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Website Helps Military Families Find Child Care Worldwide

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milchildcare

By Debbie Gregory.

MilitaryChildCare.com (MCC) could be a game-changer for military parents.

The online portal allows military parents to access comprehensive information on military-operated and military-subsidized child care options worldwide. It enables families to search for and request care, manage their requests, and update their profile online, making it easier for families to find the child care they need. MCC supports requests for full time and part time care.

The goal of the program is to reduce the wait time for child care, and to give parents timely information about the status of their care requests.

Since launching in January 2015, the number of families using the child care portal has grown steadily, with 141,287 families registered and using the system for their child care. The Navy is the executive agent for the program for all the services.

The central gateway allows parents to search online, from anywhere in the world, for military child care of a variety of types at multiple installations in any given area.

Previously, each installation maintained its own waiting list; the website means parents no longer have to sign up for waiting lists in person. If offered a space at one program, parents can accept while remaining on waiting lists for other locations they may prefer.

The Department of Defense provides child care through more than 700 child development centers, school-age care facilities and about 2,600 family child care homes. It services approximately 180,000 children each day, ranging in age from birth to 12 years. The system includes at over 230 locations worldwide. Fees are based on Total Family Income and apply to all children who attend the program on a regular basis.

The MCC help desk is available by calling the toll free number at 855-696-2934 or emailing FamilySupport@MilitaryChildCare.com, ProgramSupport@MilitaryChildCare.com, or  SystemSupport@MilitaryChildCare.com.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Navy Relieves Two More Commanders in Ship Collisions

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Bonhomme

By Debbie Gregory.

The U.S. Navy relieved two senior commanders in the 7th Fleet in connection with recent deadly collisions of Navy ships.

Vice Adm. Phil Sawyer fired Rear Adm. Charles Williams, commander of Task Force 70 and Capt. Jeffrey Bennett, commander of the destroyer squadron, citing a loss of confidence in their ability to command. Williams had tactical control of 7th Fleet’s cruisers and destroyers, as well as Carrier Air Wing 5 and the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan.

Vice Adm. Joseph Aucoin, who previously led 7th Fleet, was previously relieved of duty.

In January, the USS Antietam ran aground and spilled roughly 1,100 gallons of hydraulic fluid into Tokyo Bay. In May, the USS Lake Champlain collided with a South Korean fishing boat while operating off the east coast of the divided peninsula. In June, a collision between the USS Fitzgerald and a Philippine-flagged merchant ship killed seven sailors. Last month, a collision between the USS John S. McCain and a civilian merchant vessel killed 10 sailors.

The latest dismissals bring the number of fired senior commanders to six, including the top three officers of the Fitzgerald.

Navy Capt. Charlie Brown said Monday that 7th Fleet ships have completed the one-day operational pause ordered for the entire Navy to make sure crews were conducting safe operations. And Pacific Fleet is in the process of carrying out a ship-by-ship review of its vessels, looking at navigation, mechanical systems, bridge resource management and training.

Rear Adm. Marc Dalton, who was serving as commander of 7th Fleet’s amphibious forces, has now taken command of CTF 70. DESRON 15’s deputy commander, Capt. Jonathan Duffy, has assumed command of the squadron.

“History has shown that continuous operations over time causes basic skills to atrophy and in some cases gives commands a false sense of their overall readiness,” said Pacific Fleet commander Adm. Scott Swift.

Swift has vowed to investigate manning, maintenance and cultural norms within the fleet to prevent further incidents.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

U.S. Army Has Canceled Enlistment of Hundreds of Immigrant Recruits

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By Debbie Gregory.

The United States Army has reportedly canceled the enlistment contracts for hundreds of foreign-born military.

Many of these enlistees have been waiting years to participate in Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI), a special recruiting program designed to attract highly skilled immigrants into the service in exchange for fast-track citizenship.

At this time, the Department of Defense has stopped accepting applications for the MAVNI program.

