Jim Absher

Jim Absher is Military.com's former benefits editor and columnist. He joined the Navy to see the world and later realized the world is two-thirds water. He also worked for the Department of Veterans Affairs in field offices and Washington, D.C. before coming to Military.com in 2015.

Latest Articles

Pell Grants for Children of the Fallen (Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants)

Students who lost a parent in Iraq or Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001, may be eligible for the maximum federal Pell Grant.

2024 VA Disability Payment Schedule

Use our schedule to plan your finances for the upcoming year.

Future airmen take the oath of enlistment.

Everything You Need to Know About the Military Draft

What is the military draft and Selective Service? Here’s everything you need to know.

Ball and chain around ankle symbolizing PTSD holding someone back

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Learn more about the Department of Veterans Affairs Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder treatment and outreach programs.

Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance (VMLI): How It Works

The Veterans' Mortgage Life Insurance program is designed to cover eligible veterans' home mortgages in the event of death.

On a white tabletop, white cutouts of a family stand in the foreground in front of a heart of some kind being shielded by the hands of a person wearing a stethoscope.

Service-Disabled Veterans Life Insurance (S-DVI): About the Program

Veterans who had a service-connected disability but were in good health could apply to the VA for up to $10,000 in life...

Veterans Guide to Specially Adapted Housing Grants

Bigger dollar amounts and automatic eligibility for some make the benefit more practical for today’s disabled veterans.

Computer keyboard with "insurance" written on a key

Family Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (FSGLI): Rules and Rates

Family Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (FSGLI) provides up to a maximum of $100,000 of insurance coverage for spouses.

Traumatic Injury Financial Protection (TSGLI): Coverage Details

Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance has an added provision for traumatic injuries known as Traumatic Injury Protection...

Veterans' Group Life Insurance (VGLI): Get the Facts

SGLI may be converted to renewable five-year term coverage known as VGLI (Veterans' Group Life Insurance).

The GI Bill Yellow Ribbon Program Explained

The Yellow Ribbon program is designed to help students avoid up to 100% of their out-of-pocket tuition costs

Soldiers return from a 11 month long deployment in Kosovo.

Military Permanent Change of Station PCS Overview

The government will reimburse many costs associated with a PCS move. Here is an overview of what you can expect.

VA Outpatient Clinic Coeur d'Alene ID - VA.gov

VA Health Care Eligibility

If you are a veteran and didn't get a dishonorable discharge, you may be eligible for VA medical benefits.

Sgt. Richard Ganske, 84th Combat Engineer Battalion uses a bulldozer to manuever refuse into the burn pit; sorting and burning it to manage LSA Anacondas sanitation requirements.

PACT Act Expands Veterans' Medical and Disability Benefits

Millions of veterans are now eligible for free health care and more through the PACT Act.

A view of Fort Jackson's on-post housing in South Carolina.

Retirees, Civilians, Want to Live in Base Housing? Yes, You Can!

Living in base housing isn't just for active-duty military personnel. Retirees, civilians, and other eligible individuals can...

Military News

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Most Popular Military News

President-elect Donald Trump speaks with Elon Musk

Musk, Ramaswamy Proposal to Slash Spending Could Include VA Medical Services

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy confirmed that they plan to target "unauthorized" federal spending, a category that includes...

A U.S. Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter assigned to Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak delivers parts to the oil exploration support vessel Aiviq

Coast Guard Set to Receive New Icebreaker by Year's End, Bolstering US Presence in Arctic

The need for ships with icebreaking capabilities is growing as China and Russia increase their presence in the Arctic...

Nimitz-class aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln

Marine Corps F-35C Was Used in Combat for First Time to Strike Houthis, Military Confirms

Traveling at speeds of 1,200 mph, the F-35C can carry Joint Direct Attack Munitions, or JDAMs, air-to-air missiles and other...

Diversity Day march on Buckley Air Force Base, Colo.

Military Diversity Is Not the Problem

"The main reason for concern about the U.S. military and its performance has to do with the variety of U.S. commitments and...

Privately owned vehicles wait to enter through the Dale Mabry gate at MacDill Air Force Base.

MacDill Airman Gets 5 Years Of Probation in 'Undead Apes' Blockchain Fraud

U.S. District Judge William Jung sentenced Devin Rhoden to five years’ probation, a reflection of Rhoden’s substantial...

Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., smiles as he speaks to supporters during an election night rally at the Elks Lodge in Murphysboro, Ill.

House Approves Wide-Ranging Veterans Bill After Bipartisan Compromise Reached

A wide-ranging veterans policy bill that would bolster home caregiver programs and support for homeless veterans, among other...

Latest Military Videos

US to Give Antipersonnel Mines to Ukraine to Help Slow the Russian Advance

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says the Biden administration will allow Ukraine to use American-supplied antipersonnel land mines to...

