Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News

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Top Veterans Stories in Today’s News

1. Veterans Administration removes Navy Veterans Association from directory Washington, DC – It looks like U.S. Sen. Jim Webb (D-Va.) got some pretty speedy action from the Veterans Administration in response to a letter he sent yesterday questioning the continued listing of the nonprofit U.S. Navy Veterans Association in an online directory maintained by the agency of Veterans Service Organizations.
2. Red Sox program helps vets get care Milford, Massachusetts – Asking for help is never easy, and for the new generation of proud veterans, it can seem almost impossible. That’s why outreach coordinators for the Home Base Program told Franklin Veterans Agent Bob Fahey yesterday that they want to spread the word about new services for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffering from combat-related stress and traumatic brain injury.
3. Can Marijuana Ease PTSD? A Debate Brews Washington, DC – The Department of Veterans Affairs finds itself in a difficult position because some vets want to use marijuana to treat symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Pot possession remains illegal under federal law. The VA says that as a federal agency its doctors can’t recommend using it.
4. Veterans Affairs diversifies telecom service providers Consolidation is all the rage, but when it comes to telecom contracts, the U.S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs is planning to save money by diversifying. The VA is nearing the end of a network migration that will replace one primary telecom service provider with three others. In an in-depth look at the VA’s network transition, Carolyn Duffy Marsan at NetworkWorld examines a larger trend among federal agencies moving from the nearly decade-old FTS2001 telecom contract model to a new model called Networx.
5. VA ramps up enforcement of contractor data security The Veterans Affairs Department will step up enforcement of its contractors to make certain that they meet information security requirements in protecting veterans’ personal health data.
6. Open military facilities to end homelessness for veterans If President Obama wanted to put an end to homelessness for America’s veterans, he could do so virtually overnight. All he would have to do is mandate that all federal and state military installations and veterans’ facilities nationwide provide housing or at least a place for them to shave, shower and get a good meal.
7. Washington, DC – OPM head takes ‘hostile fire’ on hiring, intern program John Berry generally has it pretty easy when he goes to Capitol Hill. The Office of Personnel Management director is personable, enthusiastic and eager to fix a federal hiring bureaucracy that has no advocates. He would have had good reason to expect a comfortable time during his appearance at a congressional hearing Wednesday, which came on the heels of President Obama’s well-received directive to overhaul federal hiring.
8. House lawmakers uneasy about hiring reforms Washington, DC – House and Senate lawmakers don’t seem to be on the same page when it comes to federal hiring reforms. The day after the Senate passed a bill that endorses many of the same changes to the federal hiring process that the White House wants, House lawmakers expressed serious concerns about those same proposed modifications.
9. Senate Committee Hears American Legion Testimony on Bills Affecting Veterans Washington, DC – The American Legion testified in Congress yesterday on several pieces of pending legislation that would affect veterans if signed into law. Appearing before the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Ian de Planque conveyed The American Legion’s support for several bills being considered by the committee. De Planque is deputy director of the Legion’s veterans affairs and rehabilitation division:
10. VA moving forward with Bay vet center plans Lynn Haven, Florida – The Department of Veterans Affairs has done some preliminary survey work in its search for a new Bay County VA Vet Center but has not selected a site yet, a VA official said Wednesday.