Transitionnews for Friday, January 10th 2014:

Good news story of the day

Leesburg Hoopsters Raise $16K For Wounded Warriors  (Leesburg Today)  Loudoun County High School’s second annual Hoops for Heroes Wednesday night raised $16,688 to benefit the Wounded Warrior Project.

Transition

PacMtn gets $5.5M Grant to Aid Transitioning  (Nisqually Valley News)  In the midst of cuts by the Department of Defense that will cause an estimated 8,000 troops to leave Joint Base Lewis-McChord in 2014 to transition into civilian life, the Department of Labor awarded local nonprofit Pacific Mountain Workforce Development Council (PacMtn) a $5.5 million National Emergency Grant in December.

National Veterans Work Survey Launched  (Military.com)  The fact that many veterans ultimately leave their initial post-military job is well known, but the reasons behind this attrition and the ways employers can best increase retention have yet to be quantified.

Veterans Corner: Ten tips to transition to civilian life  (Lake Country Sun)  Recently discharged veterans can ease their transition from active duty into civilian life in 2014, by following 10 simple tips.

Fort Carson to gain warrior transition unit under restructuring plan  (The Gazette)  This fall, Fort Carson’s Warrior Transition Battalion will gain a unit to remotely oversee the care of as many as 100 out-of-state ill and injured soldiers, a Fort Carson official said Thursday.

New training assists transitioning troops  (The Fort Campbell Courier)  Beginning a new career as a civilian employee when leaving the military can be filled with exciting opportunities to grow both professionally and personally.

Numbers of Wounded Down; Care Units to Close  (ABC News)  With the number of seriously wounded and ill soldiers at a six-year low, the Army is closing down some of the special units set up to care for troops and reorganizing the program.

Veterans

Veterans’ Brain Injury Examined By Researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine  (PR Newswire) Roadside bombs and other blasts have made head injury the “signature wound” of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. Most combat veterans recover from mild traumatic brain injury, also known as concussion, but a small minority experience significant and long-term side effects.

Muskegon veteran would benefit from registry for McClellan veterans possibly exposed to chemicals  (MLive.com)  It’s been nearly a year since a bill was introduced in the U.S. Congress making it easier for veterans once stationed at Fort McClellan to claim medical benefits.

Veterans Affairs

Suicides rise among youngest veterans, VA says  (AZCentral.com)  There has been a sharp increase in the suicide rate among the youngest male veterans, and a smaller but still significant jump among women who served in the military, the Department of Veterans Affairs said Thursday.

Veterans cemetery in Union Grove to get $1.5 million grant  (Milwaukee Wisconsin Journal Sentinal)  A $1.5 million federal grant will expand and beautify the Southern Wisconsin Memorial Cemetery in Union Grove, the fifth busiest state veterans cemetery in the U.S., the Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs said Thursday.

VETERANS: VA Loma Linda offers patient orientation sessions  (The Press Enterprise)  The VA Loma Linda Healthcare System will begin hosting veteran orientation sessions on the third Friday of the month from January to April.

Veterans Affairs hosting ‘Welcome Home’ event in Colton  (Redlands Daily Facts)  Veterans Affairs and the VA Loma Linda Healthcare System is hosting a “Welcome Home” event for military veterans from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at the San Bernardino Vet Center in Colton.

Benefits

Some lab fees soon will be billed to Tricare patients  (Stars and Stripes)  Tricare beneficiaries soon will have to pay out of pocket for certain diagnostic genetic tests that their civilian physicians order, but that the Defense Health Agency doesn’t view as appropriate or medically necessary.

Hagel: COLA cuts won’t impact disabled vets  (Military Times)  Speaking to amputees and burn victims at a military hospital in San Antonio, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the new law that will slash future retirement benefits for veterans will be changed to exempt those with disabilities.

Cut benefits for military retirees? Your Say  (USA Today)  Last month’s federal budget deal included a 1 percentage point reduction in cost-of-living adjustments for working-age military retirees. 

Pay and benefits should match hardships of military life  (The Washington Post)  Regarding the Dec. 27 Associated Press article, “Veterans aren’t giving up the fight over their benefits”:

Military Benefits Likely to Remain Sacred to Congress  (National Journal)  For Washington lawmakers who measure the national debt in trillions, $6 billion is a pittance.

Military Benefits Are the Real Third Rail of American Politics  (U.S. News and World Report)  Here we go again.

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Have a great day!