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JBSA Employment Readiness Programs offer support to career seekers
February 24, 2020 — Finding a job can be difficult, especially for transitioning military members, spouses and dependents, but the Employment Readiness Programs at Joint Base San Antonio Military & Family Readiness Centers are a good place to start... MORE

Military health system changes focus on readiness
February 21, 2020 — The Military Health System is implementing significant reforms aimed at building a more integrated and effective system of readiness and health, the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs said Feb. 19... MORE

New entrance test to increase Soldier quality, reduce attrition
January 2, 2020 — A new military entrance exam is now being given to Army recruits to predict performance, behaviors, attitude, and attrition of potential Soldiers... MORE

Future Soldiers from the Phoenix Recruiting Battalion, National Guard and Marines, recite the Oath of Enlistment during a mass enlistment ceremony Dec. 1, 2019, at State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Ariz. The ceremony took place shortly before a National Football League football game between the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams.

Defense bill to fund pay raise for military, civilian personnel
January 2, 2020 — The $738 billion defense spending bill signed into law by President Donald J. Trump funds the largest pay increases in a decade... MORE

Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Mark A. Milley brief the media at the Pentagon, Dec. 20, 2019.

Learn to keep debt, budget under control with JBSA financial wellness classes
December 31, 2019 — Bad credit? Out of control debt? Having trouble living within your means? Or, maybe you have everything under control but would like to know if you could be doing things better. The Joint Base San Antonio Military and Family Readiness Centers have the perfect financial wellness classes for you. ... MORE

Bad credit? Out of control debt? Having trouble living within your means? Or, maybe you have everything under control but would like to know if you could be doing things better.

DOD funds firefighting foam research for a PFAS-free alternative
November 20, 2019 — Aqueous film-forming foams, or AFFF, rapidly extinguish fuel fires, but they contain PFAS, which stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances... MORE

Aqueous film-forming foams, or AFFF, rapidly extinguish fuel fires, but they contain PFAS, which stands for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances. Some PFAS pollution stems from the use of firefighting foams.

New Air Force justice information system goes live
October 9, 2019 — Air Force Security Forces Defenders uploaded the first case to the new Air Force Justice Information System last week, marking the launch of the most modern criminal data reporting system in the Department of Defense and providing global integrated awareness of criminal activities that affect the security and safety of Air Force personnel and resources... MORE

Air Force Security Forces Defenders uploaded the first case to the new Air Force Justice Information System last week, marking the launch of the most modern criminal data reporting system in the Department of Defense and providing global integrated awareness of criminal activities that affect the security and safety of Air Force personnel and resources.

DOD launches new pain rating scale
September 18, 2019 — The Department of Defense launched a pain rating scale for use in hospitals to better assess pain in patients. The Defense and Veteran’s Pain Rating Scale improves older pain assessment techniques by measuring not only the intensity of pain, but its impact on daily function as well... MORE

The Defense and Veteran’s Pain Rating Scale

BAMC staff helps train Department of Defense doctors
September 11, 2019 — Critical Care staff from Brooke Army Medical Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston helped conduct two days of validation training for military doctors from around the country during the first week of September... MORE

U.S. Army Capt. Mary Truitt, an internist from Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Gordon, Georgia, performs a survey on a simulated trauma patient at Brooke Army Medical Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston Sept. 4. Military doctors from around the country attended training at BAMC for validation training for the Army’s Individual Common Task List and the Air Force Comprehensive Medical Readiness Program requirements.

New DOD program leaves sexual predators nowhere to hide
August 5, 2019 — A new Department of Defense program called Catch a Serial Offender, or "CATCH," aims to make it more difficult for perpetrators of sexual assault to evade identification and capture by law enforcement... MORE

A new Defense Department program called Catch a Serial Offender, or “CATCH,” aims to make it more difficult for perpetrators of sexual assault to evade identification and capture by law enforcement.

DOD partners with VA, implements Women’s Health Transition Training Program
July 22, 2019 — The Department of Veterans Affairs partnered with the Department of Defense to implement the first Women’s Health Transition Training... MORE

The Department of Veterans Affairs partnered with the Department of Defense to implement the first Women’s Health Transition Training. The program is an in-person and virtual course designed to provide a female perspective to active-duty, Reserve and National Guard servicewomen who plan to transition to civilian or Reserve/National Guard status.

