Blog post

IAVA Daily Brief 7.13.10
Posted by Michelle McCarthy on July 13

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 IAVA's Daily News Brief here.

MUST READS

1) VIDEO: PBS NewsHour: Rules Change for Vets' PTSD Benefits
 
IAVA Spokesperson and OIF veteran Carolyn Schapper appeared on PBS NewsHour to discuss the newly announced changes regarding PTSD claims at the VA. She covered issues ranging from costs to fears of fraud to how this rule will affect female servicemembers.
 
2) VA expects no claims spike under new PTSD rules
 
VA officials who are lowering the bar for veterans to receive benefits related to PTSD say they don't expect more people to try to jump over it.  But they may be underestimating a potential flood of claims that could result from a decision to make it far easier for veterans who served in noncombat jobs to prove their mental health issues are service-connected.
 
3) AUDIO: Iraq Vulnerable To Influence From Other Countries
 
The top United Nations official in Iraq is concerned about the consequences of the U.S. withdrawal from that country - not just for Iraq but also for the entire region. The official gives NPR an assessment on the situation, as well as the U.N.'s role in Iraq.
 
AFGHANISTAN

• A new Navy study suggests that dust from Afghanistan contains metals that may cause respiratory problems and brain damage. The dust samples were taken from FOB Salerno near Khost. A close analysis of the dust found traces of manganese, a toxic chemical known to cause Parkinson's-like symptoms. Other metals found in the sand include silicon, iron, magnesium, aluminum and chromium.
• Lt. Gen. Michael Oates stated that by the end of 2010, the counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan will be fully implemented, troops will have better equipment to counter IEDs, and more bomb-planting insurgents will have been killed. The combination of these three events should stem the use of IEDs, the number 1 killer of U.S. troops.

IRAQ

• Iraq stumbled into month five with no new government and the prime minister is having trouble with his Shiite allies, some of whom deeply oppose him staying in his post.
• As the U.S. troop drawdown in Iraq continues, training of Iraqi forces is ramping up. This includes law enforcement, and especially forensics.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

• Dozens of military officials tasked with identifying the extent of mismanagement by Arlington Cemetery's former leaders are racing to meet deadlines to develop a plan to untangle the antiquated system of recordkeeping and to restore public confidence in the hallowed grounds.
• At his brother's funeral nearly six years ago, Ricardo Peralta made him a promise: He would join the Marine Corps and carry on in his example.  Last week, Peralta, now 19, fulfilled that promise as he graduated from the school of infantry.
• A WW I soldier has been laid to rest with full military honors. Army Pvt. Thomas D. Costello of New York died of shrapnel wounds and was buried along with two other soldiers in a wooded area in northern France in 1918.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

• The federal government has been slow to adopt a new accelerated hiring authority targeted to military spouses in the authority's first three months. According to newly released statistics by the Office of Personnel Management, federal agencies hired only 61 military spouses in the first quarter of fiscal 2010.

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.