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Senators team up to fight Tricare increases

By Patricia Kime - Staff writer
Posted : Friday May 18, 2012 13:39:53 EDT

Two senators have reached across the aisle to fight Tricare fee increases, introducing a bill that would cap enrollment fees, deductibles and pharmacy copayments for military retirees.

The Military Health Care Protection Act of 2012, cosponsored by Sens. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., would limit increases in cost shares, pharmacy fees and deductibles to no more than the most recent annual percentage cost-of-living adjustment in military retired pay.

A tough fiscal climate is no excuse to balance the budget on the backs of our nations military retirees and their families, Lautenberg said in a release Friday.

The bill was introduced as the Senate Armed Services Committee prepares to discuss the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill, which ultimately will address the question of Tricare fee hikes.

The Houses version of the 2013 defense authorization bill includes similar language.

More than 20 veterans and military support groups have come out in favor of the Lautenberg-Rubio bill, including the Military Officers Association of America, the National Military Family Association and the American Legion.

Were grateful for Sen. Lautenbergs and Sen. Rubios leadership in introducing this bill to protect uniformed services beneficiaries from dramatic fee increases for their military Tricare coverage. [The bill] would restore a much-needed sense of stability for this core career retention incentive, said retired Vice Adm. Norb Ryan, MOAA president.

The bill aims to strengthen legislation passed in 2012 that restricted Tricare enrollment fee increases to percentages no higher than the annual COLA increase.

The Defense Department has pushed for more extensive fee hikes and requested approval to charge military retirees health care enrollment fees based on the amount of retirement pay they receive.

This bill would give veterans on Tricare greater assurances that their costs will not spiral out of control beyond their means to pay for them, Rubio said.

Marine detachment celebrates 60 years at Fort Sill
Video: http://www.kswo.com/global/story.asp?s=18440854 <http://www.kswo.com/global/story.asp?s=18440854>

FORT SILL, Okla_There were big celebrations today at Fort Sill marking nearly 60 years of the Marine Corps' presence on the post.

Retired and active duty Marines joined together to celebrate the union between the Army and Marines Corps. The Marine Corps Joint Force Development Director, Lieutenant General George Flynn, spoke of just how far the Marines have come.

Whether they were retired, or still on active duty, these men all could agree on one thing, the partnership between the Army and Marines has been a strong one over the last 60 years.

In 1917, the first Marines arrived at Fort Sill, but it wasn't until the early 50's that the Marine Corps Artillery Detachment was formally established, over the years their numbers grew, and today more than 100 Marines both active and retired came together to celebrate the long, successful partnership.

"I can't stress enough that there is a very special relationship between the Army and the Marine Corps here at Fort Sill, when we've worked through the issues of budget constraints, when we've worked through the issues of transitioning equipment or adapting of new methods of warfare we have worked together as partners and that really is the key sense," Lieutenant General Flynn said.

Retired Marine Thomas Durgin said he came to Fort Sill in the early 90's and watching today's ceremony was more than special for him.

"You have to have the harmony, you have to be able to work together no matter what the conditions are in order to and part of the Marine Corps tradition is to be well disciplined and work hard with other branches of service."

Durgin said watching the young Marines standing at attention and saluting the flag today gave him goosebumps, and reminded him of his own feelings when he served.

"It's that chill that goes down my spine, every time the star spangled banner plays, and the Marine Corps Hymn play it's never ending."

Durgin said the future of the Marine Corps looks to be a good one, and knows the men serving when called on will serve the nation as best as they can.

"I wanna see them continue to be successful and when the Commandant and President of the United States call on us, we have a job to do and we go out and get it done."

After the ceremony, a monument was dedicated to the Marines detachment for their years of service at Fort Sill.

Filner Joins in Introduction of Mortgage Foreclosure Protection Legislation for Servicemembers and Their Families

Washington, D.C. Ranking Democratic Member Bob Filner (D-CA) joined top Democrats on the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the House Committee on Armed Services in introducing legislation that provides greater safeguards to protect servicemembers and their families from mortgage foreclosures, as well as other important improvements to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, a law that provides protections for our servicemembers and veterans.

Our servicemembers protect our country, our way of life, and our homes, stated Filner. We can do no less to protect their homes against mortgage foreclosure. I applaud my colleague Representative Cummings for fashioning a bill making important improvements to the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act and for including language from my bill, H.R. 1263, to extend protections to surviving spouses of fallen servicemembers whose deaths were service-connected.

Representative Elijah E. Cummings (D-MD), Ranking Democratic Member of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, is the lead sponsor of this legislation. Our troops fighting overseas in Iraq or Afghanistan should not have to fight here at home just to keep a roof over the heads of their loved ones, Cummings said. This bill will expand current law to protect more of our brave men and women in uniform from losing their homes while they protect our freedoms abroad.

Joining with Filner and Cummings is the Ranking Democratic Member of the House Committee on Armed Services, Representative Adam Smith (D-WA). Our servicemembers and their families act selflessly to protect our country and ensure national security, sometimes making the ultimate sacrifice, said Smith. The last thing they should have to worry about while they serve is the financial security of their families and their homes. This bill takes a much-needed step toward protecting deployed servicemembers and their families, discharged veterans with a 100 percent service-connected disability, and surviving spouses.

The measure will also be offered as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 4310) which is expected to be considered on the House floor this week.

I call on all Members of Congress to join us in moving forward with this important legislation that will give servicemembers better protections against mortgage foreclosure, said Filner.

DOL provides Twelve Million Dollar Grant for VETS Grant Opportunity
News Release
>
> VETS News Release: [05/02/2012]
> Contact Name: Jason Kuruvilla of Mike Volpe Phone Number: (202) 693-6587 or x3984 Release Number: 12-0780-NAT
>
> US Department of Labor announces availability of approximately $12 million in grants to provide job training services for more than 6,000 veterans
>
> WASHINGTON The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the availability of approximately $12 million in grants through the Veterans' Workforce Investment Program to provide job training and skills development services that will help approximately 6,000 veterans succeed in civilian careers.
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> "These men and women served our country, and now it is our turn to serve them and to support them. The grants announced today will help ensure our nation's veterans receive the assistance they need as they make the transition to civilian life," Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis said. Through funds provided by this program, veterans will receive skills assessments, individual job counseling, labor market information, classroom or on-the-job training, skills upgrades, placement assistance and crucial follow-up services. Veterans also may be eligible for services through other Workforce Investment Act programs for economically disadvantaged or dislocated workers.
>
> The department will award at least 10 grants in 10 states on a competitive basis to state and local workforce investment boards, local public agencies and nonprofit including faith-based and community organizations. Grantees must be familiar with the areas and populations to be served, and have demonstrated that they can administer effective programs.
>
> More information about the Department of Labor's unemployment and re-employment programs for veterans can be found at http://www.dol.gov/vets/.
>
> The solicitation for grant applications is available at http://www.grants.gov. It also may be viewed at http://www.dol.gov/vets/programs/vwip/main.htm.
>

Fed court reverses order for VA system overhaul

By Paul Elias - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday May 7, 2012 15:28:31 EDT

SAN FRANCISCO A federal appeals court on Monday reversed its demand that the Veterans Affairs Department dramatically overhaul its mental health care system.

A special 11-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said that any such overhaul needs to be ordered by Congress or the president.

The 10-1 ruling reversed an earlier decision by a three-judge panel of the same court.

The May 2011 ruling had ordered the VA to ensure that suicidal vets are seen immediately, among other changes. It found the VAs unchecked incompetence in handling the flood of post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health claims was unconstitutional.

The new decision said courts are powerless to implement the fixes sought by two veterans groups that filed the lawsuit against the VA in 2007. The court said veterans are free to file individual legal claims, but that courts had no business ordering systemic overhauls.

There can be no doubt that securing exemplary care for our nations veterans is a moral imperative, Judge Jay Bybee wrote for the majority. But Congress and the President are in far better position to decide whether and what changes need to be done.

Judge Mary Schroeder dissented, writing that the ruling put veterans into a classic Catch-22 conundrum. Schroeder says the ruling essentially leaves the veterans without recourse to force the VA to change a system they view to be fatally flawed and condemning veterans to suffer intolerable delays inherent in the VA system.

The veterans lawyer Gordon P. Erspamer said he will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to review the case.

If the courts dont have jurisdiction, then the veteran is left without a remedy, Erspamer said.

In the strongly-worded ruling in May written by Judge Stephen Reinhardt and joined by Procter Hug Jr., the 9th Circuit said it takes the department an average of four years to fully provide the mental health benefits owed veterans. The court also said it often takes weeks for a suicidal vet to get a first appointment. Neither judge was on the bigger panel that ruled Monday.

Chief Judge Alex Kozinski dissented from that ruling, writing that the ruling trampled congressional limits on judicial review of VA decisions. Kozinski joined the majority ruling on Monday.

Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth filed the lawsuit in San Francisco federal court in 2007. After a two-week trial in 2008, U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti said he was powerless to act because Congress narrowly limited the authority courts have in reviewing VA benefit decisions.

Conti didnt find a system-wide crisis in which health care is not being provided within a reasonable time to the roughly 5 million veterans enrolled in the VAs health care system, which includes 153 hospitals and 800 clinics.

VA Officials Give Little Explanation
on Veteran Mental Health Care Concerns

WASHINGTON, D.C.Today, the House Committee on Veterans Affairs called upon VA to explain how mental health services have devolved into a lack of accessibility and care for veterans in need as exposed in an April VAOIG Report.

The IG found that VAs measurement data for mental healthcare is not accurate or reliable, that the measures have no real value, and that on average more than 50 percent of veterans who request a mental health evaluation wait an average of 50 days as opposed to VAs reported 14 days. Just prior to the release of the VAOIG Report, VA announced that it was in the process of hiring 1,900 additional mental health clinicians and support staff to address understaffing in VAs mental health network. It is estimated that VA would need more than 1,500 additional staff to fill the current vacancies in the system.

A veteran who comes to VA for help should never, under any circumstance, have to wait almost two months to receive the evaluation they have asked for and begin the treatment they need. There is no excuse for this and no one has taken responsibility, stated Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. It appears that VAs response in this instance is yet another example of a federal bureaucracy providing a quick-fix, cookie-cutter solution to a very serious, multifaceted problem.

In response to questions posed by the Committee, Secretary Shinseki stated that VA has been in a react cycle, and there is a need to formulate a clear standard for the future. The Secretary stated further that VA needs better coordination between services and there is more to be done. We need as many tools as we can get and find a balance that is both efficient and cost-effective.

There was bipartisan consensus among Committee Members that VA should provide veterans with more community resources for care. Rather than wait for VA to fix the current problems, veterans should be given the choice to find care elsewhere, preferably in our communities, stated Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle, chairwoman of the Subcommittee on Health.

I would like to see from VA, the priority that has been placed on veteran homelessness, mirrored in mental health care for our veterans, Miller said. The metric we should be using is simple: Are veterans getting care and are they getting better? Mental health access is, in many cases, a question of life and death. That is the most important outcome.

For more news from House Committee on Veterans Affairs, please visit:

http://Veterans.House.Gov

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Follow us on Twitter at: @HouseVetAffairs and on YouTube at: YouTube.com/HouseVetsAffairs

Chinese General Downplays Chinas Role in Cyber Attacks
By Gopal Ratnam - May 7, 2012 10:40 PM CT
The U.S. and Chinese militaries should work as equals and avoid the stereotype of being confrontational superpowers, Chinese General Liang Guanglie said on his first visit to Washington as defense minister.

Speaking to reporters yesterday following talks with Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, Liang disputed a question about Chinas responsibility for cyber attacks against the U.S. and said the two sides discussed ways to build a new state-to- state relationship thats not a stereotype of two major powers predestined for conflict.

Liang Guanglie, China's minister for national defense.

Liang Guanglie, China's minister for national defense. Photographer: Munshi Ahmed/Bloomberg
.Liangs call to be treated as an equal reflects Chinas growing desire, backed by its $5.9 trillion economy, to be considered a power on par with the U.S. It comes as the U.S. is shifting its military posture to the Asia-Pacific area, reflecting concerns by the U.S. and nations in the region about Chinas expanding reach and competition for resources such as oil and gas in the South China Sea.

