Department of Massachusetts Message Center
VA Warning: "Veterans Affairs Services"
Organization Not Affiliated, Getting Vet IDs.
The Office of the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has requested dissemination of the following :
"An organization called Veterans Affairs Services (VAS) is providing benefit and general information on VA and gathering personal information on veterans.
"This organization is not affiliated with VA in any way." [The organization described itself at its web page at: http://www.vaservices.org/us/index.html
"VAS may be gaining access to military personnel through their close resemblance to the VA name and seal. Our Legal Counsel has requested that we coordinate with DoD to inform military installations, particularly mobilization sites, of this group and their lack of affiliation or endorsement by VA to provide any services. In addition, GC requests that if you have any examples of VAS acts that violate chapter 59 of Title 38 United States Code, such as VAS employees assisting veterans in the preparation and presentation of claims for benefits, please pass any additional information to Mr.Daugherty at the address below.
"Michael G. Daugherty, Staff Attorney, Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of General Counsel
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Commanders Can Ask About Privately Owned Guns Jan 08, 2013
Stars and Stripes | by Nancy Montgomery
Commanders, chaplains and health professionals are now specifically authorized to ask troops they think are at risk for hurting themselves or others about privately owned firearms.
The authorization is part of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act, which contains provisions dealing with numerous new or amended policies concerning, among other things, sexual assault, abortion, detainee operations and suicide.
The measure dealing with privately owned firearms clarifies a provision -- backed by the National Rifle Association -- in the 2011 Defense Authorization Act that prohibited collecting information from troops about their firearms. Some commanders and mental health professionals were concerned that it forbade inquiries about firearms, the most common and by far the most lethal method used by servicemembers to take their own lives.
The Defense Department has made little headway in reducing the suicide rate, which had been lower in the military than in the civilian population. In recent years, for unknown reasons, the rate has soared among soldiers.
The new provision also requires the Defense Department to create a position to oversee all suicide prevention programs and to create a comprehensive program for the military, instead of leaving the services to devise a mix of programs.
The 2011 measure had been criticized by suicide prevention experts and dozens of general officers, including retired Gen. Pete Chiarelli, then Army vice chief of staff. By fall, a provision to clarify the right of commanders and others to ask troops about their firearms had gained broad congressional support.
The 2013 provision was lauded by suicide experts.
"It is great that the provision now specifically allows commanders to speak with troops about their privately owned firearms, not only because it addresses language that previously had a chilling effect on potentially life-saving discussions, but also because it affirms that asking is right and responsible behavior," said Dr. Matthew Miller at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Miller, associate director of the Harvard Injury Control Research Center, whose research has demonstrated that suicide is often an impulsive act that can be prevented by making the means to commit it more difficult, also praised Chiarelli, who was among the first military leaders to speak out about the impact of firearms on military suicides. At least two year ago, he had sought to ensure that commanders could ask potentially suicidal soldiers about firearms and recommend that they remove the weapon from their home until suicidal feelings passed.
"Gen. Chiarelli has been the model of a concerned, thoughtful, data-driven leader," Miller said. "His efforts to protect his troops in this regard are as heroic and as central to his estimable leadership as what he had done to earn his four stars beforehand."
The NRA said it did not oppose the revision.
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Army Staff Sergeant to Receive MoH Jan 11, 2013
Military.com| by Richard Sisk
President Obama announced Friday he will award the Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest decoration for valor, to an Army staff sergeant who fought off a Taliban attempt to overrun his combat outpost in eastern Afghanistan.
Former Staff Sgt. Clinton Romesha, 31, of Minot, N.D., is scheduled to receive the medal in a ceremony on Feb. 11. Romesha will become the fourth living recipient of the MOH from the post-9/11 wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
A total of 10 Medals of Honor have been awarded for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The three other living recipients, all of whom served in Afghanistan, are Army Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta, Marine Sgt. Dakota Meyer, and Army Sgt. 1st Class Leroy Petry.
Obama announced the tribute to Romesha’s “heroic service in Afghanistan” during a White House news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. The president stressed that Afghan troops will have to shoulder the responsibility for their own security as the U.S. winds down the war.
Romesha’s earned the Medal of Honor for his bravery after Afghan troops fled a firefight at Combat Outpost Keating in eastern Nuristan province while he was serving as a section leader with Bravo Troop, 3d Squadron, 61st Cavalry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.
Eight U.S. troops were killed and more than 20 others wounded in the assault by the enemy with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machineguns that breached the gates of the post.
The attack, one of the deadliest single-day engagements for U.S. forces in the Afghan war, was the focus of the recent book “The Outpost” by former ABC-TV White House correspondent Jake Tapper. Nine other troops who fought alongside Romesha had already received the Silver Star for their own heroism.
About 50 American, 20 Afghan and two Latvian soldiers, along with about 12 Afghan security guards, found themselves at COP Keating when the pre-dawn attack began. It continued for more than three hours.
Romesha “took out an enemy machine gun team and, while engaging a second, the generator he was using for cover was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade, inflicting him with shrapnel wounds,” according to the MOH citation.
Romesha kept fighting. “With complete disregard for his own safety, Romesha continually exposed himself to heavy enemy fire as he moved confidently about the battlefield, engaging and destroying multiple enemy targets, including three Taliban fighters who had breached the combat outpost’s perimeter,” the citation said.
Romesha lives in Minot with his wife and three children. He left the Army in April 2011 after serving for 12 years.
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POW BOWE BERGDAHLThe following is from the December 2012 newsletter from the National
Alliance of Families. The latest video of Afghanistan POW Bowe Bergdahl
shows Bergdahl without his beard. They now will take FIVE PRISONERS WE HAVE
for POW Bowe Bergdahl. My only question is, "What is the White House waiting
for?" I know, we were told that Bergdahl was not an issue for the President
Obama or Secretary Clinton. It sure is time they made it an issue. No one
should be abandoned, betrayed, and forgotten like POW Bergdahl has been by
the US Government.
Danny "Greasy" Belcher, Executive Director
Executive Director, Task Force Omega of KY Inc.
Vietnam Infantry Sgt. 68-69
"D" Troop 7th Sqdn. 1st Air Cav.
National Alliance of Families
for the Return of America's Missing Servicemen
World War II + Korea + Cold War + Vietnam + Gulf Wars + Afghanistan
Janella Apodaca Rose - 406-652-3528 Lynn O'Shea - 718-846-4350
Bowe Bergdahl's Third Christmas in Captivity - Under the headline "Afghan
media hype over US war prisoner: saving Sergeant Bergdahl," The Voice of Russia reported the
following, on December 14, 2012.
[Begin Excerpt] The media are once again focused on the fate of the only
American POW Bowe Bergdahl, who has been detained in Pakistan by Haqqani Network, a Taliban ally. Experts are trying to reveal the meaning of the Afghan authorities' latest statement.
They said that Kabul does not oppose the U.S. holding direct talks with the Taliban on the exchange of Bergdahl for five prisoners at Guantanamo prison. But, at the same time Americans have no right to hold talks on a peaceful settlement with the Taliban because it is a prerogative of the Afghan government.
The 26-yerar-old Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl went missing while patrolling in the southeastern province of Paktika in June 2009. According to the CNN, the serviceman disappeared after getting drunk and going outside the base. It became clear that he was abducted after 3 weeks when captors displayed a video showing the frightened soldier and his
dog tags. Since then, they released four videos. On April 7, 2010, the Taliban released a video of
Bergdahl, now with a beard and wearing a Pushtu dress, pleading for the release of Afghan prisoners held at
Guantanamo. A year ago, he escaped from captivity and tried to reach the closest village knowing
that the code of honour obligates Pushtus to defend any person who asks for help. But villagers had
fled the volatile region long ago. The soldier met nobody and hid in a forest. However, militants
discovered him after three days and tightened security.
Why the Afghan authorities remind about the serviceman? Who benefits from
all the noise around him?
In March, American officials and extremists discussed his exchange at their
covert meetings in Qatar.
These meetings have not resumed yet. Most likely, there have been attempts
to establish contacts and this angered Kabul that tried to hold peace talks with the Taliban.[End
Excerpt]
= =
Giving up is not a choice. If Afghanistan prisoner of war (POW) Bowe
Bergdahl was your son, husband, brother, father, or someone you cared about,
what would you do? Our leaders in Washington, DC cannot even balance a
checkbook. They have done nothing to get POW Bergdahl released or he would
be home.
Giving up may be our leaders choice. To give up would mean they had did
something. This has not happened. You and I do not have the option of giving
up. To do so would mean Bowe Bergdald would be betrayed, abandoned, and
forgotten like our leaders did. You and I are Afghanistan POW Bowe
Bergdahl's only hope. We do not have the option like our leaders. We cannot
give up.
Danny "Greasy" Belcher, Executive Director
=====
Bowe Bergdahl, while serving in our Army, was captured on
June 30, 2009 in Afghanistan by the Taliban. He is now held by the
Haqqani network in Pakistan. The Taliban initially wanted 21 prisoners
the US government had for Bergdahl. They will now trade POW Bowe
Bergdahl for FIVE prisoners we have.
