VA, DoD seek better data on burn-pit exposure
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Feb 24, 2010 9:43:08 EST
As Veterans Affairs Department officials laid out a plan for the Institute of Medicine to look for links between certain symptoms and burn-pit exposure, they also quizzed Defense Department scientists about what they’ve already done in that regard.
“We have a particular need to solve this as best as we can,” said Victoria Cassano, acting director of VA’s Environmental Agents Service. “You tell us what the science is. You tell us what the evidence is. Do we have enough to [move] forward with a presumption or not?”
At the first meeting of the IOM’s Committee on the Long-Term Health Consequences of Exposure to Burn Pits in Iraq and Afghanistan, Cassano asked the panel to help VA determine if the symptoms of several sick service members could be linked to exposure to smoke from open-air burn pits in the war zones.
If so, Congress could create a law saying veterans potentially connected could automatically receive a “presumption of service connection” for those ailments, similar to a law that assumes service connection for Vietnam Veterans whose diseases could have come from exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange in Vietnam.
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VA, DoD seek better data on burn pit exposure
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Fort Bragg:Female soldier's death is being treated as a murder case
Bragg soldier found dead
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
FORT BRAGG (WTVD) -- Fort Bragg officials are investigating the death of a soldier as a homicide.
The 32-year-old woman was found Monday night in her quarters on post. Authorities say a neighbor found the woman around 10 p.m.
Military officials have not released the soldier's name.
However, ABC11 Eyewitness News has learned the soldier's death is being treated as a murder case.
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Bragg soldier found dead
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
FORT BRAGG (WTVD) -- Fort Bragg officials are investigating the death of a soldier as a homicide.
The 32-year-old woman was found Monday night in her quarters on post. Authorities say a neighbor found the woman around 10 p.m.
Military officials have not released the soldier's name.
However, ABC11 Eyewitness News has learned the soldier's death is being treated as a murder case.
read more here
Bragg soldier found dead
Living casualties: Homeless veterans
“I didn’t have anything to live for. I couldn’t function as a human being,” he said. “My soul had died.”
Danny’s soul wasn’t alone.
Under a bridge nearby lay Kelly Hughes, a retired U.S. Army Sergeant, who served in Kuwait during Operation: Desert Storm. Same “dead soul,” same “dying” story.
Living casualties: Homeless veterans
By Troy Kehoe (tkehoe@wsbt.com)
Story Created: Feb 22, 2010 at 5:55 PM EST
SOUTH BEND — The reality of coming home was much different for many other vets. More than a quarter of a million of them now live without a home every year, and nearly one-third of all homeless Americans served in the armed forces at one time. In the South Bend area, estimates are even higher. One local group is fighting to turn the trend around.
On a bitter cold and snowy February day, Danny Forrest is walking back to his former home to relive a nightmare.
“I had four or five blankets, boots and a coat,” said Forrest. “And I stayed there and slept there. It’s emotional to even be back down here. I can remember crying myself to sleep at night, wondering ‘how did I end up here?'"
The answer begins in 1948 when 23-year-old U.S Army Corporal Danny Forrest entered the military. Two tours in Panama and 10 years of honorable service later, he was discharged. He got a good job earning $18 an hour and bought a house.
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Man killed in crash Sunday identified as Fort Hood soldier
Man killed in crash Sunday identified as Fort Hood soldier
Posted Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010
BY DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR.
ramirez@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH -- A 23-year-old man killed Sunday in a traffic wreck has been identified as soldier from Fort Hood, authorities said Tuesday.
The Tarrant County medical examiner’s office identified the victim as Elias Lopez, 23, of Chicago, Ill. who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lopez died from blunt force trauma after he was thrown out of his car, the medical examiner’s office reported. His death was ruled an accident.
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Man killed in crash Sunday identified as Fort Hood soldier
Posted Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2010
BY DOMINGO RAMIREZ JR.
ramirez@star-telegram.com
FORT WORTH -- A 23-year-old man killed Sunday in a traffic wreck has been identified as soldier from Fort Hood, authorities said Tuesday.
The Tarrant County medical examiner’s office identified the victim as Elias Lopez, 23, of Chicago, Ill. who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Lopez died from blunt force trauma after he was thrown out of his car, the medical examiner’s office reported. His death was ruled an accident.
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Man killed in crash Sunday identified as Fort Hood soldier
Army is 600 mental health providers short
Under the program, the Army increased its mental-health specialists-to-soldiers ratio to 1-to-600 -- though regulations require only a 1-to-700 ratio -- to provide treatment in combat theaters, McHugh said. Still, the Army is 600 mental health providers short of its overall requirement of 4,304, he said.
Soldiers, Families Top Army Priorities, Leaders Say
By Lisa Daniel
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 23, 2010 – Funding programs to support soldiers and their families is the Army’s top priority in the new fiscal year, the service’s secretary and chief of staff told a Senate panel today.
Army Secretary John M. McHugh, a former Congress member who served on the House Armed Services Committee, returned to Capitol Hill today to give his assessment of where the Army stands and where it needs to go.
“I found an Army clearly fatigued by nearly nine years of combat,” McHugh told the Senate Armed Service Committee. “But through it all, they are more resilient.”
To sustain and improve that resilience, McHugh and Army Chief of Staff Gen. George W. Casey Jr. spoke for the need to improve soldiers’ “dwell time” at home between deployments, as well as Army family support and mental health programs.
“We remain out of balance,” McHugh said. “Our all-volunteer force is a national treasure. If we wish to sustain it, soldiers and their families must be our top priority. For those of us in the Army family, it is the top priority.”
The Defense Department’s fiscal 2011 budget request includes $1.7 billion to fund what McHugh called “vital” family programs such as those to provide respite care and spousal employment, and to open some 50 child-care centers and seven youth centers.
