Check List For A Complete Partnership Program Application: Fill & Download for Free

Material ResourcesMany universities have student incubators on campus to help students with product and business development. If your school has an engineering department, this would be an excellent place to start.For example, the Rochester Institute of Technology offers its students an intensive program to support business and technological innovation. Wayne State University has created a program for technology startups in Detroit called Tech Town; the UC Davis College of Engineering helps innovative students get on the fast track with resource and funding support; and Boston University’s incubator accepts student tech startups as well as others in the bio-medical engineering and related fields.Many colleges and universities also offer student innovation grants, like this one from Purdue University, and this one from Georgia College. Use your favorite search engine to find about more about the numerous grants available to student inventors.The takeaway is that most colleges and universities will have some resources available on or near campus that they can guide you to. Additionally, many - like Wayne State - have created programs for the broader community, so you should also investigate those connections. Sometimes a town’s or city’s chamber of commerce and other business groups (e.g., Rotary Club) offer grants and resources for young entrepreneurs, especially with patentable ideas.You also want to check with your school advisor or a knowledgeable faculty member regarding the patent rights to anything you’re working on. It’s not uncommon to find that if you’re a student using school facilities and resources, the rights to your innovation could belong to the university, so make sure you check into that carefully before proceeding.Legal ResourcesFirst, the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has developed a partnership program with multiple law schools across the country to assist independent inventors and small companies who qualify for pro bono (free!) patent services. You would need to contact each school directly, so here’s the list.Additional information about the patent pro bono program is available here. This is a very useful interactive map where you can also find information about participating law schools, relevant news and events, and general information specifically tailored for under-resourced inventors.Second, many colleges and universities that are not partnered with the USPTO program still offer students - and sometimes non-students - assistance. For instance, schools like the University of Illinois have long offered student innovators free help in completing patent applications.If your school has a law school, contact them for guidance. Even if they haven’t (yet) partnered with the USPTO, they’ll likely have some on-campus resources, or be able to guide you to someone who can help you with the process.If your school doesn’t have a law school, there are other options. Many universities have a Student Legal Services office on campus. While many don’t offer legal assistance for patents or intellectual property, they may be able to guide you to another resource that can help you.Another great resource is the engineering and science faculty. It’s not uncommon to find faculty members who have had some direct experience with filing patents. You can also sometimes discover programs that are designed to promote innovation and involve patent filing, which are offered only through their department.Finally, public and university libraries offer a wealth of materials beyond books to help you. Engage a librarian to help you access applications, template applications, and other information and tools you’ll need to successfully complete your journey along the startup highway. Such information includes events such as workshops, talks, and other programs that are usually free or offered for a nominal admission price.Hope this helps! Let me know if I can help you with any additional questions or concerns about how to invent and patent something new. Feel free to message me, or check out LawTrades for a quick and affordable way to patent your idea.

1) The United States Military is one of the world's largest providers of international aid and disaster relief.I enjoy this fact because so little is it remembered. Not only is the US military usually involved with most global conflicts, but they are also present in the time of need for almost every international natural disaster in which aid can be rendered. I love advertising this fact because so often I hear about all the evils of the United States, but not once have I ever heard the phrase, "Hey America. Thanks a bunch for the assist. Tsunamis really suck."As well as this, the military also makes regular deployments to disenfranchised and impoverished developing nations to provide immediate health and medical support during times of non-violence or disaster. These services are free to the people of those nations and supported entirely by United States taxpayer dollars.Case in point, the USNS Mercy.This is the USNS Mercy. She is a massive hospital ship and, along with her sister ship the USNS Comfort, has the proud and distinguished mission to sail around the world to places in desperate need of medical aid and support. Officially, their primary mission is to:provide rapid, flexible, and mobile acute medical and surgical services to support Marine Corps Air/Ground Task Forces deployed ashore; Army and Air Force units deployed ashore; and naval amphibious task forces and battle forces afloat.Secondarily, they provide “mobile surgical hospital service for use by appropriate US Government agencies in disaster/humanitarian relief or limited humanitarian care incidents to these missions or peacetime military operations.”Looking at the record, you'll find that the Mercy and Comfort have been quite busy with "secondary" missions. Here is a list of some of the Mercy and Comfort's "secondary" missions:1987 - (USNS Mercy) Over 62,000 outpatients and almost 1,000 inpatients were treated at seven Philippine and South Pacific ports during training in 1984 through 1987.1990* - (USNS Mercy) Admitted 690 patients and performed almost 300 surgeries. (USNS Comfort) More than 8,000 outpatients were seen, and 700 inpatients. 337 surgical procedures were performed. Other notable benchmarks include: more than 2,100 safe helicopter evolutions; 7,000 prescriptions filled; 17,000 laboratory tests completed; 1,600 eyeglasses made; 800,000 meals served and 1,340 radiographic studies, including 141 CT scans.2001 - 9/11 - (USNS Comfort) The ship's clinic saw 561 guests for cuts, respiratory ailments, fractures and other minor injuries, and Comfort's team of Navy psychology personnel provided 500 mental health consultations to relief workers.