The  Official Google Blog has announced that they have launched a new program where active U.S. service members who have a .mil email address can get a Google Voice invite within a day!

It’s not easy to stay in touch with friends and family when you’re fighting in a country thousands of miles from home. I spent 13 months in Iraq as an Army journalist where I flew in Black Hawks over Balad and Baghdad working to generate news coverage about my fellow soldiers. The whole experience was physically and emotionally draining, but it was especially difficult when I called home at the end of the day and nobody was there to answer.

For servicemen and women who are constantly on the move, having a single number and an easy way to retrieve messages from loved ones can be invaluable. To help our service members communicate with their loved ones and show our support to those serving our country, Google is launching a new program. Starting today, any active U.S. service member with a .mil email address can sign up for a Google Voice account at www.google.com/militaryinvite and start using the free service within a day.

This is great news for our active servicemen and women, especially if you own a BlackBerry. If you’re an active service member who owns a BlackBerry and is planning to get a Google Voice account, be sure to check out the Google Voice BlackBerry app.

More info at google.com/militaryinvite and voice.google.com.

I’ve included a full Google Voice feature list after the jump.

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*UPDATE Invites are being sent out for those on the reservation list. Sign up now before they run out of the 1 million numbers available! *

*UPDATE The Google Voice Twitter account just tweeted “Invites to people on reservations list starting to go out today.” I guess this means it won’t be available to everyone just yet. You can still sign up at voice.google.com for an invite if you’re interested. Hopefully a public launch will happen soon! *

Back in March I mentioned that GrandCentral would be returning as Google Voice with lots of cool features. I also mentioned the GVdialer application, an app that is meant to help integrate Google Voice with your BlackBerry.

Janet Shamlian of The Today Show did an overview of Google Voice and its call filtering/forwarding and voicemail transcription features. Shamlian also confirmed that Google Voice would be “available today, nationwide.”

Current Grand Central users are already able to use Google Voice. Others who are interested can sign up for an invite at voice.google.com. Of course if it does end up launching today, you won’t need to sign up.

I’ve included the Google Voice features, the video from The Today Show, and the video showing GVdialer in action after the jump. You can also find more info about Google Voice here.

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This is pretty cool! According to the Official Google Blog, GrandCentral is to become Google Voice. Current GrandCentral users will be able to get a preview of Google Voice before it goes public, which should happen over the next couple days. As for the rest of us, Google says it will be publicly available soon!

Google number – One number for all your calls and SMS

• Call screening – Announce and screen callers
• Listen in – Listen before taking a call
• Block calls – Keep unwanted callers at bay
• SMS – Send, receive, and store SMS
• Place calls – Call US numbers for free
• Taking calls – Answer on any of your phones
• Phone routing – Phones ring based on who calls
• Forwarding phones – Add phones and decide which ring

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