The Soldier for Life Podcast

We talked in detail about what the Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) is on our last Soldier for Life Podcast episode, so this week, we are going to dig deeper and discuss the factors that you need to consider in making your decision about whether or not to participate in the SBP as we sit down again with Patty Cruz, the Deputy Director of Army Retirement Services and the Army Survivor Benefit Plan Program Manager. ➡️ SFL Website SBP Decision page - https://soldierforlife.army.mil/Army-Retirement/Retirement-Planning/Survivor-Benefit-Plan-Decision

The Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) provides peace of mind to Retired Soldiers and their families by providing a portion of a Retired Soldier's retired pay to their survivors after the Soldier dies. Learn more about how SBP works and the decisions that you need to make about it during your Army retirement planning process on this week's Soldier for Life Podcast episode as we talk with Patty Cruz, the Deputy Director of Army Retirement Services and the Army Survivor Benefit Plan Program Manager. ➡️ SFL Website SBP Decision page - https://soldierforlife.army.mil/Army-Retirement/Retirement-Planning/Survivor-Benefit-Plan-Decision

The U.S. Army Reserve Private Public Partnership (P3) program provides one-on-one, personalized assistance to Army Reserve Soldiers, family members, and veterans to help them find meaningful employment with the help their Army Reserve Employment Specialists (ARES) across the country. Learn more on this week's new Soldier for Life Podcast episode as we chat with the Director of the P3 Office, Mr. Michael Masley, and P3's ARES for Oregon and Washington state, Mr. Ocean Ulugaono. U.S. Army Reserve P3 Program - https://www.usar.army.mil/P3

The U.S. Army Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps – or Army JROTC – program offers amazing and life-changing experiences for America's youth AND for our Soldiers for Life (including eligible veterans, Retired Soldiers, and currently-serving Reserve Component Soldiers) who can continue their service outside of uniform and give back to their communities as JROTC instructors. Learn more about everything that Army JROTC has to offer on this week's Soldier for Life Podcast episode as COL Sam Frazier and Maria Bentinck sit down with COL Lee Evans, the Director of the Army JROTC program. And learn more about Army JROTC at https://usarmyjrotc.army.mil !

Ever wonder why we talk so much about networking and the importance of having a mentor when it comes time to find post-military employment? Find out in this week's Soldier for Life Podcast as we talk with Leslie Coffey, the Vice President of Military Engagement for American Corporate Partners (ACP), about the important roles mentorship and networking play in helping transitioning Soldiers, veterans, and military spouses find their next career.

Vet Tix provides free tickets to sporting events, concerts, performing arts, educational, and family activities to service members, veterans, and Gold Star Families, giving them positive family and life experiences during and after their years of service to our country. Learn more about Vet Tix and the work that they do to support our military and veteran families on this week's Soldier for Life Podcast as we sit down with Steve Weintraub, the Chief Strategy Officer for Vet Tix.

Operation Homefront provides relief and recurring family support programs and services to help military and veteran families overcome short-term difficulties, including critical financial assistance, housing assistance, the Back to School Brigade, the Holiday Toy Drive, Holiday Meals for the Military, the Military Child of the Year Award, and more! Learn more about the work that Operation Homefront does to help support our military and veteran families on this week's Soldier for Life Podcast episode as we chat with U.S. Navy Rear Admiral (Ret.) Alan Reyes, the President and CEO of Operation Homefront.

Want the inside scoop about the U.S. Army Soldier for Life program and the Army Retirement Services Office? And why the Soldier for Life Mindset is so important? On this week's all new #SoldierForLifePodcast episode, COL Samantha Frazier (the Director of the Soldier for Life Program) and Maria Bentinck (the Director of Army Retirement Services) give you the 411 about our two programs that share an office space, social media platforms, a website, and a passion for taking care of our Soldiers for Life and promoting the Soldier for Life Mindset!

An extremely important piece of information that every retiring United States Army Reserve or Army National Guard Soldier needs to know is that they MUST APPLY to receive their retired pay - this is NOT automatic. On this week's all new Soldier for Life Podcast episode, host Maria Bentinck, the Director of Army Retirement Services, talks with LTC John Broderick, the Chief of the Gray Area Retirements Branch for the U.S. Army Human Resources Command, about the steps that you need to take to ensure that you receive your Reserve Component retired pay. Here are some of the important resources mentioned in the podcast: 👉 HRC GAR Website – https://www.hrc.army.mil/content/Gray%20Area%20Retirements%20Branch 👉 Army Service Center – 888-ARMY-HRC 👉 Contact Your RSO – https://soldierforlife.army.mil/About-Us/Contact-Your-RSO

Are you thinking about your United States Army Reserve or Army National Guard retirement? If so, this Soldier for Life Podcast episode is one you don't want to miss! Join host Maria Bentinck, the Director of Army Retirement Services, as she chats with LTC Stephanie Hill, the Branch Chief of the Army Reserve Retirement Services Office, and MAJ Amanda Waller, the Section Chief of Army National Guard Retirement Services, about everything you need to know for your non-regular, or reserve, Army retirement.