DOD delays Post 9/11 GI Bill changes
July 15, 2019 — The Department of Defense delayed the implementation of a policy that would limit a service member’s ability to share education benefits with family members. The policy, originally slated to take effect July 12, discontinues the transfer benefit for members with 16 years or more of service... MORE

The Department of Defense delayed an issued change in policy regarding service members transferring their Post-9/11 GI Bill educational benefits. Implementation has been delayed until January 12, 2020, giving long-serving members more time to transfer their education benefits to spouses or dependents.

DOD to take over background checks by fiscal 2020
July 1, 2019 — By October, the Department of Defense will be assuming responsibility for background investigations for U.S. government personnel and contractors seeking the various security clearances required to do their jobs... MORE

To gain a security clearance, potential employees spend a significant amount of time gathering personal information and entering it into an online web-based system.

DOD, OPM team up for improved online training
May 9, 2019 — A new memorandum of agreement between the Defense Department and the Office of Personnel Management promises to reduce the cost for training for defense employees and enhance the training experience. The two agencies signed the memo May 3, making OPM's “USALearning” program DOD's partner as the "centralized source for training, education, and domain-specific expertise."... MORE

A new memorandum of agreement between the Defense Department and the Office of Personnel Management promises to reduce the cost for training for defense employees and enhance the training experience. The two agencies signed the memo May 3, making OPM's “USALearning” program DOD's partner as the "centralized source for training, education, and domain-specific expertise."

The Air Force is becoming more Agile – one project at a time
April 25, 2019 — The term ‘Agile’ has been on the lips of Department of Defense senior leaders with increasing frequency recently – often citing its importance for developing functional, innovative software that better equips the warfighter to respond to uncertain and ever-changing environments... MORE

Team members for Magellan, including Airmen and Pivotal, Inc. employees, host a kick-off meeting for the project, which seeks to optimize how the U.S. Air Force allocates mobility aircraft globally, at Pivotal, Inc. offices in Chicago April 8.

Keep your common access card safe, secure
April 16, 2019 — While a common access card is not actually all that common, it is key to helping Department of Defense personnel rapidly authenticate and increase security at military installations and facilities, verify health benefits at medical centers, and a variety of other uses worldwide... MORE

Anyone who possesses a common access card, or CAC, must keep it safeguarded and not allow it to be duplicated or photographed. According to Title 18, U.S. Code Part I, Chapter 33, Section 701, it is illegal for a commercial establishment to photocopy a military identification card as a means to verify military affiliation for providing government rates or discounts on products or services.

Acting SECDEF: National Defense Strategy is ‘undisputed driver’ in budget request
March 27, 2019 — The National Defense Strategy is the undisputed driver of the president’s fiscal year 2020 budget request for the Defense Department, Acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan said on Capitol Hill March 26... MORE

Acting Defense Secretary Patrick M. Shanahan (center), and Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford (left), chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, left, testify to the House Armed Services Committee on the fiscal year 2020 national defense budget request March 26.

Hiring Heroes Career Fair draws hundreds of attendees
March 25, 2019 — Hundreds of job seekers visited, explored career options with and handed out resumes to Department of Defense employers at the Hiring Heroes Career Fair held in the Sam Houston Community Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston March 20... MORE

Hundreds of job seekers visited, explored career options with and handed out resumes to Department of Defense employers at the Hiring Heroes Career Fair held in the Sam Houston Community Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston March 20.

$718.3 billion defense budget request focuses on threats
March 13, 2019 — At $718.3 billion, the fiscal year 2020 defense budget request announced at the Pentagon today by defense officials is an increase from last year’s $685 billion approved budget... MORE

At $718.3 billion, the fiscal year 2020 defense budget request announced at the Pentagon March 12 by defense officials is an increase from last year’s $685 billion approved budget.

'Fire Pit' provides creative space, assistance to AETC innovators
March 6, 2019 — With an eye towards continuing development of a world-class culture of innovation, Air Education and Training Command officially opened the “Fire Pit” with a ribbon cutting ceremony at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph March 5... MORE

Sean Harrington, Air Education and Training Command Innovation Advancement Division lead, highlights the capabilities of the "Fire Pit" to Col. Jason Lamb, AETC's Director of Intelligence, Analysis, and Innovation, March 5, 2019, at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. Mirrored to the wing level Spark Cell variant, the "Fire Pit" is AETC’s effort to invigorate innovation and support grassroots initiatives in a collaborative space designed to incubate and accelerate innovation initiatives and build a network with industry, academia, and the Department of Defense to provide rapid solutions to the needs of the warfighter.