From the American boys who pitted their tanks against the Viet Cong, to the Soldiers who put their lives on the line every day in Iraq, these are the heroes of our time, telling what it’s like to face the enemy in tank warfare….More

Survivor Benefit Plan Update: Participants in the Uniformed Services Survivor Benefit Plan for retired military members now have a new milestone to mark on their calendars. Effective October 1, 2008, SBP participants who reach 70 years of age and have made 360 payments (30 years), will no longer have to pay premiums for continued SBP coverage and will be placed in “Paid-up SBP” status. …More

Senate Passes Veterans Bill
The Senate recently passed S. 1315, the Veterans Benefits Enhancement Act of 2007, by a vote of 96 - 1. More

Deal of the Week: Veterans Special
Great colors. Great features. Great price — Samsung a737 slider phone with 3G speed, mobile email and quad band for int’l use. More

Veteran Unemployment at All Time High
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released its biennial report, “The Employment Situation of Veterans: 2007.” More

Join Hollywood Stars at the GI Film Fest
The Second Annual GI Film Festival will be held May 14-18, 2008 at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, DC. More

Free Military Business Cards
We’ve teamed up with Vista Print to offer all Military.com members free business cards. More

Featured Job: Orkin
Orkin Pest Control, a national service provider, is seeking talented men and women to expand sales. More

Thinking About Becoming a Chaplain?
Army Chaplains serve both God and country by answering the call to serve our nations Soldiers in the challenging, diverse, and ever changing environment of the Army. More

Get Credit for Your Military Experience
Today employers are looking for those holding a degree. Veterans can earn a degree without starting over again with a program called Credit for Life Experience. More

Cyberspace Symposium Returns
The Air Force Cyberspace Symposium II is set for June 17-19, 2008 at the Best Western Royal Plaza Hotel and Trade Center in Marlborough, Mass. More

Naturalization for Servicemembers
Any servicemember or veteran who has served honorably in the United States Armed Forces during periods of military hostilities is eligible for streamlined naturalization. More

Attend Entrepreneurship Boot Camp
The Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities offers cutting edge training in entrepreneurship and small business management to disabled Servicemembers. More

VA Seeks More Volunteers
The Department of Veterans Affairs is encouraging more Americans to join its corps of 85,000 volunteers. More

Fisher House for St. Louis
Plans are underway to build housing for families of patients being treated by the Department of Veterans Affairs in St. Louis. More

New VA Facilities for Denver
A new bed tower and a research tower for Denver-area veterans may result from a partnership between the VA, the University of Colorado Denver and the University of Colorado Hospital. More

VA Calling Combat Veterans
The Department of Veterans Affairs recently began contacting nearly 570,000 combat veterans to ensure they know about VA’s medical services and other benefits. More

Building a Lending Library for Troops
The organization “Operation: A Bit of Home” is encouraging people to send their unwanted DVDs to troops stationed overseas. More

Student Veterans of America National Conference
The newly formed Student Veterans of America (SVA) is holding their first National Conference June 11-13, 2008 in Washington D.C. More

The Defense Department will change a question on its long-standing security clearance form referencing an applicant’s mental health history because officials believe it is needlessly preventing some people from seeking counseling, according…read more

Lt. Gen. James Thurman, the Army G-3, predicts that the Army could end Stop-Loss by Fall of 2009, according to the Army Times. Under the current stop-loss policies, active-duty soldiers within 90 days of retirement or obligated service are barred from leaving the Army if they are in units alerted for deployment. Reservists and National Guard members are barred from leaving if their…read more

Prague, May 4 (CTK) - The three Czech soldiers who were wounded in a bomb explosion in Afghanistan on Wednesday were released from hospital on Saturday night, but the condition of the fourth one is still very serious, general staff spokeswoman Jana Ruzickova told CTK Sunday.The injured soldiers and the body of their dead colleague returned to Prague aboard a military special plane on Saturday and they were immediately transported to the Central Military Hospital.

A mourning ceremony in honour of the dead soldier was then held at the Kbely military airport, with Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanova and other top ministry and military representatives as well as the soldier’s family attending.

All the wounded soldiers underwent a comprehensive medical check-up on Saturday evening, Ruzickova said, adding that the three soldiers will be treated without hospitalisation in an outpatient ward.

Chief of staff Vlastimil Picek, who accompanied the troops from Kabul, said previously that the soldiers suffered bruises and lacerated wounds. Their colleague is still fighting for his life, Picek added.