Afghanistan POW Bowe Bergdahl has now been held for over three years and President Obama nor Secretary Clinton have not gotten him free. It is obvious that they never tried. He is definitely not an issue to them.
Afghanistan POW Bowe Bergdahl has now been held for over three years and President Obama nor Secretary Clinton have not gotten him free. It is obvious that they never tried. He is definitely not an issue to them.
Are we seeing the Viet Nam scenario of abandoning our POW's play out yet
again? You have the means to reach millions across this nation. Please
use your influence and communication power to bring this young man's
plight to light in the public's eye.
Mike Sexton
President American Legion Riders/Post 12/Richmond KY
609 Martin Dr.
Richmond KY 40475
=====
January 1, 2013 By: Susy Raybon
Last night, while the world toasted a hearty “goodbye” to 2012, U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl remained a prisoner of war, held somewhere in Southeast Asia.
Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl was captured by the Taliban-aligned Haqqani network in June of 2009.
While reports have varied over the years, authorities have reason to believe Sgt. Bergdahl is being held in Pakistan, or perhaps being moved about between the two countries.
Officially, Sgt. Bergdahl is listed by the Department of Defense as DUSTWUN: Duty status-whereabouts unknown.
He has been issued the Prisoner of War Medal.
The U.S. government has always believed that Sgt. Bergdahl is alive; a belief supported by five videos that the terrorist network has released in an attempt to negotiate a ransom of $1 million dollars, plus the release of more than 20 Afghan prisoners.
Sgt. Bergdahl was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska, and has been promoted twice since his disappearance in Paktika Province, Afghanistan.
The United States government, while refusing to negotiate with terrorists, continues to work on all levels, to bring SGT Bergdahl home safely.
Today's check of the Facebook page, Bring Bowe Bergdahl Home, showed no new information.
=====
Diane_Baumler Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Letter: Don't forget Americans who are prisoners of war in Afghanistan
Why are our troops still in Afghanistan?
Why are we silent about Bowe Bergdahl, who is a prisoner of war in Afghanistan? I proudly wear a POW bracelet with his name on it. Don't leave him in Afghanistan the way we left our POWs in Vietnam.
Bring Bowe Bergdahl home!
=====
Below is a letter I sent to President Obama. I am
asking EVERYONE to send a
letter to our president. Use my example or write your own. Send it every two
weeks till POW Bowe Bergdahl comes home alive. Every president from
President Eisenhower till now have not brought home live American POWs held
in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Red China, the USSR, North Korea and only God
and the United States government knows where else. This president must not
get a free pass. He admitted on Veterans Day that he knows Bowe is alive and
he is working to bring him home. Maybe our president needs to know how many
people want Bowe home alive. It will only cost a small amount of your time
and a postage stamp every two weeks. Do not ask your wife, husband, or
expect someone else to do this. YOU can help bring a live American POW home.
President Barack Obama
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Obama,
As you know, during the course of Operation Enduring Freedom, a U.S. soldier
was captured by the Taliban on June 30, 2009 in Afghanistan (Sgt. Bowe
Bergdahl). We must ask why POW Bowe Bergdahl is not home. He has been a
Afghanistan POW now for over three years.
We are told that our government does not negotiate with terrorists. Lately,
our government traded Russian spies for American spies and we saw two hikers
ransomed for $1 million dollars in Iran. Israel traded hundreds of prisoners
they had for one soldier the enemy was holding.
We do negotiate with terrorists, it just depends on what we want to
negotiate for. If any prominent political or high profile person’s child
were held captive, we would certainly do everything to get them free. I want
to see the same value put on POW Bergdahl and all efforts made to bring him
home alive. We do not want to see another American POW left behind.
We cannot ask our military to serve our country if we abandon them, should
they be captured by the enemy. The least we can do for those fighting for
our freedom is to bring them home alive should they become a prisoner of
war. I am asking that you trade prisoners, negotiate or do whatever it takes
to bring this man home alive. You as the Commander-in-Chief can negotiate
and bring Sgt. Bergdahl home immediately. I am asking you to do this.
I look for your prompt response on this due to the serious nature and the
limited time we have to resolve this.
Sincerely,
Danny "Greasy" Belcher, Executive Director
Task Force Omega of Kentucky, Inc.
letter to our president. Use my example or write your own. Send it every two
weeks till POW Bowe Bergdahl comes home alive. Every president from
President Eisenhower till now have not brought home live American POWs held
in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Red China, the USSR, North Korea and only God
and the United States government knows where else. This president must not
get a free pass. He admitted on Veterans Day that he knows Bowe is alive and
he is working to bring him home. Maybe our president needs to know how many
people want Bowe home alive. It will only cost a small amount of your time
and a postage stamp every two weeks. Do not ask your wife, husband, or
expect someone else to do this. YOU can help bring a live American POW home.
President Barack Obama
President of the United States
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear President Obama,
As you know, during the course of Operation Enduring Freedom, a U.S. soldier
was captured by the Taliban on June 30, 2009 in Afghanistan (Sgt. Bowe
Bergdahl). We must ask why POW Bowe Bergdahl is not home. He has been a
Afghanistan POW now for over three years.
We are told that our government does not negotiate with terrorists. Lately,
our government traded Russian spies for American spies and we saw two hikers
ransomed for $1 million dollars in Iran. Israel traded hundreds of prisoners
they had for one soldier the enemy was holding.
We do negotiate with terrorists, it just depends on what we want to
negotiate for. If any prominent political or high profile person’s child
were held captive, we would certainly do everything to get them free. I want
to see the same value put on POW Bergdahl and all efforts made to bring him
home alive. We do not want to see another American POW left behind.
We cannot ask our military to serve our country if we abandon them, should
they be captured by the enemy. The least we can do for those fighting for
our freedom is to bring them home alive should they become a prisoner of
war. I am asking that you trade prisoners, negotiate or do whatever it takes
to bring this man home alive. You as the Commander-in-Chief can negotiate
and bring Sgt. Bergdahl home immediately. I am asking you to do this.
I look for your prompt response on this due to the serious nature and the
limited time we have to resolve this.
Sincerely,
Danny "Greasy" Belcher, Executive Director
Task Force Omega of Kentucky, Inc.
=====
The man thought to be the oldest surviving and longest-serving British prisoner of war has died aged 98. Alfie Fripp died in hospital in Bournemouth earlier today surrounded by his family.
4:08 pm, Thu 03 Jan 2013 'Longest-serving' POW will now 'light up heaven' The family of the Alfie Frapp - thought to be the oldest surviving and longest-serving British prisoner of war - have said he will now "light up heaven" after he died, aged 98.
Alfie Fripp, at the inner perimeter fence at Stalag Luft III in Zagan, Poland on the 65th anniversary of the Great Escape. Credit: Ministry of Defence/PA Wire His niece Patricia Fripp announced her uncle's death on Facebook.
She wrote: "For the friends of Uncle Bill, AKA Alfie. He passed away this morning surrounded by his family. He never complained, was always cheerful and will light up Heaven."
Mr Fripp spent almost all of the Second World War in captivity after his plane was shot down by the Luftwaffe in 1939.
Casting his mind back to the fateful day in 1939 when they were shot down, he added: "We were forced to hedge-hop at six feet to avoid being attacked again by a Messerschmitt in a cloudless sky. We crash landed after colliding with the treetops."
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Our last WW2 PoW ... Alfie Fripp, at the Cenotaph in November BNPS
By JAMIE PYATT
: 04th January 2013 THE man thought to be Britain’s oldest surviving prisoner of war died yesterday aged 98. Squadron Leader Alfie Fripp spent most of World War Two in captivity after his Blenheim bomber was shot down over Belgium in 1939.
He was held at 12 PoW camps until 1945 including Stalag Luft III in Poland — immortalised in The Great Escape.
Alfie acted as a spy for the 76 men who broke out. Tragically, 50 were caught and executed.
The dad of two returned to Stalag Luft III in 2009, saying at the time: “I’m glad I came.
“You reflect on the people you knew. As for the Germans, I’ve forgiven, but not forgotten.”
Alfie, the last of the “39ers” — troops who spent most of the war in captivity — died in a Bournemouth hospital.
He was uncle to King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp. Alfie’s pal Pat Jackson said: “Just eight weeks ago he was marching past the Cenotaph on Remembrance Sunday. He was an inspiration.”
=====
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/jan/06/second-world-war-veterans-die-shadow-lingers
The Second World War's last heroes bow out, but its shadow lingers
The conflict was a defining moment with profound cultural consequences. Yet we must guard against obsession Share 19 inShare.0Email Robert McCrum The Observer, Saturday 5 January 2013 Jump to comments (208) Former British prisoner of war Alfie Fripp, who died last week, at the Stalag Luft III camp in Zagan, Poland Photograph: Ministry Of Defence/PA During this holiday season, some old soldiers have been fading away. First, there was the death of David Lomon, aged 94, the last surviving British-based member of the International Brigades who fought in Spain. Lomon, a former East End rag-and-bone man, joined up at 19 having experienced London's fascists during the Battle of Cable Street in 1936.
