(Army Times)-- Congress has passed emergency legislation to prevent thousands of Post-9/11 GI Bill students from a drop in tuition payments next week when new policies will simplify the popular education program.

President Obama is expected to sign the bill, and Veterans Affairs Department officials are trying to work out a way to apply the change to the GI Bill without delaying processing of claims for the fall term. Most Post-9/11 GI Bill claims are supposed to be calculated and paid using a new, fully automated system, but passage of the new tuition rate protection will require some claims to be processed by hand.

The House passed the bill on Tuesday by a 422-0 vote. The Senate had approved the measure by voice vote on July 21, so it now heads to the White House. It is not clear whether Obama will receive the bill in time for it to be signed by Aug. 1, when the GI Bill changes are to take effect, but the tuition fix will be effective Aug. 1 even if it is signed into law after that date.

The bill, HR 1383, protects about 30,000 students in seven states - Arizona, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas - from the effects of a new nationwide tuition and fee cap of $17,500 that could leave some students paying thousands of dollars out-of-pocket to remain in school.

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From time to time, training areas on Joint Base Lewis-McChord might resemble the sets of war movies.

Lately, though, some look more like the sets of a reality TV series.

Actor Ricky Schroder and his production company, OLD POST Films, will be at Joint Base Lewis-McChord for the next four weeks filming episodes of the proposed reality show called "Starting Strong." The program follows prospective Army recruits as they try out Military Occupational Specialties for a week, helping them decide whether or not to join.

Beyond that, though, it will help show the world what Soldiers' lives are like.

"(The best point has been) Getting to know these Soldiers and really getting to hear from the horse's mouth what they like and what they wish they could change," Schroder said.

Schroder started the series to tell Soldiers' stories, and has worked directly with the Army to produce the program. While a network hasn't picked up the series yet, the team hopes to find a buyer and have it air sometime in 2012.

Work on "Starting Strong" has been underway for the last 18 months, with nine episodes already in the can when filming started on JBLM two weeks ago. The first of the five local episodes featured the 4th Squadron, 6th Air Cavalry Regiment.

Each prospect gets a senior NCO mentor and two lower enlisted battle buddies to guide them through tasks.

Julian Chavez, 19, spent a week trying out life in the 4-6 Air Cav. He spent time in the field, helped assess and repair aircraft and was surprised at the end of the week with a visit from a former Soldier who now uses the same skills in the civilian world.

"This will definitely put in perspective what Army life is like," battle buddy Spc. Sean Shuttleworth said, though he noted that shooting a reality show can feel a bit contrived.

Chavez's favorite experiences early in the week included shooting an M-240 machine gun out of a helicopter. Watermelons were fixed behind targets for a cinematic effect when hit.

"That was exhilarating," he said.

The Army is interested in the series as a recruiting tool, since it will show those thinking about enlisting that the military can be a great place to start a career. But it's not just the prospect who benefits from the program.

"The public of our country kind of will get a taste of what we do," 4-6 Air Cav. Commander Col. Jay F. Klaus said.

On site liaison officer Tim Connelly, a retired Army colonel who acts as a technical adviser for the film crew, pointed out that most civilians don't really know what Soldiers do on a day to day basis.

"(Their support) is well-meaning and it's genuine, but not everyone can put a face on that," he said. "It's a lifestyle that I don't think they really know," he said. "The Army has a culture."

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Retired Joint Base Lewis-McChord 1st Sgt. Chris Ward is Central Washington University's new Veterans Coordinator for Programming, Recruiting and Retention. The hiring further enhances Central's reputation as a military-friendly school, officials said.
Until recently, Ward was the senior military instructor for CWU's Army ROTC program. In his new post, he will work to encourage veterans to choose CWU when considering their options after the military.
"There's already a great, outstanding veterans program going on (at CWU), and I'm just going to help make that even better," Ward said.

The veterans coordinator will work in conjunction with the CWU Veterans Center, which oversees about 380 student veterans typically enrolled during the academic year on the Ellensburg campus, and with military personnel and veterans off-campus.
Associate Dean for Student Life Keith Champagne, who oversees the veterans coordinator position, describes the new post as an "extension of the Veterans Center," and specifies that the coordinator's primary goal of recruiting will "assist veterans with the transition from the military to the university."
In addition to his off-campus recruiting, Ward hopes to "be an advocate for all veterans on campus, since I'm a veteran myself."
Ward brings more than 20 years of military experience to this position. Originally from Woodland, Calif., Ward was an infantryman in the U.S. Army and was deployed to Haiti, Korea and Iraq during his military career.

He came to Ellensburg with his wife and two children (one of whom will be attending CWU next year) three years ago to teach CWU's Army ROTC students. He has lived in Washington for more than 10 years and was previously stationed at JBLM.

From the New York Times

A new study by the RAND Corporation offers more evidence that children of deployed troops experience more problems than other military children.

In the new study, made public on Monday, researchers found that children whose soldier parents were deployed 19 months or more since 2001 scored lower on standardized tests than children of soldiers who deployed less than that or not at all.

"That we see differences in academic performance for children whose parents have deployed 19 or more cumulative months suggests that, rather than developing resiliency, children appear to struggle more with more cumulative months of deployment," the authors write. "These families may benefit from targeted support to help with the special circumstances that more months of cumulative deployment introduce."

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Hire America's Heroes' Veterans Career Day is coming up Saturday, Feb 5. The event will be held at Qwest Field's West Club Lounge — a 15,000 sq ft, fully carpeted exhibit area with space for 60+ corporations and room for over 1,000 job-seeking veterans in attendance.

The morning program will provide value to corporations interested in hiring veterans. Representatives from military, government and corporate leadership - all committed to veteran employment - will participate.