NATO Troops Take Part in Artillery Drills in Finland for First Time Since It Joined Military Alliance

Several thousand NATO troops took part in large-scale artillery drills in Finland for the first time since the country...

Austin Explains Decision to Supply Ukraine With Landmines

Outgoing U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin explained a decision to supply Ukraine with anti-personnel landmines during a briefing...

Ukrainian Students Light Candles to Remember 659 Children Killed in Conflict With Russia

Ukrainian students on Wednesday paused to remember the children killed in the conflict with Russia by lighting 659 candles...

Investigations and Features

Army Capt. Jeremy Kuykendall and his wife Kate, cradle their daughter

Unsupervised: Military Child Care Centers Slow to Report Abuse with Little Oversight

A Military.com investigation into military day care centers revealed that service branch rules generally prioritize...

A patch in the home of retired missileer Paul Hunke

They Stood Sentry over America's Nuclear Missile Arsenal. Many Worry It Gave Them Cancer.

For years, it was an open secret among missileers that the Cold War-era missile alert facilities and launch control centers...

Army News

A soldier fires a SIG Sauer M17 striker-fired pistol during a weapons qualification at Drawsko Pomorskie, Poland.

Army Offers $15,000 Reward for Info on Missing Guns and Other Gear at Fort Moore

Army investigators are still searching for 31 M17 pistols that disappeared from Fort Moore, Georgia, earlier this year, but...

Police Report Sheds New Light on Pentagon Nominee Hegseth's Sexual Encounter that Led to Assault Allegation

Pete Hegseth, who is tapped to lead the military and the nation's largest federal bureaucracy, has vehemently denied the...

Navy News

Malaysian fugitive Francis Leonard Glenn, known as Fat Leonard

'Fat Leonard' to Appeal Sentence, While Retired Navy Captain Will Seek a Reduced Charge

The prison term imposed by U.S. District Judge Janis Sammartino at the Nov. 5 sentencing hearing was more than three years...

Cher's more formal look in her 1989 music video, "If I Could Turn Back Time," filmed aboard the battleship USS Missouri. (Criteron Studios)

How Cher's 'Turn Back Time' Music Video Made Even the Navy Blush

A video featuring Cher singing to a rowdy group of American sailors would have been no trouble for anyone involved -- if it...

Air Force News

Air Force's Special Operations Crop Duster Plane Will Be Flown for Training at Oklahoma Base

An Air National Guard base in Oklahoma will host the first formal training unit for the service's armed recon crop duster...

U.S. Air Force missileers from the 90th Missile Wing perform their duties in a remote, underground Launch Control Center. (Newsweek/Unconventional)

What It's Like to Live and Work with the World's Deadliest Weapon: the Minuteman III ICBM

Some parts of North Dakota, Montana, Colorado, Wyoming and Nebraska are home to some 400 nuclear-tipped ICBMs and the 10,000...

Space Force News

Chief Master Sgt. Roger Towberman, right, Space Force and Command senior enlisted leader, with Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett, present President Donald Trump with the official flag of the United States Space Force in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, D.C.

Fear of Losing US Space Command Unites Colorado’s Congressional Delegation

An intense persuasion campaign is heating up across more than 1,200 miles, from Colorado Springs to Alabama, as both states'...

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying Starlink 4-36 payload launches

Pentagon Silent on Elon Musk and Starlink Risks as Military Use Expands

In the past year, U.S. news outlets have reported that Musk, who oversees the satellite internet provider, has developed a...

Marine Corps News

Traffic drives past the entrance sign of Marine Corps Base Quantico in Quantico, Va.

Federal Judge Dismisses High-Profile Cases of 2 Jordanian Men Accused of Breaching Quantico Gate

U.S. attorneys for the Eastern District of Virginia filed a motion Oct. 3 to dismiss the misdemeanor charges against Hasan...

U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Andrew Lam fires an MK 22 bolt-action sniper rifle during a battlesight zero range at Mount Bundey Training Area, NT, Australia, May 1, 2024.

New Marine Sniper Rifle Reaches Full Operational Capability Ahead of Schedule

The Marine Corps' Mk22 Advanced Sniper Rifle will eventually replace the M40A6 and Mk13 Mod 7 in the service's arsenal.

Coast Guard News

Coast Guard Rear Adm. Sean Regan, commander, District Fourteen, salutes during a ceremony at Kalani High School in Honolulu, Hawaii, Nov. 21, 2024. The Coast Guard established its first Hawaii-based JROTC unit, also the 14th Coast Guard JROTC in the U.S.

Coast Guard Establishes First Hawaii-Based JROTC Program

Kalani High School officially activated its newly formed Coast Guard Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps program, the first...