Great loss to the 2nd Cavalry family

Training Complete Between Romanian, Bulgarian, U.S. Troops

2nd Stryker Cavalry Regiment prepping for Afghan rotation

Vilseck-based Stryker regiment tapped for Afghan rotation

DoD Announces Units For Afghanistan Rotations And Deployment

Cavalry Journal reviews “A Line Through The Desert”

2nd SCR Participates in Joint Task Force-East Training

Iraq veteran delivers inspirational speech to Dragoons

War Eagles visited by Polish CSM

RSS Spurs German Partners On

House bill could expand Agent Orange claims

Legislation granting Air Force and Navy veterans a better shot at receive disability benefits for Agent Orange-related illness now has 204 co-sponsors in the House of Representatives, 14 short of the number needed to guarantee passage.The bill, HR 2254, is the Agent Orange Equity Act. It would grant people who served in the waters off Vietnam and the airspace above it the same presumptions as people who set foot there: that certain diseases are the result of exposure to the herbicide Agent Orange, widely used to defoliate jungle around U.S. bases and outposts.If enacted, the bill would cover veterans who had received a Vietnam Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal or who served on Johnston Island, a Navy outpost, beginning April 1, 1972, and ending Sept. 30, 1977.Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., the House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman who is the measure’s chief sponsor, said the bill goes a long way toward providing benefits to veterans whom the Veterans Affairs Department “illogically refuses to acknowledge.”“Current law requires VA to provide care for service members exposed to Agent Orange by virtue of their ‘boots on the ground,’ but ignores veterans that served in the blue waters and the blue skies of Vietnam,” Filner said. His bill would provide the same presumptions “to all combat veterans of the Vietnam War, regardless of where they served.”Filner said he hopes Congress acts soon. “Time is running out for these Vietnam veterans. Many are dying from their Agent Orange-related diseases, uncompensated for their sacrifice.”Achieving the 218 votes needed to guarantee passage of a bill through the House does not guarantee the change will become law. There is a Senate version of the bill, S 1939, sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., that has eight co-sponsors, far short of the 51 needed to guarantee passage.

VA benefits chief to step down

Patrick Dunne, undersecretary for benefits at the Veterans Affairs Department since October 2008, announced Friday that he will resign early next year.Dunne, a retired real admiral who is a holdover from the Bush administration, has directed VA’s disability compensation, pension, home loan guaranty, vocational rehabilitation and employment, life insurance, and education programs — including the implementation of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, which had a rocky start after its Aug. 1 launch.“I’ve appreciated the wonderful opportunity VA has given me to serve our nation’s veterans and their families,” Dunne said.“Pat Dunne has guided the Veterans Benefits Administration through a number of challenges during his tenure as undersecretary. I applaud his service and loyalty to our team and thank him for his unfailing commitment to our nation’s veterans,” VA Secretary Eric Shinseki said.

Panel votes to speed benefits appeals of vets

A House subcommittee moved Wednesday to reduce the amount of time it takes for a veteran to appeal a benefits decision, which can add two to five years to the wait for benefits.Approved by the disability assistance and memorial affairs subcommittee of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, the unnumbered draft bill, called the Veterans Appeals Improvement and Modernization Act of 2009, attempts to streamline both the administration appeals process within the Veterans Affairs Department and the judicial review process through the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.Included in the bill are procedural changes, such as allowing new information from a veteran whose claim is under appeal to be sent directly to the Board of Veterans Affairs, rather than to a regional office where it would have to work its way through the bureaucracy; and giving the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims the power to review an entire claim, not just one part at a time. The change in the appeals court process is aimed at what veterans have come to call the “hamster wheel” of having a claim with multiple issues decided one at a time in a process that never seems to end as the claim is sent back and forth between the regional official and administrative board.Additionally, the bill tries to set the stage for more fundamental changes by creating an independent panel, the Veterans Judicial Review Commission, that would evaluate the disability and survivor benefits claims process and recommend changes. An interim report from the commission would be required by July 2010 with a final report by Dec. 30, 2010.The report deadlines make it possible that some changes could be approved by Congress as early as next year, but major changes would not be considered until 2011.

