Blog post

IAVA Daily Brief 10.09.09
Posted by Terrell Frazier on October 9

 Here are some of today's top stories and happenings at IAVA.  Prefer to receive real-time updates about major stories and legislation that IAVA is tracking?  Follow us on Twitter @IAVAPressRoom.

MUST READS 

1) House passes advance funding bill for VA

They didn’t pass the 2010 veterans’ budget on time — for the 20th time in 23 years — but House lawmakers took a historic vote Thursday to enact legislation that would prevent disruption from similar budget lapses in the future. By a 409-1 vote, the House gave final approval to HR 1016, a bill that would provide funding one year in advance for veterans medical programs, starting with fiscal 2011. Advance funding would apply to medical services and support and facility programs, but not to other portions of the VA budget. Funds for benefits such as disability compensation and the GI Bill are not subject to disruptions because they do not come from annual appropriations. Final approval is expected next week when the Senate takes up the bill. President Barack Obama told veterans groups earlier this year that he supports advance funding, leading the groups to assume he will sign the measure.

2) IAVA and O.A.R. Outreach Campaign Off to Strong Start

Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and acclaimed rock band O.A.R. announced yesterday the launch of an ambitious veteran outreach campaign entitled "Open Up Your Arms." Already we are well on our way to 11,111 members by Veterans Day on November 11th, with more than 2,000 people joining during the first day of the campaign.  IAVA and O.A.R. have created a campaign that is engaging and mobilizing Americans by asking them to pledge their support to our nation's men and women in uniform at www.openupyourarms.org.  "As the war in Afghanistan enters its eighth year, we are reminded more than ever of the tremendous sacrifices that troops, veterans, and their families have made and continue to make for our country. Every American has an obligation to support these men and women, and they can begin by joining the 'Open up Your Arms' Campaign," said IAVA Founder and Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff. "O.A.R. is an engaged band that really cares about our community. We appreciate their outstanding leadership and dedicated service." ‪Click here to learn more about the campaign and join the others that have already pledged their support.

3) From Iraq to the Classroom: Turning Troops into Teachers

A bill tentatively named the Post-9/11 Troops to Teachers Enhancement Act, would expand the little-known program Troops to Teachers by, among other things, decreasing the program's eligibility requirements from six years of active duty in the service to four years. The hope is this will attract younger members of the military returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Established in 1994, Troops to Teachers provides up to $10,000 for military personnel to obtain their teaching degrees. Many of the more than 11,000 men and women who have participated in the program are nontraditional, first-time teachers. Since the program began, it has diversified the nation's teaching ranks, as participants have been disproportionately male, disproportionately minority and disproportionately teachers of math, science and special education.

4) Top Troop Request Exceeds 60,000

The request for troops sent to President Barack Obama by the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan includes three different options, with the largest alternative including a request for more than 60,000 troops, according to a U.S. official familiar with the document. Although the top option is more than the 40,000 soldiers previously understood to be the top troop total sought by Lt. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. officer in Afghanistan, 40,000 remains the primary choice of senior military brass, including Gen. McChrystal, the official said. The details of the three scenarios were first reported by ABC News and confirmed by the U.S. official. The third option presented to Mr. Obama would be only a small increase that would keep U.S. forces largely at their year-end levels of 68,000 troops.

AFGHANISTAN

IAVA’s Adam Bryant dispelled some misconceptions about serving in Afghanistan on the BBC’s “The World.” Bryant joined the BBC to put the eight-year old conflict into perspective and share his experience in Afghanistan, especially his civil affairs work to build roads, schools and wells. Bryant ‪used the opportunity to advocate for greater services for veterans upon their return from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Click here to listen to the interview.

The U.N. Security Council is extending the mandate of the NATO-led military force in Afghanistan for a year. The council voted unanimously Thursday to extend NATO's 65,000-strong International Security Assistance Force, underlining the importance of protecting civilians. The resolution stresses the importance of training and improving the capabilities of Afghanistan's security forces so they become self-sufficient and can protect the country.

