We skipped across the U.S., landing on military bases from California, to Nebraska, to Florida. Every move brought with it new challenges and differences, but the bases maintained consistency in providing useful resources for online education that suit the lifestyle of service members and their dependents.

It made me wonder, as a military spouse, if all the bases had these resources –  as I found out later, most of them do, and for little to no cost to the veteran or spouse. I realized that even if we were to travel to a foreign destination, a military base would provide the tools to make online education possible.

Here are just some of the great resources military bases provide the online student on base.

1. United Services Organization: The United Service Organizations has existed on military bases and airports since World War II. Designed to maintain morale for troops and their families, and with locations both on U.S. soil and overseas, USOs provide games, entertainment, food and support services. For the online student, USOs offer access to computers with free high-speed Internet. This means that, whether deployed or stationed stateside, the online military student can always find a good place to study within the walls of the closest USO.

2. Base libraries: Base libraries almost became a scarcity when, in 1996, the U.S. Department of the Navy began closing some of them. But in 1998, Congress directed the Secretary of Defense to suspend any further library closings. A 2006 Purdue University report stated that libraries provide a neutral zone where rank has no importance, and are where families stationed overseas have access to materials in English. Military libraries can assist the online student by providing research materials as well as computers and Internet access.

Read more at usnews.com

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