Reserve retirees face longer wait for Tricare

“Gray area” military retirees who were promised health care coverage under Tricare may have to wait a year or longer for benefits to begin, Tricare officials are warning.Reserve retirees, who have had to wait until age 60 before military health coverage begins, had been promised they could sign up for Tricare Reserve Select under a provision of the 2010 National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed by President Barack Obama on Oct 28.Tricare coverage for the reserve retirees — called “gray area” retirees because they are eligible for, but not yet receiving, retirement benefits — was authorized effective Oct. 1, but everyone expected it would take six to eight months to implement, based on the amount of time it has taken for other Tricare changes.But military and veterans associations were surprised Tuesday when a Tricare official said it could take 11 to 18 months before enrollment is allowed. One group thinks the delay might be driven by the budget.“I suspect the Pentagon is slowing implementation to coincide with the next generation of a Tricare contract to avoid change order costs,” said Marshall Hanson, a retired Navy captain who is legislative director for the Reserve Officers Association.Hanson’s group has launched an effort with other military associations to try to push the Defense Department to move faster by getting congressional leaders involved. Congressional aides working on military health care issues said they already have heard complaints about the slow implementation and were trying to determine the reason.The Tricare statement warning of the delay says the new program requires Tricare to come up with “complex operational procedures, negotiate significant modifications to existing contracts and introduce changes in the Code of Federal Regulations.” The statement from Thomas E. Broyles, a Tricare Management Activity spokesman, was sent to several military and veterans groups that were inquiring about when the new benefit would begin.

Coburn keeps fighting unfunded vet bennies

The lawmaker holding up Senate passage of a veterans health care bill orchestrated a Monday vote that forced senators to choose between funding veterans programs or funding pet projects.The pet projects — 96 unrequested military construction projects costing about $633 million — won over veterans funding on a 69-24 vote. But it probably isn’t the last effort by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., to prevent the Senate from passing veterans benefits legislation that isn’t fully funded.Coburn has talked about pushing a similar vote that would pay for unfunded veterans benefits but cutting U.S. payments to the United Nations.On Monday’s vote, Coburn was attempting to send the $132.5 billion military construction and veterans appropriations bill, S 1407, back to the Senate Appropriations Committee for changes that would reduce the number of so-called “earmarks,” added by lawmakers, to provide sufficient funding for veterans caregiver benefits. Twenty-two Republicans and two Democrats voted with him on a motion that was opposed by Senate Democratic leaders.Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., chairman of the appropriations subcommittee that prepared the bill, said Coburn seemed to be confusing his fights: The appropriations bill is separate from S 1963, the Veterans Caregiver and Omnibus Health Benefits Act, that Coburn has blocked for about a month.Coburn has two basic criticisms of S 1963: that it does not pay for the estimated $3.7 billion in expenses over five years for new veterans benefits, like stipends and fringe benefits for caregivers of severely injured veterans, and that the new caregiver benefits apply only to veterans injured in Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom.Coburn argues that without funding, S 1963 means nothing for veterans because there would be no money to pay for promised benefits. Supporters dispute his claim, saying there is nothing usual about having separate authorization and funding bills for new benefits, something commonly done with the annual defense budget and with veterans health and benefits changes.“None of us disagree that taking care of those who have sacrificed for us has to become number two behind defense of this nation in terms of priorities,” he said. The problem with the appropriations bill, which includes $109 billion for veterans programs in 2010, is that it doesn’t cover all expenses, including the pending caregiver bill, he said.“The idea that we ought to pay for the new things we do by eliminating the things that are not important … is not a novel idea outside of Washington,” Coburn said. “It is only a novel idea inside Washington.”Coburn’s defeat on an attempt to get the veterans’ funding bill rewritten does not necessarily mean the Senate is now free to pass the veterans caregiver and health bill that has been tied up since Oct. 15. The next items on the Senate’s schedule is debate on national health care reform, which could last well into December.

