Florida Veterans Face Budget Cuts and Agency Changes
Posted Wed, Feb 09, 2011 at 06:02 am
Retired Marine Corps Lt. Gen. Bob Milligan.
By Bobbie O'Brien
TAMPA
At first glance, it appears there is a 44 percent slash in the governor's proposed budget for the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs.
Florida Gov. Rick Scott's budget cuts and agency reductions are now available online. Floridians can compare his recommendations to the agency’s requests and to current budgets.
If you compare the current state veterans affairs budget of $81 million to the governor’s proposed budget of $45.5 million, it appears as if Scott is cutting the agency 44 percent.
But that’s not the case. Veterans Affairs spokesman Steve Murray said the governor’s proposal reflects the transfer of the department’s six nursing homes and one assisted living facility, the largest portion of the budget, to a public corporation.
“This public corporation could report directly to the governor and cabinet," Murray said. "It would operate in the sunshine. Our agency the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs would work hand in hand with the corporation on veterans issues. We would be able to retain VA funding."
read more here
Florida Veterans Face Budget Cuts and Agency Changes
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Fort Bliss soldier faces charges of killing another soldier after Super Bowl Party
Fort Bliss soldier killed at East El Paso bar
By Daniel Borunda \ El Paso Times
Posted: 02/08/2011 04:09:43 AM MST
A shooting early Monday outside a popular East Side bar left one Fort Bliss soldier dead and another facing a murder charge.
El Paso police said an altercation broke out just after 1 a.m. inside the Three Legged Monkey and then spilled into the parking lot where Spc. Zareef Quasim Saleel allegedly shot Spc. Alex Gabriel Jaime once in the chest, killing him.
Police and paramedics arrived to find Jaime, 23, dead in the parking lot of the bar on Hawkins Boulevard by Montana Avenue.
After the shooting, Saleel was arrested when a patrol officer stopped him in a vehicle a short distance from the bar, police spokesman Darrel Petry said. Saleel, 25, was jailed in lieu of a $100,000 bond.
read more here
Fort Bliss soldier killed at East El Paso bar
By Daniel Borunda \ El Paso Times
Posted: 02/08/2011 04:09:43 AM MST
A shooting early Monday outside a popular East Side bar left one Fort Bliss soldier dead and another facing a murder charge.
El Paso police said an altercation broke out just after 1 a.m. inside the Three Legged Monkey and then spilled into the parking lot where Spc. Zareef Quasim Saleel allegedly shot Spc. Alex Gabriel Jaime once in the chest, killing him.
Police and paramedics arrived to find Jaime, 23, dead in the parking lot of the bar on Hawkins Boulevard by Montana Avenue.
After the shooting, Saleel was arrested when a patrol officer stopped him in a vehicle a short distance from the bar, police spokesman Darrel Petry said. Saleel, 25, was jailed in lieu of a $100,000 bond.
read more here
Fort Bliss soldier killed at East El Paso bar
Flag from U.S. base in Iraq brought to injured Orlando soldier
Special delivery: Flag from U.S. base in Iraq brought to injured Orlando soldier
Army Sgt. Matthew Garwood gave injured comrade Sgt. Noe "Lito" Santos a signed American flag once flown in Iraq.
By Bianca Prieto, Orlando Sentinel
8:18 p.m. EST, February 8, 2011
The dirt-stained, rain-soaked flag that had flown over Joint Base Balad in Iraq for the last two months was carefully tucked into Army Sgt. Matthew Garwood's duffle bag.
Garwood, an Evans High graduate on his fourth tour of duty, took special care because he knew the flag had a meaningful destination – the Winter Park apartment of an honorably discharged soldier he had served beside in Iraq.
Garwood has long wanted to honor his buddy, Army Sgt. Noe "Lito" Santos, a former member of the Personal Security Detachment in Iraq who lost his left leg in 2005 when an Improvised Explosive Device blew up while the soldiers were in their vehicles near Taji, Iraq.
This week, while home on leave, Garwood finally had the chance.
read more here
Flag from U.S. base in Iraq brought to injured Orlando soldier
Army Sgt. Matthew Garwood gave injured comrade Sgt. Noe "Lito" Santos a signed American flag once flown in Iraq.
By Bianca Prieto, Orlando Sentinel
8:18 p.m. EST, February 8, 2011
The dirt-stained, rain-soaked flag that had flown over Joint Base Balad in Iraq for the last two months was carefully tucked into Army Sgt. Matthew Garwood's duffle bag.
Garwood, an Evans High graduate on his fourth tour of duty, took special care because he knew the flag had a meaningful destination – the Winter Park apartment of an honorably discharged soldier he had served beside in Iraq.
Garwood has long wanted to honor his buddy, Army Sgt. Noe "Lito" Santos, a former member of the Personal Security Detachment in Iraq who lost his left leg in 2005 when an Improvised Explosive Device blew up while the soldiers were in their vehicles near Taji, Iraq.
This week, while home on leave, Garwood finally had the chance.
read more here
Flag from U.S. base in Iraq brought to injured Orlando soldier
GI Bill Payments Delayed to 55,000 Vets
GI Bill Payments Delayed to 55,000 Vets
February 09, 2011
Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK -- The Department of Veterans Affairs is blaming bad weather for a paperwork backlog that's left tens of thousands of college students without their February GI Bill money, and it says some may not see their payments for another week or so.
About 300,000 veterans across the United States will receive tuition money and housing assistance this semester under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Their February payments were supposed to be deposited into their bank accounts by the first of the month, but so far only about 245,000 students have been paid, according to the VA.
That means about 55,000 -- including many in Hampton Roads -- are still waiting.
