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maximum of $250,000 for the repayment of outstanding education loans to veterinarians. ARMY RESERVE ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS To qualify, you must: Meet the prescribed professional, physical and ethical standards for appointment as an Army officer. Have a favorable security investigation completed. Be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident. Be a graduate of an accredited school of veterinary medicine and have a current, unrestricted license to practice in any one of the United States, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico or a U.S. territory. Foreign veterinary graduates must have passed the Education Commission of Foreign Veterinary Graduates (ECFVG) examination to be eligible. Be 21 to 42 years of age. Veterinarians older than this may apply for an age waiver. BENEFITS THAT GO BEYOND By choosing to be an Army veterinarian, you’ll be able to see and do extraordinary things. You’ll also discover a whole new circle of friends and professional contacts who share many of your standards and goals, a fact that makes it easy to forge lifelong friendships and professional connections that will help you throughout your career. Whether you choose to join the active Army or the Army Reserve, you’ll receive all the privileges that come with being an officer, as well as many benefits. Benefits such as the freedom to use the Army’s wide variety of recreational facilities, including golf courses, fitness centers, swimming pools and theaters — and time away from work so you can take advantage of them. Additional benefits and privileges come with being an Army veterinarian. Some of them include the following: Army (Active Duty) Dental coverage: free for Soldiers; low-cost coverage for family Low-cost life insurance Post-DVM education fully paid Paid continuing education courses annually Retirement package 30 days of leave with pay earned annually Paid moving expenses Pride gained from serving your country Opportunity to travel Uniform allowance Time for physical fitness during your duty day Training opportunities such as Airborne, Air Assault and Expert Field Medical Badge Leadership and veterinary practice management opportunities Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) — a flexible, portable retirement savings and investment plan similar to a 401(k) Army Reserve Medical coverage for Soldiers during training or when mobilized Low-cost dental insurance Low-cost life insurance Paid continuing education courses annually Retirement package Pride gained from serving your country Opportunity to travel Uniform allowance Change of pace Networking opportunities Training opportunities such as Airborne, Air Assault and Expert Field Medical Badge Leadership and veterinary practice management opportunities Experiences rarely encountered in civilian life which directly create a positive impact on people of other countries Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) — a flexible, portable retirement savings and investment plan similar to a 401(k) ARMY VETERINARY CORPS RPI 524 FS, June 2011 THERE’S STRONG. THEN THERE’S ARMY STRONG. Page 5 HOW TO JOIN Your first step in joining the Army Veterinary Corps is to contact your local Army Health Care recruiter. You can find the recruiter in your area by calling 1-800-USA-ARMY or visiting our Web site at healthcare.goarmy.com. Your Army Health Care recruiter can answer questions about the application process; help you understand the responsibilities and privileges of an officer; and impart, from personal and professional experience, important information about the Army way of life. Once your Health Care recruiter has met with you and determined your eligibility, he or she will schedule a routine physical examination and an interview with an AMEDD officer. A board of AMEDD officers reviews the documents and makes a selection decision. An applicant officially accepts the offer by taking an oath of office and accepting a commission as an officer in the Army. The entire process, from the first meeting with an Army Health Care recruiter to the commissioning ceremony, usually takes about three months. The decision to join the Army Veterinary Corps is an important one. But the experience is like no other, and the rewards are immeasurable. To apply to become an Army veterinarian or to ask further questions, contact your local Army Health Care recruiter at 1-800-USA-ARMY or visit our website at healthcare.goarmy.com In late 2005, the U.S. Executive Branch put forth a new national policy for how the U.S. government is to plan and conduct stability and reconstruction operations. Existing military policy and doctrine were further revised, with the Army more definitively articulating its concept of “full spectrum operations,” consisting of offensive, defensive, and stability operations, all core missions and of equal importance. In active theaters such as Afghanistan and Iraq, medical civil-military stability operations figure prominently and include activities carried out by military veterinarians. Within the context of stability operations, military veterinarians can contribute to U.S. strategic goals of economic development and humanitarian assistance, especially related to the agriculture sector. This “quick-response” study examines the policy and doctrine guiding the use of veterinarians in stability operations activities, military and civilian veterinary capabilities, examples of their stability operations activities in Afghanistan and Iraq, and perspectives on interagency cooperation. The study took place over two months, March– April 2008. Interviews were based on a convenience sample and revealed a number of findings that can be directly useful to Army planners. This documented briefing reports not on comprehensive and full-blown research but rather on a preliminary exploratory effort pointing to practical next steps for the Army. RAND found that military veterinarians are contributing in important ways to economic development in Iraq and Afghanistan and will most likely be important to future stability operations. Most of the countries where stability operations will or conceivably could be conducted will likely have a large agricultural component to their economy, as is the case in both