Veterans Groups Criticize Bachmann Plan to Cut Benefits

For years, federal spending on the military and veterans affairs seemed nearly as sacrosanct as Social Security. But with some House Republicans now talking about cutting the Pentagon budget, veterans groups have grown nervous that the Department of Veteran Affairs will be next. And so today, a number of groups took preemptive action, vigorously blasting a proposal for V.A. budget cuts that came from a Tea Party leader, Representative Michele Bachmann, Republican of Minnesota.

The veterans groups were responding to a plan recently posted on Representative Bachmann’s congressional Web site to cut federal spending by $400 billion. The plan calls for deep cuts to just about every federal agency, and veterans affairs is not spared: She proposed lopping $4.5 billion from its annual $125 billion budget, including by capping increases to health care spending for veterans and reducing some disability compensation.

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Enhanced VA Health Care Enrollment Opportunity Closing for Certain Combat Veterans

Certain combat Veterans who were discharged from active duty service before Jan. 28, 2003 have until Jan. 27, 2011 to take advantage of their enhanced health care enrollment opportunity through the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“While there is no time limit for Veterans to apply for the VA health care they earned with their service, I highly encourage this group of combat Veterans to take advantage of the enhanced enrollment window to use their health care benefits through this simplified process,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “VA has health care eligibility specialists online and at every medical center eager to help Veterans take advantage of this opportunity.”


The enhanced enrollment window was provided for in Public Law 110-181, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008.  That law gave combat Veterans who served after Nov. 11, 1998 but separated from service before Jan. 28, 2003, and did not enroll before Jan. 28, 2008, three years, beginning on Jan. 28, 2008, to apply for the enhanced enrollment opportunity.

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Marine Health

Between five and ten percent of Marines in Afghanistan are taking some kind of medication for mental or behavioral health.

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New Terror Alert Warning System

Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano today announced that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) will discontinue the color-coded alerts of the Homeland Security Advisory System (HSAS) in favor of a new system, the National Terrorism Advisory System (NTAS), that will more effectively communicate information about terrorist threats by providing timely, detailed information to the public, government agencies, first responders, airports and other transportation hubs, and the private sector.

The National Terrorism Advisory System will be implemented over the next 90 days in order for DHS and our federal, state, local, tribal, community and private sector partners to transition to the new system.

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Programs Aim to Support Military Spouses, Families

A new whole-of-government approach will bring the federal government's vast reach to help millions of service members and their families, a senior Defense Department official said yesterday.
"This is a very exciting time for those of us who have been working hard to support military families," said Barbara Thompson, director of the Pentagon's office of family policy and children and youth, said during a "DODLive" bloggers roundtable.

Thompson said the backing of President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, behind the effort to garner the support of every federal agency "is really quite amazing."

For the past year, numerous federal agencies and the National Security Council have been working on a report, titled: "Strengthening Our Military Families: Meeting America's Commitment." That 23-page report was released Jan. 24 in response to a presidential directive soliciting agencies for a more coordinated, comprehensive approach to improving federal support for military families.

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First Lady Pledges Support For Military Families

First Lady Michelle Obama said what impresses her most about military families is their strength, pride and courage.

"Their willingness to sacrifice without complaint moves me every single time," Obama said during an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The episode, "The Bravest Families in America," aired today.
The first lady said she became an admirer of military families during her husband's campaign for the presidency.

"Whenever I'm feeling bad, feeling sorry for myself, I suck it up because of these families," she said, noting that military families are "holding it together, making it happen."

Part of the challenge of getting the message out about military families "is that they never ask for help," she continued. "You don't do that when you're in the military. You get it done. That's how you're trained. That's what you're taught."

President Barack Obama this week announced an initiative that commits agencies across the government to improve conditions for service members, their spouses and children.

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Obama Announces ‘Unprecedented Commitment’ to Military Families

President Barack Obama today unveiled a government wide plan to strengthen military family support, offering a glimpse at a few of the new programs and cooperative efforts being launched in the coming months to improve quality of life and well-being for military families.

“Today, I'm proud to announce that for the first time ever, supporting the well-being of our military families will be a priority not just for the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs, but all across the federal government,” Obama said.

Speaking from the White House’s East Room, Obama unveiled this “unprecedented commitment” to military families with First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden, at his side. Top government and Defense Department officials also were on hand, including Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the service chiefs, and their spouses.

