Blog post

IAVA Daily Brief 7.21.10
Posted by Blake Henderson on July 21

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 at www.IAVA.org/DailyNewsBrief.

NOTE: Please be advised the IAVA Daily News Brief will be on hiatus from Tuesday, July 27th through Friday, July 30th.

MUST READS

1) Study: Troops have higher rates of some cancers
 
After looking at 10 years' worth of cancer data, researchers at the Armed Forces Health Surveillance Center found that servicemembers tend to have higher rates of certain forms of cancer than civilians. They also found interesting differences across the branches of the military.
 
2) Frustration for the US soldiers who never went to war
 
For every one servicemember deployed overseas, three remain stateside working to support the mission. For many, however, missing the defining deployments of a military era can be difficult to come to terms with. The BBC looks at the stories of four troops and what their experiences meant to each.
 
3) Petraeus' successor is known for impolitic words
 
General James Mattis, who is awaiting confirmation as the commander of Central Command, is known as the consummate Marine leader, a warrior who chooses to lead from the front lines and speaks bluntly rather than concerning himself with political correctness.  His civilian superiors have also occasionally seen him as too rough-edged at a time when military strategy is as much about winning the allegiance of local populations as it is about firepower.
 
4) National Security Inc.
 
Part two of The Washington Post investigation into the hidden world of American intelligence delves deeper into the mysteries of the organizations that comprise this secretive network. The report finds that what started as a temporary fix in response to 9/11 has turned into a dependency that calls into question whether the federal workforce includes too many people obligated to shareholders rather than the public interest -- and whether the government is still in control of its most sensitive activities.
 
AFGHANISTAN

• A suspected Afghan army trainer on a shooting range in northern Afghanistan opened fire on his fellow instructors, killing two American civilian trainers and one other Afghan soldier before being killed himself.
• A transit trade deal was struck between Afghanistan and Pakistan that marks a large milestone in the relationship between the two countries that could have broad consequences for how they confront their shared Taliban insurgency.

IRAQ

• The war in Iraq led to a loss of focus on the threat from al-Qaeda, strengthened Osama bin Laden, and helped to breed a generation of homegrown terrorists, Britain's former domestic spy chief told a U.K. inquiry.
• Abdul Ahmad, jailed for killing his father who was working for the U.S. Army, says that insurgents in Iraq forced him into the killing and paid him $5,000 to do it.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

• The My Career Advancement Accounts (MyCAA) tuition program for military spouses will reopen on October 25, but will only be available to spouses of junior service members and the program will not be available for four-year degrees.
• Underpayments of living stipends to veterans using the New GI Bill will be corrected in August when the VA issues one-time catch-up checks to anyone who has received the stipend since January 1. The checks represent a fix to a problem caused when VA did not update living stipends after military housing allowances increased.  No application is required for servicemembers, as the payments will be sent out automatically.
• David Santos, the father of a Marine killed in Afghanistan, was told that his son was stabbed by another Marine while preparing for duty. The government has asked the military for a full investigation.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

• At 9:30am on Wednesday, July 21st, IAVA Legislative Associate Tim Embree will be testifying before the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee on upgrades to the New GI Bill.
• Facing election-year pressure to dramatically scale back new spending, the Senate voted for a stripped-down economic assistance bill that now omits a proposal that would have temporarily extended concurrent receipt of both benefits to medically retired veterans who served less than 20 years in uniform.

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.