I proposed that the two militaries build a new relationship based on equality, mutual benefit and cooperation, said Liang.

Chinas emphasis on equality is in line with its previous win-win formulations intended to show that its economic and military rise is not intended to diminish U.S. power, said Patrick Cronin, an Asia specialist at the Center for New American Security, a policy center in Washington. Still, China wants to be treated like a superpower but does not yet want responsibilities of one, he said.

Deal With Challenges
Liangs visit, the first such high level military visit since President Barack Obama took office, comes after a series of incidents that in the past would have derailed high-level meetings between officials of the two countries. This is also the first meeting between the top U.S. and Chinese defense ministers after the U.S. in November announced plans to focus defense efforts toward the Asia-Pacific region.

Panetta, asked if the U.S. pivot toward the Asia-Pacific region is intended to contain Chinas rise, said the purpose of the U.S. effort is to help countries in the region develop their capabilities so they can deal with challenges.

The Pentagon is interested in engaging in a similar relationship with Chinas military to confront common challenges and provide for stability and safety of the region, Panetta said.

After Obama spelled out U.S. strategy toward the Asia- Pacific in November, China in March said it would increase its defense spending 11.2 percent to about 670 billion yuan ($106.4 billion). The Pentagons proposed 2013 budget is $525 billion.

Oil and Gas
China has several disagreements with Vietnam, the Philippines and Japan over control of oil- and gas-rich waters and has a lingering territorial dispute with India that erupted into a war in 1962. It also seeks control of Taiwan, which it regards as a renegade province.

Liang said his visit to the U.S. despite recent incidents shows that theres a turnover in U.S.-China military relations.

For nearly two weeks the U.S. and China have negotiated over the future of Chinese human-rights activist Chen Guangcheng, who escaped house arrest and sought shelter at the U.S. embassy in Beijing. U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. reached an accord with Chinese authorities to allow him and his family to come to the U.S., where has an offer to be an visiting scholar at New York University.

In September, the Obama administration announced a $5.3 billion arms package to Taiwan, including upgrades to 145 older F-16 fighters. After declining to provide Taiwan with new versions of the jets made by Lockheed Martin Corp. (LMT), the Obama administration on April 27 said it may consider doing so.

Panetta to China
Chinas decision not to cancel Liangs visit over those developments suggests theres a little more ballast to the U.S.-China relations than in the past, Cronin said.

Liang said Panetta had accepted his invitation to visit Beijing in the second half of this year.

Panetta and Liang, appearing together at a Pentagon press briefing, said they also discussed cyber security issues.

Asked about U.S. intelligence reports pointing to cyber attacks and data theft that originate from China, Liang took umbrage at the question, saying that not all attacks on U.S. networks came from China.

I can hardly agree with the proposition that the cyber attacks directed to the United States are directly coming from China. he said. And during the meetings, Secretary Panetta also agreed on my point that we cannot attribute all the cyber attacks to China.

Avoid Miscalculations
China, too, is concerned about cyber attacks because it relates to politics, military and peoples livelihood, Liang said, citing the example of an attack on a bank that affects peoples lives.

Panetta said cyber attacks on both Chinese and U.S. computer networks come from other countries, hackers and others. Since the U.S., and China have technical capabilities in this arena the two countries must work together to avoid miscalculations that may lead to a crisis, Panetta said.

As part of an effort to increase transparency between the two militaries, Liang and his delegation, which includes the head of the Peoples Liberation Armys 2nd Artillery Corps responsible for its nuclear forces, as well as chiefs of the Navy and Air Force, will stop at several U.S. military installations during their visit, according to Chinas official Xinhua news agency.

The Chinese delegation plans to go to Fort Benning, Georgia, home of the U.S. Armys 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, and Southern Command based in Doral, Florida. They will also meet with non-commissioned officers of the 2nd Marine Expeditionary Forces at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina and visit the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York.

To contact the reporter on this story: Gopal Ratnam in Washington at gratnam1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: John Walcott at jwalcott9@bloomberg.net

Al-Qaeda airline bomb plot disrupted, U.S. says
Al-Qaedas foiled bomb plots:?Following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the CIA and foreign intelligence agencies have foiled a series of plots by al-Qaeda and its affiliates to blow up airplanes in the United States and Europe.
The Washington Post The CIA and overseas intelligence partners disrupted an al-Qaeda plot to blow up civilian aircraft using an advanced explosive device designed by the terrorist networks affiliate in Yemen, U.S. officials said Monday.

President Obama was made aware of the threat in April, U.S. officials said, and the plot was stopped before any aircraft or passengers could be put in danger. Obama was assured that the device did not pose a threat to the public, said Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the National Security Council.

The foiled underwear bomb plot in Yemen serves as a stark reminder of al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP's, primary mission - bring down an American plane, reports John Miller.

The Associated Press has learned the CIA thwarted a plot by al-Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a new design around the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden.

.U.S. officials said the FBI is examining the device modeled on the underwear bomb used in an attempt to bring down a Detroit-bound airliner on Christmas Day 2009 to determine whether airport security systems would have detected it.

U.S. officials said the CIA and other agencies tracked the plot for about a month before moving to seize the device in recent days in the Middle East outside Yemen, where the bomb was built.

Officials said that the bomb or its components were in transit when intercepted, but that the device was not seized at an airport and that al-Qaeda had yet to target a specific flight, let alone take steps to smuggle the explosive onboard.

U.S. officials declined to provide key details about the plot, citing concern about protecting sensitive intelligence sources and operations. Officials would not say whether a suspect had been caught or specify where the device was seized.

The timing of the alleged terrorist plot coincides with a major escalation of the clandestine U.S. drone campaign in Yemen. U.S. officials said the explosive appears to have been assembled by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, a Yemen-based affiliate that has been linked to high-profile attacks against the United States.

AQAP is the responsible group here, said a senior U.S. official who, like others, spoke on the condition of anonymity to share sensitive intelligence. We believe AQAP produced the device, and we believe it was intended to be used by a suicide bomber on an aircraft.

In addition to the 2009 airliner bombing plot, AQAP has been tied to an unsuccessful 2010 attempt to mail parcels packed with explosives to addresses in Chicago and a 2009 attack in Saudi Arabia in which a suicide bomber was killed during a gruesome attempt to assassinate the kingdoms top counterterrorism official, Mohammed bin Nayef.

Bomb difficult to detect

U.S. officials said the new device was designed to overcome technical problems and detection schemes that had thwarted previous AQAP plans. The bomb was built with a more advanced detonator than the one that fizzled during the foiled Christmas Day attack, in which the would-be bomber, Omar Farouk Abdulmutallab, was subdued by other passengers alarmed by plumes of smoke rising from his seat.

The new device was also devoid of metal or telltale components, meaning that it might have been difficult for any but the most sophisticated airport security systems to detect.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, described the device as a specific type of bomb that is of new design and very difficult to detect by magnetometer.

In a written statement, she said, It was similar to what .?.?. Abdulmutallab wore in his underwear.

That device and others are thought to be the work of Ibrahim Hassan al-Asiri, an accomplished AQAP-affiliated bombmaker who remains at large.

The foiled underwear bomb plot in Yemen serves as a stark reminder of al-Qaeda of the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP's, primary mission - bring down an American plane, reports John Miller.

The Associated Press has learned the CIA thwarted a plot by al-Qaeda's affiliate in Yemen to destroy a U.S.-bound airliner using a bomb with a new design around the one-year anniversary of the killing of Osama bin Laden.

.Bin Laden anniversary

The disclosure of the plot, first reported by the Associated Press, comes less than a week after the anniversary of the death of Osama bin Laden and amid recent efforts by the Obama administration to make its counterterrorism accomplishments a central issue in the presidential campaign.

White House officials previously said they were unaware of any terrorism plots tied to the one-year mark of bin Ladens death. Despite Mondays disclosure, a senior administration official said those assertions were accurate.

We had no specific, credible information about active terrorist plots timed to coincide with the bin Laden anniversary and reiterate that this device never represented a threat to the public, the senior official said.

Nevertheless, the detection of the alleged al-Qaeda plan appears to have set a series of counterterrorism operations in motion.

Last month, Obama approved a significant escalation of the drone campaign in Yemen, allowing the CIA and the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command to begin firing at targets engaged in activity deemed suspicious, even when the identities of those who could be killed is unknown.

Fahd al-Quso, a senior AQAP operative reportedly killed in the latest drone strike, was said to have succeeded the U.S.-born Anwar al-Awlaki as AQAPs head of external planning. Awlaki was killed in a CIA drone attack last year.

Quso was tied to the 2000 attack on the USS Cole in Yemen that killed 17 American sailors. U.S. officials said he was likely to have been involved in any plot to strike the United States. Officials declined to say whether he was targeted based on intelligence gathered when the bomb was intercepted.

AQAP threat growing

CIA analysts have warned administration officials in recent months that AQAPs ability to seize large chunks of territory in Yemen over the past year has made it more dangerous to the United States and its Western allies.

It is our assessment that the threat from AQAP is growing due to the territorial gains, the senior U.S. official said, adding that its territorial expansion has allowed the group to establish additional training camps.

U.S. officials did not say whether the seizure of the latest bomb had triggered specific security precautions. The FBI said in a statement that the device was seized abroad but that the bureau has possession of [it] and is conducting technical and forensics analysis.

Staff writer Sari Horwitz and staff researcher Julie Tate contributed to this report.

VA will not defend DOMA in benefits cases

By Cid Standifer - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday May 10, 2012 11:31:24 EDT

The Veterans Affairs Department is following the Justice Departments lead in refusing to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, according to a legal memo released by VA on Wednesday, a few hours after President Obama publicly announced his support for same-sex marriage.

The court notice, signed by VA General Counsel Will Gunn on behalf of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, says VA will not fight Fifth Amendment claims based on equal protection under the law brought against DOMA.

The memo also says Shinseki believes DOMA should be subject to a heightened scrutiny standard, meaning it is up to defendants to prove the law is justifiable under the constitution, as opposed to the rational basis standard, which puts the burden on the laws opponents to prove there is no rational reason for it to exist.

Yale Law School filed the case in the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims last month on behalf of Carmen Cardona, a disabled Navy veteran who served 18 years and in 2010 married another woman in Connecticut, one of the states that recognizes same-sex marriage.

Cardona, who has an 80-percent disability rating due to carpal tunnel syndrome, applied for increased disability benefits from VA, but was denied under DOMA, which says same-sex couples do not qualify for federal benefits, regardless of the state laws where they live.

A letter from Shinseki to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, attached to the court notice, says VA notified congressional Republicans of its decision in case lawmakers wish to take up the case. The House has taken up a number of cases in which the Justice Department has declined to defend DOMA, but not all of them, according to a Boehner spokesman.

Eric Parrie, a law student involved in the case on behalf of Cardona, said Shinsekis opinion does not mean an automatic win for the Navy veteran. He said he expects the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, a House body that has taken up the defense of DOMA in other cases, to intervene.

Even if BLAG does not take up the lawsuit, there are other issues in the case based on the Tenth Amendment, which limits the powers of the federal government to intervene in states issues, and a constitutional clause banning bills of attainder, or nullification of civil rights without a trial. Shinsekis letter says VA is retaining the right to oppose Cardonas claims on those grounds.

[W]ithout BLAG intervention, Ms. Cardona would not automatically win benefits, but her compelling case would be that much stronger, Parrie told Military Times. The executive and legislative branches would have both effectively signaled their agreement with Ms. Cardona that she and her wife deserve the benefits due any other family of a disabled veteran.

If Cardona wins, the case can still be appealed to the Federal Circuit, which Parrie said is likely, and from there it can go to the Supreme Court.

Governor Fallin Signs Bill to Help Veterans Translate Military Experience into Academic Credits
OKLAHOMA CITY Governor Fallin today signed into law SB 1863, a bill that will help veterans translate their military experience and skills into academic credits and credit for workforce training.