Lomon was followed last week by Alfie Fripp, 98, thought to be Britain's longest serving prisoner of war. Fripp's Blenheim bomber was shot down in 1939 and he was shut away for the duration of the conflict, at one point in Stalag Luft III of Great Escape fame.
Both Fripp and Lomon open doors into episodes of British history that will soon be beyond our reach. It's 77 years since Spain's civil war and 73 since the Battle of Britain. To have served near George Orwell in Catalonia, or to have flown against the Luftwaffe, you would have to be over 90, if not 100. For Britain's army of war heroes it's now a case of Last Man Standing.
This year may turn out to be one of those pivotal moments when a way of life, a now antique set of values, instincts and appetites, loses its grip on contemporary imagination and becomes slowly braided into the web of the past. The men and women who kept calm and carried on, turning stoicism, frugality, and irony into an art form, are reaching their last parade.
Like all war veterans, Fripp and Lomon probably preferred not to talk about their experiences. "Just doing my job" is a common response to later generations' questions about the "Finest Hour", D-Day or Arctic convoys.
But there it is. The extraordinary decade 1936-45, which centred around the international struggle against fascism and Nazism, crammed a great historical reckoning into an astonishingly short space. British forces have been dying in Afghanistan, a bloody, stupid and pointless war, for longer than both world wars put together.
Compared with subsequent conflicts – from Korea and Suez to the Falklands or Iraq, and never forgetting Operation Sheepskin, our gallant invasion of Anguilla in 1969 – the Second World War remains a defining national moment.
Agreed: there were war crimes and terrible cock-ups. The bombing of Hamburg and Dresden, the repatriation of the Cossacks and the Dieppe raid are reproaches to any celebration of glorious victories. Oh yes, this was the war that added the Holocaust to the lexicon of horror.
At the same time, what Angus Calder called "the people's war" mobilised and liberated a generation of women, forged the new political consciousness that took wing with Labour's historic victory in 1945 and seeded the idea, lately come to fruition, of London as the world's supreme metropolis.
"I would not have missed being in London throughout the war for anything," wrote the novelist Elizabeth Bowen. "It was the most interesting period, to see the quiet old English capital converted into a high-pressure cosmopolitan city."
Behind the drama, the stakes could not have been higher. It was Winston Churchill's genius to grasp this and to meet the challenge. No one was better equipped, rhetorically, to up the ante than Churchill, who, from some points of view, made the war his own. Perhaps that's why no British emergency has begun to rival the thing we still call "the last war". There is, simply, much less jeopardy.
As well as honouring the sacrifices, I think we also have to acknowledge the legacy of the Second World War, for better and worse. On the bright side, there's the impact on culture and society. The aftermath of a century's conflict – the First, the Second, and finally the Cold War – has given Britain and its people a unique role in an extraordinary range of international theatres, sporting, cultural and intellectual.
But there's also a cost. Ask any European. Psychologically, many of Britain's older generations are still stumbling away from the Blitz. Memories are one thing; obsessions (with "little ships", Dambusters, and Desert Rats) are something else. Sometimes, our national consciousness seems cornered by its great history. These old wars cast awfully long shadows. We are not yet in the sun.
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Monopoly boards were used by fake charities during the second world war to send maps and messages to prison camps in Nazi-occupied Europe, writes Martin Hickes Share 262 inShare.1Email Which way's the Channel? Beneath the familiar board, the equivalents of James Bond's 'Q' concealed Leeds-made escape maps.
Photograph: Alamy That longtime product of Leeds, Monopoly, continues to be a perennial favourite – but during Britain's darkest hour, it was far from just a game.
A wartime plan hatched between the government and John Waddington's, who then manufactured the boards and players' tokens in Wakefield Road, Stourton, saw secret escape maps produced by the company for Allied prisoners of war.
In an especially cunning plan, Monopoly boards were used by fake charities to send the maps and related messages to prison camps in Nazi-occupied Europe. Equipped with the information, numbers of shot-down pilots and other captured servicemen managed to break out and some made their way to neutral countries and back home.
The system was set in place by MI9, a secret government department responsible for helping prisoners of war and liaising with resistance movements in continental Europe. Section Nine of the British Directorate of Military Intelligence in the War Office, to give it its full name, carried out trials of maps printed by Waddingtons on silk, rayon and tissue paper as early as 1940.
Hiding places included cigarette packets and the hollow heels of flying boots, where the flimsy maps did not rustle suspiciously and, in the case of those printed on cloth or mulberry leaf paper, could survive wear and tear and even immersion in water if an aircraft 'ditched' in the sea.
Debbie Hall, formerly of the British Library and now at the Bodleian Library in Oxford, has studied the secret history of the silk maps, and the involvement of the famous Yorkshire firm. She says:
In December 1939, MI9, the branch of the secret service responsible for escape and evasion, was set up. It was made clear that it was the duty of all those captured to escape if possible. One man who was behind many of MI9's most ingenious plans, including the Waddington project, was Christopher Clayton Hutton.
Stalag Luft III prisoner of war camp for captured airman; one of the destinations of Monopoly maps. Photograph: Hulton Archive/Getty Images Waddingtons already had the technology to print on cloth and made a variety of board games, packs of cards and the like that could be sent to the camps. They began by printing silk maps for supply to air crews, British and later American, and went on to conceal maps inside Monopoly boards, chess sets and packs of cards which could be sent into the prison camps.
Prisoners of war were allowed to receive parcels from their families and from relief organisations such as the Red Cross. The spooks did not want to compromise the latter and so set up a range of fictitious charitable organisations, often based at fake addresses or bombed buildings, to send games, warm clothing and other small comforts to the prisoners.
One of the major problems of captivity was boredom and games and entertainments were permitted as the guards recognised that if the prisoners were allowed some diversions they would be less troublesome. Once several Monopoly boards had got safely through, MI9 and Waddingtons developed a code to show which map was hidden in the set.
A special code was even used to indicate to the ministry which map was concealed inside a particular game so that it would be sent to a prisoner of war camp in the appropriate area. Hall says:
A full stop after Marylebone Station, for instance, meant Italy; a stop after Mayfair meant Norway, Sweden and Germany, and one after Free Parking meant Northern France, Germany and its frontiers. "Straight" boards were marked "Patent applied for" with a full stop.
Present day North Yorkshire county councillor John Watson, from Wetherby, whose father Norman Watson was instrumental in turning Waddingtons into a household name, says:
My father was fond of telling tales about Waddingtons part in the war effort. The silk maps were a major feature of such recollections. As I remember it, some of them were used as part of airmen's uniforms. I also know that the silk had to be specially treated so that it wouldn't distort through environmental pressures or through time. The Monopoly ones were laminated within the boards.
He also said that several Monopoly sets were sent out containing tokens made of pure gold to be used by prisoners to pay for assistance with their escapes. One other tale was that, once it was discovered the German guards were not searching the Monopoly sets themselves, real German currency was included in some of the packs of Monopoly banknotes.
These things may just have been exaggerations on my father's part but I doubt it. He was genuinely proud of the company's role during the war and I don't think that he would have needed to embroider the truth.
Another researcher into the subject is Barbara Bond, a graduate of Leeds University and former civilian researcher at the Ministry of Defence who is now pro-chancellor of Plymouth University and past president of the British Cartographic Society. She says:
MI9's philosophy of "escape-mindedness" was instilled into the members of all three services and the practical application of that philosophy was seen in the production of escape kits and aids to escape such as maps.
Initially the escape kits were in the form of small cigarette tins which contained concentrated food, tape, thread, tiny saws and compasses. The methods of getting the maps through to the prisoners of war were very ingenious. They were hidden in playing cards, pens, pencils, gramophone records, and game boards.
It was a cardinal rule in MI9 that they never used Red Cross parcels. Instead they set up their own cover organisations such as the "Prisoners' Leisure Hours Fund" and the "Licensed Victuallers' Sports Association". These dispatched both ordinary parcels containing clothes and the special ones containing escape aids
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Deported Vets Eligible for VA Healthcare, GI Bill Jan 07, 2013
Military.com| by Bryant Jordan
There is irony and tragedy in the death in Mexico last year of 55-year-old U.S. Army veteran Manuel de Jesus Castano.
The irony is that Castano, a life-long legal U.S. resident deported for a past criminal conviction that had nothing to do with his Army service, was allowed into the U.S. for burial -- with full military honors -- at Fort Bliss, Texas. It was, as far as his family knew, the last and only veteran’s benefit he was entitled to.
Deported in 2011 from El Paso, Texas, where he was getting healthcare from the Department of Veterans Affairs for Lupus and Lou Gehrig’s disease, his conditioned worsened, according to his nephew. He died last June following a heart attack.
