If you’re getting serious about finding a good civilian job after separating from the military, you might want to be in Washington, D.C., on May 11 for a career fair hosted by the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA).

Last year more than 300 companies attended the MOAA/Corporate Gray Career Fair to take advantage of the talent exiting the military. This year the fair runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

The fair will offer career planning seminars, including The Interview: Rules of Engagement, Federal Job Application Preparation and Evaluating Employer Benefits.

Get a head start by attending a pre-fair networking event from 6 to 8 p.m. May 6 at the Army Navy Country Club in Arlington, Va.

The fair is open to all active duty and retired military, veterans, Reserve/Guard members, government employees and spouses.

For information, call 800-234-6622 or click here.

This is the last day to register to win a civilian job from G.I. Jobs and other cool prizes.

G.I. Jobs has helped thousands of service members find great civilian jobs and make a successful military-to-civilian transition. To celebrate our 100th issue in April, we are helping one lucky military transitioner land a job.

The contest is twofold: Those who are interested in winning an opportunity to land a good civilian job through G.I. Jobs can upload their resume and write (in 1,000 characters or less) about why they should win a job.

If you're not interested in a job, you can still register to win great prizes like Xbox 360, Xbox gamer bundle, Xbox family bundle, Magellan Roadmate GPS and others.

To register, click here. The contest closes at midnight (EST) tonight - April 30.

Everyone who serves in the military has at least one thing in common: They all leave the service sooner or later.

If your military-to-civilian transition is sooner than later, you have some great resources at your disposal – compliments of Uncle Sam. The Transition Assistance Program, brought to you by the Departments of Labor and Defense, is a crucial piece of your successful transition. TAP workshops pack a lot of good information into a workshop lasting anywhere from 2½ to four days, depending on the branch of service.

Many TAP experts recommend service members preparing to leave the military take the workshop twice – once about a year before your ETS and again about three months out. This will allow you to better absorb the material, which includes how to create a resume, interview, research jobs and education, and offers insight on benefits you and your family have coming.

G.I. Jobs has profiled hundreds of veterans who made a successful transition from the military into a great civilian job or school, and most of them credit TAP as a key part of their success.

If you’re thinking about or are preparing to hang up your boots, don’t squander the career assistance TAP offers. Watch a video featuring several veterans and their success stories by clicking here.

I don’t wear a cowboy hat, but if I did I’d take it off to the Zac Brown Band.

On Sunday night the country music world invaded Las Vegas in a big way with the Academy of Country Music (ACM) awards. Despite being nominated for entertainer of the year, the Zac Brown Band missed the prestigious awards show because the band opted to go on a USO/Armed Forces Entertainment tour of Iraq.

So instead of rubbing elbows with country music’s glitterati, band members were entertaining Soldiers from the Regimental Fires Squadron, 278th Armored Cavalry Regiment on Saturday at Contingency Operating Location Marez.

"I feel very honored to be here personally,” Chris Fryer, the band’s drummer, told a reporter. "It's not a sacrifice at all to us, what the men and woman here do is the real sacrifice ...it means more to be here than sitting at an awards show."

The sacrifice wasn’t lost on the Soldiers. "It means a lot to the troops to have them here," said Lt. Col Warner Holt, RFS commander.

After the concert, the band spent a couple of hours signing autographs and taking pictures with the troops. "Hopefully, this will bring a little bit of home," said Zac Brown, the band leader.

Kudos to Zac Brown and his boys. They’ve got their hats on straight.

Carrie On

Carrie Underwood, who appeared in a cover story for the March 2009 issue of G.I. Jobs and has logged several tours of Iraq and Afghanistan herself, did attend the ACM’s last night and came away with the Entertainer of the Year award. Congrats to a consummate supporter of the troops!

Craig Morgan, who graced the cover of G.I. Jobs in March 2010 and as a rising star in 2006, opened for Underwood during her “Play On” tour, which kicked off in Reading, Pa., in March. Craig is a 10-year veteran of the Army’s 101^st and 82^nd Airborne Divisions and continues to make yearly forays overseas to play for the troops.

An estimated 200,000 unemployed Americans are without unemployment benefits this morning because many members of Congress face reelection in November.

Two weeks ago, the Senate left for a spring break without approving an extension of jobless benefits, subsidies for the COBRA health insurance program and federal flood insurance through May 5. Normally considered an emergency measure, the program is the victim of a political showdown between Democrats and Republicans in the Senate over the growing budget deficit.

While there is plenty of merit in the Republicans' sudden conviction to reign in government spending, using Americans who don't have jobs in one of the worst economies as pawns is inexcusable.

I'm sure there are plenty of military veterans who served their country among those 200,000 whose benefits expired. How many in the Senate served in uniform? Certainly not Sen. Tom Coburn, (R-Okla.), who is leading the stand against the deficit. Coburn vowed to try to block any spending bill the rest of the year that isn't offset with cuts, which will include the $33 billion supplemental measure the Pentagon has requested to pay for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Senate returns to work this morning, and I hope during their vacation our elected officials had time to realize that political posturing is not an appropriate campaign method when it affects hundreds of thousands of Americans with families to feed. Because next group it could affect might be the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan who are putting their lives on the line every day.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill isn’t even a year old yet and already there’s a movement afoot to amend the measure, which took effect on Aug. 1, 2009. In fact, there are several changes being called for.

The Post-9/11 GI Bill is the most comprehensive education benefit ever offered to American service members. For many troops who served after Sept. 11, 2001, the law is a ticket to a free college education. The bill pays for tuition and fees up to a state’s highest in-state undergraduate tuition at a public college or university. It also pays a basic housing allowance (BAH) for students attending campus classes at least half-time and offers a stipend for books and supplies.

Critics have raised two primary objections to the bill: A housing allowance isn’t provided to students taking online classes or programs. Nor does the measure pay for vocational training – a provision provided under the Post-9/11 GI Bill’s predecessor, the Montgomery GI Bill.

Amending the Post-9/11 GI Bill to include a BAH for online students and assistance to students interested in pursuing a vocational education certainly would improve what already is an excellent education benefit.

Not all students are able to take campus classes, particularly those with jobs and families. For many veterans, online courses and programs are the only alternative for pursuing a college education.

And not every veteran is cut out or interested in attending college. There is good money to be made as a tradesman, be it driving a tractor-trailer, fixing plumbing, building houses or wiring them. Why should veterans who choose to go to college online or learn a trade not be afforded the same education benefits as their comrades? The IEDs, mortars, rockets and bullets they may have dodged during OIF or OEF were the same faced by the veterans attending classes at a brick and mortar college or university.

Keith Wilson, director of Education Service for the Department of Veterans Affairs, appeared before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee on Feb. 25 and advised against “significant changes to the Post-9/11 GI Bill before December. That’s because the VA is installing a computer software program that will process Post-9/11 GI Bill claims electronically. The first phase of the software was implemented April 1, but the system is not expected to be completed until December. Making significant changes to the Post-9/11 GI Bill before then would throw a wrench in the computerization effort, which is designed to help avoid the backlog of claims that occurred last fall.

Such a request is reasonable. Congress should amend the Post-9/11 measure to broaden the benefits for those pursuing an online or a vocational education. But it should be implemented first thing in 2011, allowing the VA time to complete the electronic claims processing. To do otherwise would be counterproductive and would risk a repeat of last autumn’s logjam.