[5] Comfort also hosted a group of volunteer New York area massage therapists who gave 1,359 therapeutic medical massages to ship guests.2003 * - (USNS Comfort) 590 surgical procedures, transfused more than 600 units of blood, developed more than 8,000 radiographic images and treated nearly 700 patients including almost 200 Iraqi civilians and enemy prisoners of war.2005 - Indian Ocean Tsunami - (USNS Mercy) Combined, provided 108,000 patient services, rendered by members of the Department of Defense, Project Hope, and the United States Public Health Service.2005 - (USNS Comfort) Comfort deployed on September 2, 2005, after only a two-day preparation, to assist in Gulf Coast recovery efforts after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Starting in Pascagoula, Mississippi and then sailing to New Orleans, Comfort personnel saw 1,956 patients total.2007 - (USNS Comfort) Central and South America. In all, the civilian and military medical team treated more than 98,000 patients, provided 386,000 patient encounters and performed 1,100 surgeries. Dentists and staff treated 25,000 patients, extracting 300 teeth, and performing 4,000 fillings, 7,000 sealings, and 20,000 fluoride applications. In addition to treating patients, bio-medical professionals fixed about a thousand pieces of medical equipment at local health facilities. The ship's crew also delivered nearly $200,000 dollars worth of donated humanitarian aid.2008 - (USNS Mercy) Over the course of one deployment, Mercy would treat 91,000 patients, including performing 1,369 surgeries.2010 - (USNS Mercy) Treated 109,754 patients and performed 1,580 surgeries in Southeast Asia.2010 - (USNS Comfort) Haiti Earthquake disaster. Between January 19 and February 28, 2010, the ship's staff treated 1,000 Haitian patients and performed 850 surgeries. Also, the mission saw the ship's first on-board delivery, of a 4-pound, 5-ounce premature baby named Esther.2011 - (USNS Comfort) - The ship deployed for five months providing medical services to locations in the Caribbean and Latin America.It is important to remember that all this is done, by only two ships. Beyond these two ships, the United States Navy takes part in many humanitarian service missions each year. Several ships are deployed with missions other than warfare to provide free aid and medical support.There are also ongoing operations such as the Pacific Partnership. The Pacific Partnership is an annual deployment of forces from the Pacific Fleet of the United States Navy (USN), in cooperation with regional governments and military forces, along with humanitarian and non-government organizations.The deployment was conceived following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. The goal was to improve the interoperability of the region's military forces, governments, and humanitarian organisations during disaster relief operations. Specifically, it focused on providing humanitarian, medical, dental, and engineering assistance to nations of the Pacific, and strengthening relationships and security ties between the nations. Between 2006 and 2010, Pacific Partnership has visited 13 countries, treated more than 300,000 patients, and built over 130 engineering projects.The MEU to the RescueWithin the United States Marines, there exists elements that specialize in being the first into a war zone. Most of the offensive parts of the Marine Corps are built around this idea, but particularly there is one capability that is most crucial to this mission.The Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU for short) is capable of deploying troops anywhere within reach of a the water within 48 hours. They are prepared for potential long-term hostile engagements, which means they have supplies and armaments to survive and thrive a long a long military campaign even without the support of the United States vast logistics network. As they say, “First to the Fight”. They are specialized to patrol every ocean in the world for signs of danger and disorder, and to do something about it.The Marine Expeditionary Units were built for an unforeseen sudden conflict, but their specialties make them particularly useful for rendering aid when less nefarious forms of disaster strike. They are adept to address and adapt to the needs of millions of people throughout the world in need of immediate emergency assistance. They are able to move so quickly that they outpace more formal relief organizations, like the Red Cross or the United Nations, by days or weeks. This is why these lethal warfighters are often given the mission to be the vanguard of western nations helping less fortunate nations in times of dire need.Marines supply civilians after the 2005 tsunami.Medical staff giving aid to displaced villager.3rd FSSG Marines assist with the distribution of humanitarian aid at Palonia Air Field, Medan, Indonesia, as part of Operation Unified Assistance.And Yes, There’s MoreMore recently, after the devastation from the 2010 Haiti Earthquake disaster, soldiers from the United States Army were deployed to assist in delivering badly needed supplies, such as food, water and other necessities to the region.Soldiers prepare food and water for Haitian victims of the Earthquake.I'm going to lay it out straight. I am willing to bet almost no one knew about the scale of the United States' disaster relief history before reading this answer. You probably had no idea of the depth of support that the United States military contributes to the world each time a major disaster strikes somewhere on the planet Earth. You know that help was sent, but did your ever really ask who it was or what form it took? You may have seen many headlines about the brave 150 doctors that went as part of the Doctors Without Borders program, but were you aware of the tens of thousands of soldiers, sailors, and Marines that were there before even the news journalists were present?And no, this isn’t just easy photo ops for the cameras. What the military does for those in need are things no one else would even attempt for people no one else seems to care about. In May of 2015, a UH-1Y with the III Marine Expeditionary Force, crashed while delivering aid to the remote mountain village of Charikot in Nepal following a 7.3 magnitude earthquake. The six Marines on that flight lost their lives, but you probably never heard about their great sacrifice, I’m sure.It’s easy to rattle off statistics and popular viewpoints about what monsters the American warfighters are. Cynics will moan about all the people that the harm and suffering wrought by the US military worldwide, but no one in the history of the world can declare that they have made such great strides in providing aid and relief like the Americans.This should ring especially significant, since we have absolutely no real obligation to do so if previous major world powers are to be our example.You could compare us to the Raubwirtschaft (plunder economies) of Germany, Japan and Russia during their time in power. You could also look at "aid" the European people provided the African colonies during their time as superpowers. Even better... look at what they are doing for the world right now. Where is their great big white boat with doctors and dentists? Where are their Marines after an earthquake or hurricane? At home, on their porches, sipping on a cup of self-righteousness as they lecture the world about the virtues of pacifism and the horrors of the American military. It's hypocritical and it's ignorant.While many find that the superstructure that is the US military is a bloated and imperialistic beast, it's still the largest and most efficient source in the world to get help where help is needed. That help happens whether that be in calming a diplomatic hot spot, giving food to a devastated rural village or fixing cleft pallets for children in a part of a country that has never seen a dentist or surgeon. Would I like to see other, more pacifist organizations do the job? Sure I would, but so far the world is more content to complain than attempt to do what we do.The US military doesn't suffer from that handicap.Say what you want about us, but without that aid provided by hundreds of thousands of American service people and a few hundred million taxpayers, millions upon millions of people who have been fed, vaccinated, operated on, given shelter, given homes, bathed, birthed, and listened to would not have the quality of life they now have. Let’s not