2 US soldiers shot inside Afghan ministry building after Quran burning

UPDATE

Pentagon Identifies Americans Killed in Kabul Shooting
By NICK SCHIFRIN
Feb. 27, 2012
The Pentagon has confirmed the identity of the second American high-ranking Army officer who was killed in a shooting inside Afghanistan's Interior Ministry as Maj. Robert Marchanti of Baltimore, Maryland.

Afghan police believe the shooting, which occurred in one of the most secure government complexes in the country and also took the life of Lt. Col. John Loftis of Paducah, Kentucky, was carried out by a 25-year-old Afghan police officer. The incident, in addition to widespread protests, was believed to be part of a violent reaction to the U.S. military's admission it had burned some copies of the Muslim holy book, the Koran.
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2 soldiers shot inside Afghan ministry building
By Amir Shah and Rahim Faiez - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Feb 25, 2012 9:19:20 EST

KABUL, Afghanistan — Two U.S. service members were shot dead Saturday by another Westerner inside the Afghan Interior Ministry, officials said, a statement later contradicted by a NATO official.

The attack came as tensions between the Afghans and the Americans are high following the burning of copies of the Muslim holy book at a U.S. base that sparked days of deadly protests. But Afghan officials said Saturday’s shooting did not involve any Afghans. A NATO spokesman later added that the man who shot the Americans was not a Westerner.

Instead, they said, another international adviser turned his gun on two Americans, two Afghan officials said, speaking anonymously to discuss a NATO incident. One of the officials noted that the shooting occurred inside a secure room at the ministry that Afghan staff do not have access to.

A U.S. official in Washington confirmed that the two killed were American and that they were killed by “an assailant,” without giving further information about the attacker. The official spoke anonymously to discuss information that had not been publicly released.
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VA Fast Track process rife with gaps for possible fraud, OIG says

VA Fast Track process rife with gaps for possible fraud, OIG says
By Alice Lipowicz
Feb 24, 2012
The Veterans Affairs Department’s “Fast Track” disability claims process introduced in October 2010 is riddled with opportunities for fraud and immediate action should be taken to strengthen controls over the process, according to a new report from the Office of Inspector General.

The VA rushed the new process into place and has begun making monthly payments to claimants without verifying basic information such as the veterans’ addresses and bank accounts, Belinda Finn, assistant inspector general for audits and investigations, wrote in the Feb. 23 report.

The current Fast Track process also does not require the VA to verify whether the information submitted by physicians is authentic and unaltered, the report said.

The chief means of fraud protection under the current process is to verify information in about 100 cases per month or 1,200 a year—but those reviews only occur after payments have started and do not prevent fraud from occurring, Finn wrote.
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Iraq War vet can’t get Social Security card

Iraq War vet can’t get Social Security card
February 24, 2012, by Deven Swartz and Mitch Carr
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Kevin Christoffersen served in Iraq for the U.S. military, but he said he can’t prove he’s an American citizen due to government bureaucracy.

Christofferson calls himself Russian by birth and American by choice. His parents adopted him from Russia when he was five, and he became a U.S. citizen in 1994.

About a year ago, he went to apply for a Social Security card and a driver’s license, but he couldn’t get either.

He has a copy of the certificate of citizenship, but that’s actually where the problem lies.
“We cannot accept photocopies or notarized copies of documents,” said Patti Patterson with the Social Security Administration.
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Sean Duvall may be getting the help he asked for all along

Hearing scheduled for suicidal veteran charged with federal weapons violations
By Laurence Hammack | The Roanoke Times

Sean Duvall may be getting the help he asked for all along.

Last summer, when the Navy veteran was depressed and on the verge of suicide, he called a toll-free help line — only to be charged later with possessing a homemade gun he was carrying at the time.

After his attorney made an impassioned argument that the charges violate the trust Duvall placed in the confidential help line for veterans, prosecutors appear to be reconsidering the case.

A motion filed today in U.S. District Court in Roanoke asks that the case against Duvall be continued for six months. His trial had been set for March 19.
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Another veteran arrested after calling for help

Utah senate kills veterans tuition bill

Senate kills veteran tuition bill
BY DAVID MONTERO
The Salt Lake Tribune

First published Feb 24 2012
SB44 • Sen. Luz Robles saw her bill that would have extended tuition benefits to military veterans fail Friday in the Utah Senate on a 14-11 vote, leaving the Salt Lake City Democrat incredulous and bewildered after the measure had sailed through previous votes.

“I don’t understand what happened,” Robles said. “I’m in shock.”

