Revised and updated every year, The Military Advantage, 2016 Edition is the most reliable benefits guide for Americans who have answered the call to serve in the military. These benefits amount to billions in scholarships, educational benefits, home loan guarantees, and military discounts. The 2016 edition includes updated TRICARE copays, fees, and cost-shares; 2016 active duty and reserve pay charts; active duty, veterans and family education program changes; updated VA disability and Pension rates; veteran support resources; expanded service member protection policies; and the latest on VA provided health care programs.

This book will show you how to make the most of military service-first, by serving your country with honor, courage, and commitment; and second, by taking advantage of civilian education and career opportunities afforded by military service. In the next 10 chapters, you'll learn how to: - Put your best foot forward during your military career - Earn a college degree while on active duty - Finance your college education - Match your military experience with civilian career options - Market your military skills to civilian employers - Execute a successful transition from military service to a great civilian job

Revised and updated every year, The Military Advantage, 2017 Edition is the most reliable benefits guide for Americans who have answered the call to serve in the military. These benefits amount to billions in scholarships, educational benefits, home loan guarantees, and military discounts. The 2017 edition includes new TRICARE regions and policy updates, new military retirement and matching 401k options, changes to military education benefits, new resources for transitioning service members and their families.

The information revolution causes dramatic changes in the geopolitical environment, which result in new challenges to U.S. national security, particularly from a new form of global insurgency. The continued development and proliferation of information technology impacts the very nature of conflict and military competitive advantage. Can the U.S. expect to maintain its current unprecedented degree of military advantage in the information-age? This thesis examines this question using a qualitative research methodology. The research analyzes the impact of information technology on the geopolitical system, the nature of conflict, and the realm of military competition. Within this context, the research examines the changing nature of military advantage. Three elements of advantage are analyzed to determine qualitative changes that result from the changing conditions of the information-age. The elements are power, legitimacy, and effects. The research also includes a comparative analysis that seeks to determine how these changing conditions affect the ability of both the U.S. military and global insurgents to gain advantage. The research concludes that U.S. military advantage will decline relative to a global insurgency. As a result, the U.S. will face significant challenges in its effort to achieve lasting success in the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT).

A “masterly account” of the juggernaut offensive that conquered France—but also marked the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany in World War II (Kirkus Reviews). In the spring of 1940, the German forces launched an attack on France that combined superb intelligence, cutting edge strategy, and new technology—the blitzkrieg, or “lightning war.” In just six weeks, it would achieve what their fathers had failed to do in all four years of the First World War. It was a stunning victory. But here, leading British military historian and academic Lloyd Clark argues that much of our understanding of this victory is based on myth. Far from being a foregone conclusion, Hitler’s plan could easily have failed had the Allies been even slightly less inept or the Germans less fortunate. The Germans recognized that success depended not only on surprise, but also avoiding a protracted struggle for which they were not prepared—making defeat a very real possibility. Their surprise victory proved the apex of their achievement; far from being undefeatable, Clark argues, the Battle of France revealed Germany and its armed forces to be highly vulnerable. And Hitler dismissed this fact as he planned his next move—and greatest blunder: the invasion of the Soviet Union. In this eye-opening reassessment, complete with maps and illustrations, Clark “presents a well-balanced narrative that highlights the knife-edge victory of the German forces” and reveals how very close the Nazi war machine came to catastrophe in the early days of World War II (New York Journal of Books).

"This study focuses on military competitiveness in the age of transparency, and asserts that the U.S. military must consciously prepare itself to fight in an information transparent world created by globalization. The worldwide explosion in the quantity and quality of information and products available to the general public user, the ready accessibility to the information, and the affordability in acquiring any desired data or product is creating a transparent world at an alarming rate. In the future, anyone can affordably keep tabs on the actions of everyone else. Hence, the U.S. military must consciously begin to investigate ways to maintain its military advantage in this rapidly evolving, and increasingly transparent world. It must minimize the impact transparency has on how we will fight wars and conduct contingency actions. We must not be caught by surprise. Maintaining U.S. military competitiveness will require multifaceted solutions ... This study investigates how the U.S. can retain its military advantage in the coming age of transparency. The inevitable economic presure of the "web," or more generall information e-commerce, is advancing the rate of global transparency...

The U.S. military has been continuously engaged in foreign conflicts for over two decades. The strains that these deployments, the associated increases in operational tempo, and the general challenges of military life affect not only service members but also the people who depend on them and who support them as they support the nation â€" their families. Family members provide support to service members while they serve or when they have difficulties; family problems can interfere with the ability of service members to deploy or remain in theater; and family members are central influences on whether members continue to serve. In addition, rising family diversity and complexity will likely increase the difficulty of creating military policies, programs and practices that adequately support families in the performance of military duties. Strengthening the Military Family Readiness System for a Changing American Society examines the challenges and opportunities facing military families and what is known about effective strategies for supporting and protecting military children and families, as well as lessons to be learned from these experiences. This report offers recommendations regarding what is needed to strengthen the support system for military families.

A comprehensive examination of the legal limits to the military commander's assessment of military necessity during armed conflict.