forget how many of them, would also now be dead without us.Sure it's easy to gauge the military on violent metrics, (which is also appropriate) but how do you measure the value of those we have helped? That's a philosopher's discussion; not one for the Marines. Yeah, the Americans and their military have an ugly job, but if you're one of the veterans, you ought to be pretty proud right now. [2]That is such a pretty medal isn't it? About that...2) The uniforms are not provided by tax payer dollars. They are paid for by the troops themselves.Neat how I segued from the Humanitarian Service Medal to my point on how much uniforms cost, huh?See this beautiful example of a human being above? People who can read his rack (the medals on his chest) know this man is truly a boss. I'll list a few of the really cool ones. He's stellar: Two Navy Commendation Medals, Three Navy Achievement medals and a few Good Cookies. He's also a bona fide war hero: Two National Defense Medals (two different periods of war), several combat action ribbons, two devices known throughout the Corps as the “Recon Combo”, and the crème de la crème, the Enemy Accuracy Medal, better known as the Purple Heart. Plus, this flower looking thing I can only assume means he's awesome (or Canadian?) not to mention at least 13 different pieces of insignia I don't care to mention.Do you know how John D. Taxpayer thanks the honorable Gunnery Sergeant Awesomesauce? By making him pay for each and every freaking thing you see... even down to the buttons on his stinking coat. Did I mention those medals are gold plated?These are the Uniforms of the USMC. [3] I will make the caveat that it is true that military personnel are provided with one piece of every item they need when they first enter boot camp. What most don't know is that these also come out of their paycheck. It is sort of a hidden cost since we are more involved in boot camp than watching our finances. We all know it happens, but just have to get it done. It is assumed that this uniform item is supposed to last throughout their enlistment which could last 30 years. And those medals you earn? You're given one when earn it. It's like the Humanitarian Service Medal above. It isn't the gold plated version and basically, you have no uniform you are allowed to wear it in. For all the medals you actually wear, you have to pay between $13 and $60 for the pretty gold plated one. Interesting huh?This is made easier by a stipend military folks receive that is around $200 every year for replacement of uniform items. Let's look closer at that, though.I am going to go over an estimated cost of what is shown by the Gunnery Sergeant in this picture.Section A: CoverAnodized Cap Button Set: $3.95Black Chin Strap for Service Frame (All Ranks) $5.00Cap Ornament for Dress Frame Enlisted $6.95Enlisted Frame Only Bernard $33.50White Cover ONLY for Bernard Officer Frame $34.00Total Cost of "Cool Hat": $83.40Section B: MedalsAnodized Finish Full Sized Medals range from $13 - $80Purple Heart - $54Navy & Marine Corps Commendation Medal - $13Estimated cost of the other 10 medals at an average of $20 each: $200Combatant Diver Badge Regulation: $8.95Parachutist Wings Regulation, Anodized: $9.951/8" Single Star - $1.49 x 7 (visible): $10.43Total cost of "Bling" - $296.33Section C: Other DevicesRibbons: $1.15 x 8: $9.201/8" Single Star - $1.49 x 8: $11.92Other devices: $9.00Extra Doo-Dads - $30.12Section D: The Blues CoatButton Set for Enlisted Male Dress Blue Coat: $52.95Collar Ornament for Blue Dress Enlisted: $6.95Marine Corps Dress Blue Coat: $349.95Gunnery Sergeant Rank Insignia: $13.95Total for the Coat: $423.80Total for everything visible:$833.65[4]I'll remind readers that this is just what is visible in that image. I am only showing you the parts visible in the picture. Not shown, but simply must be there, are $83 pants, $99 shoes, a $50 belt buckle, service stripes, blood stripes and at least four other trinkets I can think of off the top of my head.Let's not forget that that guy doesn't look like a seamstress, so add in tailoring. And not to be topped, this is all still just one uniform of the six regulation uniforms that Marines are required to upkeep at all times, not to mention multiple sets of pristine camouflage utilities.You might not realize this from the outside, but military troops' uniforms come at a very high cost, so to speak.Not only is there the cost of earning the right to wear it, but the sacrifice of time and money to upkeep it. As I have said, we receive the few items we are issued (bought) at boot camp. We are issued one cheap version of the medals we earn, but aren't really allowed to wear them (because it's the cheap version). We also receive a regular pittance to upkeep it. I hope I have shown that that is hopelessly insufficient for all the gear and uniform items we are expected to maintain.I could go on about how many pairs of combat utilities I went through on my two Iraq deployments and my many training missions and how the two they gave me just didn't make it. I could go on about how if one of those gold medals got scratched... it was worthless and you had to get a new one. Did you know that gold is one of the most malleable metals on Earth? You will once you replace a $22 medal because Corporal saw a scratch on it. I could go on about the countless inspections to ensure that our uniforms were perfect... perfect. But I won't bore you with the detail on those. What I will say is that they are important to us. We work exceptionally hard to make sure that they are pristine and represent all the greatest qualities we can put into them. They are trying to convey an image and ideal of respectable men and women that instill courage and a sense of pride and security in the people they serve.Of course this is also why we write answers like this Nick Layon's answer to What is the fashion trend you dislike the most, and why? or go ballistic when we see celebrities do this:It’s also why comments such as this don’t usually have the intended result of shaming us back into our place:So what you don't like is when the citizens you protect wear the uniform you wear while preserving our freedom? And for this you raise your voice at them? Are you aware sir, that the taxes those people pay on the clothes you don't like them wearing are what pays your salary?Yes. In case you didn't know. Military personnel can easily spend more than a third of their after tax disposable income a year on uniform items. They do this out a sense of pride. They do this out of a sense of honor and respect to the uniform and what it represents. They do this so that when you see them, you can gain a sense of pride and feel safe knowing that when all hell breaks loose, a professional is ready to meet it. They do this to not be yelled at during inspections. They do this because it proves that they are special.What I hope you take away from this, if nothing else, is that your tax dollars are a drop in the bucket for what military personnel pay every year for their uniforms.Also, don't be surprised to receive a knife hand to the temple if you expect praise, gratitude, fealty, or admiration because you were so generous to pay your obligatory taxes this year. Military people don't owe you anything just because you pay taxes and you didn't put those medals on our chests. We look good because we paid for the right to, in more ways than one. [5]3) Our Navy Were Basically Pirates.Ok, I know I just made the biggest deal about how the United States military has relatively unheard-of aspects that include noble and virtuous service to disaster-stricken regions and that our uniforms mark us as some of