Mortuary Affairs in the U.S. Military

Mortuary Affairs in the U.S. MilitaryMortuary Affairs in the U.S. MilitaryMost, when they think about mortuary affairs, think of it in relation to service members lost in war. The images that come to mind are those of caskets being brought off aircraft to the Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs at Dover Air Force Base, where the remains of those that are killed in action are processed and returned home. But Mortuary Affairs does more than simply transport our KIA back home. Mortuary Affairs is for the search, recovery, identification, preparation, and disposition of human remains of persons for whom the Services are responsible by status and executive order (DoD civilians, contractors, and foreign nationals when applicable). The role of the Mortuary Affairs service is legally defined in the Uniform Code of Military Justice, in 10 U.S. Code Chapter 75 Deceased Personnel under Subchapter 1 Death Investigations. A Brief (And Incomplete) History The American Civil War Pri or to the American Civil War, American soldiers were buried near where they fell, with no effort made to return and little effort made to identify the dead the Civil War marked the first time the United States made a concerted effort to identify dead soldiers (General Order No. 33 specified that field commanders were responsible for identification and burial efforts).The Spanish-American War During the Spanish-American War, the United States initiated a policy of returning soldiers killed on foreign soil back to next-of-kin in the United States, becoming the first country in the world to do so. The Graves Registration service welches established shortly after the US entered World War I, and welches disbanded afterward, only to be reactivated at the beginning of World War II. After the end of WWII, Graves Registration was effectively disbanded until again another war. The Korean War The Korean War was a challenge for Graves Registration, with the rugged terrain and difficult lines of communication. At the end of 1950, the concurrent return policy was put into effectrather than burying our fallen in temporary cemeteries for return at a future date after the conclusion of the war, soldiers killed in action were immediately returned to the United States. This policy is still in effect.The 1980s Jumping forward a few decades or so, in the late 1980s, the Central Joint Mortuary Affairs Office (CJMAO) was established. The mission was to provide guidance to the unified commanders on mortuary operations and mass fatality events during peacetime and wartime. The 1990s Jumping another decade to the 1990s, new mortuary doctrine was developed for all the services by the Mortuary Affairs Center, Fort Lee, VA, under the guidance of the Quartermaster General, based on lessons learned from Operation Desert Shield/Storm. In 1997, the Disaster Mortuary Affairs Response Team (DMART) was developed, which combined Mortuary Affairs with forensic personnel to support the combatant commander.The 2000s Then at the end of the millennium, DOD Directive 1300.22, identified the Department of the Army as the Executive Agent for Mortuary Affairs within the Department of Defense, as well as establishing the DoD Casualty Advisory Board (CAB) and a central DoD repository for casualty information (among other items). Mid-2000s In 2008, Army G-4 directed the Army Quartermaster School at Fort Lee, VA, to create a provisional Joint Mortuary Affairs Center (JMAC) to execute the Armys Executive Agent mission. After the Department of the Army approved the JMAC Concept Plan, JMAC was established at Fort Lee under the Quartermaster School, with Army G4 maintaining oversight of the EA mission. End of the history lesson and dont worry, theres no test following.Today JMAC provides world-class Mortuary Affairs training for officer, enlisted, and civilian personnel from all five branches of the armed services, and develops Joint and Army Mortuary Affairs doctrine.Each Service Branc h remains responsible for Mortuary Affairs support, to include tentative ID and disposition of human remains and personal effects (PE), for its own personnel unless otherwise directed by the GCC or mutual support agreements between the Services. In all cases, the direct initial contact with family members of deceased personnel is performed by the parent Service. Recovering From the Battlefield Recovering our fallen from the battlefield can sometimes be difficult. There are four basic kinds of recovery combat, post-combat, area (or theater), and historical recovery.Sometimes its necessary to sift through ashes and vehicle remains for days to find personal identification, such as dog tags or nametapes, or to search fields of battle for unburied dead, hasty, isolated, or unmarked graves.But Mortuary Affairs also cares for our soldiers fallen in less hostile circumstances, both overseas and in the US, such as accidental deaths, or deaths from disease. Army and Marine Corps Curr ently, the Army and the Marine Corps have the only dedicated Mortuary Affairs units (though prior to Operation Iraqi Freedom the Marine Corps did not have a dedicated mortuary affairs unit) and dedicated enlisted jobs (Army 92M - Mortuary Affairs Specialist USMC MOS 0472 Personnel Retrieval and Processing Technician). Air Force and Coast Guard Air Force Mortuary Affairs capability is resident in the force support squadron. For the Coast Guard, during peacetime they provide or arrange Mortuary Affairs support for Coast Guard deceased personnel worldwide through other services or civilian providers, and overseas during joint operations, they rely upon the Geographic Combatant Commander (GCC) for support. Navy For the Navy, at sea fatalities are handled by the ships medical department - on shore, fatalities are handled by the installation medical treatment facility staff.The Navy MortuaryBranch operates from within theNavy Casualty Assistance Division, and Navy Mortuary staff coordinates the Navys Burial-At-Sea program.Navy Morticians (both military Navy NEC HM-8496 Mortician and civilian) are assigned to Navy Casualty with duty locations at BUPERS in Millington, TN, Dover Port Mortuary at Dover AFB, DE and USMC Casualty Branch at Quantico, VA. The Navy is the only service that has enlisted morticians (and at that, only a dozen or so). The other services employ civilian morticians.