The measure, SB44, passed its committee unanimously and its second reading — where senators often debate legislation — 26-1. It would’ve allowed for the state to fund a gap between federal funds military veterans apply for when attempting to obtain a bachelor’s degree at the university level.
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Military commanders pressure clinicians to issue unwarranted psychiatric diagnoses to get rid of troops

Branding a Soldier With ‘Personality Disorder’
By JAMES DAO
Published: February 24, 2012

Capt. Susan Carlson was not a typical recruit when she volunteered for the Army in 2006 at the age of 50. But the Army desperately needed behavioral health professionals like her, so it signed her up.

Though she was, by her own account, “not a strong soldier,” she received excellent job reviews at Fort Leavenworth, Kan., where she counseled prisoners. But last year, Captain Carlson, a social worker, was deployed to Afghanistan with the Colorado National Guard and everything fell apart.

After a soldier complained that she had made sexually suggestive remarks, she was suspended from her counseling duties and sent to an Army psychiatrist for evaluation. His findings were shattering: She had, he said in a report, a personality disorder, a diagnosis that the military has used to discharge thousands of troops. She was sent home.

She disputed the diagnosis, but it was not until months later that she found what seemed powerful ammunition buried in her medical file, portions of which she provided to The New York Times. “Her command specifically asks for a diagnosis of a personality disorder,” a document signed by the psychiatrist said.

Veterans’ advocates say Captain Carlson stumbled upon evidence of something they had long suspected but had struggled to prove: that military commanders pressure clinicians to issue unwarranted psychiatric diagnoses to get rid of troops.

“Her records suggest an attempt by her commander to influence medical professionals,” said Michael J. Wishnie, a professor at Yale Law School and director of its Veterans Legal Services Clinic.

Since 2001, the military has discharged at least 31,000 service members because of personality disorder, a family of disorders broadly characterized by inflexible “maladaptive” behavior that can impair performance and relationships.
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Alleged AWOL Fort Hood Solider Holds Father Hostage In Oklahoma

Alleged AWOL Fort Hood Solider Holds Father Hostage In Oklahoma

Posted: Feb 24, 2012
(KCEN)- An apparent AWOL soldier from Fort Hood is now wanted in Oklahoma after allegedly holding his father hostage.

NBC affiliate KTEN-TV in Oklahoma tell us that John Daniel Burden, who is believed to be a Fort Hood solider went to his father's home in Lone Grove, Okla. and pulled a gun on him.
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Sgt. 1st Class Christopher David Atkinson died after gunshot wound at Fort Hood

Soldier from Lakeside dies of gunshot wound at Fort Hood, Texas

Officials at Fort Hood in Texas have released the name of a soldier from Lakeside who died of injuries from a gunshot wound earlier this week.

Sgt. 1st Class Christopher David Atkinson, 33, died Thursday in Temple, Texas. He suffered the gunshot wound Monday at Fort Hood.
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Marine reservists come home to cheers, hugs

Marine reservists come home to cheers, hugs
Unit arrives at Wright-Patt after deployment in Afghanistan.

By Kelli Wynn, Staff Writer
February 24, 2012
WRIGHT PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE — Tim Buckman stood holding an American flag and wearing a big grin as he waited for his son, U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Edward Buckman, to get off the charter bus.
“Very, very excited. He’s been gone for almost a year,” Buckman said.

Sgt. Buckman, 28, was one of 39 Marine reservists with Military Police Company Charley who arrived at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base on Friday morning after a deployment in Afghanistan.

“They were attached to Combat Logistics Battalion 6 out of Camp LeJeune in North Carolina,” said USMC Capt. Jason Schrage, the inspector and instructor for the military company. “They were sent to Helmand Province, Afghanistan, and conducted security missions. Mainly convoy security missions.”
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Sgt. Joshua Born, one of two soldiers killed over Quran burning

Soldier with Southern Illinois Family Killed in Afghanistan
By Stephanie Tyrpak
By Jared Roberts
Story Created: Feb 24, 2012
OLIVE BRANCH -- Joshua Born was one of two American soldiers killed amidst angry riots, sparked by the burning of Korans at a U.S. base in Afghanistan. The Florida native leaves behind a 22-year-old widow in Olive Branch.

Joshua and Megan Born first connected online on a site for sports cars.

"They were both Mazda RX8 fanatics," said Megan's mother Cindy Parker. "They just got to be really good friends."

Once they met in person, the young couple's love of cars quickly grew into a love for eachother.

"When she went down to meet his parents in Florida...she went to visit and I told her 'don't come back talking about getting married,'" siad Parker. "And she did."

In June 2010, just a few months after meeting, Josh and Megan were married at a beach wedding in Georgia.
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