By Debbie Gregory. Petty Officer 2nd Class Michael A. Monsoor was described by his mother as being “very loyal, silent and determined,” but a character none the less. Michael Monsoor was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 2008 for his actions in Iraq On September 29, 2006, an insurgent threw a grenade onto a […]
By Debbie Gregory. In his final State of the Union address, President Obama put Vice President Biden in charge of a new national effort to end cancer as we know it. The goal of this “Cancer Moonshot” is to double the rate of progress toward a cure – to make a decade of advances in […]
By Debbie Gregory. The Navy is faulting a junior officer and a senior enlisted for failing to defend their patrol boats and then for surrendering them at gunpoint to Iranian paramilitaries, after they blundered into Iranian waters earlier this year. “The investigation also found some crewmembers did not meet code of conduct standards while in custody,” said […]
By Debbie Gregory. Kevin Ziober was a lieutenant in the Navy Reserve in 2012 when he received deployment orders to Afghanistan. After co-workers gathered to give Ziober a proper sendoff, he was summoned to the human resources office. And then he was fired. Ziober believes the dismissal was the direct result of the inconvenience his […]
By Debbie Gregory. When it comes to suicide prevention, many of our nation’s veterans are being underserved. A recent investigative report by USA Today reveled that while the Veterans Crisis Line is receiving calls at record levels, many hotline staffers were only handling one to five calls each day, and leaving work early. The overflow […]
By Debbie Gregory. A commander’s recommendation for a Medal of Honor to be awarded to Green Beret Staff Sgt. Earl D. Plumlee has been denied. Instead, Plumlee has been awarded a Silver Star, an award considered two levels lower. The award recognizes Plumlee for his role in repelling a bloody Taliban attack on August 28, 2013, […]
By Debbie Gregory. A Vietnam War helicopter pilot recently selected to receive the Medal of Honor said Thursday he didn’t hesitate to volunteer leading an airborne rescue mission that saved the lives of dozens of troops despite the prospect of coming under intense enemy fire. Retired Army Lt. Colonel Charles S. Kettles, 86, will be […]
By Debbie Gregory. Defense Secretary Ash Carter proposed allowing highly skilled civilians in the middle of their careers to “lateral” into the military and become senior uniformed officers, like colonels. In a recent speech at the Pentagon, Carter unveiled the idea as part of a far-reaching initiative to change how the military recruits and retains people […]
By Debbie Gregory. Congress has stepped into a sensitive issue that’s been quietly roiling the hiring system for federal jobs: the Obama administration’s push to give preference to veterans. While former service members would still go to the head of the hiring line, a little-noticed provision of the new defense bill recently passed by the […]
By Debbie Gregory. Michael Linnington, the former head of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) is leaving that position to take over as CEO of the Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) on July 18th. Linnington’s decorated 35-year military career included key command positions in three combat tours and senior leadership roles in the Department of Defense […]
