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

Two small figures of Army soldiers in a barren, rocky desert walk toward a mountain range in the distance.

Combat Veteran Health Care Eligibility

The VA offers special health care eligibility to combat veterans.

A soldier salutes during a graveside service for Anthony La Rossa in Farmingdale, N.Y., Monday, Dec. 15, 2014. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)

Will VA Pay for Your Funeral? The Answer May Surprise You

If you think living is expensive, try dying.

A pair of hands work at some math with a calculator, highlighters, and post-it notes scattered around.

Tutorial Assistance with the GI Bill

The VA's tutorial assistance program is available to help student veterans who struggle academically.

GI Bill Will Pay for Work-Study Jobs that Help Veterans

If you're enrolled 3/4 time or more in college or a training program, you can earn while you learn with the VA's work-study...

female computer programmer in front of monitor

GI Bill Benefits for Vocational and Technical Training

The Post-9/11 GI Bill and Montgomery GI Bill will pay for non-college degree programs such as technical and vocational...

A soldier uses a computer in college. (Courtesy photo)

Veterans Educational Assistance Program (VEAP)

If you elected to make contributions from your military pay to participate in VEAP, your contributions are matched on a $2...

Air Force Reserve plane awaits postflight inspection

Reserve and Guard Montgomery GI Bill

Read this guide to understand the GI Bill benefits available for Selected Reserve servicemembers.

Man writing at a desk wearing a collared shirt.

GI Bill Correspondence Training

The GI Bill will pay you to take correspondence classes.

Sign by the main gate at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Ft. Worth, formerly Carswell AFB, Texas. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Reserve Education Benefits User's Guide

The federal government offers several educational assistance programs that may be of benefit to military reservists and...

Active-Duty Montgomery GI Bill

The following is a summary of the Montgomery GI Bill Active Duty program.

GI Bill Q&A: How It Works

The following will offer answers to the most frequently asked questions about the GI Bill.

The U.S. Medicare Handbook is photographed in Washington, D.C.

Medicare Open Enrollment

During open enrollment you can change or add plans.

Tricare and FEDVIP Open Seasons: What You Need to Know

The open enrollment periods for Tricare and FEDVIP let you make changes to your insurance coverage.

The number 2025 is painted on a highway that extends to the sunset.

Just What Is Open Season, and Why Should You Care?

It's time to review and change your health insurance, if necessary.

Want Extra Vision Insurance? Get It Through FEDVIP

Military families and retirees qualify for the FEDVIP vision insurance program.

Military News

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Most Popular Military News

Hegseth Paid Woman Who Accused Him of Sexual Assault over Fear for His Fox News Job, Lawyer Says

More details are emerging about an alleged 2017 sexual assault involving Pete Hegseth, President-elect Donald Trump's nominee...

Sgt. Jacqueline Speights, from 175th Surgical Detachment, 531st Hospital Center, prepares a sample for COVID-19 testing while Spc. Samuel Mawanda, from 626th Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), records data at Blanchfield Army Community Hospital’s COVID-19 sample processing section within the hospital’s Department of Pathology, Jan. 24, 2022. (Maria Christina Yager/Army)

Tricare Changes are Coming in 2025. Here’s What Beneficiaries Need to Know Right Now

Tricare beneficiaries need to be aware of changes taking place in both the East and West regions and may need to take action...

U.S. Army Reserve Officer Training Corps instructor arrives at the ROTC building on a university campus

Kings of Campus: How Some Army Instructors Use Their Clout to Prey on College Cadets

To the young students in the Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC), the officers who run the programs on college...

Squad live fire exercise at Schofield Barracks

Thousands of Women Serve in Combat Roles. Pentagon Nominee Hegseth Says They Shouldn’t.

Pete Hegseth has made clear, in his own words, that he is critical of military service by women and more specifically opposes...

Veterans Affairs Officer Hit Man with Baton 45 Times as He ‘Screamed in Pain,’ Feds Say

The beating caused multiple injuries, including cuts on the man’s legs and a broken bone in his foot, according to...

Who Is Doug Collins? A Look at Trump's Pick to Head the VA

The former Georgia congressman is a Southern Baptist minister and Air Force colonel.

Latest Military Videos

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's D-Day Message

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower began drafting his Order of the Day for June 6, 1944, in February. It was...

French Military Training Ukrainian Troops Ahead of Battlefield Deployment

A French military task force with a festive name — “Champagne” — is wrapping up a mission that's no...

Ukraine Soldiers Focus on Keeping Russian Advances at Bay but Brace for Trump Taking Over in US

Ukrainian soldiers on the front know the re-election of Donald Trump in the U.S. will change their lives, but...

US Military Releases Video Said to Show Impact of Drone Strike on Houthi Rebels

The U.S. military on Wednesday said it had conducted several days of strikes targeting Yemen's Houthi rebels. (Nov. 14)...

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

Arthur Frommer, 83, and his daughter, Pauline Frommer, 46, pose among tourists

Arthur Frommer, Army Vet and Travel Guide Innovator, Has Died at 95

Travel writer Arthur Frommer, who revolutionized leisure travel for ordinary Americans with his guidebook “Europe on 5...

President-elect Donald Trump speaks at the House GOP conference

Trump Backs 'Emergency' Plan to Use Military for Mass Deportations

Trump made mass deportation a major plank of his successful presidential campaign and has claimed more than 15 million...

Navy News

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...

A view of Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, which is across the Elizabeth River from Norfolk, Virginia.

Navy Shutters Premier East Coast Substance Abuse Program Amid Staffing Shortages

The program, in an aging building at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth in Virginia, has struggled to retain employees.

Air Force News

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...

Two Air Force Special Operations Command CV-22B Ospreys fly low and fast in formation on a training range

The Osprey's Safety Issues Spiked over Five Years and Caused Deaths. Pilots Still Want to Fly It

The Osprey is back in the air after being grounded for months following a crash last November that killed eight U.S. service...

Space Force News

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...

The flag of the U.S. Space Command is unfurled at the White House

Colorado Could Lose US Space Command. Trump Is Expected to Move It to Alabama.

Trump's original decision to place Space Command -- the combatant command tasked with military operations in space that was...

Marine Corps News

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...