the proudest and most professional military personnel on the planet.So why on Earth would I say that we started off as pirates? Because someone who reads the facts and has a vague understanding of military practices has some hard truths to deal with when looking at American military history. There are some colorful factoids hidden in sunken chests down under the sea that paint a picture few have ever really seen. There was some downright swashbuckling going on back then. I've taken a pretty liberal historical licence, but there is, as is the case with everything else, much more to the story than what made it to our history books. Let's take a look.Take a look at this flag. What do you see? Anything familiar?You guessed right! It's the flag of the British East India Company! How smart you are! Doesn't look at all like anything else after all...Notice again some of the elements of the flag. The first thing we need to know is that this was a Naval flag and all the elements have important naval meanings. It was colonial practice to place the mother nation's standard at the top corner against the mast. Here we see the Union Jack, the national flag of the United Kingdom, present, as it appeared during the time of the American Revolution. What is also important was the red field.In those days, such a flag would denote the ensign of the trade navy; ships not meant specifically for war, but to support the economic empires of the sea. Such a flag as the one below would indicate that it was an official trade ship flying under the protection of the crown of England. The red color also meant that it was a civilian ship and that its only mission should be one of trade.So alright, well still the stripes are a big deal though. It's hard not to see those stripes, right?Yes. It is hard. That's why many of the major shipping companies of that era made special marks on their flags by simply sewing white stripes across the field. Don't think of it as red and white stripes, but as a red field with white stripes on it. In fact there was one such company that made a remarkable effort to emulate the Colonial Flag, nearly 70 years before we ever flew it. They were the East India Trading Company, and had been waving a flag virtually identical to the Grand Union Flag, the first flag of the United States, for the better part of a century before the Revolutionary War.Now it's just me, but if I were a British ship just looking over and see a flag that looked like that, I probably wouldn't think of some navy that no one has heard of yet coming to buckle my swashes.With that said, I’m willing to bet that was the intention of the Continental Colors as it was used by the ragtag fleet of the American navy. Some might call that a case of mistaken identity, or clever use of unconventional warfare, while others might go as far as to say that it is downright piracy. Still some might just say it is one big convenient coincidence.I don’t believe in such coincidences.On MarinesHere are a few things that you should know about my beloved Marine Corps. One of the first facts that every good Marine knows, myself being among that noble tradition, is where the Marine Corps was born. Do you know? It was Tun Tavern in Philadelphia, Pennsylvanian.Yep, at a bar.The proudest and most lethal fighting men in the planet are the ancestors of a bunch of rowdy drunks. Well, for better or worse, little has changed.Our first recorded battle was the Battle of Nassau, led by Captain Samuel Nicholas, which consisted of 250 Marines and sailors who landed in New Providence and marched to Nassau Town. There, they wreaked much damage and seized naval stores of shot, shells, and cannon, but failed to capture most of the desperately needed gun powder. The forts at Nassau and Fort Montagu were raided and stripped of their armaments, while Marines occupied the town of Nassau for a lengthy stay. While in Nassau the Marines "relieved" them of some of their unwanted burdens, as well. Governor Browne complained that the rebel officers consumed most of his liquor stores during the occupation, and also wrote that he was taken in chains like a "felon to the gallows" when he was arrested and taken to the Alfred.Since then, for the most part, we have cleaned up our act — a bit. For those early days, however, it is my belief that the Continental Marines' use of "unconventional warfare" to complete their missions might warrant a closer look at our views of their history, or at least just reveal them as the colorfully exuberant fellows of cheer and good character that they were.The Father of the American NavySwitching back to the Navy, meet John Paul "Jones" and the Continental Navy. After combing the web for information on John Paul, on his best day, he was a jerk. Let's begin. This man is often cited as one of the founding fathers of the U.S. Navy. His sarcophagus even, rests to this day, in the US Naval Academy in Annapolis. Pretty cool, but let's check his resumé.Began work on a slave-trade ship.Next, worked on a brig (prison ship) where his first mate and captain conveniently died of disease, leaving him the de facto captain of the ship.He later captained his own ship where he savagely flogged two of his sailors for disciplinary actions, one to death.After this, he killed one of his sailors for mutiny by stabbing him in the chest. Following that incident he fled the Royal Navy and went to Virginia and added the surname "Jones" in an effort to avoid his pursuers for what amounted to murder. By his account, it was an act of self-defense, but no one I know runs to a non-extradition country and changes their name for self-defense. Just saying, I don't think he was all-in-all a stand-up guy.Following this John Paul Jones was recruited to the Continental Navy, because hey, beggars can’t be choosers. His successful exploits with the Royal Navy made him a prime candidate for a new navy starving for officers, even legit psychos. He then captained one of the vessels bound for Nassau in the Bahamas. The small fleet of ships captured the city, several ships and supplies, the whole time waving what was believed to be the Grand Union Flag that looked suspiciously like the 70 year old flag of a very, very famous trade company.From this point on, John Paul Jones led many other raids on naval shipping and port towns. He was successful enough that he was given the go-ahead to become a curse on English shipping.After touching base in France he actually sailed up to the coast of England and Ireland and started attacking British merchant shipping. In his career he captured many ships and a vast amount of supplies for the Colonial cause. All this while routinely facing problems from his crew who, as his journal accounts "'Their object,' they said, 'was gain not honor.' Among other actions his men were famed for raiding villages and conducting arson attacks on the English towns. In another report, Jones stated that at one point he wanted to leave, but his crew wished to "pillage, burn, and plunder all they could".Now this is just me talking, but I am surprised that a man who once beat his sailors to death would be having such discipline problems. Just sayin'.Now, I know that not everyone is a fan of 18th century naval warfare, but his tactics were conducive to a rather different form of naval warfare than his famed Bon Homme Richard, where he is famed for his saying, "I have not yet begun to fight!" No, this was a different form of naval practice. If you haven't pieced it together yet...John Paul Jones and much of the Colonial Navy were as close as it gets to pirates. [6]4) The United States Military is one the Most Educated Industries in the World.The