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Military Report - Blog Offers Mil Families Support
"Defense Department officials launched a blog called " Family Matters" blog dedicated to providing resources and support to military families. The blog features tips from experts, and military-related topics that discuss anything from deployments and separations to education benefits and child care. "
Military Report - Housing Assistance Programs Offer Help
"Two programs can assist servicemembers who have difficulty paying for housing -- the Homeowner's Assistance Program (HAP) and the Making Home Affordable Program. HAP is a DoD initiative that provides partial reimbursement for home-sale losses. HAP works with three military homeowner groups -- Warriors in Transition, military and DoD civilian employees impacted by BRAC, and PCS moves that occurred from July 1, 2006, through Dec. 31, 2009. The Making Home Affordable Program (MHAP) may fill the gap for people who don't qualify for HAP. For more information on specific program criteria or to apply online if eligible, visit the <a href="http://www.myarmyonesource.com/SoldierandFamilyHousing/">Army One Source</a> website for links to HAP and MHAP or contact your local Army Community Service office."
Military Report - Grand Opening of Guard Academy
"The Indiana Army National Guard is hosting the grand opening and dedication of the first Patriot Academy Wednesday where high school dropouts who want to serve in the Guard can earn their diplomas. The National Guard Bureau's Patriot Academy is open to candidates in the U.S. who want to earn their high school diploma and serve their country. There are currently 47 students enrolled in the academy from 16 states. The program will expand to 250 students in fiscal year 2010 and up to 500 students by 2011, according to National Guard Bureau officials. The National Guard Bureau also plans to extend the program to include a bachelor's degree completion program and add additional campuses nationwide. For more information about the Academy, visit the Stand-To! website or view the video."
Who's to Blame for Post-9/11 GI Bill Benefit Delays? - Military Education Blog
"Last week's Blog covered news reports warning that a huge backlog of GI Bill "work items," which includes applications and payment claims, is causing a delay in Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits of up to 10 weeks. This week the backlog grew nearly 11 percent to over 234,000. To their credit, the VA has processed over 140,000 "work items" overall. In addition, it appears that at least 13,000 veterans will soon begin receiving benefits, if they have not already.
Note: It takes approximately 1.5 hours for VA to process each Chapter 33 Post-9/11 GI Bill application.
In a recent Chronicle of Higher Education article, Post-9/11 GI Bill Applicants Wait for Colleges to Certify Enrollment, Department of Veterans Affairs Director of Education Services, Keith Wilson, responded to the question about delays by suggesting that school certifying officials were to blame, saying that to date the VA had received only 13,000 certifications from the schools. “We have no control over when a school official will submit that enrollment certificate to us,” added Mr. Wilson.
Needless to say this has triggered an angry response from veteran’s program administrators and school certifying officials nationwide, denying that they are the bottleneck in the process.
Many of the certifying officials interviewed, said they were shocked to read the article and felt they were being stabbed in the back. A school certifying official, who wished to remain unnamed, said “the quote that stressed me is the one where he said they had no control over when a school sent an enrollment in. We have it in writing that we were to hold certifications until July 7, 2009.”
Another certifying official pointed out that there is no logical reason for a school to purposely delay the process, “not only is it bad for the student; it is bad for the school.” He also questioned the legitimacy of Mr. Wilson’s claim of receiving only 13,000 certifications.
Teri Gravenmier, veterans program administrator for the University of Alaska Anchorage, addressed Mr. Wilson’s assertion
No Retiree COLA; Widows Win SBP Case
"It was higher oil prices last year that led to the largest annual cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) to federal entitlements since 1982. Good thing, too.
Lowered oil prices since then is almost certain to block any COLA this year for military retirees, federal civilian retirees, social security recipients, survivor benefit annuitants or disabled veterans.
The expected COLA "goose egg" will be the first since Congress began to adjust federal entitlements automatically using inflation rates as tracked by Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). This year the cost of goods and services nationwide has fallen. No inflation means no COLA. What happened?
"Gas prices," said Malik Crawford, an economist at BLS headquarters in Washington D.C.
The federal COLA is based each year on the average change in the cost of a market basket of goods and services from the third quarter (July through September) one year to the third quarter of the next year. Through July, the cost of living for U.S. wage earners has fallen by 2.7 percent.
