The United States is a global power. The Army, Air force, Navy and the Marines are the projections of this US power. Thus man power requirements for this massive force are of paramount importance. To attract recruits the US armed forces has multiple perks and incentives. One of these is education. It should not be forgotten that the American armed forces constitutes a significant number of Americans and at any given time we have almost a million and half men in fatigues.The US Army and Navy were constituted by a federal act passed by the US Congress in 1776.About one hundred and fifty years later in 1947 to be precise the US Air force and Coast Guard was created. A fact not known to many is that the US Air force operated as an adjunct of the US Army during World War II.The United States Armed Forces in their endeavor to attract talent across the country have made available many facilities to their personnel like special education loans .They provide money for school and education. One can access Military.com and get access to the latest information.Congress has backed the US Armed forces to treat education for their personnel as very important welfare measure. Education for Armed Forces personnel is not a present day phenomena but has its roots way back to the Service members Readjustment Act 1944. Franklin D Roosevelt has the distinction of signing this act into law during his last tenure as President.Another popular name for this law is GI bill of rights. In 1984 significant improvements were made in this bill on the initiative of Senator Gillespie V. “Sonny” Montgomery of Mississippi. As a token of recognition of his work this bill, this bill is also referred to as “Montgomery GI Bill.” American servicemen in large numbers have been the beneficiaries of this bill.The Montgomery GI Bill has an important proviso in that all recruits are provided a cash incentive on joining the Armed Forces for their education. This is applicable to all forces that are part of the United States war machine. The MGIB is the vanguard under whose aegis service men can obtain degrees and technical diplomas from colleges and technical schools including Correspondence courses.However this incentive is only available to personnel who are on the active duty list or have obtained an honorable discharge. Personnel who have been court-marshaled, cashiered or dismissed from service for any offense are not eligible for this benefit. However one must be aware that there is a stipulation in the Montgomery GI bill that recruits must give their agreement for a deduction of $100 every month from their pay.In addition the Armed Forces from their own allocated budget which is approved by Congress also set aside funds under the Veterans Educational Assistance program (VEAP). In addition the armed forces also have another incentive in the form the Student Loan Repayment Program (SLRP).This makes joining the Army and allied services more attractive for civilians. Under this program citizens receive up to $65,000 for qualified educational loans if they enlist. Reservists receive a lesser amount of $ 20,000. However SLRP must be requested by the recruit at the time of his joining the concerned force. However defaulters are not eligible.This is not the end as there are further incentives for a recruit who opts for a career in the US armed forces. This is in the form of the Armed Forces Tuition Program. Enlisted personnel of the Armed forces have a chance to enroll for courses at accredited colleges and universities. However this incentive has a ceiling of $4500 for a course in a year and a $250 per credit hour.The Armed Forces including the Marine Corps also have some more incentives up their sleeve. This is in addition to what is provided under MGIB. The Services Vocational aptitude battery test is the vehicle for these funds. The requirement is to not only get a good grade, but the recruit must give his option to serve for another six years in the service he already is. These funds are to the tune of $70,000 for the Army and $50,000 for the Navy.In addition the armed forces also give the benefit of community College courses. The Air Force has a two year course and other arms also have similar courses. Degrees to enlisted personnel are awarded in scientific and technical fields. These courses are subsidized to the tune of 100 % and degrees are awarded in all fields including technical.Finally we have the service academies .Entry to them is through a competition. These academies conduct a four year training program which is free of cost. Entrants are termed as cadets and on graduation have an entry into the Officer cadre of the Armed forces. Joining the Army or Air Force would lead to a rank of second lieutenant and ensign for the Navy.Armed Forces academy for the US Army is at West Point. The United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland and the Air Force academy at Colorado Springs. The Coast guard academy is located at New London, Connecticut.With all these educational benefits it’s certainly a wonderful idea to join the armed forces. Why not get yourself educated as well as serve the nation?
Want to Trade Stocks? Get Your Free Stock Quote First
Free stock quotes are valuable for looking at your investments and determining whether or not you want to trade in the stock market. There are several free stock quotes online and one of the most popular is Yahoo Finance. This site will allow you to search your stocks to see the growth or decline and determine if you want to buy or sell. Free stock quotes are ideal for the novice investor. They can practice their skills without investing any money until they are comfortable enough to actually invest. Once you decide to invest, though, you will need to get with a broker and there are additional fees associated with trading. However, there are many do it yourself places that only require a small fee and will often have valuable articles and free stock quotes so you can watch your portfolio continually to ensure you have made sound investments.Before investing in the stock market, you should be aware of the basics of stock trading. This can be learned by doing some research online or by getting a book at your local library. Once you know the basics, you can start looking for individual investments. It is recommended that the novice investor start off with only the amount of money they can afford to lose. There are no guarantees you will earn money and sometimes you will lose it. So, it is important to carefully watch the stock market by looking at free stock quotes each day. You may want to buy or sell your stocks depending on how well the individual stock is doing and what forecasts are for the stock.Free stock quotes are also great for classes in finance or the stock market. This is ideal for investor clubs, high school classes or college projects. You can either use mock money to track an investment from start to finish without actually putting in money or you can use pooled money to determine which investment you will watch and what you will do with it. This is a great way to have a bit of fun with a group while learning about investments and possibly making a bit of money.
Information on Stock Quotes
As every wise investor knows, getting the right information regarding stocks, gives one the knowledge necessary to make sensible investment decisions. Unlike earlier times when investors had to rely on limited stock quotes published in the daily newspapers or broadcast over radio or television, the internet is today full of real-time information on stocks. In some cases, quotes are delayed for a period not exceeding 30 minutes, during which analysts summarize and publish accurate information about the stock. In different sites, one can easily find out what the mutual funds, bonds, indexes, stocks, and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) are trading for. In addition to stock quotes, one can access earning reports, financial reports, short interest reports, analyst coverage, and SEC filing on and about specific companies from the web. Knowing the history of the company helps the investor decide whether the stock is solid enough to warrant his or her investment.Most stock quotes are freely accessible, and all one has to do is identify the most informative site for use. To make the user experience even more rewarding, some of the sites that quote trade prices on specific stocks allow the user to download the information into computer applications like OpenOffice and Microsoft excel among others. Should one chose a site like Yahoo! Finance or MSN Money, he or she would be able to examine price quotes on a specific company by typing the company’s name into a provided text box. In cases where an investor wants to compare stock prices for different companies, he or she can type the names (or acronyms) of the companies, he or she is interested in, and click on the search icon.For investors who are curious about where websites like Yahoo! Finance, MSN money or DailyFinance.com get their information from, it is worth noting that the websites rely on more than 3,000 information sources. Some of the sources stream similar information into the websites, and it is hence the website administrator’s job to compare the information and verify that only the most accurate is published on the website. Investors’ evaluation of stock quotes is further boosted by the interactive charts published on different financial websites across the internet. Company events such as financial earnings and dividends given to the shareholders can also be used as a viable indicator regarding the company’s financial performances and hence the level of risk attached to its stock.Across different financial websites, real-time stock quotes are available from stock exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), American Stock Exchange (AMEX), and NASDAQ. To access quotes from other countries, one may need to search the specific stock exchanges where the stock is listed. With the internet making the world a global village, investors interested in oversee stocks can access quotes on stocks in a similar way that they access quotes on domestic companies. This has made business for the oversee investor not only fast, but also effective.