The Pentagon has denied ordering a mass cancellation of immigrant recruit contracts and said there were no incentives to do so.

But many of the MAVNI recruits are in limbo. About 1,000 recruits have been waiting so long to enlist that their legal status has expired without much time to try to restart the citizenship process through other channels. There are others who find themselves in the United States illegally, but disqualified from going home because of their attempts to enlist in the U.S. military.

The program has rotated 10,400 troops into the military, mostly the Army, since its inception in 2009.

Motivated by financial pressure, a staggering workload, and the current climate on immigration, U.S. Army recruiters are dumping the immigrant recruits.  Although the military has benefited from these recruits, getting them through the system generates a disproportionate amount of work for recruiters. The layered security checks can add months or years to the enlistment process, frustrating recruiters who must meet strictly enforced goals by quickly processing recruits.

According to the Pentagon, there are 2,400 foreign recruits with signed contracts who are drilling in reserve units who have not been naturalized and have not gone to basic training. About 1,600 others are waiting to clear background checks before active duty service.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families

How California Plans to Help Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury

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spirit

By Debbie Gregory.

Hundreds of thousands of military personnel have been diagnosed with some level of traumatic brain injury (TBI) in the past decade, many as a result of combat injury. TBI can have long-term and  often times severe effects on service members’ lives, affecting their ability to work, interact with others, manage basic living tasks, and even interact with their own families.

The California Legislature hopes that Senate Bill 197 will help restore the lives of the state’s military veterans suffering with TBI.

SB 197 would waive the California sales tax on building materials and supplies purchased for the construction of specified military and veteran medical facilities.

“SB 197 is about stretching charitable dollars farthest and adding additional medical care infrastructure at the lowest possible cost,” said Republican Senator Patricia Bates, one of the bill’s authors.

After the Senate’s recent unanimous approval, the last hurdle for the bill is for the Assembly Appropriations Committee to release it from the suspense file.

The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, in collaboration with one of California’s top brain injury experts and a nationwide team of doctors and researchers has been working breakthrough treatments for TBI while building dedicated facilities on military bases to implement these revolutionary methods.

The Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund has paid for, built and donated to the Army the burn and prostheses facility at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, the Center for the Intrepid.

In 2008, the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund partnered with Dr. David Hovda, director of the UCLA Brain Injury Research Center and 24 additional institutions doing brain research to take a new approach to TBI treatment.

The fund also paid for, built and donated a TBI and post-traumatic stress research center on the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center campus in Bethesda, Md., outside Washington.

In total, nine rehabilitation centers, called Intrepid Spirit Centers, will be built by the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund on military bases. In May, IFHF and the Navy broke ground at Marine Corps Camp Pendleton on the seventh center.

SB 197 would waive the California sales tax on purchases made to build the Pendleton center. For state government, that cost is small, a little over $200,000 – less than what the state might spend on a veteran who, because of TBI-related drug abuse, did not have an honorable discharge, and so was denied VA benefits and on Medi-Cal and public assistance. But for a nonprofit in a race to save more service members, that small amount is huge.

When the Assembly Appropriations Committee moves SB 197 out of the suspense file and to the Assembly floor, the entire State Legislature will be able to demonstrate California’s gratitude to those who have given and sacrificed so much.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Equifax Credit Agency Hack Could Hit Servicemembers Especially Hard

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ID theft

By Debbie Gregory.

On September 7th,  Equifax Credit Agency has revealed that a “cybersecurity incident” has potentially exposed the personal information of 143 million Americans

Equifax, one of the nation’s big three credit reporting agencies, experienced an online security breach. While a large number of American civilians could potentially be adversely impacted, active-duty service members are twice as likely to have their identities stolen.

“Stealing sensitive information about members of the military, particularly those deployed from their normal duty station, doesn’t just raise national security concerns,” said Consumer Federation of America senior fellow Rohit Chopra. “ It can also create financial nightmares for servicemembers and their families.”

