By Debbie Gregory. As of January, 2018, the military retirement system as we know it will cease to exist. Instead, service members who joined after 2006 but before January 1, 2018 will have to choose whether to stay with the existing system or opt into the new Blended Retirement System (BRS.) Those who enter military […]
By Debbie Gregory. Besides fame, another thing all of these celebrities have in common is that they served in the U.S. Air Force. Some of them used their military education benefits to further their careers. Others used their experiences in uniform as the springboard for a life in the spotlight. It was rumored that Johnny […]
By Debbie Gregory. There are many ways to calculate the cost of war. Paying for a war doesn’t end when the fighting does. The initial fight in Iraq was meant to cost no more than $60 billion, a small fraction of the cost to date. The financial cost of the war in Iraq, through Fiscal […]
By Debbie Gregory. Staff Sgt. Frankie Hernandez might not be around today were it not for his Army-issued advanced combat helmet. In 2012, Hernandez, a platoon sergeant with the 668th Engineer Company of the Orangeburg, New York Army Reserves was on his 22nd mission in Afghanistan when an enemy bullet struck the top of his […]
By Debbie Gregory. In the first successful override of a presidential veto since Obama took office, the House and Senate voted to reject President Obama’s veto of legislation allowing lawsuits against foreign sponsors of terrorism. This was Obama’s 12th veto of his presidency. S.2040/H.R.3815, known as the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, or JASTA, was vetoed because it was thought […]
By Debbie Gregory. For the second time in three years, the Navy has broken a major school exam cheating ring at the San Diego Surface Warfare Medical Institute, resulting in 31 students being booted from the program. An additional 13 students have been recommended for separation from the Navy. An internal command investigation was launched […]
By Debbie Gregory. The Defense Department’s Executive Resale Board has unanimously voted to recommend that military exchange services open online discount shopping to 19 million honorably discharged veterans. The plan, which could begin at the end of next year, would extend shopping discounts to most American veterans. Not only would the plan reward those who […]
By Debbie Gregory. H R 5620, the VA Accountability First and Appeals Modernization Act of 2016, passed in the House on September 14, 2016 and now goes to the Senate for consideration. The bill was introduced by House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.) The legislation provides for the removal or demotion of employees […]
By Debbie Gregory. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has called U.S. abuse of prescription narcotics the worst drug addiction epidemic in the country’s history. To mitigate this problem, a strong case has been made for medical marijuana as an alternative. “Plants, not pills,” said Aaron Newsom, co-founder and vice president of Santa Cruz […]
By Debbie Gregory. The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) is a law that allows access to information from the federal government. It is often described as the law that keeps citizens in the know about their government. Now, Congress has been asked by a number of organizations to block new changes to the FOIA requested […]
