Top 10 News For Veterans from Around the Country 08-04-08

1. Bush Taps VA’s Hager To Head OPM.
2. VA Seeks Proposals For IT Development.
3. VA Spending Bill Passes House 409-4.
4. Buffalo Soldier From Oakland Has Lived History.
5. VA Planning Management Systems Upgrade.  
6. Peake Says Plan For VA Facility In Colorado Allows For "Veteran-Centric Care."  
7. US Combat Troops Plagued By Long-Term Health Problems.  
8. Vets Pleased To See PTSD Therapy Group Back At Loma Linda VA Hospital.  
9. VA To Re-Open Gulf War Vet’s Case.  
10. Cincinnati VAMC Expected To Have Booth Set Up At Purple Heart Ceremony.

1.      Bush Taps VA’s Hager To Head OPM. The Federal Times (8/2) reports President Bush “nominated Michael Hager to be the next head of the Office of PersonnelManagement, the agency said. Hager has been the assistant secretary for human resources and administration at the Veterans Affairs Department since November 2007. If confirmed by the Senate, Hager would replace Linda Springer, who has accepted a position at Ernst & Young. Springer’s last day will be Aug. 13.” 

2.      VA Seeks Proposals For IT Development. Federal Computer Week (8/1, Beizer) reports the VA announced “two requests for proposals for its Financial andLogistics Integrated Technology Enterprise program designed to upgrade the agency’s financial and asset management systems. The program has two components —Strategic Asset Management and Integrated Financial Accounting System. Both are Web-based and will automate many manual procedures, the department said. The RFPsreleased are for the Strategic Asset Management component. One is for a pilot implementation at the Milwaukee VA Medical Center; the other is for hardware tosupport the application. The Strategic Asset Management project will use the VA-owned Maximo software application to manage all classes of physical assets, supply inventories and work management activities.” 

3.      VA Spending Bill Passes House 409-4. Government Executive (8/1, Sanchez) reports, “In its final major act before adjourning for recess, the House voted 409-4 Friday to approve the fiscal 2009 Military Construction-VA spending bill that would provide $72.7 billion in discretionary funding for military construction initiatives and veterans programs. Under the measure, the first of the 12 annual spending bills passed by the House, the Veterans Affairs Department would receive $47.7 billion, which is $4.6 billion above the fiscal 2008 funding level and $2.9 billion over President Bush’s fiscal 2009 budget request. For military construction, the legislation would provide $24.8 billion.  House approval comes after Bush Wednesday told appropriators to offset the $2.9 billion increase for veterans in the other 11 annual spending bills or face a veto over any measure topping his budget request.” Military Construction-VA Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman Chet Edwards “cited concerns from veterans’ groups as the reason for increasing funding over Bush’s request. In a letter to House leaders, Edwards said veterans groups argued that Bush’s request fell short ‘about $3 billon’ of their needs.”  Subcommittee ranking member Zach Wamp “agreed with the increase above Bush’s request but noted the White House funding request was a record-high one.” 4.      Buffalo Soldier From Oakland Has Lived History. The Oakland Tribune (8/2, Newhouse, 44K) reports Buffalo Soldier Erwin Breaux “was chosen last year to place a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. ‘People respect me and they honor me,’ Breaux said of this late-in-life tribute. ‘Lots of white folks and colored people respect me for what I done for them.’ Breaux, 87, served 3-1/2 years in the 92nd Infantry Division of the Army during World War II. His rank was sergeant, his specialty machine-gun demolition, his comrades-in-arms black. He fought in Europe nearly two years on two fronts, against the Germans and Italians.” 

5.      VA Planning Management Systems Upgrade.   In the third story in his "What’s Brewin’" column in Government Executive (8/4), Bob Brewin notes that the Government Accountability Office recently "told members of a House VA subcommittee that the Veterans Health Administration spent $9.6 billion in 2007 under its ‘miscellaneous obligations’ account, with little or no accountability." Brewin continues, "Good thing VA…is planning an overhaul of its financial systems." On August 1, the VA "announced it had issued two requests for proposals to upgrade its financial and asset management systems." The VA "said the Financial and Logistics Integrated Technology Enterprise Program," or FLITE, will help it standardize business practices and modernize information technology that supports financial and asset management. Brewin adds, "In what seemed to be an answer to GAO complaints," VA Secretary James Peake said FLITE "will allow VA to do a better job of managing its resources."

6.      Peake Says Plan For VA Facility In Colorado Allows For "Veteran-Centric Care."   In a Denver Daily News (8/4) op-ed, Veterans Affairs Secretary Dr. James B. Peake says his agency’s latest plan to replace the Denver Medical Center, which does not call for a new, stand-alone facility, fits in with his goal for the VA "to provide veteran-centric care: care that provides the health care services veterans need, in locations closer to where veterans live." Very similar versions of this op-ed appeared in the Rocky Mountain (CO) News (7/29) and the Billings (MT) Gazette (7/23).

7.      US Combat Troops Plagued By Long-Term Health Problems.   USA Today (8/4, Zoroya) reports, "After more than five years of war marked by multiple deployments, many combat veterans are developing long-term health problems, raising the risk that ailing" US troops "are being sent back into combat." Service-connected back and neck injuries "have left nearly 50,000 Iraq- and Afghanistan-era veterans permanently disabled," VA "records show." USA Today adds that the US Central Command, "which oversees troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, is drafting rules that could make it more difficult to send unfit troops to war."

8.      Vets Pleased To See PTSD Therapy Group Back At Loma Linda VA Hospital.   The Riverside (CA) Press Enterprise (8/4, Muckenfuss) reports, "A group of older military veterans say they are pleased to hear the long-term therapy group they had come to rely on for treatment" of PTSD "is being reinstated" at the Jerry L. Pettis Memorial VA Medical Center in Loma Linda, California. A petition "signed by 47 of the affected veterans was filed with the hospital in February protesting the elimination of therapy groups." Jeff Haines, who circulated the petition and presented it to hospital administrators, "said he and many others feel the hospital had callously eliminated a critical support mechanism in their lives and turned a deaf ear to their concerns." The "conflict comes at a time when those who study mental health issues say" VA hospitals need to be preparing for an influx of post-traumatic stress patients as veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan leave the military.

9.      VA To Re-Open Gulf War Vet’s Case.   On its website, KETV-TV Omaha, NE (8/3) reported, "A local Gulf War veteran who has been in deteriorating health since his return from war said he has received no military benefits. Antonio Adams told" KETV "that he has had mysterious health problems since his return from the war." Adams "said his case has been pending since 1995," but he "admits he has not followed up on his case for years." Adams "said plenty of Gulf War vets have just given up," but the Department of Veterans Affairs "said there is hope. It will re-open Adams’ case and evaluate the benefits for which he may qualify."

10.    Cincinnati VAMC Expected To Have Booth Set Up At Purple Heart Ceremony.   The Cincinnati Enquirer (8/3, Wilkinson) reported, "Cincinnati-area military veterans who have lost their lives in a war or who were wounded in battle will be honored at the annual Purple Heart Day ceremony Monday on Fountain Square." The Cincinnati Veterans Affairs Medical Center is "expected to set up" an information booth on the square.