The tragedy is that Castano, his family and his supporters -- including other “banished veterans” forced to live outside the U.S. -- never knew that he was entitled to VA healthcare, including medications, regardless of his deported status.
VA spokeswoman Jo Schuda told Military.com that a deported veteran who already has VA healthcare can use the VA’s Foreign Medical Program, which is set up for veterans traveling or living overseas. Under the program, the VA assumes responsibility for necessary medical services related to a veteran’s service-connected medical conditions.
The same program can be used by vets submitted a claim and requiring evaluations and physicals, she said.
Even education benefits remain available.
“Veterans who are eligible for education benefits and have been deported may use their benefits to attend school outside of the U.S. as long as they enroll in a VA approved program,” she said. The VA’s Weams Institution Search website lets veterans find approved schools and universities both within the U.S. and overseas.
Deported veterans and their supporters contacted by Military.com for this story said they were not aware they could get benefits. Army veteran Hector Barajas, founder of a group devoted to ending the deportations and permitting those already sent from the U.S. to return, only recently submitted a disability claim just to see what might happen.
The application, sent in via registered mail, was accompanied by a claim from fellow deported veteran Fabian Rebolledo. Both men previously served with the 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, N.C. Rebolledo was receiving payments for a non-service connected disability until he was deported.
He said he continues to get medication because his mother, who is still in the U.S., buys it and mails it to him.
“I can’t see a doctor, though,” he told Military.com, like other veterans apparently unaware of the overseas program.
The program was set up to ensure that veterans who retire abroad or who are traveling can get their healthcare needs taken care of, according to the VA.
Victor Hinojosa, an Army veteran and U.S. citizen with family in Mexico, said he has asked VA officials in the past about help for the deported vets, only to be told there was nothing anyone could do. Hinojosa, an Army medic who served at Brook Army Medical Center during the Vietnam War, met Barajas a few years ago, when Barajas was working in a care facility for retirees, one of whom was Hinojosa’s father.
He isn’t surprised that the deported veterans were not told they could still apply for and use veterans’ benefits. Immigration and Customs Enforcement falls under the Department of Homeland Security, an agency that has a different mission and focus that the VA.
“Homeland security is running the show now. As far as Hector and Fabian told me, when they put [people awaiting deportation] in these detention camps in Arizona and elsewhere, they’re stripped of everything--– VA cards and everything else are just thrown in the trash somewhere,” Hinojosa said. “The VA doesn’t exist as far as [DHS] is concerned.”
Barajas currently works as a telemarketer in Mexico, where he has also turned his apartment into an information clearinghouse and support center for what he and others call “banished veterans.” He and some of the other veterans now living in Mexico try to help those newly arrived find places to live and work. There are at least six other veterans he knows there interested in applying for benefits.
Hinojosa said some vets he’s spoken with would be willing to stay on in Mexico if they could get their benefits, though most want at least the right to return to the U.S.
“I want these guys to get their [medical] treatment. At least give them that,” he said.
Thousands of veterans -- no one can say how many for sure -- have been deported for legal violations great and small since the mid-1990s.
That’s when Congress, responding to ever popular tough-on-crime and anti-immigrant pressure, passed legislation mandating the deportation of resident aliens convicted of crimes. The law provided no exceptions for how long the individual lived in the U.S. or whether he was a veteran or even active-duty servicemember.
As a result, veterans young and old have been put on buses and planes and sent to countries that many had only dim memories of -- if any.
In one of the most bizarre cases, a Persian Gulf War vet who had been adopted in Germany as an infant by an American military family was deported to Germany because he never acquired American citizenship. His service, honorable discharge, and the facts he was half African-American and did not speak a word of German meant nothing.
They are veterans of the most recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and also of the Vietnam War. Two of these are Manuel and Valente Valenzuela, who have been fighting for three years to keep from being deported to Mexico.
“They want us to admit we're not American citizens, and we’re fighting to say we are,” Manuel, who served in Vietnam from 1971 to 1972. Though both men were born in Mexico, their mother was born in the U.S., but moved to and lived in Mexico for a time before returning home.
Manuel said the conviction that has put him on the deportation list is a drunk driving, disorderly and resisting arrest 25 years ago. He said his brother, who served with the Army’s 101st Airborne during the Tet Offensive in 1968, was convicted in a domestic violence case about a dozen years ago.
At a rally for President Obama last July, they managed to meet the commander-in-chief and briefly and quickly told him what they were facing.
“He said, ‘OK, I’ll check into it,’ ” Manuel recalled. Obama was turning to leave, but Manuel said he still had his hand in a shake. “I pulled it right back and I said, ‘Mr. President -- and I raised my hand with the banner -- and said, ‘Please take time to open this banner with me and look at it.’”
Obama directed the Secret Service to help Valenzuela open the banner, and then looked at it. Manuel said the president “shook his head” in sympathy, but says he never heard back from the White House.
Nevertheless, he said he had tears in his eyes after getting Obama to read the banner “because I had completed my mission.”
“I’m holding [Obama] responsible for all this now,” he said. “He’s our commander-in-chief. He is responsible to us, the people of the United States. That is something to be honored and reconciled -- to take care of veteran. Not to let Homeland Security or any other departments throw us away."
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Air Force Memo Outlines Sweeping Budget Cuts
Jan 14, 2013
Associated Press| by Lolita C. Baldor
WASHINGTON -- Air Force leaders will cut flying hours by nearly 20 percent and prepare for a possible end to all noncombat or noncritical flights from late July through September if Congress can't agree on a budget and billions of dollars in automatic cuts are triggered.
In an Air Force internal memo obtained by The Associated Press, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley laid out broad but grim steps the service will be taking in coming days and weeks to enforce a civilian hiring freeze, cancel air show appearances and flyovers, and slash base improvements and repairs by about 50 percent.
Beyond those immediate actions, Donley and Gen. Mark Welsh, the Air Force chief of staff, said in the memo that the service will make plans to chop aircraft and depot maintenance by about 17 percent and initiate widespread civilian furloughs if there is no resolution to the budget issue by March. The cut in flights would reduce flying hours by more than 200,000, the memo said.
In a similar memo, the Navy said it faces a $4 billion shortfall in its operations and maintenance accounts and called for "stringent belt-tightening measures" if a new budget is not passed and the military has to operate with the same funding it got for the previous fiscal year.
Navy Secretary Ray Mabus, in the memo obtained by The Associated Press, said a number of actions must be considered to seek cost savings, including postponing the decommissioning of ships, if necessary. Other possible steps included a civilian hiring freeze, termination of temporary employees, cuts to base improvements or repairs and reductions in travel, information technology and administrative spending.
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other military leaders have been predicting dire consequences if Congress fails to pass a new budget and automatic cuts take place. The Pentagon is facing a spending reduction of nearly $500 billion over a decade. An additional $110 billion in automatic spending cuts to military and domestic programs will take effect in early March if no agreement is reached.
In a briefing with Pentagon reporters, Donley said the Air Force is not targeting a particular amount in savings to achieve, but is taking steps to curtail spending where possible at this point without having an irreversible effect on the service and not impacting the nation's ability to wage war.
The Air Force accounts, Donley said, will bear about up to 20 percent of the Defense Department reductions
Asked about Panetta's directive to possibly cancel ship, aircraft and depot maintenance in the third and fourth quarters of this fiscal year if there is no budget solution, Donley said the Air Force will review each type of aircraft and its requirements.
"We're trying to take prudent actions now that are as reversible, recoverable as possible," Donley said. "We're trying to protect maintenance for aircraft and weapons systems sustainability as long as we can into the fiscal year."
Welsh said commanders will make decisions on how best to curtail flying and that the Air Force will try to protect training flights as long into the year as it can.
But, he noted, "if sequestration hits and the multibillion-dollars reductions fall on the last two quarters of the fiscal year, there is no way not to impact training, flying hours and maintenance, which are things, right now, we are trying to protect as long as we can."
Officials said that civilian pay is about 40 percent of the Air Force's operations and maintenance budget. Panetta has made it clear that if there is no budget agreement, the civilian workforce will face sweeping cuts and unpaid furloughs.
There are about 800,000 civilians across the Defense Department, and nearly 1.4 million in the active-duty military. The Air Force numbers about 330,000 active-duty servicemembers and about 143,000 fulltime civilians.
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Troop Pay, Vet Checks at Risk Over Deficit Fight
Jan 14, 2013
Military.com| by Bryant Jordan
Veterans' checks could be delayed and active-duty troops may not get paid if the ongoing battle between the White House and Republican-led Congress results in a government shutdown over the debt ceiling, President Obama said Monday.
Though the Department of Veterans Affairs and Pentagon were not discussed in any detail during the roughly 40-minute White House press conference, veterans and troops – along with Social Security recipients – topped the list of those Obama said will be adversely affected by a government shutdown.
"If congressional Republicans refuse to pay Americans bills on time, Social Security benefits and veterans' checks will be delayed," he said. "We might not be able to pay our troops or honor our contact for small business owners."