What we know so far is:

  • Criminals exploited a U.S.-based website application vulnerability to gain access to certain files
  • Unauthorized access occurred from mid-May through July 2017
  • Information accessed primarily includes names, Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses and, in some instances, driver’s license numbers
  • Credit card numbers for approximately 209,000 U.S. consumers and certain dispute documents for approximately 182,000 U.S. consumers were accessed

“Since active-duty service members frequently move due to Permanent Change of Station orders, this can make it even harder to quickly learn if they’ve had their identities stolen,” Chopra wrote.

All three major consumer credit reporting agencies,  Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion, each have a web page where service members can request an Active Duty Alert on their credit report. This will last for one year and is renewable.

Another step we all can take is a credit freeze. This allows you to seal your credit reports and use a personal identification number (PIN) that only you know and can use to temporarily “thaw” your credit when legitimate applications for credit and services need to be processed.

The added layer of security means that thieves can’t establish new credit in your name even if they are able to obtain your personal information.

Freezing your credit files has no impact whatsoever on your existing lines of credit, such as credit cards. You can continue to use them as you regularly would even when your credit is frozen.

The cost typically ranges from about $3 to $10 per person per bureau to freeze a credit report, although some states don’t charge a fee. On September 9th, Equifax tweeted that it will waive the fee for freezes for 30 days.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Why the Secret Service Maxed Out Just Six Months into Trump Administration

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secret service

By Debbie Gregory.

Director Randolph “Tex” Alles, the head of the U.S. Secret Service, says that while some 1,100 of its agents have already maxed out on their allowable earnings for 2017, the agency is not broke.

According to a statement by Alles, the Secret Service has the funding it needs to meet all current mission requirements for the remainder of the fiscal year, as well as compensating employees for overtime within statutory pay caps.

The drain of resources can be partially attributed to President Donald Trump’s frequent stays at his own resorts, and his extended family’s vacation and business trips.

Between 2011 and 2015, staffing levels at the Secret Service fell by 10%, according to a House Oversight Committee. Last year, the number of agents decreased again by 8% while the burden of protection greatly increased, what with a presidential election campaign, Pope Francis’s visit, and a United Nations General Assembly meeting.

In 2016, Congress passed emergency legislation to retroactively increase the pay cap. The Secret Service appears to be pursuing a similar legislative fix in 2017, while it attempts to hire more agents and more widely distribute its workload.

Trump travel has included trips to his Florida resort home, Mar-a-Lago, his New Jersey golf resort, and Trump Tower in New York.  These properties now require a semi-permanent Secret Service infrastructure

The Secret Service’s demands will continue to be higher than ever throughout the Trump administration. Trump’s family and inner circle, which numbers some 42 people, is an increase of 35% over President Obama’s administration.

All five of the Trump children get 24/7 protection from the Secret Service, and the older children (along with their spouses/significant other) are frequent travelers, both domestically and abroad, for business and pleasure.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Operation Overmatch – Army Seeks a Few Good Gamers

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op over

By Debbie Gregory.

The U.S. Army is currently seeking Soldiers to provide feedback through online gameplay in order to contribute to the development of the future force.

The video game, Operation Overmatch, has been in development since 2016, and will pit two teams of eight soldiers against an array of advanced war machines.

The Army intends to monitor and solicit feedback from troops on how the up-armored killing machines they pilot in the game do in the virtual world, so the service can figure out what weapon and armor concepts are worth pursuing in the real world.

“What we want is two-way communication, and what better medium to use than video games,” said Lt. Col. Brian Vogt, Early Synthetic Prototyping (ESP) project lead with U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command’s Army Capabilities Integration Center.

One of the benefits of collecting feedback through the gaming environment within ESP is the ability to explore hundreds, if not thousands, of variations at a fraction of what it would cost to actually build.

The game is still in the testing phase, with an emphasis on gear rather than tactics.

The Army has also explored the Synthetic Training Environment (STE) via the immersive augmented reality system that is designed to replicate the diverse operational environments that soldiers may find themselves in. STE converges the virtual, constructive, and gaming environments into a single-synthetic environment. For a generation of soldiers who grew up playing video games, STE may be easier for them to adapt to.