United States military boasts some of the most educated warfighters in the world, not to mention in the history of warfare. All US service members must have at the time of their enlistment a high school diploma or the general equivalency diploma. To be more clear, more than 99% of those enlisted have a high school education comparable to about 60% that you will find in the general population. Also, compared to the population of the United States, more service members have also attended some college compared to their typical 18- to 24-year-old counterparts. They have all also passed a standardized test on English proficiency, mathematics, science and government. This test also serves as a placement exam for military jobs. [7]To top this, most Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) schools boast world-class educational training. First, you have to place high enough on the test to get into the school you want, which can have very high scores requirements to place. No, we don't have the greatest recreational facilities and the dorms suck; it isn't the Ivy League, but the education level is beyond par. While stationed in 29 Palms California, a hole in the middle of the California desert, I received two years worth of the most rigorous training in Computer Science, Data Network Administration, and Information Systems Maintenance. I say two years worth, except that I only had six months to do it. The training is taken very seriously. While typically, civilians are allowed to pass with virtually any grade so long as they beg enough, every test in a military school is a fail if scored under 80%, and if you fail you can be booted from the program.The Marine Corps InstituteThe United States Marine Corps even has an amazing secret that few on the outside know anything about. We have a correspondence college, which is a universal part of nearly every Marine's military experience. It is called the Marine Corps Institute (MCI for short).The MCI began when Major General Lejeune issued a Post Order establishing three new schools: Automobile Mechanics, Music, Typewriting and Shorthand with Special Order No. 299 on January 5, 1920.Of course, we have courses you won't find at Stanford, Harvard, or UCLA, or any state school, for that matter. There doesn't seem to be a need for 0321B - The M240G Machine Gunner, 0090A Pistol Marksmanship, or 0365 Antiarmor Operations there, but what you might be surprised by are the other courses one wouldn't expect to see by the barbarian warmongers that are the United States Marine Corps: 0119H Punctuation, 0120 Basic Grammar and Composition, and 1334 Math for Marines. Perhaps that's where Marines figure out what it takes to re-calculate the trajectory of an object traveling at 3,110 ft/s for a three-inch change in elevation at 5 times the length of a standard football field (American football, obviously) when factoring in for wind speed and direction, as well as differences in elevation?Commandant’s Reading ListOne more shocker regarding the nerdiness of the US Military? How about this, the Marines have a book club. This isn't Oprah's Book Club. It's the Commandant's Reading List [9]. On this list are books and documents intended to both encourage the martial spirit in the minds of young warriors and inspire the intellectual capabilities of scholarly warfighters. What follows are some of the more impressive works that appear. This is by no means a complete list.You will obviously find on the list titles such Marine Corps classics as:MARINE! THE LIFE OF LT. GEN. LEWIS B. (CHESTY) PULLER, USMC (RET.) - Burke Davis,AMERICAN SPARTANS: A COMBAT HISTORY FROM IWO JIMA TO IRAQ - James Warren,FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS - James Bradley.Also listed are many other works on warfare such as:THE ART OF WAR - Sun-TzuATTACKS - Erwin RommelBooks on Moral Codes and Ethics:ON KILLING: THE PSYCHOLOGICAL COST OF LEARNING TO KILL IN WAR AND SOCIETY - Dave Grossman,JUST AND UNJUST WARS: A MORAL ARGUMENT WITH HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS - Michael WalzerBooks on Leadership, Management Philosophy and Administration:TEAM OF RIVALS: THE POLITICAL GENIUS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN - Doris Kearns GoodwinBLINK: THE POWER OF THINKING WITHOUT THINKING - Malcolm GladwellSOURCES OF POWER: HOW PEOPLE MAKE DECISIONS - Gary KleinOUTLIERS: THE STORY OF SUCCESS - Malcolm GladwellWorks on military history:BATTLE CRY OF FREEDOM: THE CIVIL WAR ERA - James M. McPhersonTHE VIRTUES OF WAR - Steven PressfieldAs well as important world studies for the military minded:DIPLOMACY - Henry KissingerTHE LANDSCAPE OF HISTORY: HOW HISTORIANS MAP THE PAST - John Lewis GaddisTHE LITTLE BOOK OF ECONOMICS: HOW THE ECONOMY WORKS IN THE REAL WORLD - Greg IpTHE REVENGE OF GEOGRAPHY: WHAT THE MAP TELLS AS ABOUT COMING CONFLICTS AND THE BATTLE AGAINST FATE - Robert D. KaplanThere is even one on environmentalism!HOT, FLAT, AND CROWDED: WHY WE NEED A GREEN REVOLUTION AND HOW IT CAN RENEW AMERICA - Thomas L.Even books that show the importance of a civilian leadership and the consequences when they don't do a good job.SUPREME COMMAND: SOLDIERS, STATESMEN, AND LEADERSHIP IN WARTIME - Eliot A. CohenDERELICTION OF DUTY: LYNDON JOHNSON, ROBERT MCNAMARA, THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF, AND THE LIES THAT LED TO VIETNAM - H. R. McMasterAnd there is even a nerd section. You know that new movie Ender's Game? You know it was first a book written by Orson Scott? You know that it has been on the reading list for decades?ENDER'S GAME - Orson Scott CardMost importantly, there are two other works which are required reading. These are works that cement what it is that every military person stands for and what they fight for. They are the clear definition of the values of their nation. When you see what else is on this list... you'll wonder why no one else is required to read them as well besides members of the US military.U.S. CONSTITUTION - United States of AmericaTHE FEDERALIST PAPERS - Alexander Hamilton; James Madison; John Jay; Garry Wills (Introduction by, Editor)5) The military has a plan for everythingI was just watching a video on realism in medical shows and was reminded of a very disturbing fact.The US Army created a guideline for surgically removing unexploded ordnance (bombs) from a living person. Really. You can read it right here.Even stranger, the Department of Defense also created… wait for it… a zombie preparedness strategy, too. Here that is.Now, a big part of me is like, now why are we spending money on this?But the reason that plans like this exist are to test creativity and come up with innovative solutions to problems we never faced before. Flexibility is a skill. I believe for the zombie plan, it was play around with figuring out out to combat a mass panic mixed with a pandemic level viral plague.More feasibly, the military also uses these skills when they aren’t goofing off to create plans for every foreseeable military incursion imaginable. Iran? I guarantee you they have a mountain of digital documents into the many approaches to taking out the nation and then just as many on what to do with after we’re done. North Korea? Everything people were predicting would happen a few years ago under Trump probably fits into about 6% of the possible scenarios these boys have cooked up.The tradition dates back at least as far as the 1920’s where the US military created War Plan Red, a hypothetical plan to defend the Atlantic coast in the event of war with United Kingdom. I’ll be honest, it’s mostly about finally correcting history by annexing Canada. Yes, those crazy plans even include