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Meet Kimberly Seals-Allers, author of The Mocha Manual to Military Life – A Savvy Guide for Wives, Girlfriends and Female Service Members as she discusses the differences in the military experience for the black community.

Most people don't know what it's like to serve our nation. But Pamela Stokes Eggleston and the Blue Star Families team reminds us why more people need to know. 

On Tuesday, January 18th in Washington, DC, the Army-Navy Club hosted a Suicide Forum with Gen. Peter Chiarelli to discuss the most recent suicide rates for the Army. The forum audience members were privy to the numbers several hours before Chiarelli’s presentation at the Pentagon, and the key dynamic in the conversation was this: while the overall number of active duty Army suicides decreased slightly in 2010,* the National Guard and Reserve suicides significantly increased, almost doubling from 80 deaths in 2009 to 145 deaths in 2010.

This week, I was privileged to travel to Los Angeles to be a guest of The Ellen DeGeneres Show. I wouldn’t realize the gravity of this opportunity until later when I would be onstage with three of the women I love the most. A diva could get spoiled: Charles and I were picked up at the airport in a limo and taken to the Sheraton Hotel in Universal City.

This past Friday, the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA) and the United States Naval Institute (USNI) co-hosted the 4^th annual Defense Forum Washington, a one-day conference that examines the current and pervasive interests of today’s military.

American Airlines, the Sands Foundation, Thanks-USA and Blue Man Group teamed up to host the fourth Tribute to the Troops event in Las Vegas, Nevada. The USO was also on hand to help out with the three-day trip for wounded warriors and their families beginning on Veteran’s Day (November 11th through November 14th). What a grand event it was!

Every year, the USO Gala has top celebrities, members of Congress, wounded warriors, entertainers, corporations, and others join them to celebrate those who serve. The 2009 USO Gala was no exception.

On Friday, September 25, 2009 I attended the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, DC. I went to a military session entitled Coming Home: Transition from Military to Civilian Life. Secretary Shinseki was one of the keynote speakers, and the first VA Secretary to attend the CBC.

The University of Maryland University College, located in Adelphi, Maryland, has been ranked by Military Times Edge as the “the most popular college or university among active-duty service members!” UMUC topped 49 other colleges and universities because of its partnerships, locations in Europe, Asia, Iraq, and the United States and was lauded for its partnerships, selection of online courses, campuses on three continents -- Europe and Asia as well as in the United States -- and degrees designed to complement military training.