“We sign up the soldier, we re-sign up the family,” McHugh said.
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1,000th U.S. soldier killed in Afghanistan
Grim milestone reach in Afghan war: 1,000th U.S. soldier killed
BY Stephanie Gaskell
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, February 23rd 2010, 9:18 AM
The U.S. death toll in Afghanistan has reached a grim milestone - 1,000 American troops have been killed since the war began nine years ago.
And that number is expected to rise as the largest military offensive since the fall of the Taliban continues in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.
Twelve U.S. Marines have been killed in the province since Operation Together began on Feb. 13 in the Marjah district, according to the Pentagon.
The offensive is expected to last several more weeks as 15,000 U.S., NATO and Afghan forces push out the Taliban in heavily mined, poppy fields.
read more here
Read more: Grim milestone reach in Afghan war
BY Stephanie Gaskell
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, February 23rd 2010, 9:18 AM
The U.S. death toll in Afghanistan has reached a grim milestone - 1,000 American troops have been killed since the war began nine years ago.
And that number is expected to rise as the largest military offensive since the fall of the Taliban continues in Helmand province in southern Afghanistan.
Twelve U.S. Marines have been killed in the province since Operation Together began on Feb. 13 in the Marjah district, according to the Pentagon.
The offensive is expected to last several more weeks as 15,000 U.S., NATO and Afghan forces push out the Taliban in heavily mined, poppy fields.
read more here
Read more: Grim milestone reach in Afghan war
Deer Creek Middle School shooter mumbling "I'm fighting for freedom"
Freedom? Trying to kill kids? Taking away their sense of security? Terrorizing them? Making teachers and parents and neighbors frantically try to save lives? Is this what he meant by "fighting for freedom" or was he talking about being free from being a human with any kind of conscience?
A parent who saw the incident told KMGH that the gunman kept mumbling, "I'm fighting for freedom. I'm fighting for freedom," as he was being subdued.
School shooting suspect identified
February 24, 2010 8:53 a.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Bruco Strongeagle Eastwood, 32, arrested in shootings of two students
Gunfire begins as middle school classes end for the day
Math teacher/coach tackles suspect, confiscates gun before police arrive
Incident was in same area of Colorado as 1999 Columbine rampage
RELATED TOPICS
Colorado
School Shootings
Columbine High School
(CNN) -- The man suspected of shooting two students at a Littleton, Colorado, middle school was identified as 32-year-old Bruco Strongeagle Eastwood, authorities said Wednesday.
Eastwood was arrested after the incident Tuesday at Deer Creek Middle School and is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday morning, according to the Jefferson County Sheriff's Office. He is facing two counts of attempted first-degree murder, the sheriff's office said.
He is accused of shooting two students as classes were letting out at 3:15 p.m. Tuesday.
David Benke, a 6-foot-5 former college basketball player who is a math teacher and track coach, tackled the suspected gunman as he was preparing to fire again, CNN affiliate KMGH reported.
PTSD is focus of seminar Thursday
PTSD is focus of seminar Thursday [The Fayetteville Observer, N.C.]
Feb. 23--As a licensed professional counselor in Lillington, Molly VanDuser receives anywhere from one to six referrals a day for military families suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Substance abuse, nightmares and withdrawal are some of the symptoms facing troops as they rack up combat deployment after combat deployment.
But PTSD can be cured, said VanDuser, who will speak at the seminar, "PTSD and the Military Family," at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Cumberland County Headquarters Library.
read more here
PTSD is focus of seminar Thursday
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Army Captain's Mom wins Above and Beyond Award for work in PTSD
Feb. 23--As a licensed professional counselor in Lillington, Molly VanDuser receives anywhere from one to six referrals a day for military families suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Substance abuse, nightmares and withdrawal are some of the symptoms facing troops as they rack up combat deployment after combat deployment.
But PTSD can be cured, said VanDuser, who will speak at the seminar, "PTSD and the Military Family," at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Cumberland County Headquarters Library.
read more here
PTSD is focus of seminar Thursday
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Army Captain's Mom wins Above and Beyond Award for work in PTSD
Two men shot crashing gate at Luke Air Force Base
One Dead in Shooting at Luke AFB
February 23, 2010
Associated Press
GLENDALE, Ariz. - Authorities say two men were shot by security officers after they drove a stolen car through a gate at an Air Force base outside Phoenix during a police chase.
Officials say one of the men died and the other was wounded.
go here for more
One Dead in Shooting at Luke AFB
February 23, 2010
Associated Press
GLENDALE, Ariz. - Authorities say two men were shot by security officers after they drove a stolen car through a gate at an Air Force base outside Phoenix during a police chase.
Officials say one of the men died and the other was wounded.
go here for more
One Dead in Shooting at Luke AFB
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Navy ending ban on women aboard subs
Navy ending ban on women aboard subs
By Kevin Baron, Stars and Stripes
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Defense Department informed Congress on Friday that the Navy will soon allow women to serve aboard submarines.
In a move led by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Chief Naval Officer Adm. Gary Roughead, women for the first time could begin training to join submarine crews as early as next year.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates formally notified Congress of the policy change in a letter on Friday, according to Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell. Congress has 30 days to respond.
read more here
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=68252
By Kevin Baron, Stars and Stripes
ARLINGTON, Va. — The Defense Department informed Congress on Friday that the Navy will soon allow women to serve aboard submarines.
In a move led by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus and Chief Naval Officer Adm. Gary Roughead, women for the first time could begin training to join submarine crews as early as next year.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates formally notified Congress of the policy change in a letter on Friday, according to Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell. Congress has 30 days to respond.
read more here
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=68252
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