"It's been really tough," said Titian Maples, a pre-med student at Old Dominion University who served five years in the Navy. "When the government says the money is going to be there and then it's not, it doesn't leave you a lot of options, especially when you're in school and you're living paycheck-to-paycheck."
She said she began calling the VA last week to ask why her payment didn't arrive, and no one could give her answers.
The VA now says January snow storms are behind the delay.
read more here
GI Bill Payments Delayed to 55,000 Vets
February 09, 2011
Virginian-Pilot
NORFOLK -- The Department of Veterans Affairs is blaming bad weather for a paperwork backlog that's left tens of thousands of college students without their February GI Bill money, and it says some may not see their payments for another week or so.
About 300,000 veterans across the United States will receive tuition money and housing assistance this semester under the Post-9/11 GI Bill. Their February payments were supposed to be deposited into their bank accounts by the first of the month, but so far only about 245,000 students have been paid, according to the VA.
That means about 55,000 -- including many in Hampton Roads -- are still waiting.
"It's been really tough," said Titian Maples, a pre-med student at Old Dominion University who served five years in the Navy. "When the government says the money is going to be there and then it's not, it doesn't leave you a lot of options, especially when you're in school and you're living paycheck-to-paycheck."
She said she began calling the VA last week to ask why her payment didn't arrive, and no one could give her answers.
The VA now says January snow storms are behind the delay.
read more here
GI Bill Payments Delayed to 55,000 Vets
Fix the VA, don’t break it
Fix the VA, don’t break it
February 9, 2011 posted by Chaplain Kathie · Leave a Comment (Edit)
One of the biggest problems tracking reports across the country is that there are days when I get hit with more news than I can stand. It makes my head hurt to think of how far we’ve come, then get whacked with one bad news report after another.
Florida
And then we have Gov. Scott and his plans to cut the budget off veterans' backs.
Another story on Cochran VA Medical Center.
February 9, 2011 posted by Chaplain Kathie · Leave a Comment (Edit)
One of the biggest problems tracking reports across the country is that there are days when I get hit with more news than I can stand. It makes my head hurt to think of how far we’ve come, then get whacked with one bad news report after another.
Florida
More war veterans at risk of HIV infection after VA hospital error
A dozen more South Florida veterans were being notified Tuesday the colonoscopies they had at the Miami VA hospital might have been with improperly cleaned equipment. It’s the third time such notices have been made.
BY FRED TASKER
FTASKER@MIAMIHERALD.COM
The Veterans Administration said Tuesday it has found another 12 South Florida veterans who never were notified they might have received colonoscopies with improperly cleaned equipment at the Miami VA hospital as far back as 2004. It’s the third such notification, totaling nearly 2,500 veterans.
The VA, which last year said it had taken extensive steps to prevent another such notification error, again blamed the way in which the hospital keeps medical records.
VA officials said this error was discovered when the Miami U.S. Attorney’s Office, gathering information related to veterans who have filed lawsuits in the matter, asked the Miami VA hospital to recheck its records. While the VA hospital has electronic medical records, it said the errors were found by checking supplemental paper log books.
It wasn’t clear why the 12 new names would be on paper but not electronic records. Notification to the 12 veterans began Tuesday; by late afternoon all but three had been reached, a spokeswoman said.
And then we have Gov. Scott and his plans to cut the budget off veterans' backs.
Ohio
Scott wants to privatize veterans homes
Uncategorized — posted by aaron deslatte on February, 8 2011 1:31 PM
Discuss This: Comments(3) | Add to del.icio.us | Digg it
TALLAHASSEE — Gov. Rick Scott’s $65.8 billion spending pitch to lawmakers includes privatizing veterans homes, mental health facilities and developmental disability centers, which the governor’s budget staff has concluded will save $103.9 million.
Scott health-care policy coordinator Jane Johnson said the governor’s office was still working with Veterans Affairs director Bob Milligan on the specifics of how to hand veterans homes over to private enterprise, a concept she called “public instrumentality.”
“The homes would be operated as a private entity and the employees would not be public employees,” Johnson told the House Health Care Appropriations Committee on Tuesday.
The Veteran Affairs budget would get cut $38 million as part of the plan to hand over those nursing homes for vets to a quasi-public organization like the state’s housing finance corporation. Johnson said 80 percent of the department’s budget goes to 700 veterans in nursing homes, and that the department felt its funding would be better-spent on the other 1.8 million Florida veterans.
535 Veterans possibly exposed to HIV and Hepatitis by dentist in DaytonThen there is the case of the St. Louis VA
VA Dentist May Have Exposed Veterans To HIV, Hepatitis
DAYTON: 535 Vets Possibly Infected At Dental Clinic
Jill Del Greco, Reporter
Posted: 10:30 am EST February 8, 2011
Updated: 11:28 pm EST February 8, 2011
DAYTON, Ohio — More than 500 local veterans may have been exposed to diseases like HIV and Hepatitis.
On Tuesday, officials at the Dayton VA Center said 535 veterans may have been exposed to infectious diseases during visits to the dental clinic over the past eighteen years.
A testing clinic has been set up on the grounds of the Dayton VA Center effective immediately.
Federal Investigation Begins Into Missouri VA CenterYou can read more and find links at my blog Wounded Times Blog
Tuesday, February 08 2011
(St. Louis, MO) — The U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs will discuss conditions at a St. Louis VA hospital this week.
Members of Congress are hoping to get answers about the the John Cochran VA Center.
The Department of Veterans says John Cochran is the worst VA hospital in America in some areas, and among the very worst in many others.
Another story on Cochran VA Medical Center.