our allies… and still do.There’s actually an office that oversees all this planning. It’s called the J7 under the Joint Chiefs. J7’s mission, as their website states:The J-7 is responsible for the six functions of joint force development: Doctrine, Education, Concept Development & Experimentation, Training, Exercises and Lessons Learned.Yes, in case you’re curious, what that looks like in practice are the nerdiest nerds of the military (who are still terrifyingly dangerous) masterfully compile the best practices and learned experiences of the US military into doctrines that they apply to situations that most of us in civilian world can’t possibly imagine. Then to let those scenarios sit on a shelf for a number of years, until someone starts getting uppity. Then they are dusted off, revisited, revised, and used as reference for war planners. For that reason, when a new war pops up, we are without a doubt more prepared to end a regime than anyone could possibly imagine.6) You’ll be fine in it.Many assume that the only people who would want to join the military are those who want to die from some car bomb in Iraq. Just as many assume that the majority of us have seen more than we actually have. There is also this myth that we are all just "the lucky few" who survived four years in the middle of some never-ending artillery barrage. The truth is, while there are plenty of risks, which are widely known, you are far safer in the United States military than most would believe possible.For example, what if I told you that there is less than a one in a thousand chance that you might actually be killed if you even go to war when you go with the Americans? Granted that risk goes up drastically if you fight against the Americans, but that’s an article for another day.We have currently about 2,518,542 people in the United States military. Since 9/11, estimates would safely place the number of people who have served in some branch to be about 6 to 7 million people, probably more. As of the time of this writing, the total people who died as a result of action in either Iraq or Afghanistan since 9/11 is about 6,660. That means that fewer than about 0.088% of the people who have enlisted have been killed as a result of that decision. If you consider wounded, then the number increases to about 0.738% percent. For those not blessed with the ability to conceptualize such things, here's a tasty pie.To better answer this question I also wanted to address these statistics reflected when considering only those who actually participated in a combat deployment. I asked the question How many US troops have been deployed to either Iraq or Afghanistan since 2001? to gain a better picture of just that question. From that, Daniel Kearns produced this document (Page on Senate) which is a brief and simple, but important piece of information on the Iraq War. From that, we have a best estimate of 1.5 million warfighters deployed to Iraq during the war. Taking this with earlier data, we see total killed accounted for .29% of those deployed while wounded accounted for 2.15%. So, to be clear, of those deployed to the hottest combat zone in recent American military history, the highest chance of death was .29% for deployed troops and risk of violent injury was still only 2.15%. [6]This trait, however, isn't anything new. The US military, at least since the dawn of the 20th century and perhaps because of the carnage of our own civil war, have adapted a mentality and strategy that ensures our military does not easily sacrifice its own. We simply have values that don't allow us to experience heavy troop losses and a wealth that affords the ability to win without them. In truth, we live today in a time-period where we have proven that experience matters more than assets and that a troop's life is almost always more valuable than the patch of Earth they are fighting for. But we still need that patch of earth.That's why modern warfare doesn't allow for high losses. Take a look at the figures for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, pulled straight from Wikipedia. This doesn't include the insurgency years that followed, but showcased the last time we fought a full-on war with an advanced national military.That last statistic is significant.The Coalition's troop strength before the battle was 265,000 troops, mostly from the United States and the UK. The Iraqis' troop level was 1,119,000, more than 4 times that fielded by the Coalition. The end result, however, was that through great strategic, technological, and logistical superiority, the American led Coalition was able to inflict as many as 261 times as many casualties as the Iraqi were capable of delivering in return. That's more than 250 Iraqi killed for every Coalition death. A more lopsided battle has never been fought.Perhaps it is just that we don't fight that much or stay safely behind our big walls. We just send out the evil drones and high powered missiles, snipers, and other cowardly means of fighting a war. Well, given the option... wouldn't you? I know these guys certainly would if given a second chance.A grim look through history will show that American military doctrine has focused on a few key tenets throughout at least the last century. We focus on augmenting our troops through overwhelming technology, training, and tactics, rather than creating a culture that loves war.The facts are that average Americans deeply hate conflict. We will do whatever we can to avoid it on an interpersonal level, regardless of whatever you think about our foreign policy. This is reflected in our demographics. Today, after 13 years of war, and with a sizeable portion of our Vietnam-era veterans still alive, US veterans still only number 22 million individuals and account for less than 7% of the total population. Note, that is veterans, not active service members. The Department of Veterans Affairs projects that that number is set to decrease, not only in percentages, but in real value. They project that by 2043 we will only have 14 million veterans alive for a total percentage of the population at only 3.5%. The decreasing number of veterans means a country culturally disconnected from the realities of its wars because of the peacefulness of the daily lives of its citizens.And that's how we want it.The alternatives are thus: during the Second World War, you saw very different social military philosophies come head to head. Among these were the Americans and the Japanese. The Japanese were fantastic engineers and created marvelous machines. One such was the Zero fighter. It had a turning capability and climb that was far superior to other fighters. It was more agile and a deadly threat.The trade-offs? It's aluminum coating was brittle and the plane offered no armor for the pilot, engine, or other critical points of the aircraft. Its light construction also made it prone to catching fire and exploding during combat. Add this to the practice of Japanese fighters on the ground routinely combating US Marines with suicidal "Banzai" charges, the human-wave attack and we see a culture which adopted an ancient form of warfare: the military death cult. Death and the warrior were at that time so intertwined through a perversion of the Samurai Bushido culture that the leadership of Japan could order hundreds of thousands of Japanese to their deaths without the Japanese people resisting at all. This culminated in the ultimate corruption of bravery and honor; the creation of the Kamikaze pilot and the "Baka" Bomb.The Kamikaze (Divine Wind) is named for the legendary holy force which protects the Japanese from invasion by outsiders, namely because