Blog post

IAVA Daily Brief 7.8.11
Posted by Isabel Black on July 8

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.

Please note: The IAVA Daily News Brief will be on hiatus this Monday, July 11th, returning Tuesday, July 12th.

MUST READS

1) Video: Condolence letter policy shift opens conversation on military suicides

The White House announced this week that President Obama will now send condolence letters to families of troops who kill themselves in combat zones.  IAVA Founder and Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff was on PBS’ NewsHour on Thursday night to discuss the new policy and what more needs to be done to prevent military suicides before they happen.

2) Congressman unveils $3B jobs bill for vets

A new measure to stimulate veteran employment, called the Veterans Opportunity to Work Act, has been proposed by Rep. Jeff Miller. Miller estimates that his bill would create 400,000 new jobs for both new and old veterans. Similar to the Hiring Heroes Act, both bills call for transition assistance programs, but Miller’s proposal is unique because he focuses on helping veterans of older wars such as Vietnam; a special retraining program is offered for unemployed veterans between the ages of 35 and 60.

3) VA reaches out to female vets across nation

The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched an effort to find out why female vets often don’t turn to VA for their health care needs.  Starting in June, VA representatives began calling the nation’s 1.8 million female veterans, starting with those who have enrolled in VA but are not using its health care facilities or programs.  The department hopes the women will share their impressions of VA and make suggestions to enhance care.

4) End of NASA human spaceflight might reduce opportunities for military pilots

Just as dark clouds threaten to scrub Friday’s planned launch of the final space shuttle mission, clouds over NASA’s role in human spaceflight could reduce opportunities for elite military pilots to take the ultimate next step upward.  In the United States, the people who fly spaceships come from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.  When it comes to managing risk while carrying out the mission, NASA officials say, no other group can touch military test pilots.

AFGHANISTAN

IRAQ

MILITARY AFFAIRS

INSIDE WASHINGTON

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.

• Three American soldiers based in Hohenfels, Germany were killed in the Paktia province of Afghanistan on Tuesday after a roadside bomb detonated under their Humvee.

• Taliban fighters attacked multiple border police outposts in northeastern Afghanistan, killing at least 23 Afghan policemen.

  • Two American soldiers were killed just outside of their base in Baghdad when their Humvee rode over a roadside bomb. 

  • Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, discussed the recent uptick in weapons transferred from Iran to Iraqi Shiite extremists, citing the upsurge in violence and increasing sophistication of the weapons used. 

    • Deputy Defense Secretary William Lynn has resigned as the Pentagon’s number two official, shortly after Leon Panetta was installed last week as the new defense secretary.

      • In the wake of President Obama’s policy shift regarding the treatment of military suicides, Secretary of Veteran Affairs Eric Shinseki is being asked to review the effectiveness of the VA’s suicide prevention programs by a group of U.S. Senators. 

      • The Veterans Affairs Department’s 2012 information technology budget request fared better in the Senate Appropriations Committee- which last week approved the full amount of $3.161 billion- than it did in the House of Representatives, which cut 4.3 percent, or $136 million, in the version it passed in May.