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DOD Leaders Discuss Critical Troop, Family Health Care Needs

Military health care has improved troop survival, recovery and rehabilitation, but providers, patients, families and leaders must keep investing time, effort and communication, Defense Department leaders said today.

Clifford L. Stanley, undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness, and Deborah Mullen, wife of Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke on these issues to an audience of thousands at the 2011 Military Health System Conference opening session.

Stanley is a retired Marine Corps major general, and recounted his family’s experience with the military health system.

In 1975, Stanley was stationed at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md., with his wife and their 3-month-old daughter when his family was the victim of a sniper attack. Stanley’s uncle was killed, and his wife was left paralyzed.

“I’m not a physician, but I was immediately introduced to the health care system in a unique way for us,” he said.
During the years that followed, Stanley said, his family learned a great deal about military health care, and experienced “a couple of close calls.”

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Deborah Mullen Issues Call to Support Military Families

During the second plenary address of the 2011 Military Health System Annual Conference, Deborah Mullen, wife of Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff addressed the unique challenges faced by military families saying, “The nature of war changes, weapons get smarter, captains get sharper, breakthrough medical advances save more and more lives, but the stress and anxiety felt by those who are left behind never changes.”

Mullen pointed out that while we are often reminded of the trials military personnel face daily, it is also important to remember these same stressors are felt by those at home as well.

“Our military families are beginning their day filled with the worry about the safety and security of their loved ones,” she said, adding, “I simply do not believe we fully understand the cumulative effects of stress, anxiety and worry that these families and their loved ones have endured, but we need to try and we need to do so quickly.”

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Honor Flight Network Brings Veterans to Nation’s Memorials

Veterans unloaded off the charter bus in Washington, DC, some in wheelchairs, others walking slowly as they approached the World War II Memorial proudly wearing their Honor Flight sweatshirts.

“Thank you for your service,” said a passerby. The group of mostly World War II veterans from different parts of the country came together for one purpose - to see their war memorials. They are all part of a non-profit program called Honor Flight Network, which transports mostly World War II veterans and those terminally ill, free of charge to the nation’s capital for a three day stay.

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New Military Tax Guidlines

Although its only January, it's time to begin thinking about Taxes.

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TRICARE Improves Online Communication, Access

Additions to the TRICARE military health plan's website are giving beneficiaries easier access to their personal health data, more convenient appointment scheduling and better communication with their health care providers, the top TRICARE official reported.

TRICARE Online, the military health system's patient portal, already enables users who get care at a military treatment facility to schedule appointments, track their medications, order prescription refills and view and even download their personal health records, Navy Rear Adm. (Dr.) Christine S. Hunter told American Forces Press Service.

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2010 Year in Photos (Army.Mil features)

View photos for 2010 on the U.S. Army website.

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TRICARE to Extend Dependent Coverage to Age 26

To ensure military families don’t get left out as the new national health care reform law extends parent’s health insurance to their children up to age 26, TRICARE plans to roll out its new Young Adult Program by spring and to provide an option to make coverage retroactive to Jan. 1.

The new program will allow qualified, unmarried military children up to age 26 to buy health care coverage under their parents’ TRICARE plans through age 26, defense officials announced yesterday. That’s up from the current maximum age of 21, or 23 for full-time college students whose parents provide more than half their financial support.


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Vets Mark 20th Anniversary of Gulf War

January 17, 2011Twenty years ago today, American aircraft and other forces began bombing Iraq, the opening salvos in an American-led coalition to liberate Kuwait from the Iraqi military.
Iraqi President Saddam Hussein promised victory in "the mother of all battles." A month later, his soldiers were surrendering en masse to coalition units and he was pulling those he had left out of the small, oil-rich nation he had seized six months prior.

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President Obama Names New VBA Leader

President Barack Obama nominated Allison A. Hickey to be Under Secretary for Benefits of the Department of Veterans Affairs. VCS issued a statement indicating we are pleased this key VBA leadership vacancy may be filled soon.
In a related matter, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki promoted Michael Cardarelli into a new position as Principal Deputy Under Secretary.  VCS hopes Hickey and Cardarelli have a detailed strategic plan to be more transparent, more engaged, and finally bring Shinseki's vision of reform to the beleaguered VBA. 


VCS urges Hickey and Cardarelli bring veterans faster and more accurate VA claim decisions.

See all recent nominations.

