Free Income Tax Preparation for Active Duty Personnel and Some Veterans
Qualified veterans and active-duty military can also get free federal and state tax preparation and filing assistance, both online and in person, by MyFreeTaxes.com. This is the only free online tax preparation and filing service available in all 50 states and Washington, D.C., that allows users to file both a federal and state return, no matter where they live. To use this service, qualifying families must earn $58,000 or less. MyFreeTaxes.com is sponsored by Walmart, Goodwill, the National Disability Institute and the United Way.
For those of you who prefer to do your own taxes, there are several options to e-file your taxes free of charge online:
IRS Free File is available to taxpayers with an Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) of $58,000 or less in 2014.
Navy has First Female Four-star Admiral
Deputy Chief of Naval Operations Vice Admiral Michelle Howard is the first female four-star admiral in the 238-year-history of the U.S. Navy, and the first African-American female to achieve four-star rank in the history of the military. She was nominated by the president and confirmed by the senate in December.
Howard's initial sea tours were aboard USS Hunley (AS 31) and USS Lexington (AVT 16). While serving on board Lexington, she received the Secretary of the Navy/Navy League Captain Winifred Collins award in May 1987. This award is given to one woman officer a year for outstanding leadership. She took command of USS Rushmore (LSD 47) on March 12, 1999, becoming the first African American woman to command a ship in the U.S. Navy.
In 2010, she was the Maritime Task Force commander for BALTOPS, under 6th Fleet. Her shore assignments include: J-3, Global Operations, Readiness and Executive Assistant to the Joint Staff director of Operations; Deputy Director N3 on the OPNA V staff; Deputy Director, Expeditionary Warfare Division, OPNAV staff; Senior Military Assistant to the Secretary of the Navy; Chief of Staff to the director for Strategic Plans and Policy, J-5, Joint Staff, and Deputy Commander, U.S. Fleet Forces Command.
Vice Admiral Howard is a 1978 graduate of Gateway High School in Aurora, Colo. She graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1982 and from the Army's Command and General Staff College in 1998, with a Masters in Military Arts and Sciences.
See the Time Magazine article here: Navy Names First 4 Star Female Admiral
VA Website Exposes Some Veterans' Accounts to Unauthorized Users
It was recently announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) E-benefit website exposed the online accounts of about 5,000 veterans to unauthorized users. The defective software allowed veterans and service members logged into the E-benefit website to view account information of other users. After discovering the problem, the VA shut down the system and switched over to an earlier version of the software.
VA's Data Breach Core Team (DBCT) is reviewing the E-benefit website error. According to a statement issued by the VA, once the DBCT determines the individual veterans affected, "VA will take the appropriate response, which may include free credit monitoring for the affected individuals, consistent with VA's standard practice."