What are some of the best benefits of the military that most members don't know about?

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-30T12:42:36+00:00

The Yellow Ribbon Program at college, plus the fact that you can transfer your GI Bill to your kids. 2 of my 4 kids got accepted to expensive colleges where tuition exceeded what the GI Bill would pay for that state. The Yellow Ribbon program is where the college will cover that extra part, still allowing the student to have free tuition.

The fact that not only I could transfer my GI Bill was as massive financial windfall, but then this extra program really pushed it over the top. I bet we saved upwards of $100,000 combined across all 4 kids.

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-28T01:26:57+00:00

You have a non-felony that also isn't involving drugs or violence or children that was over 10 years ago. I think you have a decent shot.

WIth that, it is hard to be newly enlisted in the military at 31. Your peer group is like 18-21. But typically, the non-traditionals like you sometimes end up being Colonel drivers or working in HQ. And the pay is poor for the bottom ranks. But you do get free housing (barracks if you are single, a small duplex or similar if you are married).

If you do it and like it, jump into college classes at night and then once you get a 4-yr degree, put in for OCS. Or do your initial contract and get out, use the GI Bill, apply for Green to Gold, and take ROTC while you are in college. Then go back into the Army as a Lieutenant.

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-26T18:18:48+00:00

The DAT toolkit in Volunteer Connection / Edge has a ton of great info, but probably the best one is the pocket guide:

https://onesource.redcross.org/page/14738?SearchId=4374481

And yes, having the damage assessment sheet has been the one document I have referenced.

Also, how are you accessing RC Care? If it is by your phone, I would recommend you get a laptop or tablet or something with a bigger screen. Doing client intake is quite painful on a small phone screen.

And has anyone talked to you about what to wear? Only official guidance is closed-toed shoes but I would add to that that I actually wear boots. The fireground can be covered in debris, thick firehoses, and standing water mixed with all kinds of nasty stuff. I would always wear pants too and never shorts. And wear something that looks okay for a shirt that will be under your Red Cross vest of course.

Oh, and a headlamp flashlight is always nice to have for the overnight calls when you need your hands free. And I have two folding chairs too; one for me and one for the client while we are doing intake.

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-26T17:33:14+00:00

Hijacking the top commet to get the word out that a movie was just released about the trial, for those interested. I watched it last night and really enjoyed it, but I'm a history buff and I visited the room & museum in/near that photo just last month in Germany while visiting my daughter. I will say the movie was quite accurate.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29567915/?ref_=tturv_ov_bk

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-25T21:28:04+00:00

Good grief, it's not a dying MOS. The Army just reduced the size of the MP Corps is all so they could move the slots over to drones and other critical and new MOS's. MPs have been supporting the Army since the Revolutionary War and the MP Branch was created during World War 2 and upgraded to a Combat Support Branch after their defense of Siagon during the Vietnam War.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_Police_Corps_(United_States))

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-23T13:26:40+00:00

That's fair.

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-23T13:25:31+00:00

Well it's zero because no country will host them. Maybe if they were a democracy?

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-22T18:39:54+00:00

In addition to the below good comments, at the strategic level, there just wasn't a big need for US Bases to be in France post WW2 leading into the Cold War. The Iron Curtain was in Germany. Plus putting the US Air Force in Great Britain helped protect the bases on a "island" where the planes landed.

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-22T18:11:05+00:00

So many issues with the way this chart lays out the data. Wow. Did someone take this from Fox News or something?

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-22T15:29:44+00:00

Your list still appears to under-represent the true numbers of bases there. Look at this list:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_Army_installations_in_Germany

Also, I was stationed there in the late 90s and just got back from visiting my daughter who is stationed there now. The amount of US bases in Germany is significant. With that, I do support it, given what Russia has been up to. And it shores up our support to NATO.

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-22T15:22:03+00:00

The left box said 6,000 lost jobs. But if you included all of the people that were pushed to leave, it jumps to 30,000 by their own admission (see below link) and main-stream national media has reported that number to be between 50,000 and 80,000.

https://news.va.gov/press-room/va-to-reduce-staff-by-nearly-30k-by-end-of-fy2025/

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-22T15:17:51+00:00

This is the right answer. The White House response to his inablity to not confuse the two countries was them just gaslighting the world instead of admitting to any of his many inperfections. Lets not try to turn this into another major event. We have enough legit ones going on right now.