We owe our gratitude to the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces for their service and sacrifice. The men and women in our military, as well as all of our veterans, possess some of the most unique skill sets in the world, Fallin said. The Post-Military Service Occupation, Education and Credentialing Act will give veterans credit for the experience they gained in service of the country and provide them the help they deserve to find jobs and re-enter the workforce once their service is complete.

SB 1863 would allow Oklahoma colleges, university and technology centers to provide academic credit to a military veteran, who was honorably discharged in the previous three years, for any applicable education, training and experience received through military duty that pertains to his or her area of study. Governing boards must adopt policies for military academic credit by January 1, 2013, and courses must meet the standards of the American Council on Education or equivalent standards.

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Rita Aragon praised the bill as a way to help support veterans returning from active duty overseas.

Our military service men and women deserve our support in honor of their service to our nation, Aragon said. This program will allow veterans to transform their unique military skills and training into academic credit and real-world certification.

The Post-Military Service Occupation, Education and Credentialing Act was sponsored by retired Army Lt. Colonel Sen. Steve Russell and Rep. Ann Coody.

I want to thank Senator Russell and Representative Coody, the bills sponsors, as well as the entire Legislature for their commitment to helping our nations military veterans, Fallin said.

New push begins for Law of the Sea Treaty

Posted By Josh Rogin Thursday, May 10, 2012 - 4:45 PM
The Obama administration and Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-MA) are beginning a new push to seek ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, known around Washington simply as the Law of the Sea Treaty.

The treaty, which came into force in 1994, established rules of the road for operating in international waters and set forth a regime for determining mineral and other rights beneath the ocean floor. Since then, 161 countries have signed on, as well as the European Union, but the U.S. Senate has not ratified it.

In fact, the treaty has never come up for a full vote, despite support from multiple administrations, Democrats, and the Navy, which views it as needed to allow the United States to fully participate in the growing multinational system that governs the open seas. It is vigorously opposed by some Republicans, who argue that signing it would be tantamount to an abandonment of U.S. sovereignty.

Kerry's efforts to initiate the months-long ratification process on the treaty began last year. He has met with a host of senators on the issue, and his staff has been consulting with businesses and the military and respected national security experts in both parties. But the drive to set up hearings to promote the bill stalled.

Hill staffers say that Kerry's committee counterpart Richard Lugar (R-IN) did not want the ratification process to begin before his primary, because he was inclined to support the treaty but recognized that his support could be used against him politically. But with Lugar now out of the way, the ratification process is back on track.

Kerry will soon announce the first hearing, which will be made up of a panel of high-ranking military officials, The Cable has learned. It will be a "24-star hearing," meaning the panel will have six military officers with four stars each.

"Senator Kerry has heard for a long time that it'd be helpful for the committee to hold some hearings and review a treaty that hasn't been examined since 2007. The Senate has experienced massive turnover since that period, with 30 new senators," Kerry's Communications Director Jodi Seth told The Cable.

She denied, however, that the timing of Lugar's primary was the reason for the delay.

"Senator Kerry considered holding hearings last year, but it wasn't feasible after he was asked to serve on the Super Committee, and there have been other urgent issues from Iran to Syria and the State Department budget that have required the [SFRC's] immediate attention this spring," said Seth. "But now, after hearing from conservative-minded businesses, national security experts of both parties, and the military, all of whom strongly support the treaty, Senator Kerry decided the time was right to initiate some hearings and he hopes they'll be helpful for the committee."

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta also pushed for a new ratification process to pass the treaty in Wednesday remarks at a Law of the Sea symposium in Washington. Panetta called on the Senate to embrace Lugar's bipartisan spirit.

"Our country desperately needs the bipartisan spirit he embodied. It would be an enormous tribute to Senator Lugar's distinguished record to accede to this convention on his watch," Panetta said.

He also laid out the administration's main arguments in favor or the treaty: that U.S. accession to the treaty would allow the United States to secure mineral rights in a larger geographical area, would ensure freedom of navigation for U.S. ships, and would give the country better leverage for claims in the Arctic.

Panetta warned that in failing to ratify the treaty, the United States would "give up the strongest legal footing for our actions."

"We potentially undercut our credibility in a number of Asia-focused multilateral venues -- just as we're pushing for a rules-based order in the region and the peaceful resolution of maritime and territorial disputes in the South China Sea and elsewhere," he said. "How can we argue that other nations must abide by international rules when we haven't officially accepted those rules?"

GENERAL DYNAMICS SUBMARINE BUILDERS GOOD NEWS
Posted on May 7, 2012 by aviationintel.com

The first Virginia class multi-mission nuclear fast attack sub took 86 months to build. The Navys most recent addition, the USS Mississippi, took 62 months to be completed even with added hardware and capabilities. That is over a year less than the 74 months that were predicted and budgeted for by the USN. All the while General Dynamics engineers and shipbuilders have also been able to enhance quality and combat readiness of the new stealthy subs. Hopefully the DoD will dig deep within a successful program like this and port any unique ideas, no matter how small, and talent over to other more troubled defense programs, as in the end quality leadership and innovative cost saving processes are our best chances of getting ourselves out of the budgetary and developmental death spiral we are currently in.

Great work General Dynamics, our sub force is absolutely key to Americas future ability to project power and ensure our freedom of movement on the high seas. I hope the DoD wises up and recognizes a great weapon system at a great value and ups the Navys goal of 48 boats going forward, one it will probably never sustain at current budgetary levels anyway. The Virginia class nuclear fast attack boat is truly the Navys nuclear powered submerged Swiss Army Knife. They can do so many things, from hunting other submarines and surface combatants, to intelligence gathering, to special forces delivery and extraction, to direct attack via their Tomahawk cruise missiles and more. Further, the nuclear submarine remains the most survivable military asset on the planet, which makes their unique capabilities totally indispensable as we turn our strategic focus on the vast expanses of the Pacific theater.

http://www.dodbuzz.com/2012/05/03/the-navys-new-sub-comes-in-a-year-early-how/

Stay-leave Afghanistan policy is confusing
EUGENE ROBINSON

Eugene Robinsons email address is eugen? erobinson@washpost.com? .
WASHINGTON Show of hands: Does anybody really understand the U.S. policy in Afghanistan? Can anyone figure out how were supposed to stay the course and bring home the troops at the same time?
Im at a loss, even after President Obamas surprise trip to the war zone. The presidents televised address from Bagram air base raised more questions than it answered. Lets start with the big one: Why?
According to Obama, the United States and our allies went to war to make sure that al-Qaeda could never use this country to launch attacks against us. I would argue that U.S. and NATO forces have already done all that is humanly possible toward that end.
The Taliban government was deposed and routed. Al-Qaeda was first dislodged and then decimated, with over 20 of their top 30 leaders killed, according to the president. Osama bin Laden was tracked to his lair in Pakistan, shot dead and buried at sea. To the extent that al-Qaeda still poses a threat, it comes from affiliate organizations in places such as Yemen and from the spread of poisonous jihadist ideology. Al-Qaedas once-extensive training camps in Afghanistan have long been obliterated and the groups presence in the country is minimal.
That smells like victory to me. Yet 94 American troops have lost their lives in Afghanistan so far in 2012, U.S. forces will still be engaged in combat until the end of 2014, and we are committed to an extraordinary and expensive level of involvement there until 2024. Why?
Of the U.S. troops who died this year as a result of hostile fire as opposed to accidents, illnesses or suicide at least one of every seven was killed not by the Taliban but by ostensibly friendly Afghan security forces.
A report, now classified, commissioned by the Pentagon last year concluded that what it called the rapidly growing fratricide-murder trend of attacks by Afghan soldiers and police against U.S. and allied troops reflects the ineffectiveness in our efforts in stabilizing Afghanistan, developing a legitimate and effective government, battling the insurgency (and) gaining the loyalty, respect and friendship of the Afghans.
Policies such as nighttime raids, in which civilians have been killed, and incidents such as the burning of Qurans by allied soldiers have generated increasing resentment in a country that has never taken kindly to foreign occupation.
These friendly-fire killings are not just isolated incidents, the report says, but a continuing pattern that is leading to a crisis of trust between allied and Afghan forces. Unless there is reform of profoundly dysfunctional Afghan governmental systems and key leaders, the report predicts, any efforts in developing a legitimate, functional and trustworthy Afghan army and police force will continue to be futile.
It should be noted that U.S. commanders in Afghanistan strongly disagree. They express confidence that the Afghan army is becoming a much more competent and professional fighting force. But they acknowledge that the process requires time and a continuing commitment of troops and funding.
As Obama knows, however, polls indicate that Americans are weary of this war. He told the nation Tuesday night that 23,000 troops would be withdrawn by the end of the summer. This will reduce troop levels to about 65,000 still far above what Obama inherited in 2009. By the end of 2014, Obama said, the Afghans will be fully responsible for the security of their country. But how many Americans will remain? And, again, why?
At that point, Obama said, we will leave behind just enough personnel to support the Afghan government in counterterrorism operations and provide continued training for Afghan forces. At present, however, were in the midst of a counterinsurgency campaign of the kind that takes decades, at best, to succeed. If were going to switch to counterterrorism in a couple of years, why not just make the switch now?
Another question: Obama said we will establish no permanent bases in Afghanistan. But the agreement he signed with Afghan President Hamid Karzai gives the United States continuing use of bases that we built and intend to transfer nominally to Afghan control. Whats the difference?
The United States has agreed to support Afghanistans social and economic development and its security institutions through 2024. Does this sound like nation-building to you? Because thats what it sounds like to me.
Tonight, Id like to tell you how we will complete our mission and end the war in Afghanistan, Obama said Tuesday. Were still waiting.

U.S. is hypocritically standing by while Syria burns
Posted on April 29, 2012 by HMH10

WASHINGTON - Last year President Obama ordered U.S. intervention in Libya under the grand new doctrine of Responsibility to Protect. Moammar Gaddafi was threatening a massacre in Benghazi. To stand by and do nothing would have been a betrayal of who we are, explained the president.

anti-Syrian regime protesters shout slogans and flash the victory sign as they march during a demonstration, at the mountain resort town of Zabadani, Syria, near the border with Lebanon. As diplomats debated, opposition activists said Syrian troops
In the year since, the government of Syria has more than threatened massacres. It has carried them out. Nothing hypothetical about the disappearances, executions, indiscriminate shelling of populated neighborhoods. More than 9,000 are dead.

Obama has said that we cannot stand idly by. And what has he done? Stand idly by.

Yes, weve imposed economic sanctions. But as with Iran, the economic squeeze has not altered the regimes behavior. Mondays announced travel and financial restrictions on those who use social media to track down dissidents is a pinprick. No Disney World trips for the chiefs of the Iranian and Syrian security agencies. And they might now have to park their money in Dubai instead of New York. Thatll stop em.
Obamas other major announcement at Washingtons Holocaust Museum, no less was the creation of an Atrocities Prevention Board.

I kid you not. A board. Russia flies planeloads of weapons to Damascus. Iran supplies money, trainers, agents, more weapons. And what does America do? Support a feckless U.N. peace mission that does nothing to stop the killing. (Indeed, some of the civilians who met with the peacekeepers were summarily executed.) And establish an Atrocities Prevention Board.

With multiagency participation, mind you. The liberal faith in the power of bureaucracy and flowcharts, of committees and reports, is legend. But this is parody.

Now, theres an argument to be made that we do not have a duty to protect. That foreign policy is not social work. That you risk American lives only when national security and/or strategic interests are at stake, not merely to satisfy the humanitarian impulses of some of our leaders.

But Obama does not make this argument. On the contrary. He goes to the Holocaust Museum to commit himself and his country to defend the innocent, to affirm the moral imperative of rescue. And then does nothing of any consequence.

His case for passivity is buttressed by the implication that the only alternative to inaction is military intervention bombing, boots on the ground.

But thats false. Its not the only alternative. Why arent we organizing, training and arming the Syrian rebels in their sanctuaries in Turkey? Nothing unilateral here. Saudi Arabia is already planning to do so. Turkey has turned decisively against Assad. And the French are pushing for even more direct intervention.

