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.   Panetta: Post-2014 Afghan effort to be substantial. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said the “enduring presence” of U.S. troops in Afghanistan must be able to address counterterrorism threats, continue the training and assistance mission and provide “enabling capability” to continue supporting U.S. forces.
 
2.   Pentagon vows to better align profit with performance.  The Pentagon wants to better align profits paid to defense contractors with improved performance, the military’s top weapons buyer told an investors conference.
 
3.   Chasing relief: Vets find camaraderie, peace in pushing their bodies to the limit.  For the last three months, Jim Buzzell has kept himself on partial home confinement in South Carolina, saying even short trips to the post office down the street are too overwhelming. He thinks his traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder are getting worse. But surrounded by complete strangers in the remote hills of West Texas, that Jim Buzzell disappears.

4.   Veterans Agency Can Ignore Vets Status in Contract Awards.  Bloomberg   The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs doesn’t have to give former service members’ small businesses preference for all contracts, a federal judge said, rejecting the position of a government watchdog agency. U.S. Federal Claims Judge Nancy Firestone …

5.   Veterans not out of the woods yet.  Florida Today  In collaboration with the Small Business Administration and the General Services Administration, VA helps veteran-owned small businesses and service-disabled veterans who own small businesses. • VA spent $3.2 billion in 2010 to prevent and reduce …

6.   25 employers expected at job fair targeted to US veterans. Las Vegas Review – Journal  … but veterans must provide military ID. The job fair is in partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the American Legion, the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, and the Department of Labor Veterans’ Employment & Training Service.

7.   VIPs Break Ground At Vietnam Memorial Education Center.  USA Today “On Wednesday, military brass and Washington VIPs broke ground on the Education Center at The Wall. … It will tell the stories of the 58,282 servicemembers who died in the Vietnam War, or later as a result of Vietnam service, and those who died in Iraq and Afghanistan, says Jan Scruggs, president and founder of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund.” He “hopes to complete construction and open the center’s doors in 2014, in time for the return of the troops from Afghanistan.”  Washington Post  “As the VIPs arrived for Wednesday’s ceremonial groundbreaking, Jan C. Scruggs, the man behind the Vietnam War education center, stood on the sidewalk looking for a particular guest. … It was singer Jimmy Buffett, and his appearance at the site of the center capped a morning of tributes and helped close the ceremony with a heartfelt singalong of ‘God Bless America.'” Also “Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta spoke at the ceremony, as did members of Congress, former top military officials, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and Vice President Biden’s wife, Jill.” And “Vietnam veteran Michael McClung – whose daughter, Marine Corps Maj. Megan McClung, was killed in Iraq – spoke for all of them.”
 
8.   Military Creates Brain Repository To Study Wounds.  USA Today  “The Pentagon has created a brain bank in the Washington suburbs to research the damage that can occur during military service, particularly in combat from exposure to blast waves. Only one brain sample has been collected so far as officials embark on a lengthy process of determining how best to educate troops about brain donation and their families about consenting to the process after a loved one dies.”
 
9.   An IED Took A Veteran’s Leg, Not Her Fighting Spirit.  CNN  Melissa Stockwell who at age 23 “was deployed to Iraq in March 2004” then suffered the loss of her left leg due to an IED as “part of a routine convoy going through central Baghdad.” She “learned to walk with her new leg and become independent.” Then, she “went back to school for a new career in prosthetics at Century College in Minnesota.” She also competed as a member of the 2008 US Paralympic Team. Now, she “works as a certified prosthetist at Scheck and Siress in Chicago and runs a triathlon club she started with friends.”
 
10.  “The Right Place” Assures Female Vets Of High-quality VA Care.  Lake County (CA) News  “The Department of Veterans Affairs has developed a new public service announcement (PSA) to let women veterans know they’ve come to ‘The Right Place’ when seeking VA health care.” Secretary Shinseki is quoted saying, “It is important that women veterans receive the high-quality health care and benefits they have earned through their service.”

Have You Heard?

Heroes on the Homefront: New Report Highlights Veterans as Job Creators :  By Marie Johns, 29 Nov 2012