Lawmakers seek action on Cochran VA Medical CenterLaredo Veterans Health Clinic
By Robert Koenig, Beacon Washington correspondent
Updated 10:56 am, Tue., 2.8.11
WASHINGTON – Disturbed by reports of continued problems at the John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis, all four U.S. senators and six House members from Missouri and Illinois are asking the Department of Veterans Affairs to investigate and “find solutions” to the safety issues at the hospital.
Russ Carnahan
In a letter sent Tuesday to Veterans Department Secretary Eric Shinseki, the lawmakers urged the VA to address concerns about patient safety as soon as possible. “Potential problems in quality management cause grave concern, not just for veterans served by Cochran, but the entire community,” they wrote.
“We offer to work with you and area veterans to find solutions to these concerns so that we can restore the trust of our veterans and bring [Cochran], and all area VA facilities, to the highest level of quality customer service and safety.”
The lawmakers asked the VA to list measures taken to prevent future contaminations and to report any health problems discovered as a result of the most recent incident. They also requested to be informed of the results of instrument handling reviews conducted in response to an incident last June that caused the VA to suspend services in the dental clinic.
The letter was signed by Sens. Dick Durbin, D-Ill.; Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.; Roy Blunt, R-Mo.; and Mark Kirk, R-Ill. House members signing the letter included U.S. Reps. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis; Russ Carnahan, D-St. Louis; Jerry Costello, D-Belleville; John Shimkus, R-Collinsville; and Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth.
Veteran’s upset over V.A. Clinic Service
Feb 8, 2011
For years, the United States has been criticized for the way they have handled their war veterans. Local veterans are up in arms as frustration builds over what they say is a lack of quality service at the Laredo Veterans Health Clinic.
Laredo war veterans thought their fighting days were over after putting their lives on the line for their country, but they are in another battle over what they say is a lack of quality health care. Vietnam veteran, Jesus Guerra, says, “We went to war because we believe in freedom. We merit respect and services and we aren’t getting them.”
On Tuesday morning, clinic administrators met with a committee of Laredo war veterans to discuss possible improvements for the clinic that has had countless complaints of poor customer service. With plans to expand the clinic in the works, Congressman Henry Cuellar says there needs to be some changes. Currently the clinic is understaffed after unexpected departures from numerous employees. While they do say they plan to hire a new physician in about a week, V.A. officials refused to discuss the state of the Veteran’s Clinic on camera – leaving some veterans wondering about the future employees of the clinic.
The congressman says Laredo’s war veterans have earned the right of quality health service, and there is no room at the clinic for any employee who stands in the way of that right. He goes on to add, “If somebody is misleading the veterans there at the clinic I think its time for that person to go and find a new job. I don’t want people to think I’ve got a government job and I can do whatever I want to.”
read more here
Fix the VA, don’t break it
More South Florida war veterans at risk of HIV infection
More war veterans at risk of HIV infection after VA hospital error
A dozen more South Florida veterans were being notified Tuesday the colonoscopies they had at the Miami VA hospital might have been with improperly cleaned equipment. It’s the third time such notices have been made.
BY FRED TASKER
FTASKER@MIAMIHERALD.COM
The Veterans Administration said Tuesday it has found another 12 South Florida veterans who never were notified they might have received colonoscopies with improperly cleaned equipment at the Miami VA hospital as far back as 2004. It’s the third such notification, totaling nearly 2,500 veterans.
The VA, which last year said it had taken extensive steps to prevent another such notification error, again blamed the way in which the hospital keeps medical records.
VA officials said this error was discovered when the Miami U.S. Attorney’s Office, gathering information related to veterans who have filed lawsuits in the matter, asked the Miami VA hospital to recheck its records. While the VA hospital has electronic medical records, it said the errors were found by checking supplemental paper log books.
It wasn’t clear why the 12 new names would be on paper but not electronic records. Notification to the 12 veterans began Tuesday; by late afternoon all but three had been reached, a spokeswoman said.
Read more:More war veterans at risk of HIV infection
A dozen more South Florida veterans were being notified Tuesday the colonoscopies they had at the Miami VA hospital might have been with improperly cleaned equipment. It’s the third time such notices have been made.
BY FRED TASKER
FTASKER@MIAMIHERALD.COM
The Veterans Administration said Tuesday it has found another 12 South Florida veterans who never were notified they might have received colonoscopies with improperly cleaned equipment at the Miami VA hospital as far back as 2004. It’s the third such notification, totaling nearly 2,500 veterans.
The VA, which last year said it had taken extensive steps to prevent another such notification error, again blamed the way in which the hospital keeps medical records.
VA officials said this error was discovered when the Miami U.S. Attorney’s Office, gathering information related to veterans who have filed lawsuits in the matter, asked the Miami VA hospital to recheck its records. While the VA hospital has electronic medical records, it said the errors were found by checking supplemental paper log books.
It wasn’t clear why the 12 new names would be on paper but not electronic records. Notification to the 12 veterans began Tuesday; by late afternoon all but three had been reached, a spokeswoman said.
Read more:More war veterans at risk of HIV infection
Federal Investigation Begins Into Missouri VA Center
Federal Investigation Begins Into Missouri VA Center
Tuesday, February 08 2011
(St. Louis, MO) -- The U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs will discuss conditions at a St. Louis VA hospital this week.
Members of Congress are hoping to get answers about the the John Cochran VA Center.
The Department of Veterans says John Cochran is the worst VA hospital in America in some areas, and among the very worst in many others.
read more here
http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=400766
Tuesday, February 08 2011
(St. Louis, MO) -- The U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs will discuss conditions at a St. Louis VA hospital this week.
Members of Congress are hoping to get answers about the the John Cochran VA Center.
