31.  VA / VSO-MSO Hearings as July 17, 2012:

32.  Today in History:

 1.    Non-Profit Founder Accused of wearing patches and medals he didn’t earn. this morning’s blog piece Notice the Special Forces unit patch on his left shoulder, which would mean that he was assigned to a Special Forces unit, right? Well, I have a copy of all of his assignment orders and none of them assign him to a Special Forces unit…anywhere. Now stay with me. His orders indicate that he was assigned to A Co. of the 105th Infantry …

 2.    A Vietnam vet's growing database and his quest to prevent 'forgotten valor'. Wiry and quick at age 62, Doug Sterner nearly leaped out of his chair to pull a folder off a shelf. It was a list of Army medal recipients that couldn’t possibly exist. Officials believed the only copies of personnel files needed to assemble it undefined along with some 18 million files in total undefined were consumed in a fire at a military personnel records center in St. Louis in 1973.

3.    Court-martial begins for Air Force trainer in Texas base sex-assault scandal. Court-martial proceedings began Monday at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, for Staff Sgt. Luis Walker, accused of sexually assaulting 10 female trainees

 4.    Census bureau offers a new look at U.S. veterans. Infographic offers a snapshot at who makes up the nation’s veterans population, where they live and where they work.

 5.    Dental-care program gives veterans something to smile about. Two dentists and two Navy dental corpsmen are working on the mouth of John Gardinier, an Army veteran who served in Vietnam and now lives in Tijuana, Mexico, near the clinic where he can get methadone for his drug addiction.

 6.    Backlash builds as for-profit schools rake in GI Bill funds. After Moses Maddox left the Marine Corps in 2006, he took a sales job with the for-profit University of Phoenix, making up to 100 calls a day to persuade veterans to enroll using their GI Bill benefits. Only after he enrolled himself did the former corporal discover that the state university he wanted to attend didn't accept the nine course credits he'd earned at Phoenix.

 7.    Spy planes help detect roadside bombs in Afghanistan. The Pentagon has filled the skies over Afghanistan with high-tech sensors, and the effect has been measurable. From March through May, troops in vehicles found 64 percent of improvised explosive devices before they blew up, an 11 percentage-point increase over the previous quarter.

 8.    Wounded soldier inspires family. On Friday, Monte Bernardo was moved from the intensive care unit at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., to the fourth floor, known as the “wounded warrior” floor. His right leg was amputated above the knee, his left leg cut off below the knee, and his left hand is gone.

 9.    Veterans' Health: Beyond PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injury.  Huffington Post (blog)
Over the past decade, the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense have expanded their efforts to meet the mental health needs of our service men and women. In particular, a .... You can post to us this information Contact us. Click ...

 10.Wash. effort seeks to identify veterans in prison.  Seattle Post Intelligencer  After running names against a master list at the U.S. Department of Defense at the end of last year, and then working with the state Department of Veterans Affairs throughout this year, Herold-Prayer said that they've found veterans make up at least 8 ...

 11.VA plans medical foster homes for Wyoming veterans.  Billings Gazette  The program has been implemented at 72 sites in 35 states. The VA currently is recruiting people who will care for Wyoming veterans in their homes. Johnson said the program aids veterans unable to meet their own needs, such as taking medication or ...

 12.Veteran's Corner.  Weatherford Democrat  Recently the VA announced it is doubling the amount of time before owners of service disabled veteran small businesses and veteran-owned businesses must re-verify with the VA that they are owned and operated by qualified veterans and other legal ...

 13.U.S. retraining program aims to help unemployed veterans.  Tucson Citizen  The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is targeting former military personnel often decades removed from service, and who are no longer eligible for other benefits, with the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program, or VRAP. The program's goal is to get ...
 

14.VA Still Struggling With Disability Claim Backlog. Hampton Roads (VA) Daily Press Tom Philpott's commentary noting that 65 percent of pending VA claims are presently backlogged. But VA Secretary Eric Shinseki has promised to "eliminate the backlog by 2015." And VA Undersecretary for Benefits Allison Hickey says a new operating model through which claims will "move faster" through a three-lane system is underway.

 15.To Boost Veteran Employment, VA Uses Online Career Center. Washington Post "Tasked by President Obama with reducing the unemployment rate for veterans, the Department of Veterans Affairs has developed an online career center to help translate military experience to civilian work." John U. Sepúlveda, VA's assistant secretary for human resources and administration, said the system matches vets with occupations that the vets might be most qualified for. Samir Gulati, vice president of marketing at business process management firm Appian, which helped implement the career center system, said the system can be useful at career fairs because it works with mobile devices. In Detroit last month, notes the Post, VA hosted such a fair.

 16.US Retraining Program Aims To Help Unemployed Veterans. Arizona Republic "Thousands of unemployed, middle-age veterans are getting a chance to start over under a special GI Bill designed to train them for new careers." The US Department of Veterans Affairs is "targeting former military personnel often decades removed from service, and who are no longer eligible for other benefits, with the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program, or VRAP."

 17.Private, Federal Program Moves To Help Vets Start Businesses. Tyler (TX) Morning Telegraph The US Small Business Administration "has joined with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to launch a training program to help service members and veterans become entrepreneurs and create jobs. Operation Boots to Business: From Service to Startup is a national initiative that will be piloted" at three US Marine Corps bases. The program "will be expanded across the country during 2013 with the goal of providing services to members from all branches of the military."

