Top 10 Veterans Stories in Today’s News – July 24, 2012

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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.   Mandatory reverse boot camp will prepare troops to leave military. Troops leaving the military will go through a five- to seven-day reverse boot camp covering job skills, personal finances and veterans benefits under a new initiative to be announced by President Barack Obama on Monday.
 
2.   Budget savings unclear, but ‘jointness’ good at Lewis-McChord.  The 2010 merger of Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base is not at the point where officials can quantify budget savings, but it is encouraging the two service branches train together and operate more efficiently, the outgoing colonel who managed the consolidation said last week.
 
3.   US military participates for first time in Japan quake exercise in TokyoU.S. military personnel have participated for the first time in an annual Japanese exercise designed to prepare for a major earthquake in Tokyo.

4.   Simpson’s study on veteran affairs slated for August.  Daily Ardmoreite  Members of the Senate Committee on Veterans and Military affairs will meet Aug. 21 and will focus on administrative issues including the structure and the responsibilities of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs and War Veterans Commission.

5.   The Rural Connection – VHA Office of Rural Health.  Illinois, the VA is partnering with state entities, County. Veterans Offices, and local providers for the “Lost Veterans. Project”. Their goal is to reach …. of Veterans Affairs announced plans to open 13 new community- based outpatient clinics in …
 
6.   Employers Say Vets Have The Skills, Attitude They Seek.  Crain’s Detroit Business “Companies ranging from huge multinationals to little mom-and-pops are paying more than lip service when it comes to hiring vets, according to numbers released by the US Department of Veterans Affairs and what these companies are telling Crain’s Detroit Business. According to the VA, at the three-day National Veteran Small Business Conference, Open House and Hiring Fair in June at Detroit’s Cobo Center, employers conducted more than 5,000 interviews with veterans seeking employment and offered jobs to more than 1,300 at companies across the country.” Vets in “general ‘have a high degree of technical capability, and that adapts to AT&T’s needs across the spectrum,’ said Greg Clark, an AT&T Inc. regional vice president in Detroit, noting that his company posts openings on 30 websites that target vets and has attended more than 50 veterans jobs fairs across the country.”

7.   Ohio Counties Get $1.81M To Help Homeless Veterans.  AP  “Grants totaling $1.81 million have been awarded to six Ohio counties to help prevent and end homelessness among veterans and their families.” That is according to a recent announcement by Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, who “says the grants will serve about 635 homeless and at-risk veteran families. Veterans Affairs is awarding the grants to private nonprofit organizations and consumer cooperatives providing services to very low-income veteran families who are living in, or transitioning to, permanent housing.”
 
8.   Veterans Affairs Medical Center Expanding In RI.  AP  A Veterans Affairs hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, has “opened a new addition offering expanded mental health care to veterans.” The AP said US Sens. Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, who are both Rhode Island Democrats, “attended the ribbon cutting for the new 20,000-square-foot facility Friday afternoon. The expansion includes new clinic space for mental health services for veterans, as well as offices for a new Specialties Clinics.”
 
9.   Recent Cuts At Hospital Infuriate VA Council. San Antonio Express-News  “Opponents of service reductions at the Department of Veterans Affairs’ facility” in Kerrville, Texas, “say it’s a hospital in name only following the most recent cuts dictated by agency officials in San Antonio.” The Express News adds, “Besides closing the 20-bed acute care unit at the Kerrville VA Medical Center this month, the urgent care clinic’s hours went from around-the-clock to weekdays only and after-hours lab and X-ray services were eliminated…said” Walter Schellhase, “president of the Hill Country Veterans Council, which was formed two decades ago to safeguard services at the facility.” Schellhase “appealed directly to VA Secretary Eric Shinseki in a July 4 letter, saying, ‘We can’t believe that you’re aware that one of your finest facilities is being systematically downsized.'”
 
10. Federal Health Care Agencies Must Simplify Pay System.  Federal Times “The Affordable Care Act will soon be an important concern” for Veterans Affairs and other agencies that provide medical care services. Risher says, “Projections show the country will need thousands of additional physicians, nurses and other certified specialists,” which “will force all medical care providers to increase pay levels to avoid losing staff.” Risher notes that VA has been criticized by the American Federation of Government Employees for downgrading low-level support jobs. Risher then criticizes VA for using an “overly complex” pay system.

Have You Heard?

Reverse Boot Camp

Reverse boot camp provides a five to seven day training program for returning Veterans on career readiness and transitioning back to civilian life.

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