The Department of Veterans says John Cochran is the worst VA hospital in America in some areas, and among the very worst in many others.
read more here
http://ozarksfirst.com/fulltext?nxd_id=400766
535 Veterans possibly exposed to HIV and Hepatitis by dentist in Dayton
VA Dentist May Have Exposed Veterans To HIV, Hepatitis
DAYTON: 535 Vets Possibly Infected At Dental Clinic
Jill Del Greco, Reporter
Posted: 10:30 am EST February 8, 2011
Updated: 11:28 pm EST February 8, 2011
DAYTON, Ohio -- More than 500 local veterans may have been exposed to diseases like HIV and Hepatitis.
On Tuesday, officials at the Dayton VA Center said 535 veterans may have been exposed to infectious diseases during visits to the dental clinic over the past eighteen years.
A testing clinic has been set up on the grounds of the Dayton VA Center effective immediately.
read more here
VA Dentist May Have Exposed Veterans To HIV, Hepatitis
DAYTON: 535 Vets Possibly Infected At Dental Clinic
Jill Del Greco, Reporter
Posted: 10:30 am EST February 8, 2011
Updated: 11:28 pm EST February 8, 2011
DAYTON, Ohio -- More than 500 local veterans may have been exposed to diseases like HIV and Hepatitis.
On Tuesday, officials at the Dayton VA Center said 535 veterans may have been exposed to infectious diseases during visits to the dental clinic over the past eighteen years.
A testing clinic has been set up on the grounds of the Dayton VA Center effective immediately.
read more here
VA Dentist May Have Exposed Veterans To HIV, Hepatitis
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Coalition's mental health strategy inadequate
Coalition's mental health strategy inadequate, warns thinktank
Government accused of failing to consider impact of dysfunctional families on mental health of children and adults
Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 February 2011
A thinktank founded by Iain Duncan Smith today criticises the government for failing to take account of the impact of family breakdown on mental health.
Days after Nick Clegg launched the government's mental health strategy, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) says ministers should have assessed the impact of dysfunctional families on the mental health of children and adults.
The report by the CSJ, which defines family breakdown as "divorce or separation, dysfunction or dad-lessness", says: "The government's mental health strategy launched recently makes no mention of the effect on children's mental health of conflict between parents and living in fractured families. Working with the whole family not only prevents many children from being labelled as mentally ill but can also tackle the causes of their problems – often rooted in or sustained by the dynamics of family relationships."
Clegg and Paul Burstow, the Liberal Democrat care services minister, placed children and teenagers at the heart of the government's mental health strategy, which they launched last week. Talking therapies are to be offered to children and teenagers who show signs of anxiety and depression.
read more here
Coalition's mental health strategy inadequate
Government accused of failing to consider impact of dysfunctional families on mental health of children and adults
Nicholas Watt, chief political correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Monday 7 February 2011
A thinktank founded by Iain Duncan Smith today criticises the government for failing to take account of the impact of family breakdown on mental health.
Days after Nick Clegg launched the government's mental health strategy, the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ) says ministers should have assessed the impact of dysfunctional families on the mental health of children and adults.
The report by the CSJ, which defines family breakdown as "divorce or separation, dysfunction or dad-lessness", says: "The government's mental health strategy launched recently makes no mention of the effect on children's mental health of conflict between parents and living in fractured families. Working with the whole family not only prevents many children from being labelled as mentally ill but can also tackle the causes of their problems – often rooted in or sustained by the dynamics of family relationships."
Clegg and Paul Burstow, the Liberal Democrat care services minister, placed children and teenagers at the heart of the government's mental health strategy, which they launched last week. Talking therapies are to be offered to children and teenagers who show signs of anxiety and depression.
read more here
Coalition's mental health strategy inadequate
Anthony "Sarge" McDowell, Iraq Vet shot by police, laid to rest
Family and friends bury Anthony McDowell, soldier shot by Gresham police
Published: Monday, February 07, 2011
By Steve Beaven, The Oregonian
Family and friends gathered Monday under an iron-gray sky at Willamette National Cemetery to honor Anthony McDowell, a military veteran who was shot to death by Gresham police last week outside his home.
They grieved, but they also wondered: How did it come to this? How could a man so dedicated to his community and fellow soldiers die such a violent death at the hands of police officers?
"There's a lot of unanswered questions," said Sharon Brunner, a friend who was waiting for the funeral procession at the cemetery.
McDowell, 50, was holding a rifle when he was killed on Jan. 31 during an encounter with officers.
The Gresham Police Department said in the immediate aftermath of the shooting that officers were dispatched to the house after McDowell's wife called to report that he was suicidal. A full account of the shooting has not been released.
Family and friends bury Anthony McDowell
Published: Monday, February 07, 2011
By Steve Beaven, The Oregonian
Family and friends gathered Monday under an iron-gray sky at Willamette National Cemetery to honor Anthony McDowell, a military veteran who was shot to death by Gresham police last week outside his home.
They grieved, but they also wondered: How did it come to this? How could a man so dedicated to his community and fellow soldiers die such a violent death at the hands of police officers?
"There's a lot of unanswered questions," said Sharon Brunner, a friend who was waiting for the funeral procession at the cemetery.
McDowell, 50, was holding a rifle when he was killed on Jan. 31 during an encounter with officers.
The Gresham Police Department said in the immediate aftermath of the shooting that officers were dispatched to the house after McDowell's wife called to report that he was suicidal. A full account of the shooting has not been released.
McDowell was remembered as a devoted father, husband and a "patriot."read more here
He had been in the Navy and the Army Reserve and served in Iraq. He was also the founder of a nonprofit that aids veterans called Sergeant McDowell's Military Relief. His friends called him "Sarge."
McDowell raised money to help veterans and their families. He threw Christmas parties. He bought gifts for children. And he helped soldiers who'd recently returned from war in their efforts to re-engage with society.
