Veterans! Here’s your Top 10 Newsstories 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.   Experts say sequestration would target civilian jobs.  The potential for layoffs in the defense contracting industry is taking center stage in the congressional showdown on how to avoid the “fiscal cliff,” but experts say that sequestration’s most immediate workplace cuts would be felt by civilian defense employees.
 
2.   VA backlog on education payouts at record level.  Department of Veterans Affairs officials said that education payouts typically see longer delays at the start of the spring and fall semesters, but this year the backlog is worse than ever.
 
3.   VA’s eBenefits website helping veterans, current forces, families.  Conceived in the wake of the Walter Reed scandal as a way for wounded warriors and their families to understand and access benefits, the eBenefits web portal has become an online gateway of enormous value and convenience to two million registered users.
 
4.   2 more US troops die in insider attack in Afghanistan.  Two U.S. servicemembers died after an individual wearing an Afghan National Police uniform turned his weapon against them in Uruzgan province, U.S. Forces-Afghanistan announced Thursday.
 
5.   NATO fires on fishing boat off Somalia after being attacked.  A NATO ship fired back at a fishing boat near the Somali coast Wednesday after coming under attack from multiple groups of suspected pirates firing from shore and sea in an unusually brazen display, officials said.
 
6.   Report blasts Army Engineers for paying contractor despite lingering problems.  An investigation shows the Corps gave more than $70 million to DynCorp International for flawed and incomplete work.

7.   Alcohol and Liver Health, Resources for Veterans and the Public.  AIDS.gov blog (blog)  Today we feature a post from colleagues at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), one of the federal partners working to implement the Action Plan for the Prevention, Care and Treatment of Viral Hepatitis. The Plan includes …

8.   Army Family Programs supports Veterans Affairs Homeless Heroes Stand Down.  DVIDS  Services include providing homeless Veterans with food, shelter, clothing, health screenings, VA and Social Security Benefits, counseling, housing, employment and substance abuse treatment. Most of all VA stand downs give Veterans something that can’t …

9.   The Mystifying Misperception.  Huffington Post  A deserving public servant, my father’s struggle to obtain benefits from the state following 9/11 is not unlike that of the millions of veterans who struggle to secure disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs after they return home …

10.   Army Family Programs supports Veterans Affairs Homeless Heroes Stand Down.  DVIDS  Nearly 600 homeless veterans attended the annual Veterans Affairs Homeless Stand Down in Decatur, Ga. They were given free … “Stand Downs are one part of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ efforts to provide services to homeless veterans. Services …

Have You Heard?

VA Pinks Out for Breast Cancer Awareness

VA employees across the country participated in the 3rd Annual “Pink Out Challenge” to raise awareness of breast cancer. Read about the champions for women Veterans behind the challenge. View photos