Instead, Obama insists that we can only act with support of the international community, meaning the U.N. Security Council where Russia and China have a permanent veto. By what logic does the moral legitimacy of U.S. action require the blessing of a thug like Vladimir Putin and the butchers of Tiananmen Square?

Our slavish, mindless self-subordination to international legitimacy does nothing but allow Russia a pretend post-Soviet superpower to extend a protective umbrella over whichever murderous client it chooses. Obama has all but announced that Russia (or China) has merely to veto international actions sanctions, military assistance, direct intervention and the U.S. will back off.

For what reason? Not even President Clinton, a confirmed internationalist, would acquiesce to such restraints. With Russia prepared to block U.N. intervention against its client, Serbia, Clinton saved Kosovo by summoning NATO to bomb the hell out of Serbia, the Russians be damned.

If Obama wants to stay out of Syria, fine. Make the case that its none of our business. That its too hard. That we have no security/national interests there.

In my view, the evidence argues against that, but at least a coherent case for hands off could be made. That would be an honest, straightforward policy. Instead, the president, basking in the sanctity of the Holocaust Museum, proclaims his solemn allegiance to a doctrine of responsibility even as he stands by and watches Syria burn.

If we are not prepared to intervene, even indirectly by arming and training Syrians who want to liberate themselves, be candid. And then be quiet. Dont pretend the U.N. is doing anything. Dont pretend the U.S. is doing anything. And dont embarrass the nation with an Atrocities Prevention Board. The tragedies of Rwanda, Darfur and now Syria did not result from lack of information or lack of interagency coordination, but from lack of will.

A Eliminates Copayment for In-Home Video Telehealth Care
8May12

WASHINGTON Beginning May 7, the Department of Veterans Affairs will no longer charge Veterans a copayment when they receive care in their homes from VA health professionals using video conferencing.

Eliminating the copayment for this service will remove an unnecessary financial burden for Veterans, said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure that Veterans have access to the first-class care they have earned with their service to our Nation.

This change will primarily benefit Veterans with limited mobility, such as spinal cord injury patients. Whenever medically appropriate, VA will make the home the preferred place of care for Veterans to ensure timely and convenient access to VA services.

For more information about telehealth, visit: http://www.telehealth.va.gov/.

Data have shown that expanded use of technology in the home enables patients with chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, chronic heart failure and hypertension, to live independently, actively engage in managing their health, and prevents avoidable hospitalization of patients who otherwise may need long-term institutional care.

Home telehealth does not replace the need for nursing home care or for traditional noninstitutional care programs. However, it enhances the ability for many veterans to better understand and manage chronic diseases. This partnership with their care team helps delay the need for institutionalization and enables them to maintain independence for an extended period of time, thus improving their overall quality of life

Lawton-Fort Sill prepares for annual Armed Forces Day 19MAY12

As more men and women have returned stateside over the past year, it is important to take time to honor those who have served and fought to protect the countrys freedom. On May 18-19, the Lawton-Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce will join forces with Fort Sill to celebrate Armed Forces Day with renewed spirit and appreciation for the military.
The commemoration includes the annual Armed Forces Day parade and luncheon.
Parade 10 a.m. May 19
Roughly 120 participants are set to march along with 1,000 men and women in uniform in whats said to be the largest Armed Forces Day parade in the nation. Bands, community and business floats, military officials and veterans will unite in tribute to service members past and present. The parade will begin at 10 a.m. May 19 at the Lawton Central Mall and travel along C Avenue. Participants will next head north on Fort Sill Boulevard and then turn west on Northwest Ferris Avenue ending at Elmer Thomas Park.
Fort Sill will showcase 16 Army vehicles along the route plus place 16 static displays of each of those pieces at the Lawton Central Mall and in Elmer Thomas Park for families to enjoy.
Debra Burch, president and CEO of the chamber, says, Our Armed Forces Day celebration continues to be a signature event for our community. It is a wonderful opportunity for our citizens to pay tribute to the military, and because of the significant support the military provides for this event in terms of participation, it is an excellent chance for people to see just how impressive our local military presence is in terms of troops and equipment. The Armed Forces Day celebration remains a major tourist attraction as several military reunion groups will travel to Lawton specifically to be a part of this outstanding celebration.
The Armed Forces Day luncheon at 11:30 a.m. May 18 will give guests the opportunity to share lunch at the Patriot Club on Fort Sill with guest speaker retired Lt. Gen. Michael Maples. Reservations are required by 5 p.m. May 16, either by email: receptionist@lawtonfort? sillchamber.com ? or by phone at 580-355-3541.
Both remembrances will also send a message of thanks both to those serving abroad and those here at home.
For more information about the Armed Forces Day events or to submit an entry form for the parade contact Shannon Yarbrough at syarbrough@lawtonfortsillcham? ber.com ? or 580-355-3541.

Finding work proves harder for veterans 3May12
LOS ANGELES TIMES
WASHINGTON Matt Pizzo has a law degree, can-do attitude, proven leadership skills, and expertise in communications and satellite technology from his four years in the Air Force.
Yet the 29-year-old has been told that hes overqualified, too old, too non-traditional, and that hes fallen behind his civilian contemporaries.
It was disheartening, to say the least, he said of his latest job rejection. But its typical, Im afraid.
For unemployed veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, rejection is a special ordeal. Veterans advocacy groups, and many unemployed veterans, say civilian employers dont always appreciate veterans skills and maturity. They point out that this is the first generation of employers who have no widespread military experience and thus no inherent appreciation for what the institution can provide.
Further, the increased military and media attention given to posttraumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury has had the effect of stigmatizing veterans, advocates say. Some employers fear that soldiers diagnosed with these conditions are prone to violence or instability.
The unemployment rate for veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq is 10.3 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. For veterans age 24 and under, the rate is 29.1 percent, or 12 points higher than for civilians the same age. That compares with 8.2 percent unemployment nationally, and 7.5 percent for all veterans.
A survey this year by the advocacy group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America found that a quarter of its members could not find a job to match their skill level, and half said they did not believe employers were open to hiring veterans.
These veterans have skills and maturity a decade beyond their civilian peers, said Tom Tarantino, the groups deputy policy director, who couldnt find work for 10 months after he left the Army in 2007. Its very frustrating for them to be told they have to retrain for jobs theyve already been trained for in the military.
Tarantino said that he spent 10 years as an officer who managed a multimillion-dollar budget and supervised 400 people.
They just dont get it, Tarantino said of todays employers. Its hard to make that cultural connection.
The obstacle of PTSD
When it comes to hiring barriers, PTSD is the often-unacknowledged obstacle.
The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 11 percent to 20 percent of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans suffer from the disorder. A 2008 RAND Corp. study found that 30 percent of returning veterans screened positive for PTSD, traumatic brain injuries or depression.
Hannah Rudstam of Cornell Universitys Industrial and Labor Relations School studies veterans employment, and says many employers consider PTSD and traumatic brain injury mysterious and threatening.
In a recent survey of human resource officers conducted by Rudstam and others, 73 percent of respondents agreed that hiring veterans with disabilities would help their business. But at the same time, 63 percent said that employing workers with PTSD or traumatic brain injury would require more effort and 61 percent said they were unsure whether they posed a workplace threat.
We know its an issue, said John Moran, who directs the Veterans Employment and Training Service at the Labor Department. An agency website offers employers a tool kit with detailed information about PTSD and traumatic brain injuries.
But veterans themselves dont always do a good job at making their case to potential employers.
Lisa Rosser, a 22-year Army veteran who runs Value of a Veteran, a consulting firm, said many veterans didnt translate their military experience into civilian language even though 81 percent of military jobs have a close civilian equivalent.
Many Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, of course, do land jobs at least 240,000 in the most recent 12-month reporting period, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The biggest hiring increases were in wholesale and retail trade (79,000 jobs) and state or local government (50,000). But 10,000 fewer Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans were hired by the federal government and 8,000 fewer were hired by the construction industry compared with the previous 12-month period.
A tsunami of veterans
Hundreds of job fairs have sprung up to help what one VA official calls a tsunami of more than a million veterans who will be returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. About 7,000 veterans have found jobs through Hiring Our Heroes, a series of 140 job fairs sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
But some veterans find job fairs frustrating. Jeffrey Barretta, who left the Army in October, attended a Hiring Our Heroes fair in Fayetteville, N.C., recently, only to be told by employers to go online to fill out an application.
Barretta, 28, was an Army construction engineer for nearly four years. Hes seeking a job operating a bulldozer or crane, but has not had a single reply from a dozen applications.
Barretta lives on food stamps and bunks with two Army buddies in Fayetteville, outside Fort Bragg, while his wife works as a dance instructor in Florida. At the job fair, he glanced around at hundreds of former soldiers lining up, resumes in hand.
The economys bad enough, he said. But on top of that, all these veterans are competing with each other for a limited number of jobs.
Army assistance
This month, the Army began requiring soldiers to take job and career training and other transitional instruction 12 months before leaving the service. And Congress offers incentives for employers who hire vets.
Meanwhile, the Labor Department runs 3,000 career centers where veterans have priority, with 1,000 employment specialists advocating for veterans among employers nationwide.
One such program, in Frederick, Md., helped Carlos Canas, a former Army medic, pay for community college tuition after he was laid off. He earned a phlebotomy certificate that led to a job drawing blood at a local hospital.
But other veterans continue to be turned away.
One employer told Pizzo, the Air Force veteran, that he didnt think Pizzo would be willing to take orders from younger civilians.
I get responses like, Were looking for a more traditional background, he said. To make ends meet, Pizzo, who lives on Long Island, has worked part-time construction and demolition jobs.
But hes still trying to find the perfect job.
One good thing about the military is that it gave me the confidence to keep on going, he said. Whoever hires me, theyre going to hit the jackpot.

Women in combat Army to open 14K jobs and 6 MOSs

By Michelle Tan - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday May 2, 2012 14:57:33 EDT

The Army will start placing women in as many as 14,000 combat-related jobs by opening up six military occupational specialties and placing women in 37 battalions across nine brigade combat teams.

On May 14, the Army will begin implementing the new Defense Department policy.

The new DoD policy opens up an additional 3 percent of Army jobs to women.

Related reading
Pentagon opens more military jobs to women (Feb. 9)

Odierno backs expanding role of women in combat (Oct. 22)

About 30 percent of Army jobs will remain restricted to men.

The last 11 years of warfare have really revealed to us there are no front lines, Brig. Gen. Barrye Price, director of human resources policy at the Army G-1 (personnel) told Army Times. There are no rear echelons. Everybody was vulnerable to the influence of the enemy.

Women make up almost 16 percent of the Army, and have served in more than 78 percent of the Armys occupations.

More than 135,000 female soldiers have deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan, earning more than 400 valor awards, including two Silver Stars, the nations third-highest award for valor, Price said.

BILLETS FOR WOMEN AT BATTALION LEVEL
The eligible specialties opening up for women at battalion level are:

10 for officers:

Adjutant general, 42B

Chaplain, 56M

Chemical, 74A

Field artillery fire support officer or effects coordinator, 13A

Logistics, 90A

Field surgeon or medical platoon leader, 62B

Military intelligence, 35D

Medical operations, 70B

Signal, 25A

Physician assistant, 65D

6 for enlisted:

Human resources sergeant and senior HR sergeant, 42A

Chemical noncommissioned officer, 74D

Supply sergeant and senior supply sergeant, 92Y

Intelligence sergeant, 35F

Health-care sergeant and health-care platoon sergeant, 68W

Radio re-transmission supervisor and communications section chief, 25U

9 BCTs, 6 POSTS

Women will be placed in nine combat brigades:

2nd BCT, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colo.

2nd BCT, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas

3rd BCT, 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood

3rd Cavalry Regiment at Fort Hood

3rd BCT, 1st Infantry Division at Fort Knox, Ky.

3rd BCT, 10th Mountain Division at Fort Drum, N.Y.

