Blog post

IAVA Daily News Brief 01.26.12
Posted by Megan Hemler on January 26

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 and click here to get the News Brief delivered to your inbox every morning.

MUST READS

1) Military Prepares Realignment: More Drones, Fewer Troops

On Thursday, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta will outline the Pentagon's $525 billion budget for fiscal 2013. The new budget will invest in more drones and deploy more special operators while cutting the number of active-duty brigades in the Army.

2) Mr. President, help save veterans’ lives
The veteran community is in the grips of a suicide epidemic and the President needs to lead the charge by issuing a call to action, writes IAVA Founder and Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff in the New York Daily News. “Veterans are only 7% of the American population,” Rieckhoff notes, “but they account for one of every five suicides in the country.”

3) Military veterans seek support and release through song at LifeQuest music camp
A nonprofit organization in Colorado has pioneered the technique of healing new veterans through artistic expression. LifeQuest Transitions is one of only a handful of institutions which uses music therapy with wounded warriors.

AFGHANISTAN

• There were 16,000 IED attacks recorded in 2011, more than any year since the war began.

• The new American envoy in Afghanistan is pushing hard for the Afghan government to get involved in peace talks with the insurgency.

IRAQ

• After the accused avoided jail time, Iraq will seek its own legal recourse against the Marine responsible for the 2005 Haditha massacre.
• Al Qaeda of Iraq has posted a message on its website claiming that the U.S. withdrew from Iraq because of economic reasons.
  

MILITARY AFFAIRS

• The U.S. Army plans to reduce the number of active-duty soldiers by 80,000.

• The American Journal of Public Health has published a new study that surveys the mental health status of 600 service members that recently returned from Iraq or Afghanistan.

NEW GREATEST GENERATION

• IAVA Founder and Executive Director Paul Rieckhoff spoke with a reporter from TIME Battleland about the President’s State of the Union address and direction of the new veterans’ movement in 2012.
  

• The Army’s pragmatic philosophy of “if it’s stupid and it works, it isn’t stupid,” has led to the adoption of unconventional medical procedures like acupuncture and hypnosis.
• Many new veterans suffering from PTSD have turned to marijuana after VA treatments failed to grant them relief from their symptoms.
  

INSIDE WASHINGTON

• Recent high profile operations have made the Navy SEALs into a good luck charm for President Obama, writes USA TODAY.
• Washington is primed for a political showdown over $600 billion in mandatory defense cuts.