of a storm which swallowed up tens of thousands of Mongol invaders hundreds of years ago before they ever set foot on Japanese soil. The Kamikaze myth was resurrected for the creation of a force of airmen who volunteered and trained for a mission in which they would surely die, once again, like a storm from Heaven protecting Japan from foreign invaders. So committed were these soldiers and those who commanded them to this idea of a glorious death for their nation and their emperor, they even attended a ceremony before their mission which could only be described as their funeral.The ultimate expression of this “Kamikaze” culture was the Japanese Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka ("cherry blossom"), a rocket-powered parasite aircraft used towards the end of the war. The U.S. called them Baka Bombs (baka means "idiot” in Japanese). They called it this, because the only intended purpose of the aircraft was to be guided to impact directly with an enemy ship by a pilot who had reserved himself to die in the effort.In contrast, the American philosophy emphasized an entirely different approach. We preferred to keep our warriors alive, if for no other moral reason than to pass on their experience and be useful on a better day. We engineered fighter aircraft with more power that could give us the strength and survivability to keep fighting.Add to this the individual support given to the individual troop. While the base soldier thrown away during a Japanese suicide charge was said to be worth less than $10 by their own admiralty, the United States Marine, the most underfunded of the military branches, would deploy with supplies of everything from ammunition, food, water, and bandages, to paper and pencils, and eve glass eyes of every imaginable size and color... just in case. This excerpt from Flags of Our Fathers displays in the days and weeks leading up to the Battle of Iwo Jima the American philosophy, strategy, and implementation of sending every man with all the gear to have a dominating edge, and the greatest chance possible of coming home.... the movement of over 100,000 men, Marines, Navy support personnel, Coast Guard units across 4,000 miles of ocean for three weeks is a triumph of American industry galvanizing itself in a time of great national peril. At the outset of the war, Japan's naval strength was more than double that of America's, but across the American continent, the idling factories steamed and sparked to life. Most of the vessels came splashing off the industrial assembly lines in the six months before this assault...... And it has not just been a matter of hardware. The civilians of America have mobilized behind these fighting boys. Behind each man on board the ships are hundreds of workers. In the factories, in the cities and towns, on the heartland farms; Rosie the Riveter, boy scouts collecting paper and metal, the young girl who would become Marilyn Monroe, sweating away in a defense plant.Here is some of what those mobilized civilians have generated for this tremendous force: For each of the seventy thousand assault troop Marines 1,322 lbs of supplies and equipment. Some of it sounds weirdly domestic: dog food, garbage cans, light bulbs, house paint. Some of it suggests an island business office: duplicating machines, carbon paper, movie projectors. Some sounds like kids' camping gear: toilet paper, socks, shoelaces, paper and pencils, flashlights, blankets. Some begin to suggest a sterner mission: flares, plasma, bandages, crucifixes, holy water, canisters of disinfectant to spray on corpses. And some of it gets exactly to the point: artillery, machine guns, automatic rifles, grenades and ammunition. The transport ships carry six thousand five-gallon cans of water, enough food to feed the population of Atlanta for a month or the assaulting Marines for two months. The Marines brought along one hundred million cigarettes.This isn't to say our strategy made us invulnerable. We endured great losses to be sure; 19,000 at the Battle of the Bulge, 16,293 at Normandy, 12,513 in Okinawa, and countless other battles throughout the war, totaling around 405,000 dead Americans. While that number is appalling, it pales compared with others. Soviet Union - up to 13,000,000 military dead, Germany - up to 5,500,000, Japan - 2,120,000. These figures do not include civilian dead, of which the United States had virtually none.That said, we dominated the Japanese in World War II once we steadied ourselves from the attack on Pearl Harbor. We suffered 1/24th their total losses in a war they began. The same can be seen in Iraq or Afghanistan and can be seen, as well, in any major conflict we have been a part of in the last one hundred years. This is because our philosophy wins wars in this modern age. War isn't won by weapons; it is won by warriors. Make the warrior a weapon and give him the tools to succeed and come home, and no other force on Earth can defeat him.Liked this? You might also like my YouTube Channel. You can also connect with The War Elephant on Facebook. If you want to help me make more content like this, please visit my Patreon Page to find out more.

There are three ways you can improve your programming knowledge:Learn a new language or technology to keep up with the ever changing technology. Nowadays it is easy to learn due to the hundreds of available online courses on the internet.Practice your coding skills because knowledge can only take you so far. Being able to apply what you have learned takes another skill to master.Collaborate with other programmers to discover and figure out new problems to solve. Taking up an online course or joining an online community for programmers means that you will have the opportunity to learn with other great minds from across the globe. Take this opportunity to interact and discuss ideas to further deepen your knowledge.There are plenty of other ways you can increase your knowledge as what the other writers suggested, but these three essential ways are your foundation for deeper understanding: new knowledge, constant application and meaningful discussions.To get you started, here are some of the websites that offer online courses on programming for all levels.Code SchoolCode School offers several courses on popular programming technologies such as JavaScript, PHP, iOS, and Android among others. Taught by experienced instructors, video contents are made engaging, and lessons are applied through on-site practice coding. The range of courses is perfect for coding newbies to experienced developers. It also has reward points to encourage learners and track their improvements. Code School is also easy to navigate making it interface-friendly for beginners.Recommended courses:JavaScript (https://www.codeschool.com/learn/javascript) - Build a solid understanding and foundation about one of the most popular and powerful programming languages.Ruby on Rails - Make your own custom web application through this introductory to an intermediate course about this dynamic open source program.Electives - Explore five supplementary dev courses to add to your programming knowledge.Build an Interactive Website - Create an interactive website using CSS, HTML, and JavaScript.The MEAN Stack - Become a full-stack developer using JavaScript technologies MongoDB, Express.js, AngularJS, and Node.js.Code AvengersWhat is unique about Code Avengers is that it offers tailored courses for kids, independent learners, and educators. Code Avengers Jr. introduces a gamified coding experience for children from ages 4 to 14 years old. Meanwhile, Code Avengers Pro offers several courses on programming technologies needed