Military transition and veterans affairs news of the day for 2/28/14

Good news story of the day

Marine paralympic game trials start  (Union Tribune)  Several hundred injured Marines are set to compete in the annual Marine Corps Trials, starting Sunday at Camp Pendleton.

Military Transition

Pilot class preps soldiers to be entrepreneurs  (Ft Leavenworth Lamp)  “Man, if they had something like this when I got out, life would have been better for me,” Dr. W. Chris King, dean of academics at the Command and General Staff College, said during the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s FastTrac NewVenture for the Veteran Entrepreneur course graduation Feb. 21 at the Resiliency Center.

Marywood University to sponsor Renewal-Veteran Education and Transition Services (R-VETS) to Veterans  (The Abington Journal)  Marywood University’s Office of Military and Veteran Services will be offering a Renewal-Veteran Education and Transition Services (R-VETS) program, which is focused on providing college access to community veterans interested in post-secondary education.

Air National Guard: Another chance for Airmen affected by force shaping  (DC Military)  The Air Force is currently implementing force management programs to meet budget reduction requirements. Nearly 25,000 Airmen will be affected by these programs over the next few years.

Female veterans luncheon planned for March 8 at University of Redlands  (The Sun)  Female veterans will be recognized at the Inland Empire Women Veterans luncheon planned for March 8 at the University of Redlands.

Army Warrior Transition Command Congratulates Army Veterans on U.S. Paralympic Team (Workers Compensation)  As the Army’s lead for wounded warrior care, the U.S. Army Warrior Transition Command congratulates all members of the 2014 U.S. Paralympic team, and especially the eight Army athletes.

Navy mentoring making dreams a reality  (DC Military)  How is the Navy making dreams a reality in the fields of science and engineering for wounded warriors, interns, new employees and students in middle and high school?
From Military To Finance: A Fuqua MBA Does Wonderful Things For Women  (Business Because) When it comes to female business leaders and MBAs, the numbers aren’t pretty: women make up just over 30 per cent of the student body at U.S. business schools.

Spectrum Health expanding job program for veterans  (Washington Times)  For eight months, Hugh Lehigh struggled to find work after relocating from Seattle to West Michigan in 2012.

Veterans

World War II veteran visits Weston school  (Sun Sentinel)  Decorated signs of patriotism and appreciation welcomed World War II veteran Harold Flagg during his recent visit to Tequesta Trace Middle School in Weston.

VET GROUP: COAST GUARD WRONGLY DISCHARGED MEMBERS  (AP)  The U.S. Coast Guard routinely violates its procedures and regulations intended to protect service members from erroneous discharges for personality or adjustment disorders, a veterans group and Yale Law School students alleged Thursday.

Retired Marine Reveals Secret Suffering of Male Military Rape Victims  (The Daily Beast)  Former Marine Lance Corporal Jeremiah Arbogast tried to kill himself after he watched his rapist walk free. He shared his story, Wednesday, in hopes of helping spark change within the ranks.

Key lawmaker: Don’t try to hash out pay reform this year  (Military Times)  The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee wants to delay any major military retirement and compensation debate until next year, instead focusing on other areas of potential savings for the fiscal 2015 defense budget.

Benefits threaten Pentagon mission: Our view  (USA Today)  The government is underfunding a lot of things these days — infrastructure and science, to name just a couple.

Veterans Affairs

The VA’s War: Department Of Veterans Affairs And Congress Clash Over Suicide Charges  (International Business Times)  Simmering tensions between members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee and officials at the Department of Veterans Affairs boiled over this week following an IBTimes report that the veterans department had substantiated three ethical lapses — one of which involved veteran suicides — cited last March by an agency whistleblower.

VA’s time to resolve disability appeals shoots up, lagging department’s goals  (The Miami Herald)  The average time for a denied claim to work its way through the cumbersome Department of Veterans Affairs appeals process shot up to more than 900 days last year, double the department’s long-term target.

VA security breach leaves veterans’ data at risk  (WVEC.com)  An internal memo prepared by top IT professionals inside the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs says the agency’s computers that hold private information for hundreds of thousands of military veterans are essentially wide open.

Congress harms veterans’ medical access  (The Hill)  As a physician, I find it unacceptable to see brave military veterans going without needed care within the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

Executives responsible for Augusta VA consult delays likely won’t face punishment  (The Augusta Chronicle)  The senior-level executives responsible for delays in care at veterans affairs medical centers in Augusta and Columbia probably won’t face punishment because they retired before they could be disciplined, VA leadership testified before Congress Wednesday.

Benefits

Senior defense official: ‘We don’t want to cut.’ Blame Congress  (Army Times)  A senior defense official says the Army and Defense Department are being unfairly vilified in the media over military budget cuts when Congress is really to blame.

Commissaries move to stem ‘bulk buying,’ coupon abuse  (Military Times)  A policy update posted Wednesday on Facebook by the Defense Commissary Agency is aimed at preventing abuse of the system through bulk buying and coupon redemption.

Omnibus VA bill falls in Senate  (The Washington Post)  A broad Veterans Affairs bill that would have expanded benefits for former service members and repealed a military pension cut for future troops stalled out in the Senate on Thursday.

Bickering Over Defense Budget on Horizon, Republican Lawmakers Say  (National Defense)  When the cuts that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced as part of his Pentagon budget preview come to Congress, expect a battle, said the two top Republicans on the House and Senate armed service committees.

Senate rejects far-reaching Veterans Affairs bill  (The Washington Post)  A broad Department of Veterans Affairs bill that would have expanded benefits for former service members and repealed a military pension cut for future troops was rejected in the Senate on Thursday.

Military Groups Blast Republicans For Killing A Bill To Support Veterans  (Yahoo Finance)  Veterans organizations are not happy with U.S. Senate Republicans today, after a bill to expand health care and education programs for veterans failed to gain enough support to move forward, Reuters reports.

Americans Remain Divided on Military Spending  (Gallup)  As the Obama administration announces plans for further decreases in military spending, Gallup surveys show no broad consensus among Americans that the U.S. is spending too much or too little on the military.

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