In response: I suppose I could just tell them to go online (I believe militaryonesource.com directs servicemembers to free versions of the commercially available products, like TurboTax), but it defeats the purpose of this class pretty well. I did comment to my supervisor this morning that I would probably just use TurboTax for my own again this year... and she said that it doesn't really instill confidence when the guy tagged for Tax Assistant isn't going to do his own. Which is fine, sin...

I volunteered for this additional duty position over half a year ago, as the alternate. I started to figure that it was something my unit didn't take seriously, since I didn't have any training and I was the "alternate" to an empty primary position (ever since Geezer left the service). Then, at the beginning of the calendar year, the base started directing all servicemembers to see their Unit Tax Representatives for assistance with filing. (What was I supposed to tell them, go online? For...

I got an email from Wes Higgins, who was my point of contact for coordinating the color guard for the roping event, and he let me know that they made about $22,000 for the Wounded Warrior Program. He also forwarded a story, a description of one of the great trips that they take injured veterans on. I'm reproducing it here without really knowing the author, so if they contact me to ask me to take it down, I will. I just thought that it was a great thing to share. It was the evening of ...

Over a month ago, a former Army Staff Sergeant contacted my Battalion to request an Army color guard for a local event. After checking with the legal office, my command okayed our participation, and I secured the assistance of three other volunteer NonCommissioned Officers to perform the drill duties. I really didn't know much about the event, or the organization... but now I wish I did, and I would have publicized it to the entirety of our unit. Only after the event did I find this on...

I knew I was going to this almost three months ago, since I insisted after the last one (that I was thrown out of) that I wanted to go back. (They're quarterly, so that's about three months.) But I slacked, so while I'm better prepared than last time (primary goal: don't get thrown out; secondary goal: have the CSM call me by my actual name), I'm not as prepared as I'd like. We got a memorandum for the board just over a month ago and then got a new memo at the end of last month that change...

I get all the email from the Air Force at work, so I was able to follow along with this. Several days ago, a local (National Guard?) soldier's house burnt down. His family was safe, but his belongings were almost entirely destroyed. There was a call for clothing and emergency household items (they had put his family in base housing on short notice), and I got to hear about the Army side of it as my battalion chipped in to make sure they were clothed. Early today, an email went out as a ...

Today, myself and three other volunteer NonCommissioned Officers of my Battalion headed out early to Menard, TX to participate in the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the San Saba de Santa Cruz mission. This historic site has had its location recently confirmed and archaeologists and Texas historians will be doing further research into the dig. We were to serve as a color guard for a parade in its honor. We arrived on time, more or less (more if we had to be there at 0730, less ...

For the first time since I've been here (and according to one senior NCO, for the first time in the three years that he's been here), our unit held a marksmanship range specifically for cadre. Usually, we'll only get to fire if there are rounds left over at a student range and the cadre range safeties feel like shooting a rifle. I haven't even been to the range here before. We were there for quite awhile (1430-1900), the first half hour of which was standing out in the rain waiting to ...