"I'm willing to find compromise and common ground [with Congress] on how to reduce the deficit … but there's no room to debate about paying bills Congress has already racked up," he said.
Any additional cuts, he said, must not be connected to raising the country's current $16.4 trillion debt limit.
As happened a year ago, the House of Representatives is threatening to not raise the debt ceiling unless it gets the spending cuts it wants. The Defense Department has signed off on $487 billion in cuts over the next five years. Additional cuts – the result of a sequestration deal Congress made a year ago to prompt it to pass a budget – also remain a possibility.
Those across-the-board cuts are now slated to take effect in March, when the short-term deal reached in January to head of the "fiscal cliff" deal expires.
Political pressure had, up to now, sheltered the VA from any sequestration cuts.
Past administrations, both Democrat and Republican, have routinely asked Congress to raise the debt limit in order to allow the country to pay bills and continue to borrow money. Though at times there has been criticism and debate, it has only been since Obama took office in 2009 that Republicans have routinely turned the debt limit vote into a hostage crisis, the president said.
"They will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the American economy," Obama said. "The full faith and credit of the United States of America is not a bargaining chip."
"We can act responsibly and pay America's bills, or act irresponsibly and put American through another economic crisis … We've got to stop lurching from crisis to crisis to crisis," he said.
Other public safety jobs jeopardized by a government shutdown include food inspectors, air traffic controllers and special investigators tracking loose nuclear materials, according to Obama, but the markets would also be seriously hurt.
Obama hit some in Congress who dismiss government spending as a non-player when it comes to the economy, until the spending has to do with defense projects in their back yard. He called out lawmakers who play down the value of government jobs in the economy except when it comes to protecting defense contractors in their home districts
"Some of the same folks who say we got to cut spending, or complain that government jobs don't do anything – when it comes to that defense contractor in their district, they think 'Wow! This is a pretty important part of the economy in my district," Obama said. "We shouldn't stop spending on that. Let's just make sure we're not spending on those other folks.'"
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Supreme Court Denies Hearing on Suicidal Veterans Turned Away from VA
For Immediate Release January 7, 2013 Contact: 202-558-4553
Washington, DC – On Friday, January 4, 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear the landmark case brought by Veterans for Common Sense (VCS) and Veterans United for Truth VUFT on behalf of Veterans delayed and denied medical care and benefits by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Originally filed in July 2007, the VCS – VUFT lawsuit highlighted the chronic delays and denials for specific conditions associated with the tidal wave of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) casualties resulting from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. In response to the Court’s decision, VCS issued the following statement.
VA remains mired in crisis, and Veterans will continue fighting to reform VA so that no veteran waits for VA healthcare or benefits. We are deeply disappointed the Court did not hear the urgent plea of suicidal Veterans who face delays of months, and often years, seeking VA assistance. Although significant improvements were made in some areas within VA, such as a suicide hotline set up after our lawsuit that rescued 23,000 distraught Veterans, the nation’s second largest department remains in deep crisis due to decades of underfunding and a lack of significant Congressional oversight of VA’s $140 billion per year budget.
Although Veterans lost on a technicality, no one disputes the number of preventable Veteran deaths associated with VA’s negligence. Last year, the families of nearly 20,000 Veterans were paid disability benefits after the Veterans died. A shocking 18 Veterans commit suicide every day. More than 12,000 veterans call VA for suicide prevention each month. During our nation’s worst economic disaster in 80 years, more than 1.1 million Veterans still await VA disability claim decisions. Of those, 900,000 cases wait an average of nine months for a new or re-opened claim decision, plus an additional 250,000 cases wait four more years for an appealed claim decision. VA’s Inspector General reported in 2012 that VA makes errors in approximately 30 percent of VA’s claim decisions. While our Veterans wait, they remain unable to pay their mortgage or rent, and face great challenges feeding their families.
Let us hope VA Secretary Eric Shinseki and Congressional leaders make sure VA has the funding, staffing, laws, regulations, training, and oversight urgently needed so no more Veterans die while waiting.
Originally filed in July 2007, Veterans for Common Sense v. Shinseki went to trial in April 2008 before Senior Federal District Court Judge Samuel Conti. Despite finding that “the VA may not be meeting all of the needs of the nation’s Veterans,” Judge Conti concluded that the power to remedy the crisis facing Veterans lies with the other branches of government, including Congress and the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. In May 2011, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals overturned the District Court’s decision, and berated VA for the staggering 18 Veteran suicides each day. However, in May 2012, an en banc panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of VA.
On September 5, 2012, Veterans for Common Sense and Veterans United for Truth, represented pro bono by Morrison & Foerster LLP and Disability Rights Advocates, submitted a petition for writ of certiorari requesting the Supreme Court to review the Ninth Circuit’s en banc decision. The issue presented to the Supreme Court was whether the Veterans Judicial Review Act allows Veterans to challenge in federal court the systemic delays in the VA’s provision of mental health care and death and disability compensation. On January 7, the Supreme Court announced that it denied the petition for writ of certiorari, thereby bringing an end to this landmark case.
The issue of prompt PTSD care is vital for recently returning veterans. Up to 30 percent of returning Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans may return home with PTSD, according to a recent Stanford University Study, or as many as 750,000 of the 2.5 million deployed to war in the past 11 years. A new 2008 law, advocated by VCS, provides up to five years of free VA care after deployment to a war zone. A new 2010 VA regulation, prompted by a VCS petition to VA, provides streamlined PTSD claims processing based on scientific research.
Suicidal Veterans and Veterans who don’t know where to get help for PTSD can call VA’s Crisis Line at 800-273-TALK.
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Please visit our website for the latest news and developments: http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org
VCS is supported by foundation grants and donations from the public. Please consider supporting VCS's work on behalf of our nation's veterans.
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VA, SSA and IRS Cut Red Tape for Veterans and Survivors December 20, 2012
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New Policy Eliminates Paperwork, Allows More VA Staff to Focus on Eliminating Claims Backlog
WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs announced today it is cutting red tape for Veterans by eliminating the need for them to complete an annual Eligibility Verification Report (EVR). VA will implement a new process for confirming eligibility for benefits, and staff that had been responsible for processing the old form will instead focus on eliminating the compensation claims backlog.
Historically, beneficiaries have been required to complete an EVR each year to ensure their pension benefits continued. Under the new initiative, VA will work with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) to verify continued eligibility for pension benefits.
“By working together, we have cut red tape for Veterans and will help ensure these brave men and women get the benefits they have earned and deserve,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki.
VA estimates it would have sent nearly 150,000 EVRs to beneficiaries in January 2013. Eliminating these annual reports reduces the burden on Veterans, their families, and survivors because they will not have to return these routine reports to VA each year in order to avoid suspension of benefits. It also allows VA to redirect more than 100 employees that usually process EVRs to work on eliminating the claims backlog.
"Having already instituted an expedited process that enables wounded warriors to quickly access Social Security disability benefits, we are proud to work with our federal partners on an automated process that will make it much easier for qualified Veterans to maintain their VA benefits from year to year," said Michael J. Astrue, Commissioner of Social Security.
"The IRS is taking new steps to provide critical data to help speed the benefits process for the nation's Veterans and Veterans Affairs," said Beth Tucker, IRS Deputy Commissioner for Operations Support. "The IRS is pleased to be part of a partnership with VA and SSA that will provide needed data quickly and effectively to move this effort forward."
All beneficiaries currently receiving VA pension benefits will receive a letter from VA explaining these changes and providing instructions on how to continue to submit their unreimbursed medical expenses.
More information about VA pension benefits is available at http://www.benefits.va.gov/pension and other VA benefit programs on the joint Department of Defense—VA web portal eBenefits at www.ebenefits.va.gov.
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From December:
Vietnam Veterans Sue US Military Over PTSD
Dec 04, 2012
Associated Press| by John Christoffersen
NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The military has failed to correct the wrongful discharges of thousands of Vietnam veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, an advocacy group says in a federal lawsuit.
Vietnam Veterans of America on Monday joined a proposed class action lawsuit in Hartford against the Army, Navy and Air Force. The lawsuit, filed last year by a veteran, says the Vietnam veterans suffered PTSD before it was recognized and were discharged under other-than-honorable conditions that made them ineligible for disability compensation and other benefits.
The lawsuit says the military has refused to review or upgrade the discharge statuses of thousands of Vietnam War-era veterans with service-related PTSD.
"People did not understand PTSD during the Vietnam era," said John Rowan, national president of Vietnam Veterans of America. "Now that we do, these servicemembers must not be denied the recognition and benefits they long ago earned."
The U.S. attorney's office, which is representing the military in the lawsuit, said it's reviewing the matter and will respond in court. A Department of Defense spokeswoman said the agency is committed to addressing concerns related to PTSD and has taken numerous steps, including conducting PTSD assessments of service members at military treatment facilities.
he initial lawsuit was filed by Vietnam veteran John Shepherd, of New Haven, who says he was diagnosed with PTSD in 2004 but has been repeatedly denied a discharge upgrade.
