Following are a couple Military Links that made the news this last week….

Rolling Thunder - the annual biker pilgrimage to Washington, DC, honoring our Veterans. This year, bikers from 88 chapters came together during their “Ride For Freedom”.

U.S. Military Death in Iraq - keep our soldiers and their families in your thoughts and prayers. Theaters like Afghanistan and Iraq are far from safe.

Admiral Mike Mullen’s Open Letter - Admiral Mike Mullen, the Joint Chiefs of Staff is warning the Military to stay “apolitical at all times”.

What’s your opinion on these articles?

Being in the Military while living in Colorado Springs now comes with monetary savings. A fairly new site, Colorado Springs Military Discounts, offers military members and their families to check out a variety of businesses, offering discount coupons.

The discounts offered range from area attractions to dining, furnishing to home repair and moving and storage to toys. If you’re associated with the military, you might want to take advantage of these offerings - which can be as high as 50% off.

The site itself could use a bit of updating, as the navigation is a bit clumsy, but if you have the time to search, you’ll find that many of the categories have businesses already associated with it. Some of the categories in the left hand navigation are still empty, as this is a new site and still growing. If there are specific discounts you’re interested in, keep checking back.

Just keep in mind: Not all business offering discounts are participating in this site. Always ask the business you’re working with if any discounts are offered for military members!

If you do check out Colorado Springs Military Discounts, let me know what your thoughts were? Did you like the site? Did you think it was beneficial? ….

Never heard of it? Not quite clear what it is?

The AFVC is a “space available” program offering Department of Defense affiliated personnel affordable condominium vacations at over 3,500 resorts around the world.

Who’s eligible? According to their website, you are eligible to participate if you are a:

What will you find on this site?

• Space A Rentals
• Nightly Getaways
• Vacation Homes

Just be sure to read the “fine print” to get all the necessary information and be prepared to be flexible!

Have you used the Armed Forces Vacation Club already? Would you care to share your experiences? I’d love to hear them…

According to an article by Joe Gladden, as well as the majority of recent media releases, the housing market is definitely a buyers market. Question is, are you, as a member of the military, taking advantage of it?

The above mentioned article takes you through some of the things you need to consider when purchasing a home, from choosing a team to work with, to getting a loan approved, selecting your home and deciding if it’s the home for you, while keeping potential pitfalls in mind (repairs required, maintenance neglected, resale value), as well as the negotiation and closing process.

While there are some issue to consider, that are unique to military homeowners, like ’sudden’ PCS moves (Consider the possibility of any upcoming PCS moves prior to purchasing a home. If you already know that you’ll be PCS-ing within a year or so - consider if you could purchase a home and then keep it as an Investment property, by renting it out?), overall, owning a home comes not just with maintenance work and repairs, but also with benefits like reducing your tax burden and building your credit.

So the question is - what is your opinion on military home ownership?

Did you know that your Military Career might have earned you college credits?

Check out Military.com and see all the resources available to soldiers, helping you transfer your training, coursework and occupational specialty into college credits.

Talking to a school that does not want to accept your Military Training? You can “shop around” for a school that does.

What do you think?