Financial infidelity 8 signs you might have a problem

Financial infidelity 8 signs you might have a problemFinancial infidelity 8 signs you might have a problemFinancial infidelityis a major problem in marriages. Today Im landseeing mora and more couples with separate bank accounts and keeping their finances completely separate. There are a few reasons you might want to do this, but most couples should be combining finances.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreFirst, Ill share which couples qualify for keeping finances separate.Reasons for Married Couples to Keep Finances SeparateI wrote acase for keeping separate bank accountson Rockstar Finance last year. In the article, I shared six reasons that couples might want to have individual bank accounts and split the bills.1. You have a blended familyIf youre remarried and have children from a previous marriage, chances are youre responsible for carrying a term life insurance policy in a sp ecified amount with your ex as the beneficiary (for the benefit of your children). This can get tricky when you have more kids with your new spouse splitting beneficiaries. You might want to have separate policies for each.2. Youve been through a nasty divorce (or more than one)Both my husband and I have parents who have collectively been married (and divorced) 15 times. 5 marriages for my mom, 2 marriages for my dad, 3 marriages for his mom, and 5 marriages for his dad. Sometimes, youve just gotta protect yourself in case of financial infidelity or other issues.In this case, I recommend having a joint bank account for bills and keeping separate bank accounts for the rest of your expenses. If youre looking for a great high yield savings account thatll earn you more interest than a local bank, heres my favoritehigh interest savings account3. One spouse is a major spenderIf your spouse has a tendency to empty the bank account every payday, you might want to keep finances separate and offer him or her a weekly allowance or fun money (and no debit card). Why no debit card, you ask? Because emotionally, plastic is easier to swipe and spend than handing over a $50 bill.4. You or your spouse has an addictive personalityDo you keep cash out of your paycheck every week to play slots or buy scratch offs? Are you an alcoholic? What about a recovering alcoholic or addict? Who here likes to shop more than he or she should? By keeping separate bank accounts, youre protecting your bill money. Again, you can still have a joint account where the bills are paid (with no debit cards) and have a separate account for your fun money. But when its gone, its gone. No dipping into the bill account for your bad habits5. Youve received an inheritance or are a self-made millionaireA prenup is always a good idea when you are entering a marriage with a good amount of money. You might want to consider having separate finances if this is the case. Ive seen too many couples where one spouse e mptied the bank accounts and opened new accounts before filing for divorce with no recourse. Joint accounts are joint ownership. This means that all parties technically own the money in the account. Consult an attorney if you have questions.6. You have any reason not to trust your spouseInfidelity comes in several different forms. If your spouse is a cheater by nature, keep your finances separate. Youve got toprotect yourself financially in case of a divorce.You canopen a high-yield savings accountwith $100 to start. Out of sight, out of mindNow that weve discussed why you might want to keep your finances separate, lets address the issue of hiding money from your spouse in marriage.8 signs of financial infidelity1. You dont know how much your spouse really earnsYou think you know how much your spouse makes? Do you see his or her paycheck stub? Do they communicate with you about raises and bonuses? Do you know the exact amount of net income each pay period? What about how much theyre contributing to retirement? These are all important questions to ask. If you cant answer these, its time to sit down with your spouse.2. He keeps a large portion out of his paychecks and you have no idea where it goesMy ex-husband used to do this. Hed take his paycheck to the bank every week and keep a large portion (were talking hundreds) out for himself. He ate fast food, drank a lot of beer, and smoked a lot of cigarettes. Notice I said this was myex-husband. Financial infidelity can destroy marriages.3. Youve recently found a leistungspunkt card statement for an account you didnt know existedDoes your spouse have credit cards that you dont know about? Why so secretive with the purchases? Many cheating spouses open additional credit cards so that they can hide money