Veterans! Here’s your Top 10 News stories of the day compiled from the latest sources

We encourage you to browse our list so that you can take what you want and keep what you need

1.    VA budget seeks 10.5 percent boost in funding.  NavyTimes.com  In an era of tightened federal budgets, the Veterans Affairs Department has won a 10.5 percent funding increase justified by the return of combat troops to the US and the looming drawdown of the active-duty military.
 
2.    DOD budget leaves tough pay, benefit decisions for future years.  Military spending will fall in 2013, but the first Defense Department baseline budget decrease since 9/11 leaves for the future difficult decisions about pay and benefits, now one-third of the defense budget and growing.
 
3.    Army to lose nearly 10,000 soldiers in first year of end-strength cuts.  The Army will shed almost 10,000 soldiers and 14,000 civilian employees in fiscal 2013, and spend less on aircraft and ground vehicles, under budget plans announced Monday at the Pentagon.
 
4.    Navy, Marines to lose personnel, but budget hit is minimal.  The Marine Corps will lose about 5,000 troops, and the Navy will cut 2,500 civilian personnel under the Pentagon’s fiscal 2013 budget plan.
 
5.    Air Force plans all its personnel cuts for first year.  The Air Force would cut 9,900 personnel in 2013, equaling the pace of Army cuts next year, officials from the service announced Friday at the Pentagon. After that, however, planned Air Force end strengths cuts will end, while tens of thousands of more soldiers leave the service.
 
6.    Army Reserve could help fill void in Europe and elsewhere, commander says.  As the U.S. Army prepares to cut about 80,000 soldiers over the next six years, it will depend on the Army Reserve even more for certain capabilities and may call on reservists to conduct longer training missions in Europe, Africa and other regions overseas, said Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, chief of the Army Reserve.

7.    Vets suffering from PTSD deserve help.  Central Florida Future  Studies done by the US. Department of Veteran Affairs have shown that returning soldiers with PTSD are more likely to experience trouble with the law, though other factors could contribute. Returning home with PTSD often causes soldiers to have …

8.    Houston Fast Becoming A Hot Spot For Helping VAs.  KUHF-FM  Over 22000 war veterans call Houston home, the second largest vet population in the United States. And the largest number of post 9/11 vets. So as local soldiers return in their droves from Iraq and Afghanistan, Houston veterans’ programs are making …

9.    GE to hire 5000 veterans over next 5 years.  USA TODAY  Navy veteran Shaundell Vannooten listens to a recruiter at a job fair the Department of Veterans Affairs sponsored in New York on Feb. 1, 2012. By Mark Lennihan, AP Navy veteran Shaundell Vannooten listens to a recruiter at a job …

10.   From the battlefield to the classroom.  The Depaulia  According to Bedoya, both the Student Veterans Union and the Office of Veteran’s Affairs are great resources for assistance and aid for struggling ex-soldiers. They offer job assistance for positions that are military-based, utilizing the skills …

Have You Heard?

VA Joins with State Veterans Affairs Directors

On February 13, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki participated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the National Association of State Veterans Affairs Directors and VA.

More Veteran News

•    Nashville shelter prepares for rise in returning vets.  The Tennessean  Today, we have two more reasons to feel good about our local veterans, both of which were recently reported in The Tennessean. First, the US Department of Veterans Affairs is having a great deal of success in getting homeless veterans into affordable …

•   Legion Commander: Veterans Well-Trained For Civilian Jobs.  Springfield (IL) State Journal-Register  “Employers sometimes think veterans of the US Armed Forces lack training for jobs in the civilian world, but they are wrong, the national commander of the American Legion said Sunday during a visit to Springfield.” The 63-year-old Fang Wong, the “first Asian-American to lead the 2.4 million-member American Legion, made the comments before he participated in Sunday’s 78th annual National American Legion Pilgrimage to Abraham Lincoln’s Tomb in Oak Ridge Cemetery. He said the national American Legion…is having talks with private-sector employers to make it easier for employers to understand and appreciate the vast experience of today’s veterans and their work ethic.

• Therapy Dogs Are Helping Veterans.  WDTV-TV  On Sunday, patients received pet therapy at the Veterans Affairs hospital in Clarksburg, West Virginia. Therapy dogs visit the hospital “three times a month.” WDTV added, “‘One of the reasons we started pet therapy at our facility is to give the veterans an opportunity to…experience a more home like environment,’ said Michael Andrews, recreational therapist.”

• Heart Attack Network Saves Time, Lives.  Miami Herald  A veterans hospital is part of the STEMI Network, which is “made up of a dozen South Florida hospitals and six fire rescue departments.” The network has “streamlined the process for treating major heart attacks, driving down the cardiac emergency mortality rate in Miami-Dade to less than 1 percent.”

•  Vietnam Vet Believes Agent Orange Led To Cancer, Nerve Damage.  KTVB-TV  65-year-old Seattle-area veteran named Ron Allen “believes his duty in the Vietnam War led to the cancer he has now, but the Department of Veterans Affairs says he just doesn’t fit the rules” for Agent Orange exposure benefits. After noting that Allen served aboard the USS New Jersey during the war, KTVB quotes an advocate named Cyril Miller, who said vets like Allen are “being thrown away like garbage, and that makes me angry.” But a VA spokesman “told KING 5 News they are deeply concerned about Allen’s health” and that they are trying to expedite the appeal he has filed with VA.

• VA Better Than Most.  San Bernardino (CA) Sun  Disabled veteran Ronald A. Nelson writes, “I must say that the VA is coping with the fantastic increase in their patient population with a great sense of urgency, especially under the leadership” of Secretary Shinseki. Nelson adds, “Parking is a problem but the Pettis facility is working on the problem.”

• Best Of The Best Honored At 19th Annual Law & Safety Day Awards.  Martinsburg (WV) Journal  “The best of the best Eastern Panhandle public servants were honored Sunday night during the Martinsburg Elks Lodge No. 778’s 19th annual Law & Safety Day Recognition Program.” The Journal adds, “Among those honored were members from the…Veterans Affairs Police Service.”

• Exonerated Texas Man’s Grave Gets Permanent Tribute.  Reuters  State officials in Texas and the family of deceased veteran Tim Cole recently unveiled a historical marker dedicated to Cole, who was exonerated on rape charges more than 10 years after he died in prison. The marker is located near Cole’s grave at a cemetery in Fort Worth, Texas.

• Montana Ski Town’s Quirky Winter Welcome For Wounded Troops Part Of A Growing National Trend.  AP  When eight wounded warriors and their families were showered with affection at a recent winter carnival in Whitefish, Montana, the event became part of a “growing trend in which communities across America are developing programs to give back to those who served. This one was done in conjunction with the charity Wounded Warrior Project, which says more and more towns and cities are reaching out to sponsor the visits of wounded troops and their families.” The AP adds, “Whitefish has sponsored roughly two dozen troops and their families” at the annual winter carnival, raising over a quarter million dollars through the sponsorship program.

•  Looking For A Job? Head To One Of Four Career Fairs Coming Up.  Madison (CT) Patch  There will be four career fairs held in Connecticut this spring, including the Heroes4Hire Fair, which is “co-sponsored by the Connecticut Veterans’ Administration.” The event “will take place April 27 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford and run from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.”