Coburn lifts hold on vet benefits bill

One senator’s hold delaying consideration of a veterans caregiver and health benefits bill has been lifted.A new agreement will allow a final vote on S 1963 after senators consider an amendment that would pay for stipends, health care, counseling and other benefits for people taking care of severely disabled veterans by cutting the U.S. contribution to the United Nations.As a result of the agreement, the Senate is now expected to take up and pass the bill this week, allowing House and Senate negotiators to begin work on a compromise measure that could become law this year The U.N. amendment will be offered by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., the person who since Memorial Day has prevented the Senate from taking up veterans legislation because he thinks it is wrong to pass new benefits without paying for them.Coburn’s hold on the Veterans Caregiver and Omnibus Health Benefits Act of 2009 came to a head before Veterans Day, when Senate Democratic leaders were trying to get the bill passed. Coburn wouldn’t allow the bill to proceed if he wasn’t allowed to offer an amendment, a position that drew sharp criticism from major veterans groups.The agreement announced Tuesday by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., allots 3½ hours for Senate debate on the veterans’ bill, a half hour for general debate and the rest of the time to debate Coburn’s amendment.The amendment, which Coburn formally filed Tuesday, attempts to do two things.First, it requires the State Department to transfer money to the Veterans Affairs Department to pay for the new family caregiver benefits, which have a $3.7 billion price tag over five years. Money would be drawn from the account for contributions to international organizations.Second, the amendment applies the caregiver benefits to all generations of veterans. The bill limits benefits to caregivers of people who have served on active-duty since Sept. 11, 2001, something Coburn argues is discriminatory to other severely disabled veterans.Lifting of the hold came one day after Coburn tried but failed to get the 2010 veterans appropriations bill modified to pay for the new caregiver benefits. By a 69-24 vote, the Senate rejected a Coburn amendment to send the military construction and veterans’ appropriations bill back to the Senate Appropriations Committee so that money being allocated to military construction projects not requested by the Defense Department could be spent, instead, on new veterans benefits.

Family talks of need for caregiver benefits

A North Carolina family whose lives were forever changed by an October 2005 roadside bomb explosion in Iraq are being held up by Senate Democrats as a prime example of why the government needs to improve benefits — not just for disabled veterans, but also for the families who provide them around-the-clock care.Ed Edmundson, the father of retired Army Spc. Eric Edmundson, said he sold his business, and cashed in his savings and retired pay so that he and his wife could move in with Eric and Eric’s wife and child to help. But financial circumstances — which stem partly from the fact that Ed Edmundson and his wife, Denise, have no health insurance — may force him back to work.Ed is recovering from pneumonia, with his medical bills being partly paid by the Wounded Warrior project. Denise recently broke an ankle, leaving the family with new bills.“My wife and I are fearful of what this is going to mean to Eric and his and family in the future,” Ed Edmondson said at a Tuesday news conference organized by Senate Democrats to call attention to a bill that would provide health care benefits, a small living stipend and other benefits to family caregivers. The bill is being blocked from consideration by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., who objects mostly to its cost.Coburn said Monday that some existing programs would help people like Eric Edmundson by providing up to $2,600 a month in additional pay, called aid and attendance benefits, that would help cover the cost of assistance to help him carry out daily activities without having to be institutionalized.The current program does not include health care benefits, mental health counseling, training in minor medical procedures for a family member, and respite care to give the family caregiver a break, all of which are provisions of the delayed bill, S 1963.The Veterans’ Caregiver and Omnibus Health Benefits Act would not provide health care for the entire extended family. Rather, it would allow one family member to be trained as a caregiver and qualify for a living stipend expected to be about $2,300 a month; that family member would receive health care and other benefits.Ed Edmundson said he knows only one person could receive benefits, and said it is possible that either he or his wife would get a job that included health benefits if the caregiver law were enacted.The Edmundsons’ appearance at the Tuesday news conference helped call attention to the bill but did not change Coburn’s mind about holding it up. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the Senate majority leader, said if Coburn doesn’t allow the bill to be brought up for consideration without a fight over funding, it is unclear when the Senate would get to the measure because debate is expected to start next week on the larger national health care reform initiative.Ed Edmundson said the IED attack on his son “ended Eric’s life as he knew it.” The soldier received severe shrapnel wounds, including broken bones and a brain injury resulting from a lack of oxygen to his brain after he had a heart attack, his father said.“My son, as well as thousands of other injured, cannot sacrifice any more,” Ed Edmundson said. “My wife and I, as caregivers, cannot sacrifice any more.”Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., said the Edmundsons are an example of the kind of family the caregiver bill is designed to help.“If the story of this father and son isn’t enough to make you think something should be done, I don’t know what could,” Reed said.

