Military transition and veterans affairs news of the day for 2/25/14

Good news story of the day

Group helping veterans find housing  (Times Online)  A few local nonprofits are helping veterans help other veterans.

Military Transition

Soldiers survive combat, then lose their jobs  (USA Today)  For thousands of career-military troops who endured combat and family separations during a dozen years of war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the end of hostilities brings a new directive from the government — your services are no longer needed.

Veterans Resource Fair offers job, education opportunities and more  (Cleveland.com)  They served their country, now they’re looking for their country to return the service.

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.

Budget cuts to slash U.S. Army to smallest since before World War Two  (AOL)  The Pentagon said on Monday it would shrink the U.S. Army to pre-World War Two levels, eliminate the popular A-10 aircraft and reduce military benefits in order to meet 2015 spending caps, setting up an election-year fight with the Congress over national defense priorities.

Defense budget would shrink U.S. Army, cut benefits  (UPI)  The 2015 Pentagon budget will cut benefits for active-duty personnel and reduce the Army to pre-World War II levels, U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said.

The Army Force Cuts: 3 Truths, 4 Fallacies  (Breaking Defense)  There are three things you need to know about the administration’s new budget plan and what it means for the Army. Most importantly, the fact the Army will be its smallest since before World War II is not one of them.

US Lawmakers Push Back Against DoD Budget Plans  (Defense News)  Congress and others in the defense community pushed back on Pentagon plans to cut 120,000 personnel from the active and reserve Army ranks, retire entire fleets of Air Force aircraft and sideline Navy ships.

Veterans

Vietnam veterans get their day in Utah  (Standard-Examiner)  This spring, it looks as though local Vietnam veterans will finally have a day to call their own — as a signature from Utah Gov. Gary Herbert is the final hurdle to clear before March 29 becomes Utah’s official “Vietnam War Memorial Day.”

Veterans raising new flagpole in Highland Cemetery  (Great Falls Tribune)  Last fall, a group of veterans set a goal to raise enough money to replace the vandalized and unusable flagpole in the veterans section of Highland Cemetery.

Special Court for Veterans Gaining Momentum  (Military.com)  After a slow start, an innovative effort to reduce crime by veterans in Washington County is showing encouraging signs of lowering recidivism rates among vets, county court officials say.

Local Tuskegee pilot to be honored on a U.S. stamp  (Philly.com)  Long after he piloted a plane that transported first lady Eleanor Roosevelt to the skies above the Tuskegee Institute, C. Alfred “Chief” Anderson sometimes sidestepped the limelight.

Task force hears veterans’ testimonies  (Rapid City Journal)  About 30 local veterans gave strong, passionate testimonies on behalf of keeping the VA Black Hills Health Care System’s facility open in Hot Springs, before a crowd of more than 100 people at the American Legion on Monday, Feb. 17.

Veterans Affairs

California Veterans Signing Up For Benefits At Low Rates  (Capital Public Radio)  The State of California says veterans are not taking advantage of all the benefits that are available to them, and it’s trying to change that.

Kirk Tours Illiana Health Care System and Addresses Nationwide VA Backlog  (Press Zoom)  U.S. Senator Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) today visited with veterans and Veterans Affairs (VA) officials at the Illiana Health Care System to tour the system’s living facilities and to discuss the continued disability claims backlog facing veterans across the nation.

Tommy Sowers: Facts about VA health care and benefits   (Sun-Sentinel)  America’s veterans deserve the very best this nation can offer to honor their service and sacrifice.

Department of Veterans Affairs employees destroyed veterans’ medical records to cancel backlogged exam requests  (Daily Caller)

Employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) destroyed veterans’ medical files in a systematic attempt to eliminate backlogged veteran medical exam requests, a former VA employee told The Daily Caller.

Benefits

Pentagon budget would cut military health benefits and commissary funds  (Washington Post)  The Pentagon’s 2015 budget proposal would raise health-care costs for certain members of the military community and drastically trim subsidies for the commissaries that provide discounted groceries to troops and their families.

Massive veterans bill heading toward Senate vote  (USA Today)  What has been characterized as the most sweeping veterans legislation in decades could reach the Senate floor for a vote as early as Tuesday.

Dozens of veterans priorities rolled into 1 bill  (AP)  It’s hard to vote against veterans these days.

Will partisanship derail veterans benefits bill?  (CBS)  The Senate is preparing to tackle a major veterans bill this week, a process that will test whether the chamber is still stuck in a feud over a rules change last fall that reduced the power of the Republican minority.

Vets Benefits Bill Should Win Initial Senate Vote  (ABC)  A sprawling Democratic bill expanding health, education and other benefits for veterans seems ready to clear an initial hurdle in the Senate.

A Concrete Way to Honor Military Sacrifices  (The Wall Street Journal)  One of the most important measures of a country’s greatness lies in how it treats those who put their lives on the line to defend their homeland.

Veterans advocates prepare for new budget fights  (Military.com)  Cuts to annual cost-of-living adjustments in military retired pay are gone. Now comes the next fight.

DoD seeks to raise Tricare fees for active-duty family members  (Military Times)  The Pentagon’s proposed 2015 budget, unveiled Monday, includes a surprise proposal to raise health care fees for active-duty family members which, if approved, would mark the first increases in health care costs for those beneficiaries since Tricare was established nearly 20 years ago.

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