Veterans News for Wednesday, April 13, 2011

•1.    Joining Forces With Military and Veteran Families.  Our military has faced unprecedented challenges in the last decade. Though we have the most advanced and professional fighting force in history, two protracted wars fought solely by professional servicemembers over a decade have serious consequences– not just for those who do battle, but for the country as well. Our warfighters find themselves dealing with the effects of PTSD and TBI as a result of multiple deployments, only to come home, transition out of the military and face a grim job market. It’s a silent battle faced after war; waged by military members and their families and practically unknown and unrecognized by the other 99 percent of the population. A decade is too long for the American people to sit idly while their watchmen falter under extraordinary stress. 

•2.    Program to aid vets through court.  The Times Herald  A key component of the court is to connect veterans with treatment and support services through the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). In order to be eligible, a veteran defendant must suffer from traumatic brain injury, post traumatic stress ...

•3.    Federal IT Reform: Something Left and Right Can Agree On?.  E-Commerce Times
Federal IT Opportunity: The US Department of Veterans Affairs is hosting a briefing for IT vendors on May 25. VA says the objective of the Advanced Planning Briefing for Industry is to inform industry on acquisition opportunities from the agency's ...

•4.    Vets go from combat to campus.  USA Today  Veterans Affairs is testing a program called VetSuccess on Campus at eight colleges, including the University of South Florida, Cleveland State University and Salt Lake Community College, offering personalized assistance to every veteran on campus. ...

•5.    Veterans Invited To Learn About Benefits.  KELOLAND TV  ... to ask questions and discuss concerns such as TRICARE, retirement and survivor benefits and veteran entitlements. The South Dakota National Guard, SD Division of Veterans Affairs and US Department of Veterans Affairs are hosting the summit.

•6.    Why Businesses Should Hire More Veterans With Disabilities.  Huffington Post (blog)    ... GA -- was established through an innovative public-private partnership between Paralyzed Veterans of America, businesses and the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). We have helped hundreds of Veterans with disabilities through this program and ...

•7.    Michigan vet flies to Misawa on his own to help. Matt Szymanski was sitting in his Michigan home watching in disbelief as the first images of the devastation in northern Japan were broadcast on the news

•8.    Head Of Iowa Veterans Home In Marshalltown Resigns. AP   Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad "says he is reluctantly accepting the resignation of David Worley as head of the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown. The resignation is effective April 28." In a "statement released Monday, Branstad says Worley cited personal health concerns that prevented him from being completely focused on the job."

•9.    Tough Fight Looming Over Funding For VA's Homeless, Women's Programs.  CQ US Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, "said...she will not support any measures that jeopardize funding for homeless and female veterans programs, but she could be in for a tough fight over the fiscal 2012 budget"

•10.                       Retirees Bid For Another Chance To Transfer GI Bill Benefits.  Army Times "Thousands of military retirees who were able to transfer GI Bill education benefits to family members but did not learn that until it was too late to apply are hoping Congress will give them a second chance." Those who retired after the Post-9/11 GI Bill took effect "argue that they ...

•11.                       Through Technology, Disabled Veterans Reconnect To The World.  Buffalo News Researchers at the University at Buffalo (UB) "and a local high-tech firm" called Applied Sciences Group "hope that an improved version" of Talker, a computer program that gives a voice to veterans who have lost the ability to speak, "can help disabled veterans reconnect to the world." The researchers began testing the enhanced ...  

•12.                       McChrystal To Oversee White House Military Families Initiative Started By Michelle Obama. AP   "Nearly a year after President Barack Obama fired Gen. Stanley McChrystal as his top commander in Afghanistan, the White House has asked him to head a new advisory board to support military families." The three-person board will "oversee the Joining Forces program, an initiative led by Michelle Obama and Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joe Biden. The effort will focus on mobilizing communities, businesses and the government to assist the families of those serving their country."

•13.                       Military Families Are Thrust Into Caregiving Roles For Severely Injured Troops.  Dallas Morning News "Improvements in body armor and equipment and advances in battlefield medicine are keeping more" US soldiers wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan alive. Many such soldiers, though, are "left with incapacitating injuries, including traumatic brain injuries and other disabilities requiring years of physical and cognitive therapy," as is the case for Navy Corpsman Anthony Thompson and Sgt. 1st Class Scot Noss, who both have received treatment at the James A. Haley Veterans Hospital in Tampa, Florida, "one of four polytrauma rehab centers in the US." Like other US soldiers badly wounded in Iraq or Afghanistan, Thompson and Noss receive much of their care from "other family members" -- in this case, their wives.

