Category Archives: Transitionnews

Transitionnews 11/29/13

Posted by Mike Grice on

Transitionnews for Friday, November 29 2013:

Good news story of the day

Navy Wounded Warrior Anchor Program Supports a Grateful Family  (Navy.mil)  A retired Navy command master chief who serves as a Navy Wounded Warrior (NWW) – Safe Harbor Anchor Program mentor – spent valuable time with a Coast Guard wounded warrior and his family in Carlisle, Pa., during November.

Transition

Workshop advises service members in transition  (The Redstone Rocket)  Whether a service member retires after 20 years or gets out after just one tour, the Army’s Transition Assistance Program helps service members and their families transition into civilian life by offering job-search assistance, financial readiness planning and related services.

Veterans in Private Sector: Making the Transition  (Federal News Radio) Why should you hire a veteran?  Here are a few reasons: They possess great leadership skills. They take initiative. They assume responsibility. They’re creative.

New IT career training program helps veterans find jobs  (Observer & Eccentric)  A new public-private partnership has been formed to provide information and technology training and certification to Michigan veterans.

‘Warriors 4 Wireless’ Program Helps Vets Find Tech Industry Jobs  (LiveScience)   A new nonprofit program aims to help veterans and returning service members find jobs in wireless telecommunications, as part of a broader goal to have 5,000 vets employed in the expanding industry by the year 2015, according to officials from the Department of Defense.

Veterans

Wounded Warrior Group suing Indiana veteran it says defamed it  (UPI)  A national veterans assistance group is suing an Indiana veteran it says defamed it, court documents show.

Veterans Pitch In to Help Serve, Overseas and at Home  (ABC News)  To celebrate Thanksgiving, President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama – along with daughters Sasha and Malia – went to the Capital Area Food Bank to serve nutritious meals for hungry families alongside post-9/11 veterans who were reporting for duty in their community.

Veterans see glitches in getting new licenses  (Channel 3000)  Some Wisconsin veterans trying to get their hands on special new driver’s licenses have been confused by a state website but unable to get through to a toll-free hotline for assistance.

Orlando gives veterans a boost in competing for contracts  (Orlando Sentinal)   Every year, Orlando issues millions of dollars worth of contracts and purchase orders for everything from staples to giant construction projects.

Veterans form organization to help peers  (Newburyport News)  Two local veterans are extending a helping hand to keep the hands of their struggling peers warm.

Easter Seals groups ramp up help to veterans  (Philly.com)  Like many people, Gary Staten typically thought of the nonprofit group Easter Seals as mainly helping children and adults with disabilities and special needs.

Veterans Affairs

Plans progressing on state vets home  (The Rapid City Journal)  The South Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs has announced that contractors began mobilizing equipment and resources to the Michael J. Fitzmaurice State Veterans Home campus last week.

Veterans’ homelessness drops by 24 percent  (DCMilitary.com)  The Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development announced Nov. 21 that a new national report shows a 24 percent drop in homelessness among veterans since 2010.

Ga. veterans face backlog of claims  (Atlanta Journal Constitution)  Georgia veterans filing disability claims often face longer delays than their counterparts in other states.

Benefits

DoDLive Bloggers Roundtable: Resources and Benefits for Veterans  (DOD Live) The Real Warriors Campaign is a multimedia public awareness initiative sponsored by the Department of Defense.

Air Force cancels retraining in 35 career fields  (Marine Corps Times)  The Air Force announced Tuesday that it has dropped at least 35 career fields from the list of jobs that airmen can retrain into, affecting as many as 1,000 airmen.

Army begins correcting medical records for some former Madigan patients  (The Bellingham Herald)  The Army has begun correcting medical records for former Madigan Army Medical Center patients who left the military with conflicting diagnoses for behavioral health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

Media

Stars and Stripes faces closure if it loses the Battle of Budget Cuts (The Washington Times) Stars and Stripes — long may it wave? Maybe not. The venerable newspaper that has reported independent news about the American military since the Civil War finds itself on the budget-cutting front lines.

If you would like to subscribe to Transitionnews and also receive updates from Orders to Nowhere, go to the “email subscription” located on the sidebar.  You can also follow on Twitter and Facebook!

Have a great day!

shutterstock_145239913 compressed

Tranisitionnews 11/27/13

Posted by Mike Grice on

Transitionnews for Wednesday, November 27 2013:

Good news story of the day

Dept. of Veterans Affairs: Wins grant to renovate homeless veteran housing (WisPolitics.com) The Wisconsin Department of Veterans Affairs (WDVA) today announced that it has received a grant of nearly $26,000 to renovate existing transitional housing at 21425 Spring St., Cottage 16, Union Grove to increase the useful life of the facility and address the safety, security and privacy needs of homeless veterans served. The grant, from the US Department of Veterans Affairs, is a Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem Program grant.