A car packed with explosives blew up beside the Indian Embassy in Kabul on Thursday morning, leaving 17 people dead in what India’s foreign secretary said was a direct attack on the embassy compound, the second in two years. The blast appeared to be similar in pattern to the earlier attack, in July 2008, in which a car bomber detonated at the embassy gates around the same time. American intelligence officials concluded within weeks that Pakistan’s intelligence agency had helped to plan that attack. Pakistan denied any involvement. But it was too early to tell who was behind Thursday’s bombing, which served as a reminder of the reach of Afghanistan’s insurgency. The heavily guarded area only recently reopened to traffic after being closed for months after the previous bombing, which killed 54.

A UK Times reporter embedded with British infantry troops describes the situation in the Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Sangin, an area that straddles the Helmand River, has claimed more British lives than any other part of Helmand region since troops first arrived there in 2006. Between April and mid-August a single battle group had just over 100 soldiers were killed or wounded: one-fifth of their total patrol troops. The trend suggests that, by the end of the battle group's tour this month, one in four of the infantry members will have been killed or injured — a figure that compares with British infantry casualty ratios in Europe during the late stages of World War II.

IRAQ

There is no more visible sign that America is putting the Iraq war behind it than the colossal operation to get its stuff out: 20,000 soldiers, nearly a sixth of the force here, assigned to a logistical effort aimed at dismantling some 300 bases and shipping out 1.5 million pieces of equipment, from tanks to coffee makers. It is the largest movement of soldiers and matériel in more than four decades, the military said. By itself, such a withdrawal would be daunting, but it is further complicated by attacks from an insurgency that remains active; the sensitivities of the Iraqi government about a visible American presence; disagreements with the Iraqis about what will be left for them; and consideration for what equipment is urgently needed in Afghanistan. All the while, the Army must sustain its current force of slightly more than 124,000 troops across the country, trucking in fuel, food and other essential supplies while determining what to leave behind for the 50,000 troops who will remain in a mostly advisory role until 2011.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

The inspector general of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is ‪investigating a potential data breach affecting the records of some 90 million U.S. military veterans. The issue involves a defective hard drive the agency sent back to its vendor for repair and recycling without first destroying the data. The hard drive powered the program eVetRecs, the system veterans use to request copies of their health records and discharge papers. NARA claims no rules were broken and that warning veterans would cause unnecessary fear.

According to government figures released Thursday, women are far more likely than men to be kicked out of the military under the "don't ask, don't tell" policy against gay people in uniform. Women accounted for 15 percent of all active-duty and reserve members of the military, but more than one-third of the 619 people discharged under the policy last year. The disparity was even higher in the Air Force, where women represent nearly 20 percent of all personnel but 61 percent of those expelled.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

An omnibus veterans bill passed late Wednesday by the Senate includes the promise of retroactive insurance payments to about 2,500 severely injured service members. If the bill, S 728, becomes law, payments are expected to average $68,700 for the veterans who suffered a noncombat injury between Oct. 7, 2001, and Nov. 30, 2005, a period when Traumatic Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance, known as TSGLI, applied only to those injured in the combat theater. Initially, the traumatic insurance plan first offered in December 2005 applied only to combat injuries. But complaints about people injured stateside in training or on other military duties prompted lawmakers to expand coverage, although the expansion applied only to new injuries.

Testimony has begun in a series of cases that could have wide-reaching implications on the U.S. Military handles toxic exposure. Thursday, lawmakers heard from veterans and survivors of U.S. service members who faced exposure to toxins during tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as in incidents dating back to the 1980s and ‘90s. During testimony Stacy Pennington, the sister of Iraq war veteran Steven Ochs who died from cancer, said a military burn pit in Balad, Iraq, ultimately led to her brother’s death. The pits are used to dispose of medical waste, fuel, plastic, discarded vehicles, trash, and ammunition. Segments of the testimony are available here.

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

THE SENATE

FUTURE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

October 21, 2009   SVAC Hearing on Pending Legislation   9:30 a.m.; 418 Russell

THE HOUSE of  REPRESENTATIVES



FUTURE  HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of  INTEREST



October 14, 2009  Full Veterans‚ Affairs Committee Hearing:  Update on the State of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs  10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon HOB

October 15, 2009  Veterans‚ Affairs Subcommittee on Health Hearing:    Identifying the Causes of Inappropriate Billing Practices by the VA    10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon HOB

A wide-range of views, positions, and publications are represented in these articles. These views, positions and publications are not endorsed by nor do they necessarily represent the views of IAVA