18.Panel: DOD Needs To Evaluate Effectiveness Of PTSD Treatment Programs.  Capitol Column "Only 40 percent of US service members and veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan and screened positive for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms have been referred for additional evaluation or treatment, says a new report" from the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The report's "conclusions suggest that the DOD and VA need to improve access to evidence-based care for soldiers and veterans with PTSD and better track the outcome of that treatment." The Capitol Column adds, "The DOD and VA should create research programs to evaluate the effectiveness of their PTSD programs, committee members advocated in the report, and they should share those findings with the medical community."

 19.Updated PTSD Program Means Better Care For Vets. Tacoma (WA) News Tribune Veteran Johnnie Larmore recently left an "expanded treatment program at VA Puget Sound American Lake Division in Lakewood." Larmore "calls it 'the best staff and the best facility' he's seen in his 41 years seeking help coping with Army combat-related" post-traumatic stress disorder.

 20.San Diego's Stand Down Prioritizes Dental Care For Veterans. Los Angeles Times A three-day Stand Down was held from Friday through Sunday in San Diego. Veterans Affairs, "Veterans Village of San Diego, and the Navy medical center were major sponsors and participants" in the event, which is held annually in San Diego. The "focus of Stand Down has long been on providing medical care, counseling for substance abuse, assistance in finding shelter and clothing, and referrals for follow-up help from the Department of Veterans Affairs. But in recent years, dental care has taken on prominence."

  21.Veterans Village Official Says VA Is "Doing All It Can To End Veteran Homelessness." U-T San Diego "'Stand down' is a military term for pulling military units off the front line, giving them a chance to rest, rehabilitate and relax." In "1988, with help from the community, elected officials and the Department of Veterans Affairs, the first Stand Down was set up at San Diego High School." Landis said VA is "doing all it can to end veteran homelessness."

 22.Program Trains Veterans To Help Veterans In Their Final Months. Cape Cod (MA) Times  "As he pushed the wheelchair through the sunlit afternoon, Robert Mitchell leaned over David Curtis' shoulder and asked about the names of plants bordering the courtyard at the Mashpee Care and Rehabilitation Center. A volunteer with We Honor Veterans, a nationwide hospice program recently started on the Cape, Mitchell was spending an afternoon visiting with two fellow veterans at the care center." The Times adds, "We Honor Veterans...is a collaboration between the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization and the Department of Veterans Affairs, said Mimi Nolan, registered nurse and clinical liaison for the SolAmor Hospice in Bourne, which is running the veterans hospice program."

 23.VA Plans Medical Foster Homes For Wyoming Veterans. Billings (MT) Gazette The US Veterans Affairs Department is "establishing a foster care-style program in Wyoming for veterans who are unable to live at on their own but don't require nursing care. 'Unfortunately we see a lot of people going into nursing homes when, if they had a family member or caretaker, they could be able to be at home,' said Irene Johnson, coordinator of the Medical Foster Home program at the Cheyenne VA." The Gazette says VA's "program has been implemented at 72 sites in 35 states."

 24.SC Bikers Bring Christmas Joy In July To Veterans. AP On Sunday, approximately "50 motorcycle riders from the American Legion" were to bring "some Christmas joy in July to veterans in Charleston." Veterans Affairs spokeswoman Tonya Lobbestael "says Sunday's event features the bikers arriving with their colorfully-wrapped Christmas gifts at noon." Lobbestael "says the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center is grateful for the support it gets from such organizations, including the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Disable American Veterans and the Vietnam Veterans of America."  WCIV-TV "Turnout for the charity event was nearly triple what was expected, and veterans said the response was heart-warming. Motorcycle riders from the American Legion brought Christmas joy in July to veterans" at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center on Sunday. It was the "eighth year the American Legion has used the event as a way or providing veterans at the hospital with things that are not typically provided."

 25.Letters Of Soldier Killed In Vietnam Come Home. AP 

 26.Emergency Aid For Returning Veterans. Boston Globe

 27.Legion Riders Make Donation To VA Center. Wilkes Barre (PA) Times-Leader 

 28.Program Helps Veteran Rise From Homelessness. AP

 29.Military Spouse Job Fair Coming To Lejeune. Jacksonville (NC) Daily News 

 30.Woman Sentenced For VA Hospital Attack. WCAX-TV

 31.VA / VSO-MSO Hearings as July 17, 2012:

            July 18, 2012.  Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on the nomination of Thomas Sowers II to be Assistant Secretary, Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs.  10:00 A.M.; 418 Russell

      July 18, 2012.  Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, Subcommittee on National Security, Homeland Defense, and Foreign Operations, will hold a hearing on the backlog of pending disability claims.  10:00 A.M., 2247 Rayburn House Office Building

       July 18, 2012. HVAC, Disability and Memorial Affairs Subcommittee, will hold a hearing entitled: “Invisible Wounds: Examining the Disability Compensation Benefits Process for Victims of Military Sexual Trauma.”  2:00 P.M; 334 Cannon House Office Building

       July 25, 2012.  The House Committee on Veterans Affairs and the House Armed Services Committee will hold a joint hearing titled “Back from the Battlefield: DOD and VA Collaboration to Assist Service Members Returning to Civilian Life.”  10:00 AM; 2118 Rayburn HOB

       August 2, 2012 (Tentative).  HVAC, Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity and Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations may hold a joint hearing to discuss the SDVOSB/VOSB certification process.