Military Transition

Following complaints, Army medical records board honoring latest Madigan PTSD diagnoses (The News Tribune) The Army has begun correcting medical records for former Madigan Army Medical Center patients who left the military with conflicting diagnoses for behavioral health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder.

Veterans

Veterans oppose Wisconsin asbestos bill (Milwaukee-Wisconsin Journal Sentinel) It was disappointing to read Christian Schneider’s column regarding Senate Bill 13, which would delay and deny justice for asbestos victims

Military/Veterans: Claims show lacking care, example of Obamacare (Examiner.com) The public needs to be concerned about governmental health care, because as it fails so do the chances to improve the public’s health.

Veterans Administration

Veterans Affairs clarifies why cop killer Lawrence Cambra’s remains removed from military cemetery (The Oregonian) The Department of Veterans Affairs removed Lawrence Cambra’s ashes from Willamette National Cemetery last week after learning a funeral home failed to provide information that would have disqualified his placement there.

My HealthVet provides online access to support veterans health care (Examiner.com) On the 10th anniversary of Department of Veterans Affairs award-winning Personal Health Record, My HealtheVet, the Department is urging all veterans and servicemembers to join the VA health care information and services online.

Veterans Affairs describes benefits (Carroll County Times) The Veterans Affairs Maryland Health Care System is hosting a VA Health Care Enrollment, Eligibility and Veterans Benefits Seminar at the Baltimore VA Medical Center, 10 N. Greene St., Baltimore from 9 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Dec. 9.

Veterans Affairs woes not just regional concern (TribLive) First, waterborne bacteria in Pittsburgh Veterans Affairs hospitals led to at least five deaths from Legionnaires’ disease.

Veterans Affairs director under fire (Ottumwa Courier)

In what could have been a closed session to discuss a personnel matter during the Wapello County Board Supervisors meeting was kept open at the request of Marty Cremer, director of Wapello County Veterans Affairs.

Benefits

Air Force chief wants to curb pay growth (Grand Forks Herald) The Air Force’s top officer says the service must curb growth in pay and benefits.

Have a great day and a Happy Thanksgiving!

Transitionnews 11/26/13

Posted by Mike Grice on

Transitionnews for Tuesday, November 26 2013:

Good news story of the day:

Healing veterans: Saginaw’s VA Medical Center pours nearly $30 million into renovations  (Michigan Live) After six decades of service, the Aleda E. Lutz VA Medical Center in Saginaw was showing its age. But thanks to some timely renovation work, the health care center that serves veterans throughout central and northern Michigan has a bright future.

Military Transition

Transition Readiness Seminar prepares service members (DVIDS) The military transition assistance program, part of Transition Assistance Management Program, underwent changes March 2012, and is now known as the Transition Readiness Seminar.

800 lieutenant colonels and colonels face SERB (Air Force Times) About 90 lieutenant colonels and 150 colonels could be selected for early retirement when the Selective Early Retirement Board meets Dec. 9.

Veterans

Huntington Beach Bar Fights To Save Sign That Salutes Veterans (CBS Los Angeles) Veterans are rallying around a local bar whose owners say they have been ordered to removed a sign that salutes their service.

Student veterans face challenges when reintegrating into campus life (The Daily Texan) For a small population of UT students, campus life comes with several realizations — being the oldest student in class or that, unlike their peers, they are balancing a family life and their studies.

National veterans’ charity sues local Indiana veterans’ charity (Fox 59) A national nonprofit group that pulls in more than $150 million annually for veterans has sued local group Help Indiana Vets.

Veterans Administration

Scammers target veterans attempting to call the VA  (WVNSTV) A fraud alert was issued recently letting veterans know about a scam that targets people who are attempting to call two Department of Veterans Affairs hotlines.

Veteran advocacy groups want justice for deaths at Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center (The Augusta Chronicle) The outrage surrounding the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center’s botched gastrointestinal program reached the national stage Monday, with representatives from two veteran advocacy groups demanding justice for the three cancer patients who died needlessly because of the clinic’s lack of care.

Indy VA office one of worst in country (WISHTV) Some veterans are fighting to their graves, not living to see benefits promised to them as young troops.

Benefits

Overtime, new computer system put sizable dent in VA benefits backlog (The Denver Post) Far fewer veterans are facing long waits for disability compensation after the Department of Veterans Affairs spent the past six months focusing on the backlog, including mandating case worker overtime and rolling out a new computer system.

 Conn. veteran sues Army over diagnosis, benefits (SFGate) A Connecticut veteran of the Iraq War has sued the Army, saying he was denied full education and retirement benefits after he was diagnosed with adjustment disorder while actually suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Have a great day!