2nd Stryker BCT, 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii

3rd BCT, 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks

4th BCT, 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, Ky.

More than 77 have been killed in action, while another 853 were wounded, he said.

There are two parts to the effort to open up combat-related jobs to women, Price said.

First, the Army will place women in 37 battalions in nine of its 45 active-duty BCTs.

These soldiers will be placed in MOSs that already are open to women, Price said. However, women didnt previously serve in these units because regardless of the MOS, they were barred from being assigned to combat units below the brigade level.

That rule was put in place in 1994, as DoD examined the role of women after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Price said.

It was a different time [and] there was some concern about an expanded role for women or what role women would play in combat in the future, he said.

But women have played an invaluable role in Iraq and Afghanistan, leading the Army to push for an exception to that rule, Price said.

Based on the numbers of women who were deployed, the number of valorous awards, the number of casualties women had faced, the number of Combat Action Badges, and their duty on the modern battlefield, we determined we should take a hard look at broadening our scope, he said.

The removal of this policy opens up 755 billets at the battalion headquarters level to women in 10 officer and six enlisted specialties, Price said. He expects about 350 of those billets will be filled by women.

The changes will affect qualified second lieutenants through captains and noncommissioned officers in the grades of sergeant through sergeant first class.

The Army will start with the nine BCTs so it can more easily assess the impact of the exception to policy, Price said.

What were looking to do is assess smaller, then, perhaps, depending on how it goes, expand, he said.

In selecting the nine BCTs, the Army sought a mix of heavy, infantry and Stryker brigades, Price said.

We were really trying to get a sample thats designed to be reflective of the larger Army, he said. We know in each of our units there are different cultures in infantry, in mechanized, in airborne, in air assault.

Price said there are lots of volunteers who want to be assigned to these units.

To start, most of the women who are placed in these battalions will be volunteers from the BCTs home stations, Price said. The Army will then fill slots using the regular assignments process.

In November, six months after the exception to policy is implemented, the Army will report back to the defense secretary. Officials will then report to Congress, which will have to approve any expansion of this program, Price said.

The Army also is eliminating a provision that banned women from being co-located with units that are directly or routinely involved in combat.

This opens up six MOSs in 80 units that had never been open to women, Price said.

They are:

Multiple Launch Rocket System crewmember, 13M.

MLRS operations fire detection specialist, 13P.

Field artillery fire finder radar operator specialist, 13R.

M1 Abrams tank system maintainer, 91A.

Bradley Fighting Vehicle system maintainer, 91M.

Artillery mechanic, 91P.

The Army plans to recruit new soldiers who want to enter these specialties, Price said, but it also is seeking soldiers who want to reclassify and retrain into these jobs.

Soldiers attending advanced individual training for the 13 series jobs will go to Fort Sill, Okla., while 91A and 91M training takes place at Fort Benning, Ga. The 91P trainees will go to Fort Lee, Va.

Logistics of transition
At Fort Benning, home of the infantry and armor schools, preparations are underway to receive female trainees.

For the initial entry-type training that we do, these would be the first female soldiers [to come through], said Col. Kevin MacWatters, commander of the 194th Armored Brigade.

Construction on the barracks is underway, said Capt. Benjamin Koczera, commander of E Company, 3rd Battalion, 81st Armored Regiment, which is responsible for the 14-week 91A and 91M training.

The work will cost about $42,000 to build a wall in the middle of a 60-soldier barracks bay and convert urinals to toilets.

When construction is completed in mid-July, the womens bay in the barracks will be able to hold 30 people. However, Koczera said they dont anticipate having more than 21 female trainees at any given time.

The unit also plans to add two female platoon sergeants and two female instructors by Sept. 1.

The platoon sergeants are responsible for the trainees day-to-day schedules, including physical training, counseling and inspections.

Koczeras company also will welcome a female executive officer, 1st Lt. Doby Lewis, a former enlisted soldier who served as a drill sergeant at Fort Jackson, S.C.

Having women staff and cadre is not new to Fort Benning, but having Lewis in place at E Company will help with the transition, said Lt. Col. William Nuckols, commander of 3rd Battalion, 81st Armored Regiment.

Shes coming to us at the perfect time, he said. Her experience as a drill sergeant will pay dividends to the company as we go through this slight change in culture.

Fort Benning is ready to receive female trainees, MacWatters said, even though its still not known when the first trainees will arrive.

Were changing very little to make this happen, he said. If necessary, we could execute tomorrow.

Identical standards
Male or female, all trainees will be held to the same standards, MacWatters said.

All trainees will go through the exact same training, the exact same PT, he said. The overall mission is, we look at it as a transformation of volunteers into disciplined and competent mechanics, ready to contribute to their units. It doesnt matter, in our view, if theyre male soldiers or female soldiers. The mission doesnt change.

The contributions of women in the military speak for themselves, Price said.

The Army now has one female four-star and four three-stars. In addition, the senior officers for at least seven specialties across the Army are women in the quartermaster, transportation, medical, nurse, adjutant general, military intelligence and signal corps, Price said.

A first was the selection of Brig. Gen. Laura Richardson as deputy commanding general-support of the 1st Cavalry Division, making her the first woman to serve in that role in a combat division.

Price said he is optimistic about the upcoming changes.

I really do believe this exception to policy is going to inform the way ahead with regards to women in the service, he said.

Russia threatens strike on NATO missile shield

By Mansur Mirovalev - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday May 3, 2012 11:33:23 EDT

MOSCOW Russias top military officer has threatened to deal a pre-emptive strike on U.S.-led NATO missile defense facilities in Eastern Europe if Washington goes ahead with its controversial missile defense plan.

President Dmitry Medvedev said last year that Russia will retaliate militarily if it does not reach an agreement with the United States and NATO on the controversial missile defense system.

Chief of General Staff Nikolai Makarov went even further Thursday. A decision to use destructive force pre-emptively will be taken if the situation worsens, Makarov said.

Moscow rejects Washingtons claim that the missile defense plan is solely to deal with any Iranian missile threat and has voiced fears it will eventually become powerful enough to undermine Russias nuclear deterrent. Moscow has proposed running the missile shield jointly with NATO, but the alliance has rejected that proposal.

Makarovs statement on Thursday doesnt seem to imply an immediate threat, but aims to put extra pressure on Washington to agree to Russias demands.

The Obama administration tried to ease tensions with Russia in 2009 by saying it would revamp an earlier Bush-era plan to emphasize shorter-range interceptors. Russia initially welcomed that move, but has more recently suggested the new interceptors could threaten its missiles as the U.S. interceptors are upgraded.

The U.S.-NATO missile defense plans use Aegis radars and interceptors on ships and a more powerful radar based in Turkey in the first phase, followed by radar and interceptor facilities in Romania and Poland.

Russia would not plan any retaliation unless the United States goes through with its plans and takes the third and final step and deploys defense elements in Poland, Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said Wednesday. That is estimated to happen no earlier than in 2018.

Russia has just commissioned a radar in Kaliningrad, its western outpost near the Polish border, capable of monitoring missile launches from Europe and the North Atlantic.

On Thursday, at the start of a two-day conference with representatives from about 50 countries, a top Russian defense official reiterated Moscows offer to run the missile shield together with NATO.

Russias Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said such a jointly run European missile defense system could strengthen security of every single country of the continent and would be adequate to possible threats and will not deter strategic security.

NATOs deputy secretary general, Alexander Vershbow, told the conference Thursday that the U.S.-led missile shield is not and will not be directed against Russia and that Russias intercontinental ballistic missiles are too fast and too sophisticated for the planned system to intercept.

The conference in Moscow is the last major Russia-U.S. meeting about military issues before a NATO summit in Chicago later this month. Russia hasnt said whether it will send top officials there.

Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain on a visit to Lithuania lashed out at Russias plans in Kaliningrad.

McCain said using missile defense as excuse to have a military buildup in this part of the world, which is at peace, is really an egregious example of what might be even viewed as paranoia on the part of Vladimir Putin.

Liudas Dapkus in Vilnius, Lithuania, contributed to this report.

China blamed for multicontinent cyberspying caper in 2011
By Mark Clayton, Staff writer / May 3, 2012

For six months last year, cyber-spies infiltrated and siphoned key data from the computer networks of at least 20 organizations in the US, Australia, Canada, and Europe all of them with policy, economic, or political interests pending in China then laundered them through a co-opted server in the US and transmitted the information to China.
Operating undetected from late March to mid-September 2011, the sprawling cyber-espionage program targeted, among others, a mining executive doing deals in China during a steel shortage there, Canadian immigration officials dealing with a Chinese businessman fleeing prosecution in Canada, and an international maritime executive promoting a new vessel design standard to minimize greenhouse gas emissions a move China had publicly refuted.
Unlike cybercriminals who typically convert ill-gotten data such as credit-card numbers into quick cash, the attacker appeared to be trying to win long-term economic and strategic advantage for an unknown client in China, says a new report by Cyber Squared, an Arlington, Va., cybersecurity firm.
RECOMMENDED: How much do you know about cyber-security? Take our quiz.
"When you look at all those independent targets as a collective, you start to see that whoever launched such a campaign had great resources and very large motives that were geopolitical and strategic in nature," Adam Vincent, CEO of Cyber Squared, says in an interview. "In this case it's commercial, not military, information that's the primary focus. We're dealing with an advanced, sophisticated, and highly resourced adversary that makes it their job to get into our organizations and conduct espionage operations."
While not claiming to have "solid evidence that the Chinese state is the culprit," the report says investigators familiar with the details are satisfied that "China is the most logical and direct benefactor of information stolen from these entities during the time of compromise."
"The intent was to acquire insider information regarding a variety of issues," the report, called Project Enlightenment, states. "Insight to these sectors could have been used to influence or preempt negotiations, strategic business, legal settlements and national policies."
It's not the first time cyber-sleuths have traced the path of digital spies. This new investigation parallels other investigations that point to a nation-state most commonly claimed to be China conducting a systematic and persistent type of attack that continues to higher levels of sophistication if one mode of attack is found out.
In 2011, the security firm McAfee announced it had detected a cyber-espionage program aimed at international energy firms that it dubbed "Night Dragon."
A year earlier, the Monitor reported that a China-linked cyber-espionage attack targeted several US oil companies.
Canadian researchers in 2009 reported on GhostNet, a cyber-espionage program crossing continents and hundreds of organizations with a single common link: China.
But in this case, Project Enlightenment investigators were able to pin cyberespionage attacks to a tight timeline of events, which was not possible for the earlier attacks. Indeed, all the victims have "a common denominator," Cyber Squared found. "They are all uniquely and individually tied to Chinese strategic interests at the time of the compromise."
The thread that unraveled the larger plot began simply enough. In September, two US congressmen proposed the Taiwan Airpower Modernization Act (TAMA), which would have required the US to sell 66 upgraded F-16 jets to Taiwan.
Within 32 hours of the legislation being submitted to Congress, a US group involved in lobbying for TAMA's passage was hit with a "spear-phishing" attack an e-mail that appeared to be from a senior official within the organization to another employee. The e-mail had an attachment
But instead of opening it, the employee alerted Cyber Squared, which soon discovered a Trojan horse program buried inside the attachment that would have created a digital "back door" for spies to enter the network. From there, investigators traced the attacker back to a computer server in the US and from there to servers in China.
Both the TAMA incident and other related compromises were "most likely the result of a Chinese state-sanctioned or sponsored exploitation campaign ... acting on behalf of an unknown Chinese benefactor who would strategically benefit from persistent network access and stolen information," the report found.
Attackers compromised US computer server infrastructure from sources within China in order to mask the real source of the attacks and to operate inside the global networks of its victims.
Interestingly, the initial attack did not employ particularly advanced techniques, the investigators concluded. The attacker created an e-mail address with a popular US webmail service that closely resembled the name of a senior executive within the targeted organization. After that, a message was sent containing a link to a website that directed the victim to download a malicious file.
But the "spear-phishing" e-mail aimed at a key person was poorly constructed, with a simple link to an encrypted file containing a customized Trojan horse program creating the "back door." Crude, perhaps, yet good enough to evade these organizations' antivirus security programs for six months.
Although all of the infiltrated organizations identified under Project Enlightenment were notified of the intrusion, it's probable that because of the many variants and options available to the attacker the cyberspies are still present inside those organizations' networks, Cyber Squared officials say.
"We are currently tracking the threat and they are still very active," Mr. Vincent writes in an e-mail.
It's a finding that would not surprise US officials banging the drum about this threat. China is stealing a "great deal" of intellectual property from the defense industry and other companies, Gen. Keith Alexander, head of US Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, told the Senate Armed Services Committee in March.
"I can't go into the specifics here, but we do see [thefts] from defense industrial base companies," said General Alexander. "We need to make it more difficult for the Chinese to do what they're doing."
An e-mailed query to the Chinese Embassy about the Cyber Squared report was not responded to by late Thursday. China routinely denies accusations like those made in the Project Enlightenment report. Chinese officials, for instance, took umbrage over a report released last November by the Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive that named China as a major cyberespionage threat to US industrial and technology secrets.
"China's rapid development and prosperity are attributed to its sound national development strategy and the Chinese people's hard work, as well as China's ever enhanced economic and trade cooperation with other countries that benefits all," Wang Baodong, a Chinese Embassy spokesman, wrote at the time in an e-mail responding to a Monitor query about the US study.
"Willfully making unwarranted accusation against China is irresponsible," he continued. "We are against such demonization effort as firmly as our opposition to any forms of unlawful cyberspace activities."

