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Wounded Warrior Project
New Pay Tool Helps Wounded Warriors
http://www.dfas.mil/militarypay/woundedwarriorpay.html
Week of February 08, 2010
The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) recently launched their latest tool to help medically retired wounded warriors understand how their retirement pay, disability compensation, and Combat Related Special Compensation (CRSC) pay rates are determined. Called the "Medical Disability Retired Pay Income Estimator," the tool coupled with a detailed online PowerPoint tutorial can help explain how the combined post-retirement income payment rates are determined.
Wounded Warrior Project
http://www.woundedwarriorproject.org/
WWP Programs
Wounded warrior Backpacks contain essential care and comfort items including clothing, toiletries, calling card, CD player, and playing cards, all designed to make their hospital stay more comfortable. They are provided to severely wounded service members arriving at military trauma centers. A smaller version of the WWP Backpack,... | Our services don’t end when injured service members are ready to check out of the hospital. Programs such as Family Assistance and Benefits Counseling are designed to meet the long-term needs of wounded warriors. Family Assistance Injury can create an added financial burden on wounded warriors and their families. During rehabilitation,... |
Through the generous donations of private citizens, organizations and corporations, wounded warriors are provided opportunities that ease the transition to civilian life. This support is also complemented by both grassroots and national events hosted for the Wounded Warrior Project by volunteers and organizations nationwide. Your help will... | Through activities such as hunting, fishing, archery, hiking, and camping, wounded warriors continue their rehabilitation in the great outdoors. WWP Outdoors helps participants build life-long skills they can enjoy in their home communities. Feature Event: WWP AlaskaAdventures Kodiak, Alaskahosted twenty-three wounded... |
Wound Warrior Disabled Sports Project What is the Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project? The Wounded Warrior Disabled Sports Project is a partnership between the Wounded Warrior Project and Disabled Sports USA to provide year-round sports programs for severely wounded service members from the Iraqand Afghanistanconflicts and the global war on terrorism. ... | WWP Peer Mentoring The Wounded Warrior Project and the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors have joined forces to connect service members with severe burn injuries returning from Iraqand Afghanistanwith Project SOAR, a peer mentoring program for burn survivors. Besides our formal peer mentoring program, WWP provides and... |
WWP Dedicates Sacrifice Center After five years of helping injured service members successfully transition into civilian life, WWP’s staff, family, volunteers, warriors, and friends came together to honor WWP’s history and founders and formally dedicate Wounded Warrior Project’s Sacrifice Center. The WWP Sacrifice Centerwas built to tell... | WWP's Year of Outreach: Building a New Front Porch Katherine Phillips, an 85-year-old woman from Mobile, Alabama, tells the story of when she was a young married woman and her husband came home from World War II. They lived in a little neighborhood where all the homes were built for GIs. And every night after they put their children to bed, the Phillips and their neighbors would... |
WWP is in the process of launching OnTRACK to offer wounded warriors an integrated approach to address long-term needs for education and training, advocacy, and secondary rehabilitative care for the MIND, BODY and SPIRIT. This unique program will offer participants a range of college preparatory classes and services customized to their... | WWP Launches Warriors to Work (WtoW) T he W2W program works with participants individually to tailor the program to their needs, skills, and interests at each step in the process. Warriors to Work can help draft a résumé, work on interviewing skills, lend a hand in identifying jobs that fit a participant’s... |
Project Odyssey began with the idea to bring together warriors dealing with combat stress to offer them a chance to spend time with fellow warriors and start the healing process. Not all wounds from combat are visible. Combat stress, or post-traumatic stress disorder as it’s more commonly known, has become the largest... |
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Project Odyssey Events |
Project Odyssey began with the idea to bring together warriors dealing with combat stress to offer them a chance to spend time with fellow warriors and start the healing process. Not all wounds from combat are visible. Combat stress, or post-traumatic stress disorder as it’s more commonly known, has become the largest disability today’s warriors are facing.
Combat stress presents unique challenges for warriors recovering in their home communities. Too often, individuals with combat stress issues feel isolated, and worry they will face pubic censure if they share their struggles with others. This fear creates a barrier that makes it difficult for warriors to recover alone. Project Odyssey gives warriors a safe location to come together to acknowledge and understand the issues they are all facing. Together, they can openly discuss problems without being judged and take the first steps forward toward healing.
WWP’s Project Odyssey became a reality in 2007. Since then, three groups of warriors have taken part in an Odyssey. During each session, warriors participate in an incredible lineup of outdoor activities, each designed with a therapeutic aspect to further the healing process. The VA’s Outreach Program under Dr. Alfonso Batres has joined the cause to provide mental health specialists from the VA Vet Centers. Odyssey has also gained the support of Secretary Peake of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
On April 13, 2008, the first all-female Odyssey began in Miami, Florida. This Odyssey brought together ten warriors from across the country who share a common bond. They all proudly served their country during a time of war and were dealing with combat stress. To assist the warriors in their recovery, the Department of Veterans Affairs provided two doctors from VA Vet Centers, one Global War on Terror Readjustment Counselor, and one VBA specialist who assisted with their concerns about VA claim issues and benefits.
The event was conducted in partnership with Shake-A-Leg Miami and centered around water-related events like sailing, kayaking, and swimming with dolphins. When not on the water, the warriors participated in team-building exercises that helped them recognize and adapt to stressful situations. During the evenings, the group met with mental health professionals to discuss issues each of them was facing in recovery from combat stress. The participants quickly discovered they were not alone, and there were other warriors with similar struggles. Over the week, they found they were not just individuals, but had grown into a cohesive group where they could openly discuss their concerns without being judged.
Most importantly, this group of warriors forged a bond of friendship and found others they could trust and call upon when times get tough. The healing process was started during the week, and for many, Odyssey was the first time they shared their pain with anyone.
The warriors were not the only ones affected by the week. As an older combat veteran who has lived with combat-related stress, I was changed by the events of the week. I attended as a WWP staff member and was the only male warrior. I started out just giving the women warriors a chance to talk and bond, but by the end of the week, the warriors let me into their circle of trust, a trust not easily given.
This Odyssey was an overwhelming success, and all of the women who participated are incredible warriors who served their country honorably. During the week, they took steps together toward reclaiming life from combat stress. Wounded Warrior Clothing Support where 99 percent of injured Soldiers receive care. Many military organizations collaborated over the past months to establish and launch this beneficial program, including the Department of the Army, Army-Air Force Exchange Services (AAFES), Walter Reed and Brooke Army Medical Centers, Army Wounded Warriors program managers, Army Medical Department, and the non-profit organization Sew Much Comfort. The WWCSP is already in full swing at Walter Reed's Wagner Gymnasium and will begin at Brooke Army Medical Centeron June 30, 2008. AAFES expects to be able to provide this service at all their locations by August 2008.
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