News

By Leo Shane III 
Military Times Staff writer
Jun. 3, 2014 - 04:01PM

Lawmakers from both parties want major changes in how the Veterans Affairs Department operates — and that will make it difficult to enact any changes at all.

Senate Democrats and Republicans this week are offering competing plans for VA reform, including making it easier to fire top department officials and cutting wait times for veterans in need of health care.

Veterans are using Whisper to share the most intimate details of their struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder.

posted on April 24, 2014 at 4:02pm EDT
Neetzan Zimmerman
BuzzFeed Contributor

BY MARK BERMAN, Washington Post
April 7, 2014

WASHINGTON – Continuing the transformation of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) into a 21st century organization, the President has proposed a $163.9 billion budget, a 6.5 percent increase over Fiscal Year 2014, that will support VA’s goals to expand access to health care and other benefits, eliminate the disability claims backlog, and end homelessness among Veterans.  The budget includes $68.4 billion in discretionary spending, largely for healthcare, and $95.6 billion for mandatory programs – mostly disability compensation and pensions for Veterans.

Associated Press | Feb 04, 2014 | by Kevin Freking

WASHINGTON - The House overwhelmingly passed legislation Monday that would require public universities around the country to charge veterans in-state tuition rates or face financial penalty.

Congress intended for veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan era to go to college for free at the public school of their choice. And for most, that's the case.

Friday, January 10, 2014
By CHABELLA GUZMAN Staff Reporter

Area Veterans may be looking at a longer trip for medical attention if the VA Black Hills Health Care System’s Environmental Impact Statement comes back against the VA hospital in Hot Springs, S.D.

“We take about 10 people a week to Hot Springs,” said John Brehm, director of Scotts Bluff County Veterans Service Office. “I know a lot of them drive up on their own, since they don’t want to wait on the van.”

FARGO -- A 94-year-old Fargo man and World War II Army veteran will soon descend with extended family on a tiny town in the western Arizona desert for an overdue dedication.

In the early 1940s, Henry "Hank" Leintz trained with the 748th Tank Battalion at the remote Camp Bouse on a top-secret war weapon--a lighting device affixed to tanks that were designed to temporarily blind and confuse the enemy.

“You won’t be punished for your anger. You will be punished by your anger.”

A new online course developed for and by ‪#‎Veterans‬ to help Veterans to understand and combat their anger triggers is available at http://www.veterantraining.va.gov/AIMS. 

By Patricia Murphy, KUOW Radio, Seattle
December 4, 2014

A federal audit of a 24-hour national hotline for homeless veterans found that callers didn’t always receive assistance or access to needed services.

The Office of the Inspector General said lapses in management and oversight at the call center led to more than 40,000 missed opportunities to help.

It's all legal.