for web design, web development, and software engineering fit for beginners and tech pros. On the other hand, Code Avengers Edu provides additional training and knowledge for teachers of all levels. Code Avengers’ courses are interactive and allow a free trial.Recommended courses:Intro to Coding - Learn the basics of coding in JavaScript, HTML, CSS, and Python.Design - Take on the principles of design to create visually appealing apps and websites.HTML/CSS - Create travel guide websites, blog sites, and more while mastering HTML5 and CSS3.Computer Science - Study the fundamentals of programming like algorithm, flowcharts, and data representation.Game Development - Work on developing a game using JavaScript.CourseraCoursera contains a variety of courses from a number of fields in partnership with top universities from the US, the UK, and around the globe. It is one of the most popular online and top rated online course sites. Courses are suitable for all skill and educational levels and can be credited for University or earned for a certificate or a degree. Courses with certificates are needed to be purchased.Recommended courses:Python For Everybody Specialization - Master coding with Python in this specialized program featuring five Python-related courses.Data Science Specialization - Explore concepts and tools needed in studying the data science pipeline and produce a data product at the end of the course.Applied Data Science with Python Specialization - Deepen your knowledge of Data Science using Python and learn to apply it for machine learning, text analysis, and more.Data Structures and Algorithms Specialization - Understand key concepts and challenge yourself with the abundance of coding tests in the course.Excel to MySQL: Analytic Techniques for Business Specialization - Identify and analyze key metrics to drive businesses.UdacityUdacity offers a wide range of courses in partnership with top companies such as Google, Facebook, and IBM among others. This opportunity to learn and to be mentored by instructors from top companies makes its students job ready. The students also have a chance to work under these companies. Because of these partnerships, Udacity is able to offer courses that are not in other online learning platforms such as the list below.Recommended courses:Become a Mobile Web Specialist - Learn the ropes in mobile web development in partnership with Google.Become a VR Developer - Explore Virtuality from industry experts Google, HTC, and Unity.Learn Unreal VR - Use Unreal Engine as a tool to create virtual reality while studying the fundamentals of virtual reality.Learn ARKit - Build and publish your own augmented reality app in collaboration with Unity.Start on the road to a Self-Driving Car career - Study the essentials for launching your own self-driving car even with just minimal programming experience.FutureLearnThough courses are not as many as other online learning platforms, FutureLearn offers a broad range of interesting courses for all levels. Students can earn accredited postgraduate degrees or master subjects through their programs from leading universities mostly from the UK, and Australia. FutureLearn also provides online resources and support, and full access to the university library.Recommended courses:Introducing Robotics - Try to make a robot move as you master the fundamentals and programming skills required for an introductory course in robotics.Practical Data Mining - Learn how to mine data from small to large sets of data.Robotic Vision - Explore the growing study of robotic vision and its applications to healthcare, marine science, and interplanetary explorations, among others.Cyber Security - Block off threats that invade digital security by learning a range of studies from digital forensics to organizational security.Information Technology - Gain essential skills in IT and know how it relates to business operations.On the other hand, if you want to improve and master your current skills you can practice and master your coding skills. Check out these websites offering thousands of coding challenges to apply your coding knowledge.freeCodeCampComplete the coding challenges and build projects for nonprofits. This free online coding community contains tutorials to learn various coding languages and practice coding with tons of interactive exercises. The site is in partnership with nonprofits to help users gain experience and land a developer job afterward. freeCodeCamp also offers verified certificates.CoderbyteTest yourself with a collection of the best coding challenges in Coderbyte. You can solve the challenges online using 10 different programming languages. The site also offers tutorials and coding exercises on data structure and algorithm.DataCampExplore data science and code with the site’s online editor using Python and R. Their courses offer short quality tutorials and more on applying what you have learned. The site also lets you apply your skills to solve real-world problems.HackerRankPractice your coding skills in the largest learning and competition community. The site offers a lot of algorithm tutorials and tons of coding practices to choose from. Since the site also connects developers to companies, users can get hired by companies as well.CodinGameImprove your coding skills to the next level by solving tons of fun coding challenges in more than 25 languages. CodinGame lets you practice coding in pure code with online games. You can also learn other programming languages crafted by their top developers. Strengthening your coding skills could also land you a job with their partner companies.TopCoderCompete against other designers, developers, and data scientists in one of the original online competitive programming platforms. They have Single Round Matches offered a few times a month at a specific time. The top rankers are one of the best and hard to beat programmers.Project EulerExplore a domain of mathematical challenges that require more than mathematical insights to solve. The coding problems on the site give an inductive chain learning experience meaning each problem introduces new concepts that can help solve other problems. Unlike the other sites on the list, you can not code on the website itself so you would have to solve it on a sheet of paper.CodewarsSolve coding challenges created by an online community of developers in Codewars. Since this is a community-based website, you can create your own code and discuss solutions on online forums for each coding challenge. The challenges on the site earn you a spot on their ranking system. The higher your rank, the more difficult your challenges will be.LeetCodeHone your coding skills and be technical test-ready for a job interview. With over 750 questions to solve and 14 popular languages to use, you can practice your skills and participate in contests along with hundreds of thousands of other users. LeetCode also has a “Mock Interview” so users can prepare for technical job interviews.CodeChefMaster your coding skills with hundreds of practice exercises and compete in challenges depending on the level of difficulty. This Indian-based nonprofit educational initiative has a large community of coders who also contribute tutorials and forums. The site also partners with colleges and groups to conduct meetups, orientation sessions, and workshops.Too busy to learn or practice? Here are 7 Mobile Apps to Help You Learn Coding on the Go.Thinking of building your own tech startup instead? Read:Online Tech Startup Courses to Jump Start Your BusinessLeadership Talks You Need to Watch This WeekendTop 5 Tech Trends of 2018Productivity Hacks for the New Year