Sesame Street for Military Families: A New Site

Young children are not immune to the stresses of military family life. If you have a preschooler, you know that relocations and deployments can be hard on the little ones.

The new Sesame Street for Military Families site can help youngsters through these times. With videos and activities for the kids and tips for the parents, the site and mobile apps take on the challenges—including injury and even death of a parent—with the special comfort that Elmo and Friends provide.

American War and Military Operations Casualties: Statistics

From Congressional Research Service via Federation of American Scientists

This report provides U.S. war casualty statistics. It includes data tables containing the number of casualties among American military personnel who served in principal wars and combat actions from 1775 to the present. It also includes data on those wounded in action and information such as race and ethnicity, gender, branch of service, and cause of death. The tables are compiled from various Department of Defense (DOD) sources.

Wars covered include the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam Conflict, and the Persian Gulf War. Military operations covered include the Iranian Hostage Rescue Mission; Lebanon Peacekeeping; Urgent Fury in Grenada; Just Cause in Panama; Desert Shield and Desert Storm; Restore Hope in Somalia; Uphold Democracy in Haiti; and the ongoing Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), Operation New Dawn (OND), and Operation Inherent Resolve.

For the more recent conflicts, starting with the Korean War, the report includes additional detailed information on types of casualties and, when available, demographics.

Albany, NY Listed in Top 10 Places for Service Members Transitioning to Civilian Life

Veterans looking for a new place to call home may want to consider Albany. The city is ranked number nine in a list by USAA, Hiring Our Heroes and Syracuse University.

See more at TWC Albany.

Read the list at USAA and click on Military Retirement.

Guess which 2 states make up half of global military expenditure

From BoingBoing:

Frienemies United States and China make up about half of the entire world's military expenditure, according to this infographic by SIPRI. The full report is here.

Military Members and Veterans - Watch Out for Scams

There are a number of scams currently circulating that target members of the military and veterans, such as fake military charities, identity theft targeting active service members, and veteran pension scams.

In general, all of these scams try to take advantage of military members by offering to provide a service and then taking your money, while you get nothing in return.

You can learn more about specific scams by visiting the Scams Targeting Service Members or Veterans section of StopFraud.gov.

If you've been the victim of a scam, there are a few ways to file a complaint:

File a complaint online with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or call them at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) or 1-202-326-2222.

File a complaint about Internet-related fraud issues with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

StopFraud.gov offers information about how to report financial fraud.

11th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation - Released

DOD has released its newest study assessing the effectiveness of military pay and benefits. The Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation (QRMC) is completed every four years and focuses on areas established by the President. Begun in 2010, the 11th QRMC focused specifically on:
special and incentive pays for critical career fields; combat compensation; wounded warriors, caregivers, and survivor compensation; and Reserve and National Guard compensation and benefits.
For the rest of the summary see the press release http://www.defense.gov/releases/release.aspx?releaseid=15392

The report can be viewed in several ways. The main link for the 11th report also includes links for the 9th and 10th as well.
11th QRMC Main report
11th QRMC supporting research papers
View individual supporting chapters, reference documents, and downloadable files

Searching Your US Military Ancestry With Newly Released Records

by Cara Meadows
Following on from this important article on the release of the 1940 US Census here, Ancestry.com has paved the way for even more in-depth family history research with the release of a set of vitally important War Service Records dating from as far back as 1850. These records are a great and vital resource to anyone wanting to trace the more recent history of their ancestors and also trace the military pasts of their forebears much further back.
With Family History, Genealogy and Military History in particular becoming an increasingly popular hobby for many people, researchers are opting to take genealogical vacations in different countries rather than other pursuits such as going on a Mediterranean Cruise or a long beach vacation somewhere. This rise in popularity has seen a concurrent rise in demand for online services and also increasing access to archives and repositories all over the US.
New Record Releases
The US Department of Veterans Affairs BIRLS (Beneficiary Identification Records Locater Subsystem) Death Records contain some 14,465,024 entries starting in the year 1850 and coming as far forward as 2010.

National Center for Educational Statistics

Beginning Teacher Attrition & Mobility: Results From the First Through Third Waves of the 2007–08 Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study" [PDF]
Dropout Prevention Services and Programs in Public School Districts: 2010-11 [PDF]
Military Service Members and Veterans: A Profile of Those Enrolled in Undergraduate & Graduate Education in 2007–08 [PDF]
Postsecondary Institutions and Price of Attendance in the United States: 2010–11, Degrees and Other Awards Conferred: 2009–10, & 12-Month Enrollment: 2009–10[PDF]
Projections of Education Statistics to 2019[PDF]

American War and Military Operations Casualties: Lists and Statistics

Source: Congressional Research Service (via Federation of American Scientists)

This report is written in response to numerous requests for war casualty statistics and lists of war dead. It provides tables, compiled by sources at the Department of Defense (DOD), indicating the number of casualties among American military personnel serving in principal wars and combat actions from the Revolutionary War through 2006.