Shepherd and the VVA, which has about 65,000 members, are represented by Yale Law School students who work at a veterans legal services clinic. The students say since 2003 the Army has approved fewer than 2 percent of applications by Vietnam veterans claiming PTSD to upgrade discharges, compared to 46 percent for all discharge upgrade applications in recent years.
Some of the veterans denied had at least one medal or had a PTSD diagnosis from the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the students, who analyzed the Army data.
Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut said he sympathizes with the veterans' concerns and has been working with the Yale Law Clinic, the Department of Defense and state and federal veterans services agencies on a more equitable process to resolve them.
"The fact that Post-Traumatic Stress was not understood during the Vietnam War era should not preclude a reconsideration now of individual cases," Blumenthal said in a statement.
The lawsuit estimates about 85,000 of the more than 250,000 Vietnam veterans discharged under other-than-honorable conditions have PTSD. The discharges were based on poor conduct such as unauthorized absence without leave, shirking, using drugs or lashing out at comrades or superior officers, conduct the lawsuit says was a symptom of underlying undiagnosed PTSD.
PTSD is a psychiatric disorder that can develop in a person who experiences or witnesses a traumatic event. Symptoms include flashbacks or nightmares of the traumatic event.
The veterans have experienced homelessness, prolonged unemployment and troubled relationships, the lawsuit says.
"Isolated and impoverished, they have struggled to cope not only with their war wounds but also with the shame of a bad discharge," it says.
The Army awarded Shepherd with a Bronze Star after his unit came under intense fire and he entered an enemy bunker and threw a grenade that killed several enemy soldiers, according to the lawsuit.
Shepherd developed symptoms of PTSD after blowing up the enemy bunker and later witnessing the gruesome deaths of several comrades, according to his lawsuit. Shepherd began to act strangely and was found wandering around a base in a confused state. He eventually reached a breaking point and refused to go back out into the field, the lawsuit says.
He was charged with failure to obey an order and was discharged.
Shepherd's application for a discharge upgrade was denied again in June. The Army said he failed to present convincing evidence that his misconduct 43 years ago was the result of PTSD or that his discharge was improper, but he's appealing the decision.
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SENATE
APPROVES NATIONAL DEFENSE BILL THAT INCLUDES AYOTTE MEASURES TO REDUCE
WASTEFUL PENTAGON SPENDING, STRENGTHEN MILITARY READINESS, AND SUPPORT
TROOPS AND MILITARY FAMILIES
WASHINGTON, D.C. –
The
U.S. Senate tonight passed the Fiscal Year 2013 National Defense
Authorization Act (NDAA), the annual defense policy bill that supports the
men and women of the U.S. armed forces and their families, and authorizes
the equipment, training, and resources that service members need to complete
their missions. Included in the final version of the defense authorization
bill are several proposals authored or cosponsored by U.S. Senator Kelly
Ayotte (R-NH), including measures aimed at reducing wasteful and duplicative
spending in the Pentagon’s budget. The Senate bill will now be considered
by a joint conference committee, which is tasked with reconciling the
differences between the Senate legislation and the House-passed version
before final passage by Congress.
As
Ranking Member of the Armed Services Readiness Subcommittee, Senator Ayotte
worked closely with Chairman Claire McCaskill (D-MO) to achieve additional
efficiencies in the Pentagon’s budget while guarding against irresponsible
cuts that would leave our troops and our nation less prepared for future
contingencies.
“I’m
pleased that Republicans and Democrats worked together to debate and pass
this legislation, which is so important to our troops, our veterans, and
their families,” said Senator Ayotte. “This bill includes significant
reforms that save taxpayer dollars, including provisions I authored that
will help reduce wasteful and duplicative spending in the Pentagon’s budget
– without endangering military readiness.”
Senator Ayotte also cosponsored several additional amendments, including: an
amendment that would authorize additional Marine Corps personnel for the
purpose of security functions for U.S. embassies, consulates and other
diplomatic facilities abroad; a provision that would require DoD to develop
a plan to promote the security of Afghan women and girls; and an amendment
requiring the government to take action to prevent human trafficking related
to government contracts.
AYOTTE
PROVISIONS IN THE FY 2013 NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT:
Pentagon Audit
Since
arriving in the Senate, Senator Ayotte has led Senate efforts to push for an
expedited and full audit of the Pentagon. The defense authorization bill
includes language authored by Senator Ayotte requiring the Pentagon to
provide a full statement of budgetary resources by 2014 – an important
milestone on the Pentagon’s path to a thorough accounting of its finances by
2017. Her amendment ensures that DoD will have reliable financial data and
effective business processes and systems in order to distinguish between
necessary defense budget cuts and reductions that would harm our troops and
threaten readiness.
MEADS
Senator Ayotte’s amendment prohibits any funding for the Medium Extended Air
Defense System (MEADS), a troubled weapons program that the Pentagon has
said it does not plan to procure. Despite this fact, DoD chose to ignore
both current law and congressional direction and requested $400.9 million
for MEADS in the FY 2013 budget. Senator Ayotte led two letters this year
to Senate Appropriators and Secretary Panetta calling for an end to funding
for this wasteful program.
Facility Sustainment, Restoration, and Modernization (FSRM)
The
bill also includes Senator Ayotte’s provision to require DoD to meet unique
facility requirements associated with historic buildings located on military
installations. Currently, some bases, such as Portsmouth Naval Shipyard,
have a large quantity of historic buildings listed on the National Registry
of Historic Places that are critical to the bases’ operations. The presence
of these buildings on the registry requires the respective bases to maintain
these buildings at a higher and costlier standard. Yet, the Department
frequently does not provide sufficient funding to match these requirements.
This reporting requirement will help address this ongoing problem.
Preventing Transfer of Terrorist Detainees to U.S. Soil
Last
week, the Senate voted 54-41 to approve Senator Ayotte’s amendment that
would prevent foreign terrorist detainees from being transferred from the
Guantanamo Bay detention facility to the United States. As a member of the
Armed Services Committee, Senator Ayotte has worked to keep Guantanamo Bay
open as a long-term terrorist detention facility for foreign members of al
Qaeda and affiliated groups in order to keep them off the battlefield and
collect intelligence that will help prevent future attacks.
Naval
Fleet
Senator Ayotte successfully included language that seeks to clarify the
Navy’s current fleet size requirement. The language requires the Chief of
Naval Operations (CNO) to complete a report to the Senate and House Armed
Services Committees that clearly states the Navy’s requirement for ships and
submarines. If the requirement is less than 313 ships and submarines (the
CNO’s number last year), then the CNO must justify the revised numbers and
explain how this reduction is consistent with the President’s and the
Secretary of Defense’s strategic guidance that emphasizes the Asia Pacific.
Army
and Marine Corps Endstrength Reductions and Involuntary Separations
Senator Ayotte included language that requires the Army and Marine Corps to
provide regular reports regarding any Marines or soldiers who are
involuntarily separated from the military to achieve endstrength
reductions. As the Army and Marines reduce the size of their forces,
Ayotte’s language will also require DoD to report to Congress the deployment
time for individuals being told to leave the service. The Army has said it
will have to issue thousands of involuntary separations to achieve its
endstrength reductions.
Prosthetics for Wounded Warriors
Language included by Senator Ayotte requires the Secretary of Defense to
develop and implement a plan to standardize the production and performance
of prostheses and prosthetic sockets for military amputees. The Ayotte
report language encourages DoD to continue clinical and technological
research and development for prostheses, as well as adopt standards for
production and human performance. Such standards are critical to helping
service members who have lost one or more limbs in service to our country to
achieve their highest goals for recovery, rehabilitation, and performance.
Joining Forces
Senator Ayotte and Senator Jack Reed (D-RI) successfully included an
amendment aimed at enhancing the department’s research, treatment,
education, and outreach initiatives focused on the mental health, substance
abuse, and traumatic brain injury needs of members of the National Guard and
Reserve. This amendment will help address the unique needs of Guard and
Reserve members by allowing DoD to enter into partnerships with private
organizations and institutions according to a competitive and merit-based
process.
Military Cemeteries
Senator Ayotte successfully included an amendment that would require the
Secretary of Defense to submit a report no later than 30 days after the
closure of any overseas U.S. military base that details a plan to ensure
that an appropriate federal agency or private entity assumes responsibility
for continued maintenance and oversight of the cemetery located on the
base. The Ayotte amendment would help ensure that no cemetery will be
neglected the way Clark Veterans Cemetery was following the Air Force’s
departure from Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines in 1991.
###
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Military Funerals Under Budget Strains
Oct 08, 2012
Tulsa World| by Jerry Wofford
FORT GIBSON -- As Spc. Jason Shorter and his colleague make each of the 13 folds in the American flag and his fellow soldier plays taps, he knows the family of a deceased soldier or veteran is watching and listening.
Presenting that folded triangle of blue with white stars to the family to honor their loved one is one last show of appreciation for their service and sacrifice, one that family won't forget.
