US Army - The Benefits of Joining

Given all the benefits, is army pay better than civilian pay? This is a very difficult question to answer. It will depend on education, experience, part of the country you live in, and the risks you are willing to take.

If you are a non-union, unskilled, blue collar worker who dropped out of high school, but has good native intelligence (passes a very challenging aptitude test) and a good work ethic, the military pay and benefits are better than you can get on the outside. If you are a highly educated, technically skilled worker with some experience, the military doesn't even come close to paying what you are worth on the outside.

Most people do not fall in either extreme. There are also many other reasons to serve besides pay and benefits. And pay and benefits cannot make-up for the potential of major injury or loss of life, if you do not wish to give up some of your freedoms and offer your life for your country.

Every year the Army Times publishes a putative pay and benefits comparison for various jobs in the military, and their assumed civilian job equivalent. This might be a good article to look at for some insight to your question. Benefits are assumed at a high level, even if the military member never uses that benefit. Thus I am assumed to have a benefit advantage of being able to use military health care, the commissary, and the Post Exchange, to the tune of about $10,000 in savings a year (which the Army Times would add to my annual salary to inflate that number). However, I live too far away from a post to take advantage of these "benefits." The cost of gas to get to post would far outweigh any reduced price savings I would get. So my actual pay and benefits is lower than the "typical" pay an benefits the Army Times claims.

When I lived in DC my salary did not go nearly as far as it does when I live in the middle of nowhere Alabama. A young PFC working in the Pentagon will find it hard to make ends meet, but the civilian secretary doing a similar job, with locality pay, will make far more. That same PFC at Fort Benning Georgia can live very well. It is probably better than the local business secretaries.

However, I have to admit that when you are in the military, you do not get to choose where you will serve, or when you will go to war. You cannot leave the job just because you do not like the current boss's policies, like you can in a civilian job. There are significant intangible concerns that make the military the right job for some people and a very poor job for others, all pay and benefits consideration aside.

How to Search For US Army Military Records Online

Searching for any records or information on the internet can be both time consuming and extremely frustrating.

There are thousands of sites from all over the world that claim to be able to produce records and information on identities at the click of a button.

Gov-Records.com is a HUGE website dedicating to finding us army military record lists and dozens of other government records. It is a very useful website for finding public records. They have a huge databases you can query for just about anything.

Searchable records include:

- phone information
- criminal files,
- births and deaths
- marriage
- unclaimed money
- State and Federal census
- Bankruptcy
- Military Records
- Court proceedings
- US Phones and addresses
- Australian Phone and addresses

Reasons it might benefit you:

- Do you need to check a potential employees criminal history?
- I need that phone number!
- Do you need to find an old school friend?
- Where did my grandfather serve in World War II.
- Did my uncle return from the war?

Gov Records have a very sound reputation. Here are a couple of many testimonials:

"This is the most unique search tool I have found on the internet today. I was able to track down my family military history in just a few short minutes! Great research tool. "

-Patty L.

" Gov-Records, you have made locating court records easier than ever! With one quick search I was able to locate all the court files I needed for my report! "

-Hillary G.

Instill Military Discipline in Your Unit by Enforcing the Army Standards and Leading by Example

If you are looking to improve the military discipline in your unit, I have some helpful hints for you. Here it goes:

1. Lead By Example - This is the starting point to military discipline. Everything starts at the top. Units are a reflection of their leader. If the leader is disciplined, professional and competent, they will inspire the same in their followers. If the leader is not disciplined, neither will the unit.

2. Take Pride in Everything You Do - Be the best. Everyone wants to be part of an undefeated, state-championship caliber team. No one wants to be on a 0-18 Junior Varsity Squad. Do you get the picture? Strive to be the best. It doesn't matter what your mission is. Remember, the job doesn't make the man, the man makes the job. Take pride in everything you do.

3. Enforce the Army Standards to Everyone - Soldiers want you to enforce the standards to everyone, not just the lower enlisted. If you hold EVERYONE accountable to the same standard, you will see morale skyrocket. If your standard is to FLAG someone who fails a physical fitness test, then don't let your staff or senior NCOs and Officers off the hook if they fail. Enforce the standard equally. Finally, the leader should strive to attain the highest standards in everything he or she does personally.

4. Recognize Positive Performance and Punish Poor Performance - Don't make the mistake of just correcting things when you a see a problem. If you are already addressing mistakes and shortcomings, that's good. But, don't forget to praise the people who excel. If you're afraid of confrontation, get over it.

Your job as a leader is to enforce the standards. Be polite and courteous, but address issues as they arise.

When you see something exceptional, don't forget to give the Soldier an "atta boy." Put him in for an award, a unit coin or simply give him a pat on the back. They will appreciate it. And, it will have a positive impact on morale.

US Army Secrets - Finding Military Records Using an Online Service

When it comes to finding US army records, you might be in for a bit of a challenge. The United States government follows a very specific system that is designed to classify sensitive information that shouldn't be released to the general public. This would include stuff that is basically top secret. There are a lot of things that the average person would think is sensitive and would be classified, but a lot of things are completely unclassified for you to view.

Basically all the US army records that are classified are top secret, secret and confidential. Obviously information that is assigned these labels will be determined on how damaging the information could be to national security.

This means that you're not going to find information on how to build nuclear weapons and things of that nature, but there is a lot of information that is freely available to all US citizens by using your local records office and even the Freedom of Information Act.

What you'll learn about US army records is that things aren't always classified; the issue is with finding them. Every citizen has the right to know what their government is doing (within reason) and this is what keeps things available to you. The issue is that most of the older information from the army is in hard copy form and can only be found at the National Personnel Records Center. Over the last decade, most of that information has been put into a digital format that can be searched online.