Critics doubt nagging issues at Ill. VA fixable

MARION, Ill. — The new interim chief of a southern Illinois Veterans Affairs hospital where major surgeries have been suspended for more than two years said he’s confident lingering problems there can be fixed.But the founder and editor of VAWatchdog.org said he believes the VA system is too bureaucratic and the problems too entrenched to quickly fix troubles at the Marion VA.Larry Scott’s comments follow last week’s report by the VA’s inspector general detailing insufficient progress in cleaning up lingering quality management problems at the Marion hospital.U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin calls that appalling. On Monday, he and other Illinois federal lawmakers planned to meet with the VA inspector general. They’ve already met with VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.A quality management team will be at the Marion VA for the next several weeks and will make recommendations to Shinseki.

Lawmakers: GI Bill should cover test prep

Two Florida lawmakers propose an expansion of Post-9/11 GI Bill coverage to include reimbursement for the cost of college preparation classes.Reps. Adam Putnam, a Republican, and Ron Klein, a Democrat, are sponsors of the bill, called the Test Prep for Heroes Act.The bill would have the Post-9/11 GI Bill cover reimbursement for classes that help students get ready for college preparation tests. The new education benefit program already covers up to $2,000 for licensing and certification tests, and up to $1,200 for the cost of tutoring, but it does not cover classes and courses that help prepare for college placement tests.Putnam said the preparatory classes are important to service members. “Sometimes these tests cover subjects the service-members haven’t studied in years, which can put them at a comparative disadvantage to other applicants who may have recently graduated from high school,” he said.Costs for test preparation classes vary, but are in the range of $500 to $1,200 depending on the location, class size and test.Klein said the bill, HR 3948, is an example of a small change that could have big results.“By providing access to more tools to help our veterans prepare for entrance exams and licensing tests, we can level the playing field and ensure they do not miss a single opportunity on the road to a college education,” Klein said.The bill, with more than 20 cosponsors, was referred to the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, which has accumulated a pile of proposals for modifying the new GI Bill. Decisions on what changes will be made are not expected until next year, when the Veterans Affairs Department provides Congress with recommendations on what would improve claims processing.

Contractor to help VA with GI Bill claims

The Veterans Affairs Department is ready to admit it cannot process GI Bill benefits claims without help, announcing Wednesday that it is seeking an outside contractor to do some preliminary data collection and enrollment certification.VA’s undersecretary for benefits, Patrick Dunne, said in a statement that a contractor “will assist VA in delivering education benefits to our veterans as quickly as possible.”The formal solicitation for temporary contract support was issued Oct. 21 but not announced until Oct. 28.A VA statement said the contractor will be involved in “claims-processing tasks,” but that VA personnel will make final claims decisions and generate payments.Key tasks to be handled by contractors include validating student enrollment and providing recommendations on whether to pay, the statement said.“All work will be reviewed and authorized by VA personnel,” the statement said. “VA will provide training on security and claims processing procedures. The contract personnel will assist in handling the least complex cases, which allows for rapid implementation of this initiative.”The move to seek outside help comes after a rocky start for the Post-9/11 GI Bill program, which launched Aug. 1 after a year of preparation — during which lawmakers kept asking VA officials if they had enough people to handle claims, and VA officials assuring lawmakers that they did. But VA’s goal of processing claims in 20 to 24 days proved too optimistic, and it ended up taking an average 35 days, according to VA testimony to Congress.The delays led to an unprecedented decision to provide emergency GI Bill payments to student-veterans who did not receive Oct. 1 living stipends.VA officials said Tuesday about 14,000 student veterans may not receive Nov. 1 living stipends because their GI Bill claims are not completed, but no additional emergency payments will be made. Instead, VA officials said students would receive payments, retroactive to the start of their enrollment, as soon as their claims are completed.

Levin: No hearings on gay ban until 2010

Lawyer: Hasan hearing Saturday in hospital

Army announces review of body armor testing

House bill could expand Agent Orange claims

Radio devices may help injured, group says

Army IDs soldier killed by Kandahar bomb

AWOL soldier wins stay of Canadian deportation

Gates: U.S. to examine its role in Afghan graft

Former Army secretary to aid Hood probe

8 Fort Hood wounded will still deploy