"That's huge," said Crawford.
Though fuel prices are just one item given "small official weight" in the entire market basket tracked by BLS, Crawford said, "they have an outrageous impact" on prices overall because transportation costs affect the cost of everything else needing transport to market.
"It's not like gas prices are great" now for consumers, said Crawford. "They are almost back up to $3 [a gallon]. But they are still a full dollar below where they were last year. To go from $4 to $3 is a 25 percent fall. You go 25 percent down [in gas prices] and you're down 2.7 percent [over all]…That's how the math plays out."
If prices climb sharply in August and September is a COLA still possible? Unlikely, said Crawford. Price data are in already for most of August, he explained. Only a spectacular spike in September, which is highly unlikely, could trigger a COLA effective Dec. 1 and payable in January.
"Israel would literally have to attack Saudi Arabia for that to happen," Crawford said. "And I me
Veterans Report - Millions in VA Bonuses Questioned
"Outside the Veterans Affairs Department, severely wounded veterans have faced financial hardship waiting for their first disability payment. Inside, money has been flowing in the form of $24 million in bonuses."
National Home for Disabled Voluntary Soldiers
This article provides historical and genealogy information regarding these homes.
VA Creating 28 New Vet Centers
"WASHINGTON -- Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced Aug. 14 that combat veterans will receive readjustment counseling and other assistance in 28 additional communities across the country where the Department of Veterans Affairs will establish vet centers in 2010.
"VA is committed to providing high-quality outreach and readjustment counseling to all combat veterans," Secretary Shinseki said. "These 28 new vet centers will address the growing need for those services."
The community-based vet centers, already in all 50 states, are a key component of VA's mental health program, providing veterans with mental health screening and post-traumatic stress disorder counseling.
The existing 232 centers conduct community outreach offering counseling on employment, family issues and education to combat veterans and family members. Staffs also offer bereavement counseling for families of servicemembers killed on active duty and counseling for veterans who were sexually harassed on active duty.
Vet center services are earned through service in a combat zone or area of hostility and are provided at no cost to veterans or their families.
They are staffed by small multidisciplinary teams, which may include social workers, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, master's-level counselors and outreach specialists. More than 70 percent of vet center employees are veterans themselves, a majority of whom served in combat zones.
The vet center program was established in 1979 by Congress, recognizing that many Vietnam veterans were still having readjustment problems. In 2008, the vet venter program provided more than 1.1 million visits to over 167,000 veterans, including over 53,000 visits by more than 14,500 veteran families. More information about vet centers can be found at www.vetcenter.va.gov/index.asp.
Communities receiving new VA vet centers include:
-- American Samoa
-- Arizona -- Mohave and Yuma Counties
-- California -- San Luis Obispo County
-- Delaware -- Sussex County
-- Florida -- Marion, Lake, Collier
VFW Collects Wheelchairs for Vets
"FORT BENNING Ga. - Named for the medical evacution choppers who lent aid and mobility to wounded Soldiers in Vietnam, Operation Dust Off gives mobility through the gift of an electric wheelchair to disabled veterans, said retired 1st Sgt. Mike Craig, commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 5180 in Seale, Ala.
His goal is to improve the quality of life for veterans and spouses who gave of themselves for the betterment of the nation, he said.
"There are people out there who at one time wrote a blank check to this country who are not doing so well right now," he said. "I think it is our responsibility as citizens to do what we can for these people. Some of them have fallen on hard times."
Craig started collecting electric wheelchairs two weeks ago. So far, he has seven. In exchange for their gift, donors receive a tax write-off for $2,000, a certificate of appreciation from the post and a thank-you note from the recipient."
World War I - Flickr Commons George Eastman House
"This set contains postcards, mostly French, sent or collected during World War I. This is a small selection of the WWI material held at George Eastman House, which include aerial photographs produced and used by the military, stereocards and albums. We will continue to add to this set as objects are digitized."
Remembrance Day - Jour du Souvenir - Flickr Commons Musee McCord Museum
"We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders Fields.
Extract of the poem In Flanders Fields written by a Canadian, Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae."
World War I Panoramas - LOC on Flickr
"These long panoramic photographs show U. S. military personnel and camps, patriotic parades, and European battlefields and cemeteries related to WWI."
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