You may be surprised that much of the US army records are not accessible through government websites. Since the information is considered public domain, there are many businesses that offer access to a database of the records that you can search for. These are for-profit businesses that will charge a small fee to use them. It's completely reasonable amount like $15 to $30. This ensures that their servers run fast and the information is completely up to date. You can go through these records and check up on things you have of interest. Any news story that you have heard of government corruption have been found from these records, so the information is there. You just have to find it.

The interesting part about going through US army records this way is that it is much easier than going to the National Personnel Records Center. You can search for exact information, just like you can at any search engine. For the NPRC, you have to actually travel to the location and search through records on paper. Of course they're going to have some sort of organizational aspect to it, but you won't be able to search for a certain keyword and find every document you want. This is why accessing this information from a for-profit organization on the internet is far easier and saves you a lot of time.

Military Discipline - Improve the Combat Effectiveness of Your Army Platoon Or Company

From day one of Basic Training, Soldiers receive instruction on the Army values, discipline, leadership and followership. They are taught about the chain-of-command, the rank structure and the importance of following orders. Most young Soldiers know what right looks like. Unfortunately, once they get to their new units, they don't always maintain that level of military discipline. This happens for one of two reasons.

Either they aren't self-disciplined themselves or their leaders don't expect them to maintain a high-level of military discipline. Personally, I find it disheartening. In my opinion, it's the little things that count, such as addressing people by rank, saluting, following orders, standing up when you talk to superior, standing at attention or parade rest, staying in shape and so much more. When these "little things" start to slip, everything else goes down-hill fast. Your job as a leader is to not let that happen. Your job is to instill discipline in your followers.

Throughout the years, military discipline has shifted and changed, to comply with the value system of our society. For instance, several hundred years ago, Soldiers could be executed or flogged for what we consider minor crimes today. Today, a Soldier can kill a fellow comrade and only get jail time. It's amazing how things have changed in the past hundred years.

We are now a "touchy feely" and "politically correct" Army where many leaders are more worried about being politically correct, than they are about enforcing the Army standard or maintaining military discipline. My advice to any officer is to lead by example at all times and always enforce the Army standards. Do whatever it takes to maintain a high level of military discipline in your unit. If you do, you will have competent and capable group of warriors.

Army Military Loans Explained

What exactly are Army military loans and why are they sometimes needed? How can people in uniform who are serving their country apply for these kinds of loans? These are questions that many military personnel ask and this article will offer answers.

First of all, "thank you" to the men and women of the Army and other branches of the military. People who pledge a life in service of others. Personal interests are taken aside and the welfare of their countrymen remains on top of their priorities. Indeed, their sacrifice for others should be of significant recognition.

This kind of career can make life difficult for a military person with a family, especially if the loved ones are living far away, off-base. The income that a service person obtains is not always enough to get he or she and their family through the days. Thus, paydays are most awaited. More often than not, though, the gap between these pay periods seems extremely long for someone with immediate basic needs to address.

Here comes in the usefulness of Army military loans. These types of loans are conceptualized primarily for the benefit of army members. Instead of them borrowing from their friends or relatives or succumbing to poor rates offered by pawnshops, these loans offer much better alternatives. Not only are the terms and rates superiorly good, the hassle and possible embarrassment coming from other means are likewise reduced as confidentiality is of utmost importance to the military loan providers.

Active duty military personnel, active reserve personnel, and those who had spent 20 years or more in the army service but are now retired are welcome to avail themselves of these loans. As long as these basic qualifications are met, credit checks and background investigations are sometimes not as important anymore regarding eligibility. There are some stricter organizations, however, which still impose the usual application procedure.

A growing number of organizations provide this type of service. In fact, the Army, Air Force, Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society, the United Service Organizations, and other service organizations of the military provide these loans and they can

even offer them interest-free. There are also several private financial companies all over the United States catering to the military most of which guarantee same day processing and approval of applications and lower interests than other types of loans.

Army military loans, especially those provided by private institutions, may range from $500 to $10,000 depending on one's need and credit history. The usual criterion in identifying the maximum amount to grant is the capacity to repay the loan which is manifested by income and credit history. It would be wise to indicate all income sources so as to give more evaluation bases to the credit officer. Each loan application is taken individually as needs and conditions differ, and is not compared against others or against a definite regulation. Application may be done personally or online.

Message centres are usually available to facilitate communication between the credit officers of the provider and the loan applicant. This ensures that coordination in terms of application as well as the status and payment of the loan once approved is systematic. Emails are not depended upon for information exchange as they are not very secure.

As processing is promised to be fast and efficient, army men are encouraged to just indicate their account numbers so that the funds may be directly deposited there once approved. With this, it may be easily withdrawn to immediately address the need for it. Conventional methods are available as well such as issuance of checks and mailing via regular US mail. With all these, areas of assignment should not be of major concern.

Should more need arise during enjoyment of previous loan which has not yet been paid fully, reapplication is permitted. However, the status of the previous loan, especially the amount that is yet to be paid, will be a major consideration in identifying the succeeding amount to be granted. Basic requirement for approval normally is at least one payment of the monthly amortization of the preceding loan. If target is a bigger loan amount, then there should have been more payments done in the past.

Updates on current balance may easily be viewed through the message centres. Statements are likewise sent on a regular basis or maybe requested by phoning the provider or logging on to the message centre. Payment schedules are also indicated in these statements.

With this type of financial assistance specifically designed for and readily available to the army men, one may be relieved of worry about current pressing needs and concerns for the family. However, the responsibility that comes with borrowing should not be taken for granted, so as to avoid further money problems in the future. Always be a careful borrower, of any kind of loan, including Army military loans.