Army program offers civilian career advantage for 10 MOSs
The Army next year will launch a credentialing program that will enable tens of thousands of soldiers in the 10 largest military occupational specialties to convert Army training and experience into a civilian career and give them a leg up on promotions while they remain in uniform.
The number of soldiers in these MOSs is about half of the enlisted force.
Programs that help soldiers transition from the Army combat uniform to the blue collar are nothing new. But this effort allows soldiers to get civilian certifications and licenses while on active duty — the kind employers are looking for.
Deployment incentive pay on its way out
As the pace of deployments to Afghanistan slows, the Army will keep offering Deployment Extension Incentive Pay to certain categories of enlisted soldiers, for now.
However, the DEIP program, used a few years ago to help the Army phase out stop-loss policies, has been modified to align with the Enlisted Involuntary Early Separation program, which took effect June 1.
Under that program, certain Regular Army enlisted soldiers who elect not to re-enlist or extend to deploy with their unit are subject to involuntary early separation.
Average BAH rate increases 3.8%, but some see decreases
The average Basic Allowance for Housing will rise 3.8 percent in 2013, giving troops living off base their largest average increase in four years, defense officials said.
Yet rates will drop slightly in about one in five locations, a reflection of the continued slump in some local housing markets.
Aviators living near Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Md., outside Washington, D.C., will see their rates rise about 11 percent, as will soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines assigned to the cluster of installations on the Hawaiian island of Oahu.