Sometimes, friends have said, money for Sergeant McDowell's Military Relief came out of Anthony McDowell's pocket.
"He bent over backward in helping those soldiers," said Kenneth Claiborne, one of the mourners who said he knew McDowell through the military.
Family and friends bury Anthony McDowell
Monday, February 7, 2011
Veteran's wife call for help ends with death of husband shot by police
Three deaths involving veterans and police may not seem like a huge problem but when you think they happened in five months in the Portland area alone, that is a clear indication there is an alarm screaming WARNING.
Three deadly encounters between vets and police
Published: Sunday, February 06, 2011
By Mike Francis, The Oregonian
Anthony McDowell. Thomas Higginbotham. Nikkolas Lookabill.
Three men who served in the military. Three encounters with law enforcement officers. Three lives ended by gunfire.
These cases, which occurred in three separate Portland-area jurisdictions within the last five months, have alarmed observers.
"It's really difficult for everyone," said Gresham Police Chief Craig Junginger, whose officers shot McDowell to death outside his house on Monday. "The United States hasn't faced this since the mid- to late-Seventies, since the Vietnam War."
"Military reintegration needs to address this issue further," John Violanti, a former criminal justice professor at the Rochester Institute of Technology, wrote in an email.
McDowell, 50, had been home from war for seven years. His wife called for help, saying he was suicidal and when police arrived, he was holding a rifle. The findings from an investigation into his death, as customary in the case of officer-involved shootings, will be presented to a grand jury later this month.
His funeral service takes place at 11:30 a.m. today at Good Shepherd Community Church in Boring, to be followed by committal at Willamette National Cemetery.
Thomas Higginbotham, a Vietnam War veteran, was 67, homeless and carrying a knife when he was shot to death by Portland police officers at an abandoned car wash Jan. 2. He was intoxicated when he was killed.
Nikkolas Lookabill was 22 and had been home about four months from a mostly peaceful deployment to Iraq when he was shot to death by Vancouver police early in the morning on Sept. 7. The Clark County Prosecutor's Office reported that he told officers "he wanted them to shoot him."
read more here
Three deadly encounters between vets and police
Young Marine dies of suspected case of meningitis at Parris Island
Parris Island Marine recruit dies of apparent meningitis
By Savannah Morning News
A 19-year-old Marine recruit died Saturday of a suspected case of meningitis at Parris Island, S.C.’s Marine Corps Recruit Depot.
read more here
Parris Island Marine recruit dies of apparent meningitis
By Savannah Morning News
A 19-year-old Marine recruit died Saturday of a suspected case of meningitis at Parris Island, S.C.’s Marine Corps Recruit Depot.
read more here
Parris Island Marine recruit dies of apparent meningitis
Sunday, February 6, 2011
Military TAP plagued by inconsistencies, indifference
Military TAP plagued by inconsistencies, indifference
February 6, 2011 posted by Chaplain Kathie
The DOD releases reports of what they’re doing as if it is all good but the truth is, it is not all good. There have been a lot of advances in the care of wounded servicemen and women. While that is true, the stories the veterans tell show that all is not well on the home front.
TAP has problems, Wounded Warriors Program (not to be confused with Wounded Warriors Project) has problems. Until these problems are fixed, we’ll keep losing more and more to suicide.
February 6, 2011 posted by Chaplain Kathie
The DOD releases reports of what they’re doing as if it is all good but the truth is, it is not all good. There have been a lot of advances in the care of wounded servicemen and women. While that is true, the stories the veterans tell show that all is not well on the home front.
TAP has problems, Wounded Warriors Program (not to be confused with Wounded Warriors Project) has problems. Until these problems are fixed, we’ll keep losing more and more to suicide.
Program for departing service members plagued by inconsistencies, indifference
By Carl Prine
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, February 6, 2011
WASHINGTON — Launched during a time of peace to aid departing service members, the Transition Assistance Program is failing war veterans and their families, according to Pentagon reports obtained by the Tribune-Review.
Called “TAP,” it began in 1989 as a federal pilot program run by the Department of Defense, Labor Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs. For most of the 140,000 troops who annually must take the course, it’s three days of classes on topics ranging from the new GI Bill for college to special initiatives that help wounded personnel and their families.
Crisscrossing the U.S. and Europe, investigators from the Pentagon’s Office of Wounded Warrior Care and Transition Policy in Alexandria, Va., determined that TAP was plagued with “significant gaps in consistency of services” and “low” spousal participation, according to the files. The reports added that there was “little evidence” financial aid, relocation assistance or post-military education applications “are emphasized or provided” by TAP coordinators.
Reports state that TAP staffers often failed to help military spouses find off-base jobs and were “not well versed” in recovery care programs; TAP support for injured personnel and their families was “not readily apparent.”
The reports allege:
• Instructors at Italy’s Naval Air Station Signorella in late 2009 lacked the training and “established level of competency” to conduct counseling for personnel leaving the service.
• Sailors at Florida’s Naval Station Mayport slept through classes in late 2009 because they were forced to stand overnight watch, a problem of “mission win; Sailors lose.” At naval bases in southern Europe, sailors were forced to pay their own way to attend briefings.
• Military discharge counseling so bad at Naval Hospital Jacksonville in Florida that the “risks of violations of federal statute high.”
• A program at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina that exceeded classroom capacity for Marines, offered limited child care to spouses attending workshops and discharged reservists who weren’t receiving the courses that they needed.