Parkanova promoted the dead soldier from the Prostejov, south Moravia, reconnaissance unit, to the rank of warrant officer in memoriam and decorated him with a cross of merit, 1st degree.

The five soldiers, members of the Czech Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), were wounded in an explosion of a roadside bomb that hit their Humwee vehicle in the eastern Afghan province of Logar on Wednesday. The 28-year-old driver succumbed to serious injuries in hospital.

He is the third Czech soldier to die in Afghanistan. In March, a Czech military policeman was killed in a suicide attack in Helmand province.

The PRT has operated in eastern Afghanistan since March and it is to stay in the country for three years at least.

This story is from the Czech News Agency (?TK).

Prague, April 24 (CTK) - The Czech Senate Thursday approved the government’s plan to send another one hundred soldiers to Afghanistan where they might take part in the Enduring Freedom operation.The soldiers from the Prostejov, south Moravia, special unit are to operate in Afghanistan from May to the end of the year, fulfilling combat task under the U.S. command, Defence Minister Vlasta Parkanova told the Senate.

Supporting the plan in the debate today, Senate deputy chairman Jiri Liska (Civic Democrats, ODS) praised the operation of Czech soldiers in foreign missions, which he said is often dangerous.

He recalled the late Milan Sterba, a Czech soldier who died in a suicide attack in Afghanistan a few weeks ago.

However, the fight against the evil must not be stopped, Liska said.

The mission will cost some 213 million crowns from the Defence Ministry budget.

Transport costs will be paid by the USA at whose request the Czech government has proposed the mission.

Members of the 601st special forces unit from Prostejov had served in Afghanistan in 2004 and 2006.

Parkanova (Christian Democrats, KDU-CSL) said earlier the soldiers would serve within the Enduring Freedom operation in very dangerous areas of the country and would not be part of NATO units.

Separately from the newly planned mission, a Czech contingent works in the Kabul hospital and about 200 Czech soldiers operate in the province of Logar as part of the Czech provincial reconstruction team (PRT).

This story is from the Czech News Agency (?TK).

This Weeks Hero Was Suggested By Mary Ann

Wednesday Hero was started to put a face to the men and women of the American Armed Forces and what they do for us. Vary rarely has there been a member of a foreign military profiled. In fact, in the two years Wednesday Hero’s been going on it’s only been done once before. Here’s the second.

Lance Corporal Matt Croucher
24 years old from Birmingham, England
40 Commando Royal Marines
L/Cpl Matt Croucher is not only one of the bravest men alive, he’s also one of the luckiest men alive. On the morning of February 9, 2008 L/Cpl. and his unit were searching a compound near Sangin in Afghanistan that was suspected of being used to make bombs to be used in attacks on British and Afghan troops. Walking in the darkness among a group of four men, Croucher stepped into a tripwire that pulled the pin from a boobytrap grenade. His patrol commander, Corporal Adam Lesley, remembered Croucher shouting “Grenade!” As others dived for cover, Croucher did something nobody expected. He lay down on the grenade to smother the blast. Lesley got on the ground, another man got behind a wall, but the last member of the patrol was still standing in the open when the grenade went off.“My reaction was, ‘My God this can’t be real’,” said Lesley. “Croucher had simply lain back and used his day sack to blunt the force of the explosion. You would expect nine out of 10 people to die in that situation.” L/Cpl. Croucher was that 1/10. Not only did he survive, amazingly he only suffered shock from the blast and a bloody nose. He was saved by the special plating inside his Osprey body armor. The backpack he was wearing was thrown more than 30ft by the blast.“I felt one of the lads giving me a top to toe check. My head was ringing. Blood was streaming from my nose. It took 30 seconds before I realized I was definitely not dead,” said L/Cpl. Croucher.For his actions that day, L/Cpl. Croucher was in line for the Victoria Cross, the highest award for a British Serviceman, but it has yet to be awarded.These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

CSM Robert Prosser and LTC Erik Kurilla
1st Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment (Deuce Four)
LTC. Erik Kurilla and CSM. Robert Prosser’s story is an amazing one. One that Michael Yon has told far better than I ever could. Warning. The site contains very graphic images. Some may want to turn off images before viewing. These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Click To Enlarge
Cpl. Markbradley Vincze gives students from al-Raqhaa School backpacks in the Monsouri area of Iraq. Soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 1-76th FA, 4th BCT, 3rd Inf. Div., delivered backpacks, soccer balls and notebooks. These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.