Kiona Smith-Strickland

Veteran’s Guide to Final Arrangements, Part 1: Burial Allowances

Death is a subject most people prefer to avoid, but talking about it can help you ease the strain on your family when the time comes. By discussing your wishes ahead of time, you can avoid leaving your loved ones unsure what you would have wanted, and you can ensure...
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Relocation, New Friends, and Long Distance Friendships

A host of recent studies have examined the effect of frequent relocation on children and adolescents. Military families relocate significantly more often than civilian families, and service members’ kids are not the only ones affected. Leaving close friends and established support networks, and bidding farewell to friends as they leave for...
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Three Great Ways to Observe Veterans Day

Veterans Day is a week away. It should be a time for all Americans to reflect on the sacrifices of our service members past and present, but for veterans and their families, the day is especially significant. The holiday falls on a weekend this year, which offers more time than...
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How to Protect your Family: The Basics of Operational Security

Military families are familiar with worry. We know better than anyone in the world what it feels like to know that someone we love is far away and in danger, and that we are almost completely unable to protect them. Fortunately, there is one thing we can do to protect...
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Just the Two of Us: Child-Free Couples and Military Culture

I still remember the first Family Readiness Group dinner that I attended after getting engaged to my husband. Most of the women in attendance were either pregnant, shepherding fairly young children, or both, and I barely lasted five minutes before a complete stranger hit me with the apparently inevitable (and...
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Career Advancement with MyCAA

Education pays; the more education you have, the more likely you are to find a job and the more you are likely to earn. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says that high school graduates earn a median yearly income of $33,072, compared to $37,024 with some college credits and $39,884...
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