VA testing whether meditation can help treat PTSD
By Steve Vogel, Published: May 3 The Washington Post

Seeking new ways to treat post-traumatic stress, the Department of Veterans Affairs is studying the use of transcendental meditation to help returning veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Veterans Affairs $5.9 billion system for mental-health care is under sharp criticism, particularly after the release of an inspector generals report last month that found that the department has greatly overstated how quickly it treats veterans seeking mental-health care.

VA has a huge investment in mental-health care but is seeking alternatives to conventional psychiatric treatment, said W. Scott Gould, deputy secretary of veterans affairs.

The reality is, not all individuals we see are treatable by the techniques we use, Gould said at a summit Thursday in Washington on the use of TM to treat post-traumatic stress suffered by veterans and active-duty service members.

By some estimates, 10 percent of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan show effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, numbers that are overwhelming the department

Conventional approaches fall woefully short of the mark, so we clearly need a new approach, said Norman Rosenthal, a clinical professor of psychiatry at Georgetown Universitys medical school.

Rosenthal told the gathering that TM, a meditative practice that advocates say helps manage stress and depression, is possibly even a game-changer in how to treat PTSD.

VA is spending about $5 million on a dozen clinical trials and demonstration studies of three meditation techniques involving several hundred veterans from a range of conflicts, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Results from the studies will not be available for 12 to 18 more months.

But Gould said he was encouraged by the results of other trials presented at the summit.

Two independent pilot studies of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans showed a 50 percent reduction in symptoms of post-traumatic stress after eight weeks, according to the summits sponsor, the David Lynch Foundation, a charitable organization founded by the American filmmaker and television director.

Results from the initial phase of a long-term trial investigating the effects of TM on 60 cadets at Norwich University, a private military college in Vermont, have shown promise, school officials said at the summit.

Students practising TM at Norwich showed measurable improvement in the areas of resilience, constructive thinking and discipline over a control group not using the method. The statistical effect we found in only two months was surprisingly large, Carole Bandy, an associate professor of psychology who is directing the Norwich study, said at the summit.

For us, its all about the evidence, said Norwich President Richard W. Schneider, who added that he was a skeptic before the trial began.

Operation Warrior Wellness, an initiative of the David Lynch Foundation, is providing TM training to troops recovering from wounds at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state. Soldiers report dramatic improvements in sleep, according to the foundation, as well as significant reductions in pain, stress and the use of prescription medications.

Lynch, the director of Blue Velvet, Mulholland Drive and the television series Twin Peaks, is a longtime practitioner of TM.

The VA is very interested in what this can do, Lynch said in a telephone interview Thursday. He acknowledged that many in the military are wary of transcendental meditation, with its New Age and mystic connotations.

Big-time, Lynch said. Theyre skeptical until they start hearing stories, or experiencing it for themselves.

Why wait two and a half years to exit from Afghanistan
Seattle Times Editorial

NO argument is necessary about whether President Obama's six-hour visit to Afghanistan was political. Of course it was. Obama is running for re-election. The better question is whether a celebration is justified.

Regarding the mission to assassinate Osama bin Laden and Wednesday was the anniversary of it some crowing is fine. The Navy SEALs' mission was successful, and spectacularly so. Obama ordered it. He took the political risk and won a victory for America. Any president would remind people of that.

The overall mission in Afghanistan is something else again. U.S. troops have been there for 10 years. President Bush put them there and Obama increased their numbers. That Obama has now set a date for bringing them home the end of 2014 shows he is willing to settle for something short of victory.

He is right to settle for less. The political realities in Afghanistan and America strongly suggest exit is the best option. But given that, why wait two and a half years?

One reason is not to retreat during an election year. But that is a reason for Obama.

Another reason is that the government of Hamid Karzai is of value to the United States, and a delay would give it a better chance of survival.

We are not convinced the government in Kabul is of any huge value to America. Investing in it is a gamble, and of the sort we have seen before.

The South Vietnamese government was supposed to be of value to the United States. After President Nixon drew down U.S. troops, the Saigon government was to stand on its own, at least for "a decent interval" that would make any subsequent defeat its fault. Still, it fell.

When U.S. and NATO troops leave Afghanistan, the same thing may happen.

If exit is the best option, Obama should take it now, saving the Americans and Afghans who would otherwise be killed between now and Dec. 31, 2014.

Walter Reed lifts its Bible ban
December 3, 2011 by Don Surber

The Obama administration lifted a ban on family members and friends from bringing Bibles to wounded soldiers at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center within hours after a floor speech by Republican Congressman Steve King of Iowa on Friday, in which he ripped the asinine ban on books.

A memo by Walter Reeds Chief of Staff C.W. Callahan on September 14, 2011, said: No religious items (i.e. Bibles, reading material, and/or artifacts) are allowed to be given away or used during a visit.

Congressman King, in his speech on Friday, said: That means you cant bring in a Bible and read from it when you visit your son or your daughter, perhaps or your wife or husband. It means a priest that might be coming in to visit someone on their death bed couldnt bring in the Eucharist, couldnt offer Last Rites. This is the most outrageous affront.

I know little about the medical or military professions but I know stupid when I see it. Thats pretty much what this policy is. There may be no atheists in the foxhole but there sure are plenty of them in the federal government these days.

Todd Starnes of Fox News asked Sandy Dean, a public affairs officer for Walter Reed, about the policy change.

From Sandy Dean: The instructions about the Bibles and reading material have been rescinded. It will be written to articulate our initial intention which was to respect religious and cultural practices of our patients We dont want there to be any misinterpretation of what were trying to say. We appreciate Congressman King bringing this to our attention. We dont want our instructions to be ambiguous.

I am curious as to why Chief of Staff C.W. Callahan change the policy last September. What was the thinking? Congressman King heads the Subcommittee on the Constitution. He should invite Chief of Staff C.W. Callahan to explain just exactly what the hospital was trying to accomplish for wounded soldiers by banning the Bible.

VA should care for Lejeune vets say lawmakers

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 23, 2012 16:24:35 EDT

Key lawmakers are appealing directly to President Obama to get the Veterans Affairs Department to provide free health care to veterans who were exposed to contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune during a 30-year span that ended in 1987.

Their appeal comes after VA while acknowledging the drinking water in barracks, housing, schools, hospitals and offices on the base was contaminated has refused to provide health care until there is a clear link to adverse health effects. This might not be determined before 2014.

Millions of people who lived and worked at Camp Lejeune could have been affected by the industrial and toxic wastes, but years of study about the possible duration and level of contamination have provided only limited and suggestive evidence that exposure for more than 20 years might have resulted in issues such as kidney cancer.

In February, Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., the House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman, proposed VA could at least provide health care for Camp Lejeune veterans by creating a special health care category that covered them. The cost of care could be paid, Miller suggested, by $5 billion in excess health care funds the VA discovered when preparing the 2013 budget.

Millers proposal, which would have applied only to veterans and not to family members who might have lived or visited Lejeune, was rejected by VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, who said in an April 9 response to Miller that it was premature to provide health care to everyone who served at Lejeune from 1957 until 1987.

Shinseki suggested veterans could still file for disability claims if they felt they had a service-connected disability. About 1,000 Camp Lejeune veterans have filed disability claims, he said, and 238 were found to have service-connected disabilities for some reason that did not depend on a scientific link to consuming contaminated ground water.

Miller and other lawmakers are not ready to take no for an answer. In a joint letter to President Obama, sent Friday, the leaders of the House and Senate veterans affairs committee are renewing Millers suggestion.

The VA has existing resources which could be reserved without derailing other initiatives, the letter says, asking that a portion of excess funds resulting from overestimating health care costs be allocated to provide care for sick Camp Lejeune veterans and family members.

The letter is signed by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee chairwoman; Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., the ranking Republican on Murrays committee and a longtime advocate of government health care for Lejeune veterans and families; and by Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., ranking Democrat on Millers committee There is enough scientific evidence already that warrants giving the benefit of the doubt to those who need help now, the joint letter says.

Army Civilian Hiring Update Bye Bye Resumix
Kathryn Troutman

We are saying goodbye to CPOL, the Department of the Armys Civilian hiring system.

The Army Civilian Personnel Online application is the last Resumix keyword automated system available to federal jobseekers -- and it is coming down on May 31, 2012.

The CPOL Resume Builder was liked by many federal jobseekers. It is and has been the easiest way to apply for a federal job, with just the resume and a self-nomination form and documents!

The biggest myth in federal job search is this: USAJOBS and federal resumes are read by an automated system for keywords. USAJOBS is NOT a Resumix or automated keyword resume review system! Keywords are still very important for human resource reviewers!

OFFICIAL NOTICE BY CPOL RESUMIX:

From the Civilian Personnel Advisory Center (CPAC): Effective, 31 May 2012, the Army Resume Builder will no longer be available. The Army will complete its transition to the DoD Enterprise Recruitment Tool (USA Staffing) effective, 1 May 2012. USA Staffing will be the single hiring process and tool used by all DoD components.

APPLYING FOR CIVILIAN JOBS TAKE YOUR RESUME OUT OF THE CPOL BUILDER! Resumes cannot be electronically transferred to USA Staffing. Applicants must manually extract their resume data prior to the system going off-line.

GOOD NEWS: Applicants will be able to view the status of self-nominations from the old system via USAJOBS - My Account - Application Status.

CHART, the Navy and US Marine Corps Resumix system have already moved to USA Staffing and USAJOBS.gov, which is an automated application system of resumes online, and a questionnaire system in Application Manager.

Below is a summary of the major differences between CPOL and USAJOBS for your consideration when revising your resume and applying for civilian Army jobs through USAJOBS.

The Differences Between CPOL and USAJOBS

The USA Staffing system is a combination of the USAJOBS Resume Builder and ApplicationManager.gov. Right now both of these systems require a separate user name and password (not the same, set them up separately); and a separate profile for each. Once they are set up, you will need to remember the user names and passwords and your secret questions.

How Applications are Processed No More Resumix!

CPOL: No More Resumix! CPOL was a Resumix System where the HR specialists searched for best qualified candidates with keywords and keyword phrases.
USAJOBS: This is a human system, where the keywords are important for the resume for the human HR specialists and the supervisors to read, but there will not be any keyword searches for the best qualified candidates.

Application Elements allow more time to apply for federal jobs!

CPOL: Resume Only + Self-Nomination + Documents. This was a fast way to applyl for a federal job.
USAJOBS: Resume Builder + Applicationmanager.gov Questionnaire + Documents (including optional cover letter). The Self-Assessment Questionnaire was originally designed and developed by Bryan Hochstein, Founder of QuickHire. This Questionnaire is now the "valid, reliable assessment tool" that President Obama wrote about in his Hiring Reform Executive Order. The Questionnaire questions will be All New for CPOL Civilian Army Applicants. Allow extra time to get used to the questions there could be between 15 and 60 questions.