Military Medical Training Used to Help Injured Arizona Victims

Doctors who performed surgery on severely wounded Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords say they received some of their training at military hospitals.

Click here to see story.

Airmen Missing From Vietnam War Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of two servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

Click here to learn more.

DOL Launches Veteran Hiring Toolkit for Employers

WASHINGTON, D.C. – On Oct. 28, the U.S. Department of Labor announced the availability of a new online toolkit to guide employers through the process for hiring veterans. The free toolkit is designed to assist and educate employers who have made the proactive decision to include veterans and wounded warriors in their recruitment and hiring initiatives.
"Many employers have told us that they are interested in developing or enhancing a veterans hiring initiative for their company, but that they don't know where to begin," said Ray Jefferson, Assistant Secretary for DOL-Veterans' Employment and Training Service. "This toolkit was created with these employers in mind. It's designed to simplify the process and put valuable, vetted resources at the employer's fingertips."
Developed as part of the Department's "America's Heroes at Work" initiative, the Veterans Hiring Toolkit features a straightforward, six-step process pinpointing helpful tools.......

Click here to learn more.

GI Bill Updates Signed into Law

WASHINGTON, D.C. – To bring the educational benefits of the Post-9/11 GI Bill closer to more veterans and service members, President Barack Obama signed legislation on Jan. 4 that streamlines the 18-month-old education program administered by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

Among the new law's provisions are:
  • Paying for on-the-job training, some flight training, apprenticeship training and correspondence courses.
  • Allowing reservists and Guardsmen to have their time supporting emergencies called by their state governors credited to the time needed to qualify for educational benefits.
  • Providing one-half of the national average for the program’s housing allowance to students enrolled in distance learning.
  • Pro-rating the housing allowance to exclude payments when students are not in class.
  • Allowing students on active duty to receive the stipend for books and supplies.
  • Allowing people eligible for the Post-9/11 GI Bill, but participating in VA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) benefits, to choose between the GI Bill’s housing allowance or VR&E’s subsistence allowance.
  • Permitting reimbursement for more than one “license and certification” test. 
  • Reimbursing fees to take national admission tests, such as SAT, ACT, GMAT and LSAT.
  • Establishing a national cap of $17,500 annually for tuition and fees in a private or a foreign school, not including contributions by educational institutions under the “Yellow Ribbon” program. 
Information about the new provisions is available on the GI Bill website. The site also allows veterans and service members to find a school, apply for benefits, and access various other resources related to GI Bill benefits.

Go to GI Bill website

North Korean Threat

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates says North Korea could be a direct threat to the U.S. within five years.

http://www.pentagonchannel.mil/

Mass Burial Planned for Unclaimed Vets

GARDEN CITY, N.Y. -- Anderson Alston served as an Army master sergeant in World War II. Private Frederick Hunter was a soldier from 1968 to 1971. Myron Sanford Mabry was in the Navy from May 1960 to July 1971. All of them died recently in New York City with no one to claim their remains.
Ordinarily, they would have been quietly buried in a potter's field, their graves unmarked. Instead, they and 17 other veterans who died in recent months will receive full military honors at a mass funeral this weekend, including prayers over their flag-draped coffins, bagpipers, the playing of taps and local congressmen offering condolences.

The mass service Saturday at Calverton National Cemetery on eastern Long Island - the largest of it kind in U.S. history, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs - is part of a national initiative in recent years to clear a massive backlog of unburied or unclaimed cremated remains of both veterans and non-veterans.
"Our government promised every veteran a decent burial; that doesn't include sitting on a shelf in some funeral home basement," said Fred Salanti of Redding, Calif. The retired Army major is the founder and executive director of the Missing in America Project, which strives to provide a respectful funeral for any veteran who received an honorable discharge...

For more about this story click here.

Dizzy Clinic

''Dizzy Clinic'' is a program at Walter Reed designed to help troops combat some of the effects of traumatic brain injury.
http://www.pentagonchannel.mil

Veteran Job Bank

Heroes Today has partnered with CareerJet to offer veterans a powerful search tool to assist with finding employment.

CareerJet is a job search engine designed to make the process of finding a job on the internet easier for the user. It maps the huge selection of job offerings available on the internet in one extensive database by referencing job listings originating from company websites, recruitment agency websites and large specialist recruitment sites. Using a fast and straight forward interface, users can query this database and save themselves the trouble of visiting each site individually.

http://heroestoday.org/jobbank2.aspx

Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury

Officials at the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury have released their monthly webinar series schedule for 2011, and they hope the topics will interest everyone from service members and their families to medical professionals.

