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 unveils new process to eliminate backlog; critics await results.  Express service is on the way for tens of thousands of pending veterans benefits claims.
 
2.   Afghan exit will cost US billions, Pentagon’s No. 2 says.  Moving the mountain of U.S. military gear out of Afghanistan after more than a decade of war will cost billions of dollars and prove far more difficult than last year’s withdrawal from Iraq, the Pentagon’s No. 2 official said.
 
3.   Congress considers ban on U.S. military contracts for companies doing business in Cuba.  South Florida companies active in Cuba are worried about a measure in Congress that would ban them from U.S. Defense Department contracts if they keep up business with the island.

4.   Vets need drivers for medical appointments.  Pittsburgh Post Gazette  Mr. Mitchell said it took nearly six months to get the physical, medical clearance, background check and training required by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs — which owns the vehicles — to become a driver. He anticipated more volunteers …

5.   VA Dept. provides no fertility series to spouses of vets.  msnbc.com  For troops coming home from war, help from the Veteran Affairs Department is crucial but for those returning with wounds that make them incapable of conceiving, the V.A. leaves their hopes for a family unanswered.

6.   Veteran homelessness can be solved through additional government funding.  K-State Collegian  Organizations such as the Department of Veterans Affairs and Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States exist solely to try and meet the needs of veterans. Many of these soldiers require mental, psychological and physical therapy to recover from

7.   Pentagon To Make Database To Track Medal Awardees.  AP  “The Pentagon plans to establish a searchable database of military valor awards and medals, hoping for a technological fix to the problem of people getting away with lying about earning military honors.” The “move is in response to a June 28 Supreme Court ruling that invalidated a law making it a crime to lie about receiving the Medal of Honor and other military decorations.” The “high court ruled that the 2006 Stolen Valor Act infringes upon speech protected by the First Amendment.”  Wall Street Journal  Groups like Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) were pleased to hear about the plan for an awards database. Joe Davis, a VFW spokesman, said the cost of such a database is “minimal compared to the verifiable proof it provides to honorable service members, veterans and all their families.”
 
8.   Iraq Vet Among Those Affected By VA Claims Backlog. CBS Evening News Iraq veteran Aaron Helstrom is “one of half a million veterans whose” disability claims are caught in an “increasing…backlog” at the US Veterans Affairs Department. CBS spoke to Allison Hickey, VA’s director of benefits, who “says the system has been swamped by a quarter million new claims from a change in regulations that allowed more Vietnam veterans to file disability claims from exposure to the pesticide Agent Orange. On top of that, Hickey says, veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan…are now filing claims at a record rate.” Still Hickey admits that “way too many” veterans have to deal with the backlog. CBS pointed out that VA is planning to move its claims from a paper-based system to an electronic one by the end of 2015. CBS added that when it spoke to VA about Helstrom, the agency contacted the vet and his case may now be settled by Labor Day.
 
9.   Report Says people Who Process Claims Are Getting Better Training.  Military Times  “An internal Veterans Affairs Department report says improvements in training the people who process veterans’ benefits claims are yielding dramatic results, with new trainees showing marked increases in both productivity and accuracy. Previously, it took six months for trainees to work up to completing one case every other day, with a 60 percent chance of the claim being accurate, according to report jointly prepared by the Veterans Benefits Administration and the Office of Employee Development and Training.” The Times adds, “If the success holds up on a larger scale, the new training process for claims workers may finally help VA put a dent in its mountain of pending claims.”
 
10. Golf Helps Military Vets, Dad Get Past Tough Times. AP  Iraq veteran Christopher Wallace is one of a “growing number of military veterans” who are “learning the business of golf in hopes the game becomes their next career.” After noting that Christopher Wallace and his father are both enrolled at the Golf Academy of America, the AP says the Education Corporation of America (ECA) is the “parent company for…five golf academies located in San Diego, Phoenix, Dallas, Orlando, Fla., and on South Carolina’s Grand Strand region.” Mike Betz, the ECA’s military student initiative general manager, “said academy inquiries from veterans have increased as they consider turning a hobby into a vocation.”