Military transition and veterans affairs news of the day for 3/7/14
Good news story of the day
Veterans launch effort to help homeless comrades (WFMZ) Veterans served our country, and now people in Reading are gathering to serve them.
Military Transition
Jobs program for National Guard members expanding to include all military branches (The State) An effort to help S.C. National Guard members find jobs will be expanded to serve all military members, Gov. Nikki Haley announced last week.
The career technical training track: What’s in it for you? (Army.mil) Beginning a new career as a civilian employee when leaving the military can be filled with exciting opportunities to grow both professionally and personally.
Service members, military spouses gather to prepare for civilian life (Jackson Daily News) It’s a much different battlefield than they’re used to, but it’s one they want to head onto fully prepared.
Legion to Train Women Veteran Entrepreneurs (Military.com) The American Legion will conduct a two-day entrepreneurial course, “For Her Entrepreneurship – Resources, Opportunities, Experiences & Support (For HEROES),” in conjunction with its annual Washington Conference in the nation’s capital.
Big budget cuts pose ‘tough, tough choices’ for Pentagon: Hagel (Reuters) Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel warned on Thursday that “tough, tough choices are coming” if the Pentagon implements deep future spending cuts required by law, including whether to slash the Army to 420,000 soldiers and decommission an aircraft carrier.
Veterans
Veterans Find Success As Entrepreneurs (Forbes) In study after study, entrepreneurs are often associated with natural tendencies toward tenacity, passion, vision, and flexibility. These are often the same descriptors used for military veterans. Perhaps that’s why so many vets have chosen to start their own business.
Access to social workers could keep veterans out of criminal justice system, researchers find (Science Daily) Approximately one in six veterans struggles with substance abuse, and 20 percent show signs of mental health issues or cognitive impairments, previous research has shown.
LAWSUITS REVIVED BY SOLDIERS OVER WASTE DISPOSAL (AP) A federal appeals court on Thursday revived dozens of lawsuits by soldiers and others who claim they were harmed by improper waste disposal while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
New program aims to help struggling veterans (NVDaily) When William Sutton, founder of Veterans of Valor, learned about the vast community of homeless veterans throughout the county, he decided to start a program that would work to provide those men and women with what they deserve.
Veterans Affairs
VRAP gets cash to carry through school terms (Military Times) A $65 million fix by the Veterans Affairs Department will keep thousands of unemployed veterans in job training programs through the end of this semester.
Veterans benefits claims backlog: proposed legislation addresses a comprehensive problem (PennLive) The chronic backlog of veterans benefits claims, which has generated little urgency in recent years, is fast getting the attention of Washington lawmakers.
The untold story of U.S. veterans (Philadelphia Business Journal) Now is the time for an authentic view of United States veterans.
Habitat, Veterans Council aims to serve those who have served (The Times) Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Indiana announced a partnership Thursday that will eventually put a Northwest Indiana veteran’s family in a new home.
How veterans can fight back against VA abuse (Daily Caller) Veterans across the country are outraged and frustrated by the Department of Veterans Affairs’ widespread culture of violating constitutional rights while processing disability claims. Investigative reporting by the Daily Caller has recently brought to light that VA officials are systematically destroying veterans’ disability claims in order portray the backlog in claims as smaller than it is.
Benefits
Exclusive: DoD proposes revolutionary changes in retirement benefits (Military Times) After years of silence on the intensely controversial issue of military retirement reform, the Pentagon on Thursday unveiled a detailed proposal for fundamental, far-reaching changes to the current pension system, Military Times has learned.
Proposed commissary cutbacks draw criticism (Pilot Online) The ink had barely dried on President Barack Obama’s proposed 2015 defense budget Tuesday when resistance to cuts in benefits for military members and their families began to surface.
Proposal would revamp Survivor Benefit Program (Military Times) A Defense Department proposal to revamp its Survivor Benefit Program would save money by increasing the premium that retirees pay for coverage.
Disability pay: simpler, broader, more generous (Military Times) The Pentagon’s new retirement reform proposal would make sweeping changes to the complex system of benefits that aim to compensate wounded warriors for injuries that cut short a military career.
DoD: Give reservists immediate retirement pay (Military Times) Reservists would be eligible to begin receiving military retirement pay immediately after completing 20 years of part-time service under a new Pentagon proposal for overhauling the retirement system.
See comparisons: Examples of how the value of annual payments would change under the new proposal. (Military Times) Scroll to the bottom of the page for a very informative infographic put together by Military Times.
DOD report from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to the Secretary of Defense (Military Times) Recommendations to the Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission (.pdf)
Orders to Nowhere... 