• Questions about the program’s ability to “maintain enduring connection with National Guard or Reserve Community questionable; extent of proactive engagement could not be determined.”
for more go here
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/02/06/military-tap-plagued-by-inconsistencies-indifference/
Veterans, From the Frontlines to the Farm
From the Frontlines to the Farm
New York Times
“In the military, grunts are the guys who get dirty, do the work and are generally underappreciated,” said Colin Archipley, a decorated Marine Corps infantry sergeant turned organic farmer. “I think farmers are the same.”
Sgt. Matt Holzmann and Stephanie De Alba laying irrigation piping at Mr. Archipley's farm, Archi’s Acres, the site of a program that trains veterans and active-duty service members in organic farming.
Sergeant Holzmann, 33, a Marine, spent seven months in Afghanistan, where he did counterinsurgency work and tried to introduce aquaponics — a self-replenishing agricultural system to rural villages. Along with Combat Boots to Cowboy Boots, a new program for veterans at the University of Nebraska’s College of Technical Agriculture, and farming fellowships for wounded soldiers, the six-week course offered at Archi’s Acres is part of a nascent “veteran-centric” farming movement.
go here for great pictures and more stories
From the Frontlines to the Farm
New York Times
“In the military, grunts are the guys who get dirty, do the work and are generally underappreciated,” said Colin Archipley, a decorated Marine Corps infantry sergeant turned organic farmer. “I think farmers are the same.”
Sgt. Matt Holzmann and Stephanie De Alba laying irrigation piping at Mr. Archipley's farm, Archi’s Acres, the site of a program that trains veterans and active-duty service members in organic farming.
Sergeant Holzmann, 33, a Marine, spent seven months in Afghanistan, where he did counterinsurgency work and tried to introduce aquaponics — a self-replenishing agricultural system to rural villages. Along with Combat Boots to Cowboy Boots, a new program for veterans at the University of Nebraska’s College of Technical Agriculture, and farming fellowships for wounded soldiers, the six-week course offered at Archi’s Acres is part of a nascent “veteran-centric” farming movement.
go here for great pictures and more stories
From the Frontlines to the Farm
Rick Scott's Tea-Party-backed proposed budget raises questions
First Bachmann comes out and says the veterans shouldn't be getting what they are getting and now Scott wants to take more away from more people. Do these people ever think about how they will hurt others? Do they care?
They claim they are about managing money but history proves that to not be true. Had they been right about the economy when the wealthy were getting subsidized tax breaks, we'd all be working and wealthy by now. The fact is we're all hurting and waiting for the jobs to trickle down so that we can see the fruits of their promises.
They complain about paying taxes but don't seem to mind paying them when wealthy people benefit from the tax breaks.
People of Florida get ready for more pain.
They claim they are about managing money but history proves that to not be true. Had they been right about the economy when the wealthy were getting subsidized tax breaks, we'd all be working and wealthy by now. The fact is we're all hurting and waiting for the jobs to trickle down so that we can see the fruits of their promises.
They complain about paying taxes but don't seem to mind paying them when wealthy people benefit from the tax breaks.
People of Florida get ready for more pain.
Rick Scott's Tea-Party-backed proposed budget raises questions as it slashes Florida funding
BY MARC CAPUTO
HERALD/TIMES TALLAHASSEE BUREAU
Calling for billions in tax and spending cuts, Gov. Rick Scott will unveil a budget Monday that's as much a policy roadmap as it is a sweeping political statement.
Even Scott's venue for rolling out the budget drips with political symbolism -- a tea party rally he helped establish in the small rural town of Eustis where activists will also celebrate a Florida court ruling against President Obama's health plan.
Scott's first proposed budget is his best chance to make good on his campaign promise to run government like an efficient business. It also sets the tone of his relationship with the Legislature, which has to turn his plans into a balanced budget.
The $5 billion question:
Is Scott's budget realistic?
Legislative leaders aren't sure, noting that next year's budget faces a shortfall of at least $3 billion and Scott proposes to make the hole even bigger by insisting on $2 billion more in tax cuts. They want Scott to explain how much more they'll cut from schools, prisons, roads, courts, environmental programs, libraries, parks and health care.
``This is a political bombshell,'' said Glenn Robertson, former budget director for governors Bob Graham and Bob Martinez, respectively a Democrat and Republican. ``The key thing is how seriously he's taken.''
``He'll probably get a lot of applause in Eustis. But the Legislature wants details, specifics. What has to be considered is how much the governor respects the process and the political implications of what he's asking,'' Robertson said.
Never before has the Republican-led Legislature cut $5 billion in one session. Over the past five years, though, lawmakers have trimmed a total of about $5 billion from one part of the budget, the general-revenue section, which accounts for most major government services.
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Rick Scott's Tea-Party-backed proposed budget
Saturday, February 5, 2011
20,000 service members, vets lost homes in 2010
20,000 service members, vets lost homes in 2010
Foreclosure rate in zip codes near military bases increased 32 percent
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Thursday Feb 3, 2011 22:24:48 EST
More than 20,000 veterans, active-duty troops and reservists who took out special government-backed mortgages lost their homes last year — the highest number since 2003.
The rate of foreclosure filings in 2010 among 163 zip codes located near military bases rose 32 percent over 2008, according to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure research firm. This compares with a 2010 increase in foreclosure filings nationally of 23 percent over 2008.
The housing crisis has hit military families particularly hard in part because of transfers and the loss of civilian jobs left behind by reservists.
About 12,000 military families applied to the Pentagon’s expanded Homeowners Assistance Program. It makes up most of the difference in price for service members who must transfer and sell their homes for less than they owe, or buys their houses outright.
“Our demand, in terms of (military) families coming to us for assistance, went up 19 percent in 2010 over the previous year,” says Bill Nelson, executive director of USA Cares, a charity that provides financial assistance to Iraq and Afghanistan war-era troops.