"It's a feeling that's indescribable, that this family knows why I'm there and what we're going to do," said Shorter, coordinator for the Eastern Office of the Oklahoma Army National Guard's Military Funeral Honors Program. The job involves "a lot of honor and a lot of pride."
Federal budget cuts are straining honor guard programs across the nation, reducing the number of full-time soldiers in Oklahoma who perform the service, coordinate the funeral details and maintain the skills of soldiers to the highest standards.
The funding for full-time soldiers to perform those services has been cut nearly in half in the last two years, while the number of services the Guard works has increased consistently, said Staff Sgt. Marvin Barbee, state coordinator for the Guard's Military Funeral Honors Program.
With the start of the current federal fiscal year on Oct. 1, the Oklahoma National Guard's budget for full-time staff to perform funeral details was about $287,000, Barbee said. The initial allocation in the last fiscal year was about $383,000, although an additional allocation in March added $169,000. In fiscal 2010, the state was allocated nearly $550,000 for the function.
In the last fiscal year, the Oklahoma Army National Guard provided services for 1,464 funerals. In 2008, the Guard served at about 770 funerals, Barbee said.
While he could send more soldiers to services in the past, a typical funeral detail now consists of two soldiers, the minimum required to fold the flag and play taps.
"You can always do more; we just have to do the minimum," Barbee said.
For a funeral with full honors, which includes a 21-gun salute and pallbearer service, the typical detail now would include nine soldiers, when 21 might have performed those duties in the past, Barbee said. Full honors are always used when a soldier is killed in action, Barbee said.
When the cuts for the current fiscal year went into effect, Barbee said his full-time staff was cut from 19 to six, with those soldiers who were cut moving to part time. There are 27 soldiers who are currently on part-time orders, he said.
If the National Guard is stretched too thin, the U.S. Army or Army Reserve can help pick up the slack, but the Oklahoma National Guard performs about 90 percent of the military services in the state, Barbee said. He said he or the full Army detail doesn't expect to have to turn away any families who request the service.
"They made it a big deal to take the burden off the active duty and to make it a more specialized program," Barbee said. "They wanted it done well."
Barbee said he expects that additional funds could come through later in the fiscal year, as they did in the spring, but it's not something he can count on. He has to budget as if the money they have now is all they'll have for full-time soldiers.
The funding for part-time soldiers and supplies is also thin, but the state has sometimes helped with vehicles and supplies in the past, Barbee said.
Despite the cuts, Oklahoma National Guard soldiers say the service they provide to grieving families is important, a show of support from a grateful nation.
"The feeling you get when you drive away knowing the impact you had on that family -- for the rest of their lives that'll be something that family will never forget," Shorter said. "We take a lot of honor and a lot of pride in what we do."
Shorter helped fold the flag Thursday for a family at Fort Gibson National Cemetery, where he also had been the previous two days for funeral details.
All of the Guard members who are on the detail volunteer for the service. They go to Arkansas to be trained by former instructors at Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, D.C. That makes the service consistent and precise within inches.
"When a lot of soldiers finally get a job, finally get to go on their first service, it really, really hits them," Shorter said. "Our whole thing is silent. Every soldier is trained to know exactly what's going to happen."
Cliff Garrett, a funeral director at Green Country Funeral Home in Tahlequah, which arranged the services the honor guard worked Thursday, said having the soldiers at a veteran's burial provides a memorable service for a grateful family.
"When the servicemembers walk up and fold the flag, the manner they do it is so professional," Garrett said. "It's just amazing to watch. When that flag is presented, it's a moving experience."
It's that impact and show of appreciation that Barbee said will keep his soldiers volunteering and driving for hours to these services.
"It's most likely the last impression the family will have of the military," Barbee said. "We don't want the last thing a family thinks is we didn't take care of their family member. It's all about honoring that veteran for their service."
Oklahoma Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Marvin Barbee said every soldier deserves the military honors, but it is often up to the family to notify the funeral home to request the service. Anyone with questions about the program is asked to call Barbee at 405-228-5089 or ask their funeral home.
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VA Claims-Processing Delays Hit 20-Year High
Nov 30, 2012
McClatchy-Tribune News Service| by Chris Adams
WASHINGTON -- The time needed to process veterans' disability claims shot up by nearly 40 percent last year despite years of effort by federal officials to streamline and shorten the process, records show.
The times necessary to process education benefits and burial benefits, as well as the time needed to wind through the Department of Veterans Affairs appeals process, also increased in fiscal 2012.
The disability-processing time is closely watched by Congress and veterans' advocates as a measure of VA efficiency. In fiscal 2012, the average days to complete a VA disability compensation or pension claim rose to 262 days, up from 188 days in fiscal 2011, according to a recently completely VA performance report.
The 262-day average is the highest that measure has been in at least the past 20 years for which numbers were available.
The VA's long-term goal is to get the processing time to an average of 90 days.
"The entire system is a mess," said Paul Rieckhoff, founder and chief executive of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a support and advocacy group. "They've been saying now for 10 years that it'll get better, and it still doesn't get better, and we've seen tremendous frustration from our members in the last few months. It's reached a breaking point."
The VA said it is working to speed its decision-making process and is in the midst of an overhaul of its claims system. It eventually will end its reliance on paper-based processing and reconfigure the way claims move through 56 regional offices that handle them.
"We recognize that from the standpoint of the veterans, they are waiting too long, and that's unacceptable," said Diana Rubens, who helps oversee the VA's regional offices. "We've got to transform how we do things. We know that fixing decades-old problems is not going to be easy."
America's veterans are eligible for a range of benefits, from access to the VA's well-regarded medical system to lifetime payments for disabilities suffered during military service to access to education, life insurance and home loan programs.
The disability benefits are awarded to veterans who suffer physical or mental injuries during their military service. Benefits vary based on the severity of a disability and beginning Saturday range from $129 a month to $2,816 a month for a single veteran.
The VA has struggled for years to reduce the waiting times, and each year it stresses to Congress that fixing the process is a top priority.
In 2010, for example, VA Secretary Eric Shinseki told the House Veterans' Affairs Committee that claim time had improved the previous year, dropping from 179 days to 161 days.
"The progress made in 2009 is a step in the right direction, but it is not nearly enough," he said.
In 2011, he told the same committee that "one of VA's highest priority goals" is to eliminate a backlog of disability cases by 2015 and to ensure all veterans receive a decision in "no more than 125 days."
In 2012, he told the committee that improvements were being made and that the department was aiming for significant improvements in 2013.
"While too many veterans will still be waiting too long for the benefits they have earned, it does represent a significant improvement in performance over the 2012 estimate of 60 percent of claims more than 125 days old, demonstrating that we are on the right path," Shinseki said.
In fact, the recent performance report shows that 66 percent of claims in fiscal 2012 were more than 125 days old. That's up from 36 percent in 2010 and 60 percent in 2011.
And since Shinseki told Congress about the improvement he saw in 2009, average processing time has gone up - from 161 days, to 166 days, to 188 days, to the most recent 262 days.
Even so, Rubens of the VA said the department is on track to meet Shinseki's goals by 2015, given the restructuring in place.
The department has seen a massive increase in claims from veterans in recent years, both younger ones from Iraq and Afghanistan and older ones who have recently been able to file claims on new conditions. Claims the past four years have topped 1 million a year.
While some decisions might be straightforward -- a soldier loses a limb in battle -- others are more complicated, requiring extensive medical reviews and research to tie a disability to the veteran's time in the military.
Sen. Patty Murray, a Democrat from Washington who chairs the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, said the VA's tardiness and mistake-prone process is "totally unacceptable."
"We know that this is a complex problem and more troops returning home make this job even more difficult," she said in a statement to McClatchy Newspapers. "But Congress has provided VA with the funding and resources it has requested to tackle this problem."
The new performance report shows that the VA has lost ground on many of its other benefits-related goals:
-- The average time to complete an education claim jumped to 31 days from 24 days; the long-term goal is 10 days.
-- The average time to complete a burial claim jumped to 178 days from 113 days; the long-term goal is 21 days.
-- The average time in the appeals system for veterans who dispute their disability compensation decision jumped to 866 days from 747 days; the long-term goal is 400 days.
The annual performance report includes dozens of goals to spur improvement among the VA's health care system, benefits division and cemetery administration.
Of those, the VA highlighted 23 as "key performance measures." The VA met its short-term goals for only 12 of those measures.
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Escalating Military Pay Under Scrutiny
Dec 03, 2012
Dayton Daily News| by Barrie Barber
Mounting deficits and escalating costs have some budget hawks posing a provocative question: Are we paying our servicemembers too much?
Military compensation has outpaced inflation rates and private-sector wages by more than 25 percent the past decade, according to the Congressional Budget Office, and some contend it's time to rein in those costs as the nation heads toward the so-called fiscal cliff.
The military faces big cuts whether or not Congress comes to some agreement to avert the automatic spending reductions that are scheduled to take place on Jan. 1, and compensation will surely be on the table. If they fail to reach a deal, the defense budget could face $500 billion in reductions the next 10 years
Military cash compensation jumped 52 percent overall compared to 24 percent for the private sector workforce between 2002 to 2010, the CBO report said.