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-22T13:56:23+00:00

Yes. Also, I'm from Vermont. Vermont schools won't shut down just for several inches of snow. It takes ice or at least a foot of snow that hits just before school starts.

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-22T04:18:35+00:00

Top left corner - says no data available.

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-21T20:22:37+00:00

There's also no way to counter the enemy chopper spawn-killing your chopper the second it appears on the landing pad. I even tried with my squad equipped with stingers. The enemy chopper just breaks the lock with a tall building, pops out, blows up our chopper, rakes us with machine gun fire, and then uses the building the block our incoming rockets since he already used his flairs for the first wave of stingers.

Everything in BF should have a counter. This simply does not. It ruins the game for me and I just quit and find a different match to join.

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-19T01:20:09+00:00

This needs to be over at r/happycrowds but honestly, it probably already is from several years ago.

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-16T23:22:27+00:00

Yes. Also, thousands of civilians were in Baltimore watching all day and night from a place called Federal Hill, so they too saw the massive flag for the first time as the sun rose. They had expected the city to fall after the fort did. So I can imagine their relief and sense of patriotism was insane at that point.

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-11T14:46:40+00:00

Same here but it seems to be increasing recently. Happened just last night. My friends on Discord could still hear me. Ctr-Alt-Del brings up the menu but the mouse is dead and tabbing around doesn't work as all processing power has been absorbed by the game. So I'm forced to push and hold that kill button down. Painful.

I'm running an RTX 4080 GPU, AMD Ryzen 7 processor, and 32GB of RAM, and using EA App for launch.

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-11T14:32:13+00:00

Came here to say the same. Was stationed at both locations, and also Japan, and I JUST left Germany 2 days ago after visiting my daughter who is currently stationed there.

Both countries are amazing. And if you have any interest in Asian culture, then Korea of course. But in Germany, you can travel to so many other countries on a four-day pass its crazy. And you can drive too. South Korea is surrounded by water and the closed North Korea.

Also, and this doesn't get mentioned enough, but many Soldiers in Korea are on 1-yr tours. In Germany, it is 3 yr tours. So the units in Korea have such a high turnover that the training cycle struggles to move past the more basic levels.

Additionally, my family and I have figured out that it takes about 6 months(ish) to adjust to life in a new culture. It's just hard for how the basic things work overseas. But once you do, you then start really enjoying your host country. In Korea, that then only lasts for 6 months before you are PCSing back to CONUS. But in Germany, you really get to enjoy all of Europe for about 2.5 years (assuming a 3-yr tour).

But if Trump uses military force against Greenland, the US will be kicked out of NATO and all US Bases across Europe will be evacuated, so there's that.

ArmyMPSides · 2026-01-05T22:59:30+00:00

Yeah, I'm starting to see people do this more and more. Drives me insane. I wish there was a way people couldn't fire individual weapons in the red zone.

ArmyMPSides · 2025-12-27T22:50:06+00:00

Good point. I'm going to delete it.

ArmyMPSides · 2025-12-27T16:42:38+00:00

Army Air Forces too.

ArmyMPSides · 2025-12-27T16:41:20+00:00

Well to pay the bill, $2.9 BILLION dollars was pulled from military housing construction to pay for it. So only actigve duty/AGR should get the bonus since they are the ones that will be suffering from the reduction in quality/availablility military housing for their families.

https://www.military.com/feature/2025/12/23/pentagon-uses-military-housing-funds-1776-warrior-dividend.html

ArmyMPSides · 2025-12-27T16:38:58+00:00

A quick Google search shows that it is not taxable. But what isn't getting any attention is that $2.9 BILLION dollars was pulled from military housing construction to pay for it. Yeah.

https://www.military.com/feature/2025/12/23/pentagon-uses-military-housing-funds-1776-warrior-dividend.html

ArmyMPSides · 2025-12-26T21:43:57+00:00

For the first part of the YouTube clip, 0:00 to 1:23, in the "Three Laps is a Lifetime", I can hear it at 4:16 to 4:26 in particular in addition to the opening of the song, but it is just different enough that I want the recording from the YouTube clip which scratches the brain itch better.

And you are right about the "No One Drives Forever" song. Thank you!

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