Beginning in January 2009, the Air Force is switching from the old AEF rotations, to a program called "Tempo Bands." Each Air Force job will be assigned to a specific tempo band, ranging from Band A to Band E, which will tell the Airman how often, and how long he/she can expect to deploy. The band decisions are made by matching predicted deployment demands for Air Force specialties against the number of airmen available to deploy in that specialty.

Enlisted military members are paid a "clothing allowance" to pay for maintenance and replacement of required uniform items. The allowances shown here are for Fiscal Year 2009 and are effective from October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009.

The Department of Defense has announced its recruiting statistics for the active and reserve components for October 2008 (the first month of Fiscal Year 2009). A "Fiscal Year" runs from October through September.

Tops In Blue, the Air Force's premiere entertainment showcase, is accepting applications until Dec. 2 for its 2009 talent search.

The 2009 talent call encourages vocalists, instrumentalists, dancers, and nonmusical talent such as comedians, dramatists, and magicians to submit an application and audition video. Airmen with skills in audio, lighting, staging, video, and even driving, are also being recruited. All Air Force active-duty, Reserve and Guard members are eligible to compete. Top applicants will vie for first and second place trophies during the Air Force Worldwide Talent Search Competition Jan. 11 through 19 at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. To apply, go to http://www.afsv.af.mil/ , then "Services" and click on "Tops In Blue" at the bottom. For more information, call 210-652-6566.

Eighteen months after banning access to YouTube and other social networking and entertainment sites on Defense Department computers, the Pentagon has launched a site where troops and families can upload and share videos, according to an article in the Army Times.

According to the article, the new TroopTube is operated by Military OneSource, the Pentagon’s online family resource center, and can be viewed from military computer systems. That means, for example, that military members deployed to Iraq can view family videos on a government computer. All videos are subject to screening for “taste, copyright violations and national security issues,” according to the website.

For the first time in U.S. history, a woman military officer pinned on the rank of four-star general, on November 14, according to a story by the Armed Forces Press Service. Army Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody was promoted just hours before taking the helm of the Army Materiel Command, a Fortune 100-sized organization with nearly 130,000 servicemembers at 150 locations worldwide charged with equipping, outfitting and arming the service’s soldiers.

The emotionally charged promotion ceremony was a veritable “Who’s Who” within the Defense Department, as the defense secretary, the Army secretary, the chairman and all of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, two former Army chiefs of staff and other senior military officials attended.

After 9/11, when that nut sent out anthrax-infected letters, the Pentagon terminated the "Any Servicemember" mail program. However, now there is an authorized program whereby Americans can send holiday greeting cards to "Any Servicemember." Plus, there are hundreds of other ways you can show your support.

What is a "veteran?" One would think that would be an easy question to answer. In the millions of laws passed over two centuries by Congress, you would think that at least one of them would define the term "military veteran."

In actuality, there is no standardized legal definition of "military veteran" in the United States. You see, veteran benefits weren't created all at one time. They've been added one-by-one for over 200 years by Congress. Each time Congress passed a new law authorizing and creating a new veteran benefit, they included eligibility requirements for that particular benefit. Whether or not one is considered a "veteran" by the federal government depends entirely upon which veteran program or benefit one is applying for.

A provision of the 2009 Defense Authorization Act changes federal law to allow U.S. veterans and military personnel not in uniform to render the military hand-salute when the national anthem is played. The new law took effect on October 14.

This change adds to a provision which was passed in the 2008 Defense Bill, which authorized veterans and military personnel in civilian clothes to render the military salute during the raising, lowering or passing of the flag.

Tomorrow, the US Marines celebrate their 233rd birthday. Originally founded on Nov. 10, 1775, the Marine Corps was composed mainly of infantrymen serving aboard Navy ships. They were primarily responsible for the security of the ship, offensive and defensive boarding parties. They also helped protect the ship's officers from mutiny.

In 1921, Marine Gen. John A. Lejeune issued Marine Corps Order No. 47, Series 1921 that directed the history, traditions and mission of the Marine Corps to be read to all Marines on Nov. 10 to honor the service's creation. And in 1925, the first formal Marine Corps Birthday Ball was held in Philadelphia.