Task Force Movement works with the private sector, military, academia, and government and nongovernment organizations to help identify and solve problems that our military and veteran families face when it comes to finding civilian employment AND to help create smoother civilian career pathways for the military community. Learn more from our discussion with Elizabeth Murray-Belcaster, the Executive Director of Task Force Movement.

We've all heard the term Space-A travel, but have you ever wondered what it is and how it works? Or how you can take advantage of Space-A flights, Space-A lodging, and military recreational lodging as a service member, military retiree, veteran with a service-connected disability, and more? You can find out on this week's new Soldier for Life Podcast as we chat with Ms. Stephanie Montague, the spouse of a Retired Soldier and founder of the military travel website Poppin' Smoke!

Our Soldiers for Life are Army ambassadors. They are amazing individuals who chose to dedicate themselves to serving their country, to making a difference. They help people in their communities understand - and connect with - our Army. And they help inspire the next generation to serve. And one of the most important ways that they do all of this is by telling their Army and Soldier for Life stories and by encouraging others to do the same. They - and their stories - are, in the words of our esteemed Soldier for Life Podcast guests today, not only aspirational, but inspirational, and they inspire and empower us all. On this week's episode, we had the opportunity to chat with MG (Ret.) Mari K. Eder and CW5 (Ret.) Phyllis J. Wilson - who are both dedicated to helping to tell the stories of our Soldiers and Soldiers for Life in their post-military careers - about how important it is to tell your story and the difference that you make both to yourself and the U.S. Army when you do.

If you are going through the Army medical retirement/separation process (we're including Soldiers, their families AND their Army commanders in that "you"), there is a LOT to know and do, but like everything we talk about, there are MANY resources out there to help. And on this week's all new Soldier for Life Podcast, Mr. Lemuel (Lem) Chance from the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency walks you through everything that you need to know about medical retirements and separations. A few of the key resources that were mentioned during the podcast are included below: 👉 Army Physical Disability Agency - https://www.hrc.army.mil/content/US%20Army%20Physical%20Disability%20Agency or 210-221-3046 👉 Army Service Center - https://www.hrc.army.mil/content/Army%20Service%20Center or 888-ARMYHRC (276-9472) 👉 Army Recovery Care Program - https://www.arcp.army.mil 👉 Contact Your RSO – https://soldierforlife.army.mil/About-Us/Contact-Your-RSO

Are you planning for your U.S. Army retirement? If so, this week's Soldier for Life Podcast episode includes everything that you will need to know for your retirement planning journey! Listen as CW3 (Ret.) Lynn Peterson - the RSO Program Manager for the Army Retirement Services Office and our all-around retirement planning guru - shares LOADS of information and resources about planning steps, retirement resources and where to find them, major things to consider (including financial considerations, employment, healthcare, retirement locations, family considerations), veteran benefits, and SO much more! There were WAY too many great resources and links to websites/pages included in the podcast to include them all in this post, but here are a few to get you started (be sure to listen all the way through so you don't miss any of the fabulous resources that are available to you!): 👉 SFL Website Retirement Planning Section/Pages (including checklists, Retirement Planning Guides, briefing slides, Change of Mission newsletter, SBP information, and MUCH more) - https://soldierforlife.army.mil/Army-Retirement/Retirement-Planning 👉 MyArmyBenefits Website - https://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil 👉 Contact Your RSO – https://soldierforlife.army.mil/About-Us/Contact-Your-RSO

On this week's Soldier for Life Podcast, we are excited to talk about the Army's upcoming 250th birthday celebration and the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the American Revolutionary War. Listen as we sit down with Captain Jonathan Bratten, the command historian for the Maine Army National Guard and the National Guard Bureau's Revolutionary War 250 liaison officer to the U.S. Army Center of Military History, to chat about these two important events and why they - along with knowing your Army history AND telling your #SoldierForLifeStory and the Army's story - are important to ALL of us even 250 years later. And be sure to check out these important links from the podcast! 👉 https://history.army.mil 👉 https://www.army.mil/1775 👉 https://soldierforlife.army.mil/Soldier-for-Life-Mindset/SFL-Stories

The Warrior-Scholar Project hosts intensive, one-week college-prep academic boot camp programs for enlisted service members and veterans at America's top universities to help ease their transition from the military to higher education. Learn more as we chat with the CEO of the Warrior-Scholar Project, Ryan Pavel.

Want to hire some incredibly talented employees at your company or organization? (We know you are, of course, emphatically nodding your head yes.) Then you should really be thinking about transitioning Soldiers, veterans, and military spouses! On this week's brand new Soldier for Life Podcast, we talk with Ms. Lisa Rosser, the CEO and Founder of an organization called The Value Of a Veteran, about what you can do to up your military connected talent game and WHY this is so important for your organization.

Looking for a resource to help you find your next career OR valuable military talent for your organization (because I hope we all know what a smart move that is for any company!)? On this week's Soldier for Life Podcast, we chat with Kandi Tillman, the Co-Founder of 50strong, an organization that helps connect service members, veterans, military-connected students, and spouses with employers AND employment across the country.

NPower offers free virtual tech training programs, job placement assistance, and professional development opportunities for military and veteran families. Learn more as we sit down with Kendra Parlock, the Vice President of Partnership Development for NPower.