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20,000 service members, vets lost homes in 2010
But that isn't the only bad news for veterans
Unemployment for young vets jumps to 15 percent
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Feb 4, 2011 10:25:57 EST
The unemployment rate for veterans took an unexpected jump in January — even as the overall unemployment rate fell.
The Labor Department reported Friday that the national unemployment rate dropped 0.4 percentage point, to a new level of 9.0, but the rate for veterans climbed to 9.9 percent, up from 8.3 percent the previous month.
For Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans, the unemployment rate for January was 15.2 percent. This is a sharp increase from 9.4 percent in November and 11.7 percent in December, a clear trend of a worsening job market for younger veterans, many of them combat veterans.
“This should be a wakeup call for America,” said Paul Rieckoff, executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans of America. “We have a definite employment problem and it is getting worse.”
Labor Department statistics for January show that 15.5 percent of male veterans and 13.5 percent of female veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan era are looking for work and cannot find it. But Rieckoff said IAVA polling shows the true unemployment rate for young veterans is 20 percent or higher.
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Unemployment for young vets jumps to 15 percent
Bachmann backs off pay cuts for disabled vets
Bachmann backs off pay cuts for disabled vets
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Feb 4, 2011 15:29:44 EST
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., sought Friday to quell a controversy over her budget-cutting plans, dropping a proposal that would have cut compensation for some disabled veterans by $12,000 a year or more.
Bachmann, who heads the tea party caucus in the House of Representatives, said she remains dedicated to cutting federal spending, and has not backed off the idea of freezing veterans health care funding.
But her list of ways to cut $400 billion from the federal budget no longer includes a proposal that would have reduced disability compensation by the amount received in Social Security Disability Income for the 153,000 severely disabled and unemployed veterans eligible for both benefits.
Bachmann came up with the list of possible cuts as part of her opposition to raising the $14.3 trillion cap on government borrowing, an issue Congress will face later this year.
read more here
Bachmann backs off pay cuts for disabled vets
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Feb 4, 2011 15:29:44 EST
Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., sought Friday to quell a controversy over her budget-cutting plans, dropping a proposal that would have cut compensation for some disabled veterans by $12,000 a year or more.
Bachmann, who heads the tea party caucus in the House of Representatives, said she remains dedicated to cutting federal spending, and has not backed off the idea of freezing veterans health care funding.
But her list of ways to cut $400 billion from the federal budget no longer includes a proposal that would have reduced disability compensation by the amount received in Social Security Disability Income for the 153,000 severely disabled and unemployed veterans eligible for both benefits.
Bachmann came up with the list of possible cuts as part of her opposition to raising the $14.3 trillion cap on government borrowing, an issue Congress will face later this year.
read more here
Bachmann backs off pay cuts for disabled vets
Homeless Veteran will have to go
Homeless Veteran will have to go
By Karen Cohilas
ALBANY, GA (WALB) - A homeless veteran, living under a bridge, has now been evicted from his make-shift home. We brought you a story with Army Veteran Colin Bailey last week. He lives underneath the bridge at the bypass and Slappey Boulevard in Albany.
Thursday, law enforcement hauled away his trash and also told him they'll be back for the rest of his belongings if he doesn't leave soon.
When people saw Bailey's belongings being hauled away, they contacted us at the station. I sat down with Bailey under the bridge this morning. We talked about his life on the streets and the news he got today wasn't all bad. @
"I don't care what corner of this town I come in, try to stay in, I get runoff."
Where else have you been that you got runoff? "Everywhere. Abandoned houses, old cars, abandoned buildings. I'm trying to survive. Trying to survive. Stay away from people."
read more here
Homeless Veteran will have to go
By Karen Cohilas
ALBANY, GA (WALB) - A homeless veteran, living under a bridge, has now been evicted from his make-shift home. We brought you a story with Army Veteran Colin Bailey last week. He lives underneath the bridge at the bypass and Slappey Boulevard in Albany.
Thursday, law enforcement hauled away his trash and also told him they'll be back for the rest of his belongings if he doesn't leave soon.
When people saw Bailey's belongings being hauled away, they contacted us at the station. I sat down with Bailey under the bridge this morning. We talked about his life on the streets and the news he got today wasn't all bad. @
"I don't care what corner of this town I come in, try to stay in, I get runoff."
Where else have you been that you got runoff? "Everywhere. Abandoned houses, old cars, abandoned buildings. I'm trying to survive. Trying to survive. Stay away from people."
read more here
Homeless Veteran will have to go
Vets4Warriors offers help to Fort Hood soldiers
Published: Wednesday, February 02, 2011
By Seth Augenstein/The Star-Ledger
After returning home from Iraq in 1992, John Lurker struggled to restart a normal life.
The Desert Storm Army veteran changed jobs frequently. He had marriage troubles and eventually divorced. He especially had problems dealing with conflict, he said, refusing to yield to other people even when he knew he was on the wrong side of an argument.
"There was no empathy. No sympathy. It was only ‘preservation mode,’" he said.
At his lowest point last year, feeling distressed and out of sorts, he called the "Vet2Vet" helpline, run by UMDNJ, where he was directed to seek to professional help and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome.
With the benefit of professional help, the Hackettstown man’s life started to improve, he said.
But it all began with the helpline.
Soldiers on active duty will now have the the chance to get the same type of help.
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, which runs the 5-year-old Vet2Vet program with the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, is offering a new "Vets4Warriors" helpline to the soldiers of Fort Hood in Texas, the most populous Army base in the nation.
As of Tuesday, the Vets4Warriors program is now providing 24-hour help to the roughly 50,000 soldiers who are stationed at Fort Hood. Whether it’s depression, thoughts of suicide, alcohol problems or just advice about how to navigate the military echelons, the veterans staffing the phone lines are listening and offering advice.
