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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 or subscribe to receive the brief in your inbox each morning at www.iava.org/dailynewsbrief.

MUST READS

1) Army to replace ‘ineffective’ camouflage used in Afghanistan

The Army announced Wednesday it has chosen MultiCam as the new camouflage pattern for soldiers in Afghanistan. The decision comes eight months after the late Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., directed the Army to look at new camouflage patterns after “a dozen” Army sergeants told him that the Army Combat Uniform’s pattern is ineffective in Afghanistan.

2) Guard troops wait for promised post-deployment pay

Thousands of National Guard soldiers who served extra-long deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan and other conflicts were supposed to get paid time off when they came home three years ago – those checks never arrived. However, an Army spokesman said Wednesday that 6,800 Army National Guard soldiers are in line to receive the tardy checks.

3) New GI Bill helpline to be fully staffed

Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with questions about the new Post-9/11 GI Bill will again be able to get help by phone five days a week starting Thursday. GI Bill helpline employees had been shifted to helping process claims, forcing new GI Bill questions to go unanswered on Fridays.

AFGHANISTAN

The Taliban's use of human shields and the planting of hundreds of mines have slowed the advance of Afghan troops and American Marines as the current offensive continues. Even so, Military commanders managed to raise the Afghan flag in the bullet-ridden main market of Marja.

President Obama huddled with members of his war cabinet Wednesday to discuss strategy in Afghanistan after the recent capture of the Taliban's top military commander.

IRAQ

Iraq will seize heavy weapons from foreign security firms and expel within days ex-Blackwater contractors still in the country, Interior Minister Jawad al-Bolani said on Wednesday.

The top American commander in Iraq said Tuesday that the U.S. has "direct intelligence" that two senior Iraqi officials in charge of keeping Saddam Hussein loyalists out of the Baghdad government have ties to Iran.

With the imminent departure of American forces and fierce competition for power ahead of general elections on March 7, many in Iraq say sectarian strife is reigniting.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

Insiders say since Defense Secretary Robert Gates took over in 2006, there has been a surge in military accountability.

The United States may have one of the best conventional militaries in the world, but it's woefully unprepared for a serious cyber-attack. That's the message of the nonprofit Bipartisan Policy Center, which hosted a cyber "war game.”

The roof of a barracks building on the Massachusetts Military Reservation collapsed on Wednesday , injuring two people.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

Lawyers for a Fort Stewart soldier charged with making threats in an angry hip-hop song he recorded have asked a federal judge to stop the Army from transferring him to Kuwait for his court-martial.

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

THE SENATE

The Senate is not in session.

SENATE FLOOR ACTIVITY of INTEREST

No issues today

COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST

No issues today

THE HOUSE of REPRESENTATIVES



The House is not in session.

HOUSE FLOOR ACTIVITY of INTEREST

No issues today

HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST



No issues today

FUTURE HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of INTEREST



 February 24, 2010 House Veterans' Affairs will hold a hearing entitled, "Exploring the Relationship between Medication and Veteran Suicide." 10:00 a.m.; Cannon 334

February 24, 2010 House Veterans' Affairs Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Hearing will hold a hearing entitled, " Examination of the VA Benefits Delivery at Discharge and Quick Start Programs." 2:00 p.m.; Cannon 334

March 4, 2010 House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies hearing: VA’s budget requests for Fiscal Years 2011 and 2012. Time and Location: TBD.

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