The Career Day is differentiated from a typical job fair by its emphasis on networking and career preparation in addition to specific employment opportunities. Career Coaches at Resume Review Kiosks around the event area will help Job-Seeking veterans optimize their resumes for the corporate workforce. Many of these Career Coaches are former military service members themselves, now successfully employed in some of the Puget Sound Area's largest corporations.

Three categories of Career Day participants are invited to register for the event at http://www.regonline.com/HAH_Career_Day_2-5-11. For more information please visit Hire America's Heroes website at www.hireamericasheroes.org.

Exhibitors include Alaska Airlines, Allied Waste, Amazon.com, Amtrak, Boeing, Boots to Shoes, Comcast, Fluke Companies, Fred Meyer, IBM Global Services, Institute for Systems Biology, Microsoft, PATH (a catalyst in global health,) Port of Seattle, Puget Sound Energy, REI, Robert Half Finance & Accounting, Starbucks Coffee Company, TLG Learning, T-Mobile, Volt Workforce Solutions, Walgreens, WA Dept of Fish and Wildlife, Weyerhaeuser Company, WorkSource King County and Zones.

This from The Washington Post: For-profit colleges are reaping hundreds of millions of dollars in federal higher education aid for military personnel and veterans, a Democratic senator reported Thursday.

The money represents a fast-growing source of revenue for an industry that has come under government scrutiny because of allegations that its students are often overloaded with debt and fail to obtain jobs whose salaries justify the tuition costs. The colleges reject those charges.

Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa), chairman of the Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, who issued the report, said the funding trend "raises serious questions about the share of military educational benefits that go to for-profit schools that have very poor outcomes."

The Washington Post Co. operates for-profit schools through its Kaplan subsidiary.

Eighteen education companies Harkin's staff examined were on track to receive about $175 million in Defense Department aid in 2010, up from $40 million in 2006. The companies were projected to receive $286 million this year through the Department of Veterans Affairs, Harkin reported, up from $26 million in 2006. 

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This from The Washington Post: Enrollment of veterans is surging at America's college campuses, but as a group they don't feel supported and understood, according to a national survey.

Researchers with the National Survey of Student Engagement interviewed nearly 11,000 veterans who were first-year students or seniors at four-year schools. The veterans reported interacting less with their instructors than did classmates who had not enlisted, and they were less likely to partake in educational opportunities such as internships or study abroad.

The Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research produces the survey each year to measure how students and faculty interact and learn. The latest, results of which will be released Thursday, found that colleges should "seek ways to more effectively engage student veterans in effective educational practices and provide them with the supportive environments that promote success."

Transitioning from military life to civilian life is difficult enough, but trying to fit in on a college campus is "a culture shock that's hard to adjust to," said Michael Dakduk, the deputy executive director of Student Veterans of America, which has chapters on more than 300 campuses.

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MADIGAN ARMY MEDICAL CENTER, Tacoma, Wash. - More than 400 Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldiers and family members are registered to attend a Traumatic Brain Injury Symposium sponsored by the Madigan Healthcare System November 4 at the McChord Field Club.

The event features an array of guest speakers, as well as interactive educational activities and displays presented by Madigan staff and local community professionals. The daylong symposium is designed to complement the reintegration process of our returning warriors. 

Scheduled speakers include Dr. Frederick Flynn, medical director of Madigan's TBI program; Dr. Bridget C. Cantrell, author of "Down Range: To Iraq and Back"; and Drs. Dennis Kelly and Lars Hungerford, Madigan neuropsychologists with expertise in TBI and memory and cognitive-behavioral therapy.

Symposium participants will also be able to share their personal experiences in a visual-art "Tell Your Story" activity, ask questions during an open microphone panel discussion and meet Herschel Walker, who will share his story of combating a behavioral health stigma. 

On Nov. 4, Tyee Park Elementary School students and staff will honor American heroes at their annual Veterans Day celebration.

This year's event theme is "Hurray for the U.S.A." In addition to songs from Tyee Park students, the program will feature a keynote address from retired U.S. Army Gen. Johnnie E. Wilson, and a performance from the 56th Army Band from Joint Base Lewis-McChord.

The program is scheduled from 12:30 to 2 p.m. in the school's gym, 11920 Seminole Road SW in Lakewood.

Invited guests include retired Gen. John Shalikashvili, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Joe Jackson, a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor; retired Brig. Gen. and Mayor of Lakewood, Doug Richardson; the Pearl Harbor Survivors, Tuskegee Airmen, veterans from local VFWs and American Legions and representation from all branches of the military. Members of a local Stryker Brigade Combat Team and state and local dignitaries are also expected to attend.

"This show is Tyee Park's way of thanking our military, both active and retired, for serving our country," said fine arts teacher Tracey Lundquist. "Many of our veterans do not consider themselves heroes,but in our eyes, they are America's treasures. We want to honor those individuals who work to preserve our freedom."

The 12th annual Memorial Day celebration at the Hudtloff Middle School gymnasium is set for 9 to 11 a.m. Thursday (May 27). As a special part of the event, students will honor their own family members and loved ones who died in service or are missing in action.

Students will decorate a flagstone marker representing one of the 50 states with a flower honoring their own family members or loved ones who gave the ultimate price of freedom with their lives. 

Students and staff have been planning the event since early March and welcome community participation as they pay tribute to the country's slain servicemen and women. One of Hudtloff's eighth graders, Andrew Murray, will play "Taps" at the closing of the ceremony.  

"Many children from families stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord attend school in Clover Park School District," said Ron Jacobs, a counselor at Hudtloff. "We want to honor our families and all the servicemen and women through this celebration."

Hudtloff is located at 7702 Phillips Road Southwest in Lakewood. 

(Courtesy Clover Park School District)