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October 2014

Few vets use free credit monitoring after VA breaches

October 27, 2014

By Leo Shane III
Military Times Staff writer
Oct. 23, 2014 - 12:03PM

Only about one in 25 veterans offered free credit monitoring in the wake of Veterans Affairs Department security breaches has signed up for the service, a figure that VA officials call disappointingly low.

Nearly 1 million veterans have had their personal information potentially compromised over the last seven years, a total that officials call upsetting but insist sits well below comparable private-sector security breaches.

Surviving spouses soon to get tuition benefit

October 22, 2014

ByTravis J. Tritten
Stars and Stripes
Published: October 21, 2014

WASHINGTON — An overhaul of the troubled Department of Veterans Affairs means new education benefits will kick in next month for the spouses of servicemembers who died since 9/11 in the line of duty, according to the department.

Some stereotypes stick to vets, survey shows

October 22, 2014

By Leo Shane | 3:37 PM, Oct. 21, 2014

All veterans aren’t homeless washouts. But Got Your Six officials worry that many Americans see them that way.

In a new survey by the campaign, almost half of respondents shown a picture of a homeless man identified him as likely a veteran. Researchers say that stereotype is not only misleading, but also indicates a deep and disturbing stereotype of how service members adjust to post-military life.

Younger veterans bypass VFW, American Legion for service, fitness groups

October 20, 2014

Those who served in Iraq, Afghanistan gravitate toward modern organizations

By Jacqueline Klimas - The Washington Times - Sunday, October 19, 2014

Kate Hoit served eight years in the Army Reserves, including a tour in Iraq, but when she tried to join her local Veterans of Foreign Wars chapter, someone asked whether she needed an application for military spouses instead.

Fargo VA Hospital & Fergus Falls Veterans Home Fundraiser

October 20, 2014

Yellow Ribbon Fundraiser Poster

Proposed online AAFES shopping for vets inches forward

October 20, 2014

By Karen Jowers
Military Times Staff writer
Oct. 17, 2014 - 12:39PM

The tide may be turning in the effort to allow all honorably discharged veterans to shop at the online store operated by the Army and Air Force Exchange Service.

“It appears there are no insurmountable hurdles,” said a source familiar with a meeting held Oct. 8 between Russell Beland, deputy assistant secretary of the Navy for military manpower and personnel, and officials with the Navy Exchange Service Command, Marine Corps Exchange and AAFES.

Uncertainties swirl as VA 'Choice Card' deadline nears

October 17, 2014

By Tom Philpott
Stars and Stripes
Published: October 16, 2014

Editor's note: This story has been corrected.

Congress last August gave the Department of Veteran Affairs 90 days to issue medical “Choice Cards” to 9.1 million veterans enrolled in VA care.

American Legion boss: Vets have earned federal hiring preference

October 13, 2014

By Leo Shane III
Military Times Staff writer
Oct. 10, 2014 - 10:59AM

The American Legion has a message for federal workers upset over veterans preference rules: Get over it.

“Those who have served in uniform have earned such preference,” American Legion National Commander Michael Helm said in a statement late Thursday. “Helping those who have served in uniform, especially disabled veterans, get jobs is a policy that must remain in place.”

Scrutiny over latest VA firings likely just the start

October 10, 2014

By Leo Shane III
Military Times Staff writer
Oct. 9, 2014 - 12:37PM

Four Veterans Affairs senior executives being dismissed this month are the first to face the department’s controversial new firing authorities, approved by Congress in July.

VA leaders are also promising they won’t be the last.

The four — VA’s deputy chief procurement officer and facility directors from Pittsburgh, Alabama and Georgia — have all been the subject of investigations into mismanagement and records manipulation.