Vacancy Announcements USAJOBS is longer!

CPOL: Vacancy announcements were similar to the new USAJOBS vacancy announcements.
USAJOBS: Vacancy announcements are specific for a particular position or positions. The announcements will include longer descriptions of duties, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities, specialized experience and questionnaires.

Character Counts You can write more!

CPOL: You were limited to 12,000 characters for all of your Work Experiences. The preferred length was 3 pages.
USAJOBS: You can write 5,000 characters (including spaces) for each of your Work Experience job blocks. The USAJOBS resume can be longer, preferred length is 4-5 pages.

Resume Format No more Big Block!

CPOL: Big Block format was the typical format in order to cram content into the 12,000 characters.
USAJOBS: Now you can write 5,000 characters for each position. Improving readability for the HR specialists is very important. We recommend small paragraphs focusing on specific skills with Accomplishments. The KSAs in the announcement should be covered in the resume. Keywords are still important for the human resources specialist readers.

Resume Selection No more selection with keywords (Resumix)!

CPOL: The first cut was made by Resumix and keywords. The HR specialist review was done by keywords with the Resumix system. The HR specialist and supervisor would agree on 5 to 7 keywords to "pull" the best qualified candidates. The applicant had to show minimum qualifications and have the keywords in order to get referred.
USAJOBS: The first cut is made by the Questionnaire scores. You should give yourself all the credit that you can on the questionnaire. Your questionnaire score is added to your resume score, and that will determine if you are Minimally Qualified, Qualified or Best Qualified.

Move your resume from the CPOL Resume Builder to USAJOBS.gov Resume Builder:
https://resumebuilder.cpol.army.mil/resumebuilder/builder/index.jsp

Sound Off...What do you think? Join the discussion...
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President Pays Tribute to Wounded Warriors on Soldier Ride
President Barack Obama cheered for 22 wounded warriors taking part in a Wounded Warrior Project Soldier Ride. According the Wounded Warrior Project website, the Soldier Rides are four-day cycling events designed to use cycling and the bonds of service to overcome physical, mental or emotional wounds. Veterans Administration (VA) Secretary, Eric Shinseki, also attended the event and cheered on the riders. The President promised to do everything he could to make sure wounded warriors and other veterans get the care and benefits they earned. Additionally, Obama paid tribute to the riders' military family members who attended, and despite the fact that they do not wear a uniform, they work just as hard and sacrifice just as much alongside the family Servicemember. To read details about this tribute, please go to: http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=116032

Increase Funding for the VA Health Care System
Please Contact Your Elected Officials Today

Earlier this year, DAV and our partner organizations in The Independent Budget, recommended that funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) FY 2013 health care budget be increased by $3.8 billion in order to meet increased demand and rising health care costs. By contrast, the Administrations budget proposal called for a $2.3 billion increase for the Veterans Health Administration (VHA), a difference of $1.5 billion. We strongly believe the additional funds we identified can be put to effective use within VA, including better meeting the needs of new veterans of our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This week, we saw further evidence of the negative effects of inadequate funding at a Senate hearing when witnesses testified that VA is failing to meet the mental health needs of the veterans it should be serving. VAs Inspector General reported that these problems were caused by a multiplicity of factors, including funding and staffing shortages, and lack of quick, easy access by veterans to VAs many mental health programs. The Inspector Generals findings are consistent with DAVs own internal survey of the VA mental health care system that showed serious problems with access and response for veterans seeking care.
If you or a family member have experience with VA mental health care and would like to add your voice to our continuing survey, please complete the survey here.
Over the past month Congress has taken the first steps toward enacting the Department of Veterans Affairs appropriation for FY 2013, approving a budget resolution in the House and setting spending limits for the appropriations bills (called 302(b) allocations) in both the House and Senate. Based on those 302(b) allocations, it appears that neither the House nor Senate intends to increase the FY 2013 VA medical care appropriation above the Administrations request, leaving VAs budget $1.5 billion or more short of what we believe is necessary to provide comprehensive health care to veterans.
We need grassroots support: please use the prepared e-mail to write your Representative and Senators to urge them to increase funding for VAs FY 2013 appropriation by at least $1.5 billion to match or exceed the recommendations of the Independent Budget. We are concerned that failure to provide this increase could lead to further disruptions of VA health care and other vital programs, including its critical mental health efforts.
As always, we at DAV are grateful for your participation in our legislative and grassroots advocacy program. Without your active assistance DAV would not be able to accomplish many of our goals in support of the interests of sick and disabled veterans.

President Obama Signs Executive Order
Supporting Service Members, Veterans, Military Spouses, and Their Families

Earlier today, I had the great privilege of joining the President and First Lady -- along with an amazing 10,000 soldiers, military families, and veterans -- at an extraordinary event in Fort Stewart, Georgia, home to the Armys famed 3rd Infantry Division.

The President and First Lady traveled to Fort Stewart to meet with soldiers and families -- and to sign an Executive Order (EO) that will positively impact the educational benefits and opportunities for our nations heroes and their families -- for a long time to come.

We know from travels throughout the country -- and through feedback from veterans, our troops and their families that education is a big deal. Opportunities provided through educational programs such as the Post 9/11 GI Bill open doors.

And I know that on a personal level. Like many servicemembers, I have used the benefits of the Post- 9/11 GI Bill to further my education -- and that of my children.

At Fort Stewart, the President renewed his commitment to fully fund the post-9/11 GI Bill. With that bill -- and the Tuition Assistance program -- more than 550,000 veterans and 325,000 service members pursued education last year. Additionally, nearly 38,000 military spouses used their Military Spouse Career Advancement Account (MyCAA) benefit to advance their education.

But sometimesnavigating through the maze of schools and opportunities can be a challenge. Many service members, veterans and families know exactly what I mean.

They go online to try and find the best school that fits their goals; they end up on a website that looks official; they get promised to get connected with a program looks promising. Unfortunately -- and all-too-often -- our troops and families find themselves dealing with folks who arent interested in helping them find the BEST program -- but they are happy to take their money. Our service men and women may get forced into making a quick decision. And sometimes recruiters from these schools show up on bases.

As the President said, one of the worst examples of this is a college recruiter who visited Camp Lejeune and enrolled Marines impacted by Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) -- the nature and severity of their injuries were so significant, that the affected Marines couldnt remember the courses the recruiter signed them up for -- but that didnt stop the recruiter.

Thats just wrong.

But practices like that -- and so many others -- will be coming to an end as a result of todays order signed by the President.

In short, the EO is designed to combat unscrupulous practices used by schools to gain access to the military/veteran education benefits; it protects the full range of military/veteran education benefits programs, including Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits, the Tuition Assistance program, and MyCAA; and, its provisions focus on ensuring students have the proper information, support, and protections they need to make informed decisions about their educational options.

Heres what the EO delivers for our veterans, military service members, spouses and their families:
Provide students with educational and financial information to make informed decisions. The EO will require institutions to provide prospective military and veteran students with the Administrations Financial Aid Shopping Sheet (Know Before You Owe) to help students understand the total cost and quality of their education, including: tuition and fees, the availability of federal financial aid, estimated student loan debt upon graduation, and information about student outcomes like graduation rates.
End fraudulent and aggressive recruiting techniques on and off military installations. The EO will require that VA and DoD improve their oversight of improper recruiting practices so that they are consistent with the regulations already in place at ED for title IV Federal student aid programs. The Principles of Excellence will also establish and strengthen solicitation rules to reduce access to military bases for bad actors.
Ensure support services for service-members and veterans. The EO will provide military and veteran students with clear educational plans, academic and financial aid counseling services with staff that are familiar with VA and DOD programs, and the ability to more easily re-enroll and receive a refund if they must leave school for service-related reasons.
Develop and collect service member- and veteran-specific student outcome data. The EO will require DoD, VA, and ED to develop student outcome measures, such as completion rates, and collect data to be made available on Eds College Navigator website. DoD, VA, and Ed will also improve data collection regarding which schools veterans are selecting to use their education benefits.
Create a centralized complaint system for students receiving military and veterans educational benefits. The EO require DoD and VA, in consultation with ED, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), and DOJ, to create a centralized complaint system for students receiving military and veterans educational benefits to register complaints against educational institutions. Additionally, VAs State Approving Agencies will receive and process these complaints and share these complaints with appropriate federal and state agencies.
Begin the process to trademark the term GI Bill. The EO will require the VA to initiate a process to trademark the term GI Bill and other steps to curb websites and programs that deceptively market veterans educational benefits.
Todays signing by the President is a BIG step forward in preserving -- and enhancing -- the educational opportunities for those who have served, as well as their families.
Brad Cooper is the Executive Director of Joining Forces
Related Topics: Education, Veterans

Tomorrows reconstituted Marine Corps

By Philip Ewing Friday, April 20th, 2012 11:56 am

All the services will probably look different after the end of the Afghan war, but the Marine Corps could well be the one that changes the most.

The brass has vowed to get back to its expeditionary roots; to rediscover the ways of amphibiosity; and, most of all, to get much lighter.

As I say, the United States Marine Corps needs to go on weight control, Assistant Commandant Gen. Joe Dunford said on Wednesday. That doesnt just mean that its counting on the Joint Light Tactical Vehicle to be as light as possible, the better to go aboard Navy gators, but also that the Corps cant just reset it must reconstitute itself.

Looking toward the future, we have 10 years of experience at war and weve learned a lot of lessons a lot of equipment we had in the past is probably inadequate to support the distributed, disaggregated operations we expect, so we are doing a review and well determine how to reconstitue the Marine Corps to meet tomorrows challenges, not yesterdays, Dunford said. Were not resetting the Marine Corps to 2001 2001 has nothing to do with our future security challenges were going to reconstitute for the future.

Dunford said one key next move will be the release of an analysis of alternatives around this June that he expects could show the way for the Marines new amphibious combat vehicle and the rest of its tactical fleet. The Corps already plans to replace 5,000 of its Humvees with JLTVs, but this AoA should set down broader directions for the future force, the brass says.

(Maybe every AoA is held up as the Rosetta Stone until it comes out, but it doesnt take long to become yesterdays news.)

Dunford reaffirmed that the ACV remains the Marines biggest priority, given that todays fleet of Amphibious Assault Vehicles cannot last much longer. It was supposed to have been replaced by the Expeditionary Fighting Vehicle, but that dream is dead. The Marines are in a pickle because they want to replace the EFV with something like the EFV an amphibious APC that can speed ashore but it cant be so much like the EFV that it too succumbs to problems, delays and cost growth.

This dilemma could be one reason for Dunfords reconstitution: The need for the EFV was driven by a doctrine under which the Navys amphibious fleet would stand far out to sea, necessitating a transport that could get up on plane and speed over the waves to the beach. If you dont get up on plane, you can still make the trip, but you have to plod through the chop and your poor Marines get bounced and tossed inside their vehicle not to mention that slowness makes them an easy target.

So the Marine Corps must assess whether the EFV died because the basic concept was unachievable, or because the program itself just had some problems. If the brass determines an EFV-like vehicle is possible, and uses the lessons of the previous program to make the ACV work, there you are the doctrine can survive. But if a wave-skimming amtrac is just too hard to get for the money available, Quantico might need to step back and rethink its overall game plan.

More than that could change in a reconstituted Marine Corps, down to service officials basic acquisition strategy. In the 90s and 2000s, the Marines message was simple: Look, you Pentagon and Capitol Hill pogues, the Corps said if you want us to be able to continue doing the missions we do today, you have no choice but to continue supporting the expensive, high-end, controversial platforms we want. We need a utility aircraft and our CH-46s are toast; that means the MV-22 Osprey. Our AAVs are rusting from the inside out. That means the EFV. Our AV-8B Harriers are at the end of their lives. That means the F-35B.

