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1026 articles to help with your military transition
Expert guides covering VA disability claims, C&P exam preparation, military-to-civilian career transitions, retirement planning, state veteran benefits, and more. Written for active duty service members, reservists, and retirees navigating life after the military. Browse by category or search for topics specific to your transition.
Military 'sanctuary' isn't one rule — it's two different U.S. Code sections (10 U.S.C. § 12686 and § 1176) that get constantly confused, and neither is the 'once I hit 18 years they can't touch me' force-field people think. Here's who each one covers and what it doesn't do, straight from the statute.
The VA's 2026–2027 Post-9/11 GI Bill rates (Aug 1, 2026 – July 31, 2027): private-school tuition cap of $30,908.34, the monthly housing allowance, and the $1,000 books stipend — verified against VA.gov, with the numbers that actually matter for your school choice.
Seven states changed how they tax military retirement pay or veteran property for 2026: Georgia, California, Vermont, Delaware, Indiana, New York, and New Mexico. Every other state is unchanged from 2025. Verified against each state's tax authority.
Before you pay a VA claim company a multiple of your back pay, know this: charging for help on an initial claim is against federal law. Here's how the model works, what's legal, and the free accredited help that does the same thing.
How temporary LIMDU works in the Navy: the two 6-month periods, the 12-month cap, who places you on it, and the fit-for-duty decision that sends you back to work or into the MEB/PEB.
If you're stationed where your family doesn't live, your BAH is based on your duty station, not their location. The rule, the money reality, the OCONUS exception, and where BAH-Diff and FSA apply.
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Permissive TDY lets you job hunt and house hunt before separation without spending a single leave day. How transition PTDY works, how many days you can get, and how it stacks with terminal leave.
You can start a civilian job while on terminal leave and draw both paychecks. The law that allows it, how federal jobs differ from private, and the ethics rules that still apply.
Taking terminal leave and selling leave back are taxed very differently. How each is treated, why sell-back is base pay only, and the combat-zone rule that lets you cash out leave tax-free.
The benefits most veterans miss after a 100% P&T rating: the annual clothing allowance (August 1 deadline), CHAMPVA for dependents, commissary and exchange access, SMC, CRDP/CRSC, and the ID cards that unlock them.
The four essay questions on GS-05+ federal job postings, what each is really asking, the 200-word limit, and the AI-certification trap under 18 U.S.C. 1001 that can turn a job application into a federal crime.
The 2026 SES pay scale: $151,661 minimum to $228,000 maximum in certified agencies, $209,600 without certification. Why SES gets no locality pay, and how veterans reach it.
How to request your VA home loan COE three ways, what it proves, how entitlement restoration works after you have used the benefit once, and the mistakes that hold applications up.
Free federal and nonprofit entrepreneurship training for veterans: EBV, Boots to Business, VBOC, Bunker Labs, and more. Who qualifies and how to apply.
How the Navy DES works: MEB to PEB to disposition, the 30% rule, IDES vs legacy DES, TDRL vs PDRL, the appeal ladder, and the PLD off-ramp.
How Permanent Limited Duty (PLD) lets a sailor stay Navy after a PEB unfit finding: eligibility, the two-instruction billet nuance, the timeline, and how to request it.
How SBP works, what it costs (6.5% of your base amount), the spouse-concurrence rule, and the one window to cancel after you retire.
Most out-processing forms can be fixed later. A few can't. Here's which separation decisions are truly irreversible versus which are just hard deadlines.
VET TEC 2.0 pays for veteran tech training in coding, data, and IT. 2026 eligibility, what it covers, how to apply, and how it now uses your GI Bill.
VET TEC 2.0, VR&E, and the Post-9/11 GI Bill compared for a coding bootcamp or tech career change. Which pays most and which protects your GI Bill.