The CBO report suggests the Defense Department could control the cost of cash compensation by capping military raises, and by relying more on bonuses and special pay to recruit and retain servicemembers.
Military compensation reductions aren't popular with lawmakers in Congress. U.S. Rep. Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, said he's open to talking about changes to future enlistees' compensation, but not on those now in uniform.
"I believe the government needs to honor its commitment and provide those benefits that were mutually agreed (to) to those in our military," Austria said.
The CBO offered options to reduce the rate of basic pay raises, including asking servicemembers and military retirees to pay more for health care, and to contribute more toward retirement savings, among other suggestions.
Military advocates say many servicemembers have sacrificed with multiple deployments to war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan, spend lengthy time away from their families and are entitled to more compensation for the risks they face to protect the nation.
"It's a burden and I think we need to do everything we can to support them," said Dennis DeMolet, a disabled Vietnam veteran and Huber Heights resident who was in the Marine Corps.
He doesn't want to see servicemembers lose out on pay gains or be forced to pay more for benefits. Some military families, who often are uprooted to move to new assignments, "don't make enough money to put more money into the system," he said.
The cost of manpower
The Pentagon has proposed spending $149 billion on military compensation, or 28 percent of a $526 billion baseline budget this fiscal year, excluding the costs of the war in Afghanistan, the CBO report said. Of that amount, more than $90 billion pays for basic pay, food and housing allowances, bonuses and special pays.
The defense budget sets aside another $16 billion toward future pension benefits for current servicemembers.
Roughly $40 billion pays the health benefits of 1.4 million active-duty servicemembers, part of a total of 10 million people who are eligible for low-cost health care, such as military retirees and eligible family members, according to the CBO.
Active-duty servicemembers earn base pay, and are entitled to additional money to compensate for housing and food expenses.
For example, an Army corporal would earn regular military compensation of $50,860 after four to six years of service. That total includes $27,200 in basic pay; a nationwide average housing allowance of $14,280, although the actual amount paid varies depending on where the soldier lives; and tax-free allowances or benefits that amount to $4,660. A higher-ranking Army captain who is married would earn $92,200 after about six years on active duty, according to the CBO.
A comparison to civilian wages shows a person in the private sector with some college education or a high school diploma on average earns less than $30,000 a year, a Department of Defense review shows. A civilian with a master's degree or higher earns on average a little more than $60,000.
The military appropriation for each active-duty servicemember has reached just over $100,000, CBO reported.
Servicemembers can retire after 20 years of service and qualify for a pension. A health care insurance program called Tricare covers both current active-duty and some retired and reserve servicemembers' health care costs at no cost or at rates typically less than private insurance.
Thomas Istvan, an Air Force retiree who spent time in Vietnam and has two sons in the military, said he could support lower pay raises of 2 percent or slightly less for active-duty servicemembers.
"As odd as it sounds, I think that would be fine," the Huber Heights resident said. "I think the military right now is being paid a fairly good wage."
His advice for his sons: "If they want a pay increase, I tell them both to work harder, get promoted."
Istvan, however, doesn't support asking retirees to pay more for health care.
"I'm definitely against that," he said. "If you've given Uncle Sam at least 20 years, he ought to give you free medical care or give it to you at a low cost."
'Retention crashed'
The military will have to share in sacrifices with the nation in a budget crunch, but pay restrictions are counterproductive, according to Steve Strobridge, the director of the government relations at the Military Officers Association of America in Alexandria, Va. When military pay was restricted periodically between the 1970s and the 1990s, "retention crashed," he said.
The bump in pay and compensation the past decade was meant to raise servicemembers' compensation because it often lagged behind their civilian counterparts, he said, and personnel costs today are no greater a percentage of the budget than they have been historically -- about a third of spending.
Benefits, such as health care and retirement pay, are incentives needed to encourage military members to pursue a career most Americans are not willing to sacrifice for one term of enlistment, let alone two decades or longer, said Strobridge, a retired Air Force colonel and former Defense Department director of officer and enlisted personnel management.
"If anything, the hardships of military service are worse now," he said. "People tend to forget what it takes to serve a career."
MOAA has suggested a list of possible cost-cutting options, such as a unified medical command to reduce health care costs in the Army, Navy and Air Force about half a billion dollars a year. The non-profit organization has urged more members to use mail order prescription drug refills, among other places where the Pentagon could save money, he said.
The Defense Department should survey servicemembers to find out what pay and benefits they value or don't value to determine where to cut, said Todd Harrison, senior fellow for defense budget studies at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments in Washington, D.C.
"The reality is we're in a constrained budget environment," he said. "We always have been. We're just starting to realize it again. So we have to make some hard decisions. There are choices we have to make that aren't easy choices."
If compensation costs keep growing while the defense budget declines, eventually the military will have to make trade-offs on what to fund among personnel, training and equipment, he said.
"That's not an easy answer and whatever you choose is going to be painful in some way," he said.
Congress tends to be "quite reluctant to cut or appear to be reducing military compensation," said Asch, who authored a RAND report on military compensation this year with two of her colleagues. "If anything, over the last decade they have been quite generous in expanding compensation."
U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, told the Dayton Daily News he hadn't reviewed the CBO report, but has supported a bill that would set up a Defense Department commission to review military compensation and modernization plans by next September.
U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, supports cuts to the defense budget, although "he doesn't think they should come from our service members' paychecks or jeopardize our national security," spokeswoman Lauren Kulik said in an email.
Tom Crosson, a spokesman for U.S. Rep. Mike Turner, R-Dayton, said the congressman's office was reviewing the CBO report and he wasn't able to comment.
"However, I can tell you that Congressman Turner joined the House in voting to avert this fiscal cliff earlier this year, and that bill did not contain any provisions which would restrict pay hikes for the military or make any changes to their health care or retirement programs," the spokesman said in an email.
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POW/MIA RADIO:
Our
scheduled guests on POW/MIA Radio for Sunday, January 20, 2013 are:
2:00pm
Mtn – News and Views:
An hour of the latest POW/MIA
and veterans issues.
3:00pm
Mtn – Mr. Alvin Plucker:
Mr. Plucker is a Vietnam
Veteran, avid outdoorsman and crew member of USS Pueblo (AGER-2). He
served as Quartermaster aboard Pueblo, meaning he was one of the few
men responsible for the ships navigation. While steaming in international
waters, USS Pueblo was attacked and captured by North Korean naval
forces on January 23, 1968 and the surviving crew finally released 11 months
later. During that time he and crewmates were Prisoners of War, they were
subjected to brutal treatment, torture and starvation. Despite these harsh
conditions, the crew was able to not only endure but reacted to their forced
indoctrination and confessions of purported intrusion into North Korean
waters with defiant and resourceful reaction. Much of this a tribute to the
leadership of their captain, Cmdr. Lloyd Bucher. Since that time the crew
has been healing with reunions and working to get their ship returned home.
USS Pueblo is still a commissioned ship in the U.S. Navy and is
currently somewhere in North Korea. Alvin will discuss the attack, their
time as POWs and offer conjecture about the current location and fate of the
ship. For more information please visit
http://www.usspueblo.org/ .
4:00pm
Mtn – Ms. Carol Jose:
An author and journalist, Ms.
Jose coauthored or edited seven non-fiction books including two Vietnam POW
related works, A POW’s Story: 2001 Days in Hanoi by Col Larry
Guarino and Saved by Love with Ms. Evelyn Guarino. Carol’s
recent book, You are not Forgotten, is coauthored with Ms.
Evelyn Grubb, wife of Air Force Lt. Col. Wilmer “Newk” Grubb who was shot
down over North Vietnam in 1966. Her book traces Evelyn Grubb’s painful
journey to find the truth about her husband. This was a time when our
government was not giving family members reliable information, there were no
communications with the North Vietnamese government and the mood of the
country was not sympathetic to our military. You are not Forgotten,
is also the story of the start of the National League of POW/MIA
Families with Ms. Grubb as one of the founding members. Carol graduated
from University of Central Florida, holds several degrees and is a member of
several writing societies. Carol will discuss her book and catch us up on
her activities since we last spoke.
Bill
Bell has graciously offered to donate half the profits from the sale of his
book, Leave No Man Behind, to POW/MIA Radio or the National Alliance of
Families. You can purchase a copy of his book for $20.00 and Bill will
arrange for a donation to be sent to either of the aforementioned groups.
Please contact Bill at billbell@pinncom.com and tell him you heard it on
POW/MIA Radio.
Thanks to
our sponsors for this sponsorship period:
The
National Alliance of Families
Lima Area
MIA/POW
Chained
Eagles of Ohio
Listen
to POW/MIA Radio every Sunday, worldwide, on The American Freedom Network,
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Rod Utech
“ Is life so
dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and
slavery? Forbid it Almighty God!” Patrick Henry, 1775.