The score sheet from this game is decidedly mixed: The Osprey was a victory, but came at such a cost that it may never have a good name outside the Corps. The F-35B is still on the books but has no date for initial operational capability, and the Corps is making plans to keep flying its Harriers until 2030. The EFV was cancelled, and even though the Marines sought to put a rosy spin on the episode by citing the basic validation that Secretary Gates gave to their amphibious mission, validations cant swim out of the well deck with a squad of riflemen.

So the game of If we dont get X, we cant function anymore, may itself not work anymore.

Still, its never been very smart to bet against the Marine Corps. Along with the Navy, its the fulcrum for the U.S. pivot to the Western Pacific, which could give it disproportionate throw weight in going after the ACV and whatever other programs might emerge from Dunfords look ahead.

Wounds That Cannot Wait
WASHINGTON, D.C.Today, Rep. Jeff Miller, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, issued the following statement on VAs announcement to hire additional mental health practitioners:
Today, VA announced that they are hiring 1,900 new mental health care practitioners. We have seen high vacancy rates across the countrywhich in some areas are as high as 23 percentand this is a start to ensure our veterans receive the care they need.
There is much more, however, that VA needs to do to address gaps in services and ensure veterans undergoing treatment are not lost in the system.
I expect VA to also increase training of employees who are the first touch points for veterans suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress (PTS) to provide effective intervention when it is needed most and properly identify the signs and behaviors of suicide risk. It is also imperative that wait times for those seeking care are decreased. These are wounds that cannot wait.
Further, I expect VA to submit a revised budget detailing how funds for mental care are being reallocated and account funding that may have been diverted to other accounts and put back into mental health, where it rightfully belongs.
There are a surge of veterans coming home, and VA must be prepared to meet their needs. If they are unable to do so, it is imperative that VA find community-based providers to match the right treatment for each veteran. Right now, too many veterans fall through the cracks. We can avert tragedy with the proper outreach and care. I am hopeful VAs decision today, stemming from years of pressure and increased funding from Congress, will expand access for veterans and help them lead full and long lives.
For more news from the House Committee on Veterans Affairs, please visit:
Veterans.House.Gov
Find us on Facebook at: Facebook.com/HouseVetsAffairs or follow us on Twitter at:
@HouseVetAffairs
###
News From The
COMMITTEE ON VETERANS' AFFAIRS
Jeff Miller, Chairman, 335 Cannon House Office Building, Washington D.C. 20515

Navy Ships and Agent Orange

Want to do your own research on Navy ships and Agent Orange? You can request from the National
Archives information from the series "Logbooks of the U.S. Navy Ships and Stations, 1941-1978"
(ARC Identifier 594258 / HMS Entry Number A1 118). In your request, please include the ship name
as well as the month and the year of the particular log you would like to request. Your request
should be sent to Archives II Reference Section, Textual Archives Services Division, 8601 Adelphi
Road, College Park, MD 20740-6001. Phone: 301/837-3510. Navy deck logs from 1980 and later are
still in the custody of the Navy, and requests can be sent to Naval Historical Center, Ships
History Branch, 805 Kidder Breese SE, Washington Navy</u> Yard, Washington, D.C.
20374-3643.

For more on military history, visit the Military.com History Center.
http://www.military.com/veterans-report/navy-ships-and-agent-orange?ESRC=vr.nl

Veterans Sexual Assault Prevention and Health Care Enhancement Act

A House bill that is important to Disabled American Veterans (DAV) and to service-disabled veterans in particular, passed the House of Representatives on October 11, 2011, and is now languishing in the Senate. If enacted, H.R. 2074, the Veterans Sexual Assault Prevention and Health Care Enhancement Act, will help improve personal safety and security at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities; clarify Congressional intent that service-connected veterans gain full access to skilled nursing, adult day health and domiciliary care provided by state veterans homes; improve and broaden rehabilitative care and services for veterans suffering from traumatic brain injury; allow veterans accompanied by service dogs to freely enter VA properties without restriction; and,
establish a new pilot program for veterans to train dogs as a therapeutic option in VA mental health.

Despite the positive benefits and non-controversial intentions of this bill, at least one US Senator has caused the bill to be placed on hold, pending the outcome of the Senates consideration of an unrelated bill. The bill will die when Congress adjourns later this year. We ask that you contact your Senators to urge the Senate to give final consideration to H.R. 2074, and clear it for approval by the President. Please send the prepared e-mail, or your own message, to your Senators today.

Thank you for your grassroots advocacy on behalf of DAV and service-disabled veterans. Our effectiveness as an advocate for disabled veterans depends heavily on strong grassroots assistance by our members and DAV supporters.

Please click here to send a message to your Senators: http://capwiz.com/dav/issues/alert/?alertid=61216071.


Lisa M. Bogle
Legislative Support Specialist
Disabled American Veterans
(202) 314-5241
http://capwiz.com/dav/home/

DISABLED AMERICAN VETERANS LEGISLATIVE BULLITEN

April 2012
DAV Mid-Winter Conference in Washington, DC
We thank all DAV members who attended our 2012 Mid-Winter Conference in Washington.
The feedback we received from your visits to elected representatives indicated DAV was a strong
presence in influencing our legislative goals and objectives for this year.
Given the short legislative calendar in Washington this year, and given that its an election
year for all House Members and one-third of U.S. Senators, we renew our request that you meet with
your Congressional representatives in your districts and states to impress upon them the importance
of our legislative program.

Fiscal Year 2013 Budget and Appropriations
As reported in the February Bulletin, the President introduced the Administrations budget
proposal on February 13, 2012, for the fiscal year beginning on October 1, 2012. While
comparatively generous to VA benefits and services programs, the Administrations request falls
short by our estimate of $4 billion, mostly for construction funding. For VA medical care, and as
validated by the Government Accountability Office [http://www.gao.gov/assets/590/589760.pdf], the
budget was reduced significantly below the Veterans Health Administrations own actuarial forecast
of funding needed.

Budget hearings have been held in both the House and Senate at which DAV offered
testimony. The budget testimony is available at http://www.dav.org/voters/Testimony.aspx .
On March 19, 2012, the House passed its Budget Resolution, H. Con. Res. 112, which
closely mirrors the Administrations VA discretionary funding levels, about $4 billion below the
recommendations of The Independent Budget, most in construction funding levels. The House budget
does not include $1 billion in mandatory funding to stimulate veterans employment, as proposed by
the Administration. The resolution does include the advance appropriation for VA medical care
required by Public Law 111-81.

The Senate has yet to act on the budget resolution. We will update you in future Bulletins as
the budget and appropriations season continues.
Pending Legislation

H.R. 3895, the Protect VA Healthcare Act of 2012, introduced by House Veterans'
Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller, would amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency
Deficit Control Act of 1985 to clarify that all veterans programs are exempt from sequestration.
This bill is in line with DAV Resolution No. 144.

H.R. 4023, the Veterans Telehealth and Telemedicine Improvement Act, introduced by
Representative Kathleen Hochul, would amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the use
of teleconsultation, teleretinal imaging, telemedicine, and telehealth coordination services for the
provision of health care to veterans. This bill is in line with DAV Resolution Nos. 193, 194 and
203.

H.R. 4048, the Improving Contracting Opportunities for Veteran-Owned Small Business
Act of 2012, introduced by Representative Bill Johnson, would amend title 38, United States
Code, to clarify the contracting goals and preferences of the Department of Veterans Affairs with
respect to small business concerns owned and controlled by veterans. This bill is in line with
DAV Resolution No. 215.

H.R. 4051, the TAP Modernization Act of 2012, introduced by Representative Marlin
Stutzman, would direct the Secretary of Labor to provide off-base transition training at locations
other than military installations, for veterans and/or their spouses and includes experts in subject
matters such as resume writing, job interviewing skills, and post-secondary education. This bill is in
line with DAV Resolution No. 217.

H.R. 4072, the Consolidating Veteran Employment Services for Improved Performance
Act of 2012, introduced by Chairman Miller, would transfer, as of October 1, 2013, to the
Secretary of Veterans Affairs specified veterans-related programs of the Department of Labor,
including: (1) job counseling, training, employment, and placement services; (2) administration
of employment and reemployment rights of members of the reserves; and (3) homeless veterans
reintegration programs. Directs the President, for FY 2014 and thereafter, to include in the
budget request funding for the VA for such functions. It would also establish a Deputy Under
Secretary for Veterans' Employment and Training, to formulate all VA policies and procedures
with respect to veterans' employment, unemployment, and training programs. Additionally, it
would consolidate provisions establishing VA disabled veterans' outreach program specialists
and local veterans' employment representatives into a single provision establishing veteran
employment specialists, which shall perform both tasks. Provides similar eligibility and reporting
requirements for such specialists. This bill would meet the goals established in DAV Resolution
No. 218.

H.R. 4114, the Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2012,
introduced by Representative Jon Runyan, would increase, effective as of December 1, 2012, the
rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of
dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans. The bill
is in line with DAV Resolution No. 058, with the exception of the provision providing for
permanent rounding down of COLAs, which we oppose.
H.R. 4115, the Helping Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans Return to Employment at Home
Act, introduced by Representative Steve Stivers, would amend title 38, United States Code, to
require, as a condition on the receipt by a State of certain funds for veterans employment and
training, that the State ensures that training received by a veteran while on active duty is taken
into consideration in granting certain State certifications or licenses. This bill is in line with
DAV Resolution No. 214.

H.R. 4142, the American Heroes COLA Act, introduced by Representative Runyan,
would amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for annual cost-of-living adjustments to be
made automatically by law each year in the rates of disability compensation for veterans with
service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for
survivors of certain service-connected disabled veterans. The bill is in line with DAV
Resolution No. 058, with the exception of the provision providing for rounding down of COLAs,
which we oppose.

S. 2128, the Protecting the Health Care of Veterans Act of 2012, introduced by Senator Jon
Tester, would amend the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985 to clarify that
all veterans programs are exempt from sequestration. This bill would meet the goals established in
DAV Resolution No. 144.

S. 2130, the Veterans Conservation Corps Authorization Act, introduced by Senator Bill
Nelson, would direct the Secretary of Interior to establish a veterans conservation corps to provide
training and employment to eligible veterans while assisting them with transition from military
service to civilian life, as well as assisting the federal government in maintaining federal land and
water. Long-term employment will be one year with an additional one-year extension on a case-bycase
basis. The bill also allows six weeks temporary employment of eligible student veterans. This
bill would meet the employment opportunity goal of DAV Resolution No. 001.

S. 2259, the Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Act of 2012, introduced by Senator
Jon Tester, would provide for an increase, effective December 1, 2012, in the rates of
compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and
indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans. The bill is in line with
DAV Resolution No. 058, with the exception of the provision providing for rounding down of
COLAs, which we oppose.

Hearings
All DAV testimony can be read in full on our website, at:
http://www.dav.org/voters/Testimony.aspx.
On March 8, 2012, DAV submitted testimony for the record to the House Veterans' Affairs
Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity on 10 legislative bills.
On March 28, 2012, DAV testified before the House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on
Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, concerning the implementation of the Integrated
Disability Evaluation System.
On April 2, 2012, DAV submitted testimony for the record to the Senate Appropriations
Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Programs concerning the FY 2013 budget for
veterans benefits.
Independent Budget for Fiscal Year 2013
The Independent Budget and Independent Budget Executive Summary are available
online at the DAV website, http://www.dav.org/voters/IndependentBudget.aspx. These
documents on CD will be sent to all DAV NSO offices, DAV Departments, DAV National Line
Officers and the DAV Auxiliary.
Conclusion

To ensure the successful enactment of the legislation that we support, our DAV and
Auxiliary members must become active members of DAVs grassrootsDAV CANand all of us
must do our part to let our elected officials know about our support for legislation that builds better
lives for our nations service-disabled veterans, their families and their survivors. Please make a
pledge to redouble your efforts to communicate our concerns to your elected officials. Your efforts
and actions are a key to our success.

Thank you for again for your continuing support for DAVs programs of service.
JOSEPH A. VIOLANTE
National Legislative Director
JAV:lmb