Transition

Did you know that you can earn a degree in the military without spending a penny of your own money and without using up any of your GI Bill benefits?

Through a benefit called tuition assistance, or TA, active-duty service members can take classes in pursuit of a college degree on the military’s dime.

TA covers $250 per semester hour, with a yearly cap, but each service can set its own requirements, and some rules vary.

The Veterans Affairs Department announced Tuesday that it is ready to hire an additional 50 outreach specialists to help veterans in the judicial system after President Trump signed into law Tuesday the Veterans Treatment Court Improvement Act of 2018.

The law requires the VA to hire the new specialists over the next year and then place them at VA medical centers in need of their services. They will help veterans impacted by the justice system while working in the Veterans Treatment Courts or other court focused on veterans.

Those leaving the military will have more time to use free resources such as income tax help, nonmedical counseling, spouse employment assistance and other resources via Military OneSource, thanks to a provision in the defense authorization bill

They got colds in boot camp. In midcareer they were beset by muscle strains, tears and back problems. But at the end, just before separating from the armed forces, servicemembers’ most common medical diagnosis was mental health disorders, a new Pentagon study has found.

Mental disorders — almost never diagnosed at the beginning of military service — became the top diagnostic category at the end, according to the study by the Defense Health Agency, which surveyed 45,000 troops who served 4-15 years beginning in 2000 and separated in 2014 and 2015.