•14.                       The Struggle For Female Veterans To Transition Into Civilian Jobs. Forbes  "While women outside the military are bouncing back from the recession and encountering less unemployment than men, female military veterans 'are increasingly battling homelessness and unemployment.'" This is so, says Quast, in part because the Veterans Affairs system is "not set up for helping women: Researchers and advocacy groups don't believe the Veterans Affairs system can adequately meet the needs of female veterans in the areas of health care, child care, and psychological needs."

•15.                       Veterans Can Get Assistance Through Program In Dixon. Vacaville (CA) Reporter "Making the transition from combat missions to home life is hard, but the Sacramento Vet Center is trying to make that easier for veterans by bringing counseling services closer to home." The facility is "providing readjustment counseling and outreach for combat veterans in Solano and Yolo counties at the Dixon Veterans Memorial Hall. For the last eight months, Jeff Jewell, director of the center, has been holding ...

•16.                       ColumbiaVeterans Center Celebrates Volunteers. AP  "The Dorn Veterans Administration Medical Center in South Carolina is celebrating the work and financial generosity of its 891 volunteers" on Wednesday. "VA spokeswoman Priscilla Creamer says the volunteers have registered donating a total of 94,088 hours of time this year in order to help its patients and military veterans."

•17.                       Pilot Housing Project Moving Ahead. Danville (IL) Commercial News  All "eyes will be on" Cyd Mason, the "newly selected 'guide' for a new housing project at the Veterans Affairs Illiana Health Care System. The Illiana System is the first VA in the country and the first agency in the state to adopt" the Green House Initiative, a "new approach to long-term care where nursing homes are replaced with small, home-like environments. Two homes, which will house 10 veterans each, are going up at the VA."

•18.                       Veterans Clinic Opens At NUMC. Malverne-West Hempstead (NY) Patch  "Local veterans now have a more central location to visit to receive basic health services." Last Friday "brought in a new era veterans' health care in Nassau County, with a clinic officially opening on the grounds of Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow." The new clinic will provide easier access for the veterans because of its central location in the county.

•19.                       Dispatches From The VA: A Veterans Story Begins. Belmont Shore-Naples (CA) Patch   . According to Arthur R. Vinsel, a patient at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Long Beach, the hospital's "Spinal Cord Injury Unit (SCIU) is the most advanced among nearly 200 VA hospitals and larger Medical Centers from Puerto Rico to Guam." At Long Beach, "amputees get sophisticated prosthetic limbs and driver training for their specially designed handicap vans."

•20.                       Fort WayneVA Hospital Expansion Up In Air. WANE-TV  Plans for a $60 million expansion at Fort Wayne's Veteran Affairs hospital "has been put on hold" as VA "eyes a much smaller project to squeeze into the 2012 federal budget. The new plan calls for a $2.85 million outpatient mental health clinic" that "would cover a 27,000 square foot area, much smaller than the original 200,000 square foot plan."

•21.                       Bruns. Co. Still In The Dark About VA Clinic. WECT-TV  It has "been six months since" Veterans Affairs "in Fayetteville took out an advertisement in a Wilmington newspaper seeking commercial space for a new VA clinic planned for Brunswick County." Last week, Brunswick County's "senior veterans service officer, Anita Hartsell, emailed...VA asking for an update." Hartsell "said she has received no response on the status of the project."

•22.                       What's Getting Cut In The FY 2011 Budget? Washington Post  "Lawmakers and the White House have come to an agreement on the federal budget for fiscal 2011. The bill, which contains roughly $38 billion in cuts, means slashes in spending for a number of government departments and agencies." Officials at the Department of Veteran Affairs, however, "said they are not anticipating significant budget cuts that would impact its operations."

•23.                       Hot SpringsVA To Begin Road Project. Rapid City (SD) Journal

•24.                       VA Employee Charged With Prescription Drug Fraud. Gainesville Sun

•25.                       VA Medical Center's Campus Damaged In Storm. WCYB-TV

•26.                       Hospital Makes Veteran Take Down His Confederate Flag. WREG-TV

•27.                       Medtronic Bone-Growth Product Scrutinized. New York Times "One of Medtronic's most profitable divisions - selling bone growth products used in spinal fusion procedures - faces growing pressure amid a widening criminal investigation into the company's marketing" of Infuse. Prosecutors have...sought records from United States Army researchers involved in studies of Infuse, a bioengineered bone growth product that has also been used to treat severely wounded American soldiers, according to people who have been contacted as part of the inquiry."

•28.                       ClevelandRehab Center To Help Homeless Veterans. WJW-TV

•29.                       "Vet Connect" Group Seeks To Give A Hand Up To Vets In Need. Lake County (CA) News

•30.                       FACC Collects Shoes And Socks For Homeless Veterans. Freeport (IL) Journal-Standard