Family

About 2.1 million service members are seeing a slight bump in their paycheck, as the monthly premiums for life insurance for themselves and their spouses have decreased, effective July 1.

For those with the maximum $400,000 coverage under the Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance, or SGLI, the premium has decreased by $4 a month, from $29 to $25. Most service members have the maximum coverage.

Sailors can be reimbursed up to $500 to cover the cost of their spouses’ professional licenses or certifications if an assignment requires them to move to a different state, the Navy announced this week.

“This is part of an ongoing effort to show Navy families we are working to expand family support programs and facilitate spouse employment opportunities,” said Perry Christiansen, lead for the Navy’s family readiness programs policy, in a statement.

Army and Air Force spouses can now apply for reimbursement of up to $500 for professional relicensing costs when they relocate with their service member – and the new policies are retroactive to Dec. 12, 2017.

Birth defects and heart problems are showing up not only in the children, but the grandchildren of veterans who served in America’s military during the Vietnam War.  

The question is whether Agent Orange, a powerful poison sprayed by the military to wipe out vegetation, is a contributing factor.

Emma Ackerson, 9, of Holiday, looks like any other little girl playing her with dog.

But this list of Emma’s medical problems keeps growing: