Military transition and veterans affairs news of the day for 2/24/14

Good news story of the day

Janesville housing program helps homeless veterans  (Twin Cities)  The first thing Don Gross will tell you is how thankful he is to have a roof over his head.

Military Transition

Companies Need To Help America’s Military Veterans Get Back To Work  (Forbes)  On a hot Annapolis afternoon in the summer of 1966, I stood alongside hundreds of other young men on the grounds of the U.S Naval Academy.

Fort Leonard Wood to lose 1,000 troops; changes at Scott AFB less clear  (Saint Louis Today)  As part of budget cuts throughout the U.S. military, the largest base in Missouri is expected to lose about 1,000 soldiers by October 2015.

Help wanted in the Reserve: Big bonuses, retraining opportunities and a way to stay Air Force  (Air Force Times) Thousands of airmen at risk of being cut in the drawdown could find a parachute in the Air Force Reserve.

George W. Bush launches program to help veterans transition from war  (Reuters)  Former U.S. President George W. Bush on Sunday promoted a new initiative to help veterans transition back to civilian life and aid in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Pikes Peak Community College opens veterans center in response to more military in transition  (The Gazette) The 25 percent of Pikes Peak Community College students who are veterans, active military or military family members have a new Military and Veterans Center of Excellence at the college’s Centennial campus near Fort Carson.

Veterans

Seeking a man left behind: Aberdeen war hero enlisted to help find Vietnam-era pilot’s remains  (Idaho State Journal)  It’s been 45 years since Aberdeen’s Leland Sorensen clung to a thin steel cable as he was lowered into the jungle canopy of Southeast Asia.

Killeen: Veteran Runs In Memory Of Fallen Soldiers  (Our Town Texas)  Long-distance running didn’t used to be a normal activity for retired Army Master Sergeant Norma Dealcala, but that changed after she got out of the military last year.

George W Bush fights to stop PTSD being called a disorder  (Daily Mail)  George W. Bush has called for the stigmatizing word ‘disorder’ to be removed from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which he claims hinders military veterans’ transition into civilian life.

Remains of Bragg soldier shot down in Vietnam to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery  (FayObserver)  Staff Sgt. Lawrence Woods was on a Fairchild C123 Provider near the border of South Vietnam and Cambodia when it was shot down in late 1964.

Lejeune water contamination dated to 1950s  (The Daily News)  When the 37 year old heard about the latest study conducted by BioMed Central and published in the Environmental Health Journal this week documenting contamination of Camp Lejeune water sources dating earlier in the 1950s, he wasn’t shocked by the findings.

White House: 24 soldiers to receive the Medal of Honor  (Army Times)  The Medal of Honor will be awarded to 24 people, three of them living, who served in wars of past decades, the White House announced today.

Hagel: No Medal of Honor for Peralta (Marine Corps Times)  Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will not reopen the Medal of Honor case for Marine Sgt. Rafael Peralta, his office announced Friday.

Walter Ehlers, last living Medal of Honor recipient from D-Day, dies  (Army Times)  Staff Sgt. Walter Ehlers, the last Medal of Honor recipient from the D-Day invasion in 1944, has died at the age of 92, according to the Congressional Medal of Honor Society.

Local veterans want to create new group for Iraq, Afghanistan war veterans  (Waco Tribune) Local veterans advocates are hoping to gain support for a new veterans organization tailored for men and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Veterans Affairs

VA: Peer Support Program  (Examiner)  As the war on terrorism continues more military service men and women return home with symptoms of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Veterans caught in limbo while searching for mental health help  (Waco Tribune)  Veteran Brad Marsh is a retired U.S. Marine who moved to Waco in an effort to control his mental disorders.

Olympia man suing Veterans Administration after he contracted MRSA  (The News Tribune) A Vietnam veteran living in Olympia is suing the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs two years after a severe bacterial infection he developed while receiving care at the system’s Seattle hospital led to the amputation of his right leg.

68 years of injustice and still counting  (Global Nation)  It has been 68 years—68 years since the Rescission Act of 1946 removed United States military service recognition and benefits to Filipino World War II veterans.

Benefits

What’s on the Chopping Block—and What’s Safe—in the Pentagon’s Shrinking Budget?  (National Journal)  This year’s scramble in Washington over the budget request will start Monday, when Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is expected to preview the fiscal 2015 Defense Department budget—a week before the official request goes to Congress.

U.S. Military to Unveil Plan to Cut Personnel Costs  (The Wall Street Journal)  Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is set Monday to recommend a limit on military pay raises, higher fees for health-care benefits and less generous housing allowances to prune billions of dollars in benefits from the defense budget, setting up an election-year confrontation with veterans groups and lawmakers.

D.C. Report: Senate focus is veterans’ pay, House takes up IRS rules  (Tulsa World)  The Senate begins on Monday with Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, giving the annual reading of President Washington’s Farewell Address. Its major legislative task this week is veterans’ benefits and pay.

Retirement Medal moves forward  (Army Times)  Sgt. 1st Class Steven Janotta never imagined his idea for an Army retirement medal would garner so much attention.

Sources: DoD 5-Year Spending Plan $115 Billion Over Budget Caps, Ignores Sequestration  (Defense News) The US Defense Department on March 4 will propose a five-year plan that boosts Pentagon spending by a total of $115 billion over sequestration spending caps, according to multiple sources who have been briefed on the plan.

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