The webinar series presents resources and best practices regarding TBI and psychological health care and offers participants an interactive environment to ask questions or comment. This past year, the series featured topics such as family support techniques, combating stigma, suicide prevention and reintegration programs.
A webinar is a Web-based seminar that provides an interactive environment where participants can ask questions of subject matter experts and comment on the issues presented.

In 2011, topics will range from the impact of war on children to post-traumatic stress disorder in the wake of a natural disaster.  Webinars are scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m. EST.

Here’s the complete schedule:

Jan. 27: Peer-to-Peer Support Model Program

Feb. 24: Compassion Fatigue


March 24: Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and Co-occurring Psychological Health Disorders:
Focus on mild traumatic brain injury with co-occurring psychological health disorders toolkit

April 28: Indirect Neurotrauma: The Impact of War on Children

May 26: Operational Stress and In Theater Care

June 23: Anatomical/Physiological Changes Secondary to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

July 28: Reintegrative Medicine: Focusing on Family and Clinical Perspective, and Adaptation Following Incident

Aug. 25: Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Natural Disasters

Sept. 22: Neuropathophysiology of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

Oct. 27: Generational Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and Post Traumatic Growth

Nov. 17: Holidays Apart from Family

December: No event due to the holidays

For more on the webinar series, visit the DCoE blog. To be added to the DCoE Monthly Webinar Series listserv or to sign up for upcoming webinars, e-mail DCoE.MonthlyWebinar@tma.osd.mil.

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Suicide Prevention Alliance Focuses on Troops, Veterans




WASHINGTON, Jan. 3, 2011 - A suicide prevention task force for troops and veterans has been added to a national alliance that officials hope will help bring more attention to the issues and offer solutions in the future.


The National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention last week announced that troops and veterans -– identified as a high-risk group –- were added because of their increased suicide rates.

"Combined with initiatives already under way by the Department of Defense and the [Department of Veterans Affairs], this task force will further strengthen prevention, bringing together the best minds in the public and private sectors," said Army Secretary John McHugh, co-chair of the alliance.

The alliance was launched last year by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, with input and support of many public- and private-sector stakeholders, including the National Council for Suicide Prevention and VA.

Speaking Sept. 10, 2010 at the launch of the alliance -- a public-private partnership -- Gates emphasized the importance of a nationwide approach to suicide prevention. The alliance's strategy pools federal and private-sector research and resources to work on addressing the national suicide rate.

"In everything we do, we must remember that every soldier, sailor, airman, or marine is part, not just of the military, but also a larger community. Their families, their hometowns, their civilian employers, their places of worship –- all must be involved in the solution," Gates said at the launch of the alliance held at the National Press Club here.

The military suicide rate has increased steadily over the past five years, exceeding the national average of 11.1 suicides per 100,000 people. The military last year averaged 12.5 suicides per 100,000, according DOD reports.

The leaders of the alliance's Military and Veterans Task Force are Dr. Jan Kemp, national director of VA's suicide prevention program, and Maggie Haynes, director of combat stress for the Wounded Warrior Project, a nonprofit organization.

In addition to the task force for service members and veterans, the alliance also established suicide-prevention task forces for other groups it determined are at high risk: American Indians and Alaska natives, and youth who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender.

Source: http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=62305

Heroes Today (http://heroestoday.org)

"Helping Soldiers Fight the War Against Homelessness"
 The only exclusive veteran support and social service provider located in the City of Chester.

The establishment of the Chester Chapter of Heroes Today began in July 2010. Our goal is to help empower veterans to succeed in the City of Chester and surrounding communities by offering employment assistance, family outreach, peer to peer support groups and various other services to help improve quality of life.

Help us to reach out to the veterans and families of veterans that are in distress in the City of Chester and surrounding boroughs. If you see or know of a veteran or the family of a veteran that needs help call 888-330-3235. 

 

TBI Webinars

The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury has released its monthly Webinar series schedule for 2011.
http://www.pentagonchannel.mil

Medal of Honor PSA

Medal of Honor recipients take part in a public service announcement encouraging service members with post-traumatic stress to ask for help.
   http://www.pentagonchannel.mil