCA’s coupon policy limits coupons to one per purchase, so these digital coupons cannot be combined

with manufacturer coupons, including paper coupons and military or commissary coupons, for the same item or set of items.

Digital couponing is just the first step for the Commissary Rewards Card.

DeCA is partnering with its industry and military resale partners to identify additional rewards for cardholders, such as targeted savings based on a customer’s specific usage, alerting customers to sales promotions available at their local stores, and rewarding consistent shoppers with specific incentives.

For more information about this savings card, visit the Commissary website at www.commissaries.com and choose “Commissary Rewards Card.”

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! n i W & e v a S , p U e p a h S

Canyon Ranch Tuscon, AZ resort

Canyon Ranch Lenox MA resort

WIN a 3-Night Deluxe Stay at the Exclusive Canyon Ranch Resort Canyon Ranch aims to inspire people to make a commitment to healthy living, turning hopes and intentions into the highest enjoyment of life.

ENTER TO WIN AT: www.AmeriForce.net/SWEEPS

In keeping with Defense Commissaries, Exchanges and DoD initiatives to help the military community and their families become more healthy and fit through exercise and nutrition, AmeriForce Publishing encourages its readers to:

“Shape Up, Save & Win!”

Canyon Ranch is generously providing the following for our randomly-chosen winner and a guest.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO WIN. • Gracious accommodations.

• Three meals daily, plus always available healthy snacks.

• $390 per person allowance toward spa, sports & integrative wellness services such as skin care & beauty services, massages, personal training sessions, and consultations & workshops in nutrition, preventive medicine, movement therapy and more.

• Use of expansive spa and resort facilities, including pools, and tennis & sports courts.

• Personal Program Advisor to help custom-design your stay.

In your quest for better health and fitness, you can save around 30% on the name brands you know and trust by shopping at your base Commissary.

You can also enjoy significant savings at your base Exchange! It’s worth the trip.

• Ground transportation to and from Tucson International or Hartford or Albany airports or Albany (Rensselaer) train station.

• AND MUCH MORE! AmeriForce will provide the winner with $500 additional spending money and air transportation within the continental U.S. to either the Tuscon, AZ or Lenox MA resort (whichever is closer to the winner’s home).

Official sweepstakes rules and entry form are available at www.AmeriForce.net/SWEEPS. Entries may also be made by mailing a 3”x5” card to: AmeriForce Publishing Sweeps. 107 NE Isles Drive, North East, MD 21901.

Provide name, address, phone, e-mail, branch of service and service status (Active, Reserve, Guard, Retiree, Family Member). Only those with a valid I.D. allowing them to shop on base are eligible to win. Some exclusions apply.

The Canyon Ranch gift certificate is non-transferable and cannot be extended beyond the validity dates; retains no cash value; includes service charge and sales tax. Reservations are accepted on a space-available basis.

Sweepstakes ends December 31, 2012. Winner will be chosen in February 2013 and notified by phone and e-mail. Winners will be announced online at www.AmeriForce.net/SWEEPS in March 2013. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY!

Family Stories

Pleasant Surprises

by Jennifer G. Williams

When I found out I was pregnant earlier this year, it was a surprise — probably because I had just celebrated my 40th birthday, and my next youngest child had just turned 8.

My husband and I had discussed having a third child for several years, but had never really committed. Then, we decided that, since neither of us was getting any younger, we would just see what would happen. Two months later, I discovered I was pregnant.

And he certainly was worth the drive. On October 10, we welcomed our first son, Jack, and COL Wittich became the first person to hold two of our precious children.

I had scheduled another C-section for 9 a.m. The hospital called just after my husband and I left our house to make the northbound trip on I-95, and said an emergency case had bumped me to later. We stopped and he ate breakfast while I enjoyed the smell of bacon and eggs I couldn’t eat because of my upcoming surgery.

When we arrived at the hospital, we were told a few other cases had come in, so we waited a few more hours in the waiting room, then finally in an L&D room.

I had had a wonderful experience Baby Jack. Photo by Jennifer Williams. with my last daughter at Fort Belvoir’s Dewitt Hospital in 2004 — I had a I came prepared, though — I had a magazine deadline scheduled C-section and the doctor did a phenomenal the following week, and was pretty much finished, job — much better than the civilian doctor I went to but wanted to make a few tweaks to some pages. My with my first daughter at Fort Leavenworth. I made a husband teased me about not even stopping work comment to my husband that I would like to see if the long enough to have a baby, but since ours is a small doctor who delivered our younger daughter might still company and I work from home, I figured we could be at Belvoir. My husband laughed. “It’s been eight work together and make the deadline — which we did. years,” he said, “and the doctor was older…I doubt he At the time, I knew I would have more clarity of mind is still around.” before the birth than after, so I finished my last few But a quick Google search showed me that COL Arthur Wittich not only was still practicing at Fort Belvoir (now in their new community hospital), but at age 73, has the distinction of being the oldest Soldier serving in the Army.

When TRICARE first informed me that I had to travel to Fort Belvoir for all my prenatal care, I was a little upset — the installation and hospital is at least an hour away on a good day with no traffic in the DC area… not a common occurrence. I had to set aside at least a half day each time I went to the doctor, which — especially in the last trimester — was more than the usual number of visits due to my “advanced maternal age,” as the medical community had tagged me (in addition to having a “geriatric pregnancy,” which, my sister told me, “was just wrong”).

But when I discovered that COL Wittich would still be available to deliver our latest addition, it made the long drive to and from Belvoir not so bad — as long as I could secure a mid-morning appointment, to avoid the extended morning and afternoon rush hours DC is famous for.

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pages and had them all ready to go before they finally prepped me for surgery at 1:30 p.m.

I was holding my tiny son at 2:10 — just five minutes after he came screaming into the world, but it felt like an eternity. I kept asking my husband what they were doing and when would I get to hold him.

Now, I am working on this Families issue — due just a few weeks after Jack was born, and I have had to leave and come back to this short article numerous times, since my schedule has had to adjust to that of a newborn.

I would write one paragraph when he would nap midmorning, then another at 3:30 a.m., when he was wide awake…but piecing it together reminds me of how we are always making adjustments in our military families.

Things may not go quite as we plan, but we make the best of things—from a PCS you may not be excited about to a new job you aren’t sure you want to take… both can end up being the best thing for you and your family. It’s all in how you look at things. And we, as military families, tend to look on the bright side.

And we are better for it.

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What if you had to tell your life story in just six words? Would you include your family? Your career? Your military service? Would you want to read the stories of others? It isn’t easy, but creating a six-word life story forces you to consider what matters most in your life. And what matters most is worth protecting with life insurance. So take a minute to think about what’s important to you, and share your story at usaa.com/6words.

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