Good news story of the day
Marine lost leg, but not passion for serving (The Tennessean) Two and a half years ago Lance Cpl. Jeremy Vanhoose lost his leg in an explosion in Afghanistan, but the Marine did not lose his purpose: to serve.
Military Transition News
Military MOJO Announces 2014 National Hiring Events for Commissioned and Non-Commissioned Officers (PR Web) MOJO (Military Officers Job Opportunities) is a premier hiring event pairing commissioned military officers, senior non-commissioned officers, and non-commissioned officers holding degrees with national employers seeking veterans for leadership opportunities.
Confusion continues over TERA, VSP application approvals (Air Force Times) Despite an announcement Saturday that the Air Force had decided to resume processing applications for voluntary separations and 15-year retirements after a “strategic pause,” airmen are still being told that processing is on hold, an airman told Air Force Times on Thursday.
New veterans’ initiative to aid transition to civilian life (The Aiken Standard) A business, education and nonprofit collaboration will lead to part-time employment opportunities for student veterans enrolled at the USC Aiken and Aiken Technical College campuses.
Higher jobless rates for Iraq, Afghanistan vets (The Sacramento Bee) Military veterans are having better luck finding jobs, outpacing their civilian counterparts in many states, but younger former troops who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan still lag behind.
The Ozarks: A ‘Good Place to be a Veteran and Get a Job’ (KSMU) The Springfield Chamber of Commerce and the Missouri Career Center in Springfield hosted the Hiring Our Heroes Veterans Job Fair Thursday, aimed at finding employment for military veterans and their spouses. KSMU’s Shane Franklin was in attendance, and has this report.
‘Transition GPS’ helps troops re-enter civilian world (Hilltop Times) Feedback on “Transition GPS,” which prepares service members to enter the civilian workforce, indicates it improves on the program it replaced, the director of the Defense Department’s Transition to Veterans Program office said here March 11.
Helping hand: Readiness course assists with job hunt (Army Flier) Heraclitus, the Greek philosopher, once said that change is the only constant in life, and it was Louis Pasteur who is quoted as saying, “Fortune favors the prepared mind.”
Recent veterans struggle to find jobs (USA Today) Despite downward trends in unemployment across the country, veterans who served during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars still have difficulty finding work, according to government jobs data issued Thursday.
Veterans unemployment rises in Texas, falls nationally (Dallas News) The unemployment rate of military veterans rose in Texas last year, showing it’s still tough for returning soldiers to find a job even as the economy improves.
Veteran employment decrease first since 2001 (Dayton Daily News) New Labor Department figures show the unemployment rate for working-age veterans who served on active duty in the U.S. armed forces since September 2001 edged down slightly in 2013, to 9.0 percent.
Veterans News
Governor Cuomo Holds First New York Veterans and Military Families Summit (LongIsland.com) Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today held the first New York State Veterans and Military Families Summit.
SBA working to get loans into veterans’ hands (Rochester Business Journal) Our nation’s veterans have served our country proudly and bravely. They are true American heroes, and we must make sure we’re doing everything possible to support them once they re-enter civilian life.
House committee moves bill to let judges consider PTSD, brain injury in sentencing combat vets (The Republic) The House Special Committee on Military and Veterans’ Affairs moved a bill Thursday allowing judges to consider post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries as a mitigating factor during sentencings of combat veterans.
Veterans fight the organic fight at Delaware Valley College training program (Philly.com) With his burly physique and woolly beard, Brandon Barnhart looks every inch the laid-back country kid from tiny West College Corner, Ind.
Tuskegee Airman recalls his career and an aviation pioneer honored on a new stamp (The Washington Post) The U.S. Postal Service has released a stamp in honor of C. Alfred “Chief” Anderson, a black aviation pioneer who taught hundreds of Tuskegee Airmen as chief flight instructor at the historic Tuskegee Institute.
Benefits News
What’s in Veterans Affairs’ $164 Billion Budget? (The New York Times) The secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Eric K. Shinseki, last week, outlined President Obama’s 2015 budget for the department before hearings of the House and Senate veterans affairs committees, calling for total spending of $163.9 billion, a 6.5 percent increase from last year.
VA-DoD common records system may still be possible (Military Times) After being jilted again and again by the Pentagon in pursuit of a common digital health records system, the Veterans Affairs Department is hoping a new makeover will finally get its own system noticed — and perhaps get defense officials to commit to a long-term relationship after all.
Veterans First lives by this motto: Never say ‘no’ to a vet (Orange Country Register) We could talk about today’s ribbon-cutting. About the grand opening of a new Veterans First service center.
Orders to Nowhere... 