Wrong Side of Heaven

Ever since basic training when my battle buddy nicknamed "PFC Metal" introduced me to a band called "Five Finger Death Punch", I've had a great respect for this band. They are good, hard, & aggressive...something that I've been missing. I heard they were big supporters of the military, and I first saw this in their music video for the remake of "Bad Company". This video shows a lot of footage from their time in Iraq to visit and play for the troops.

Their latest video (shown below) is called "Wrong Side of Heaven" (off the album "The Wrong Side of Heaven & The Righteous Side of Hell, Vol 1") and continues to show their support for our troops. The video is about homeless veterans suffering from PTSD, TBI and depression after serving in the military...and not receiving the help they need. It sends a powerful message. Take a look...

SkillPorts After the Army

 
For any of you that have read any of my "life in the army" journals, you've read on multiple occasions about me doing SkillPorts. These are basically online classes that have an extremely wide variety of subjects to choose from. While in the army, a soldier can work on SkillPorts and as each class is finished, promotion points will be earned and automatically added to the soldier's ERB. This is a great way to learn something new or brush up on a subject.

I personally used it quite a bit both while in the army and now that I'm out of the army to earn CEUs (Continuing Education Units) for my CompTIA certifications (A+, Network+, & Security+). These certifications require a number of CEUs each year in order to keep your certifications active. SkillPorts are a great way to get your requirements done, the service offers quite a bit of technical classes you can do at your own pace.

If you plan on using SkillPorts after you get out of the army, be sure to forward your AKO email to your personal email. Your AKO email is the only address SkillPorts will send your completion certificate to. You'll need this certificate to upload and verify your CEU training to CompTIA's website.

Here are instructions on how to forward your AKO email:

1. Go to www.us.army.mil
2. If  you get any Security Alert screens, respond with Ok or Yes
3. Select Sign In from Army Portal Screen
4. Enter AKO username and password
5. Under My Services click My Account
6. Under Email Information select option to Forward Email
7. Enter your Forwarding Address and Verify Address (ex.  username@gmail.com)
8. Click submit
9. Exit AKO
10. Test forwarding by sending e-mail from a non-AKO account to your AKO account

Here is the link to the army's Skillport website
Here is the link to the army's AKO website
Here is the link to CompTIAs website
Finally here is information on CompTIA's CEU program