The helpline becomes available after a spate of suicides at Fort Hood. The number of soldiers who committed suicide doubled to 22 in 2010, according to the Army. It was the most suicides on an Army base since at least 2003, despite the fact that there are about 150 behavioral health workers on staff at the base, according to Army officials. On one September weekend alone last year, there were four suicides, according to Christopher Kosseff, the president and CEO of UMDNJ’s University Behavioral HealthCare, which administers the call center.
read more here
UMDNJ offers help to Fort Hood Soldiers
By Seth Augenstein/The Star-Ledger
After returning home from Iraq in 1992, John Lurker struggled to restart a normal life.
The Desert Storm Army veteran changed jobs frequently. He had marriage troubles and eventually divorced. He especially had problems dealing with conflict, he said, refusing to yield to other people even when he knew he was on the wrong side of an argument.
"There was no empathy. No sympathy. It was only ‘preservation mode,’" he said.
At his lowest point last year, feeling distressed and out of sorts, he called the "Vet2Vet" helpline, run by UMDNJ, where he was directed to seek to professional help and was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress syndrome.
With the benefit of professional help, the Hackettstown man’s life started to improve, he said.
But it all began with the helpline.
Soldiers on active duty will now have the the chance to get the same type of help.
The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, which runs the 5-year-old Vet2Vet program with the New Jersey Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, is offering a new "Vets4Warriors" helpline to the soldiers of Fort Hood in Texas, the most populous Army base in the nation.
As of Tuesday, the Vets4Warriors program is now providing 24-hour help to the roughly 50,000 soldiers who are stationed at Fort Hood. Whether it’s depression, thoughts of suicide, alcohol problems or just advice about how to navigate the military echelons, the veterans staffing the phone lines are listening and offering advice.
The helpline becomes available after a spate of suicides at Fort Hood. The number of soldiers who committed suicide doubled to 22 in 2010, according to the Army. It was the most suicides on an Army base since at least 2003, despite the fact that there are about 150 behavioral health workers on staff at the base, according to Army officials. On one September weekend alone last year, there were four suicides, according to Christopher Kosseff, the president and CEO of UMDNJ’s University Behavioral HealthCare, which administers the call center.
read more here
UMDNJ offers help to Fort Hood Soldiers
Army producing another new suicide-prevention video
Army producing new suicide-prevention video
Jan 27, 2011
By Laura M. Levering (Northwest Guardian)
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. (Jan. 27, 2011) -- A steady rise in the number of Soldiers who contemplate or commit suicide each year keeps the Army Suicide Prevention Program and behavioral health personnel striving for new ways to save lives.
The program's latest initiative, "Shoulder to Shoulder: Resiliency of the Army Family," is the third in a series of videos created for suicide awareness and prevention training at installations Armywide.
Joint Base Lewis-McChord was one of two installations selected for filming the 20-minute video.
A series of focus groups and interviews were conducted prior to filming "Shoulder to Shoulder," none of which was scripted. The video uses real people with real stories, in hopes of giving suicide a "face" viewers will identify with.
One focus group of leaders met in the "studio," a converted World War II barracks on Lewis North where the video was taped, to target ongoing Army initiatives and future direction of JBLM suicide prevention efforts.
The group included Walter Morales, program manager of DA Suicide Prevention and vice chief of staff, Health Promotion and Risk Reduction Task Force, Dr. Michelle Freedman, chief of Family and Child Services, Mark Brown, JBLM director of Human Resources, Sandi Vest of Child, Adolescent and Family Behavioral Health Proponency, Sam Smith, director of the Airman and Family Readiness Center, Patsy George, chief of Casualty Assistance and Robert Antry, chief of Military Personnel Division.
Morales said that coming to JBLM gave him a large pool of Soldiers to meet with from the thousands who have deployed and returned. He also said that while the majority of the video features Soldiers, his intent is to take feedback from the general population - to include family members and Department of the Army civilians - to produce training tools for suicide prevention.
read more here
Army producing new suicide-prevention video
Jan 27, 2011
By Laura M. Levering (Northwest Guardian)
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. (Jan. 27, 2011) -- A steady rise in the number of Soldiers who contemplate or commit suicide each year keeps the Army Suicide Prevention Program and behavioral health personnel striving for new ways to save lives.
The program's latest initiative, "Shoulder to Shoulder: Resiliency of the Army Family," is the third in a series of videos created for suicide awareness and prevention training at installations Armywide.
Joint Base Lewis-McChord was one of two installations selected for filming the 20-minute video.
A series of focus groups and interviews were conducted prior to filming "Shoulder to Shoulder," none of which was scripted. The video uses real people with real stories, in hopes of giving suicide a "face" viewers will identify with.
One focus group of leaders met in the "studio," a converted World War II barracks on Lewis North where the video was taped, to target ongoing Army initiatives and future direction of JBLM suicide prevention efforts.
The group included Walter Morales, program manager of DA Suicide Prevention and vice chief of staff, Health Promotion and Risk Reduction Task Force, Dr. Michelle Freedman, chief of Family and Child Services, Mark Brown, JBLM director of Human Resources, Sandi Vest of Child, Adolescent and Family Behavioral Health Proponency, Sam Smith, director of the Airman and Family Readiness Center, Patsy George, chief of Casualty Assistance and Robert Antry, chief of Military Personnel Division.
Morales said that coming to JBLM gave him a large pool of Soldiers to meet with from the thousands who have deployed and returned. He also said that while the majority of the video features Soldiers, his intent is to take feedback from the general population - to include family members and Department of the Army civilians - to produce training tools for suicide prevention.
read more here
Army producing new suicide-prevention video
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