spent on the other woman (or man).4. Money has gone missingIf youve noticed money missing from your savings accounts (or checking account), your spouse might be unfaithfully hiding something from you. Take inventory of your accountsat leastonce a month. Make sure everything is accounted for, and if its not, address it immediately. Communication is key.5. Youve been removed from joint credit card accountsCredit cards give the option of adding authorized signers. If youve been alerted that you recently closed an account or your credit utilization ratio increased, your spouse may have dropped you. You can get a copy of your credit report from Experian or Transunion. You can get all three for free once per year atannualcreditreport.com.6. You remove tags from clothing to make it look like its always been in the closetHave you ever done this? Be honest If youre removing tags from clothing so you dont get caught, yourecommitting financial infidelity.Its okay to treat yourself once in awhile, but when you start having to hide it, youve got deeper issues.7. Your spouse gets deckung when you bring up moneyDo the walls go up when you start asking questions about money? When you bring up specific purchase s, does he try to change the subject or make jokes? These are major red flags8. You cant have the passwords to his computer, let alone his online bankingListen, when you got married, you gaveallof yourself to another person. That means you each get unrestricted access (at least visibly) to the bank accounts. If you dont have this ability, its time for a come to Jesus meeting.Financial infidelity in marriageis a scary topic. No one wants to face the fact that their spouse could be lying by omission, spending on things he or she shouldnt, and keeping secrets. But if you see signs above and are wondering if there are things you dont know about your financial situation, sit down with your spouse and talk about it. Heres howTalking about money with a defensive spouseIf money talks always end in fights, theres a gentle way to ease into the conversation. Start out by saying, Honey, I am so tired of being broke all the time. And I know you must be, too. Maybe we should sit down together and combine forces to see where we really stand so we can tackle this thing head-onBy coming from a collaborative standpoint instead of an accusatory one, your spouse is likely to be more receptive to talk. He may be itching to come clean about some of the issues that have been plaguing him.Money and marriage next stepsMoney used to be a taboo subject. So many people didnt discuss money, income, finances, etc and now a simple google search for income reports yields actual income earned. When you decide to have your first money and marriage meeting, discuss the followingBring paycheck stubs. You show me yours and Ill show you mineBring all the bills and expenses to the table. Nothing goes unnoticedBring bank statements and a highlighter. Highlight fast food and convenience store purchases. How much money is each of you throwing away every week?List debts owed, smallest balance to largest and make a plan topay it all offusing thedebt snowball or debt avalanche method.Remember your vows. Honor one another and the promise you made to care for one another, til death do we part.This article first appeared on Melissablevins.com .You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

11 Science-Backed Ways to Help Yourself Wake Up Early [Infographic]

11 Science-Backed Ways to Help Yourself Wake Up Early Infographic 11 Science-Backed Ways to Help Yourself Wake Up Early Infographic I am not a morning person, and while I think Im pretty good at my job, Id probably better at it if I were.Biologist Christoph Randler, who has studied theeffects of being a morning person, says those who are most energetic in the morning are better positioned for career success.When it comes to geschftliches miteinander success, morning people hold the important cards, Randler told Harvard Business Review in 2010. My earlier research showed that they tend to get better grades in school, which get them into better colleges, which then lead to better job opportunities. Morning people also anticipate problems and try to minimize them, my survey showed. Theyre proactive. A number of studies have linked this trait, proactivity, with better job performance, greater career success, and higher wages.I dont know about you, but that sure makes me want to become a morning person which is why I likethis new infographic from online lender CashNetUSA. It outlines a few of the psychological and business benefits of being an early riser and offers 11 science-backed ways to teach yourself to love mornings a little more. Check it out below