With the game in its early development alpha testing, Vogt encourages Soldiers to sign up now for early access to gameplay during the beta testing period, which is scheduled for October.

Soldiers can sign up to play Operation Overmatch at www.operationovermatch.com

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Innovative Potter’s Lane Apartment Complex Utilizes Shipping Containers to House Veterans

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potters lane

By Debbie Gregory.

In March of 2017, just 6 months after breaking ground, 15 homeless veterans moved in to their brand new, unique 480-square-foot living spaces in Orange County, CA.

Potter’s Lane is a $6.7 million project paid for with federal, state and local dollars, donations, and money from American Family Housing, the nonprofit behind the project. It is the first-of-its-kind to use recycled shipping containers to create permanent supportive housing for veterans.

Each of the furnished units are made of three shipping containers pieced together, and each one overlooks a courtyard that includes an oversized American flag, a garden, and picnic tables.

Donna Gallup, the president of American Family Housing, wanted to make sure the complex’s design honored the service of its U.S. military residents.

“All of the units look over the courtyard so that they can watch each other’s backs and develop that community and that sense of belonging,” Gallup said.

“Normally a traditional project would take up to two years to build, and the fact that our homeless veterans are sleeping on the streets right now, I think timing is very important,” she added.

At Potter’s Lane, case managers from the VA and the Illumination Foundation, another Orange County nonprofit that works with the homeless, are around to help residents with whatever assistance they might need.

“This is a model that can be replicated,” said Gallup. “It’s an innovative approach to development because the structures were manufactured off-site while site work was being done here. Then, the units were delivered and assembled on-site to create housing – shortening the time it would normally take to build a project. The units are designed to be very strong, sustainable and energy efficient.”

Proponents of using containers to build affordable housing expect costs to come down as more companies compete in that market.

If you would like to volunteer with any of American Family Housing’s projects or events, email volunteer@afhusa.org or call (714) 897-3221×115.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

How will Telemedicine Impact Healthcare?

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telemedicine

By Debbie Gregory.

These days, more and more people are working from home, shopping from home, and even seeing the doctor from home. Telemedicine, the use of telecommunication and information technology to deliver clinical healthcare from a distance, is changing healthcare as we know it.

Telemedicine allows health care professionals to evaluate, diagnose and treat patients at a distance using technology. The approach has seen tremendous growth in the last decade, and it is becoming an increasingly important part of the healthcare infrastructure.

Doctors are linking up with patients by phone, email and computer webcams. Physicians and allied healthcare professionals are also consulting with each other electronically.

Telemedicine is a key component of medical care on the International Space Station. Today’s long-duration and exploration missions require space medicine to fulfill a much wider-ranging mandate and extend beyond minor illness and urgent care.

Additionally, patients are using new devices to relay their vital signs to their doctors so they can manage chronic conditions at home. This is especially valuable to patients in isolated communities and remote regions; telemedicine can offer care from doctors or specialists far away, without requiring the patient to travel for medical services.

Additional benefits include: less time away from work; no travel expenses or time; less interference with child or elder care responsibilities; privacy; and an avoidance of exposure to other potentially contagious patients.

Hospitals, enabled by telemedicine, will increasingly serve as command posts for care. Through continued advancements, the telemedicine industry will grow exponentially, revolutionizing healthcare as we know it today.

The fastest-growing services in telemedicine connect patients with clinicians they’ve never met for one-time phone, video or email visits—on-demand, 24/7. Typically, these are for nonemergency issues such as colds and the flu, earaches, skin rashes, etc.

But critics are concerned that such services may be sacrificing quality for convenience. Minor issues such as upper respiratory infections can’t really be evaluated by a doctor who can’t listen to your heart, culture your throat or feel your swollen glands.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

 

Pentagon Waves Payback From California National Guard Members

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ca national guard

By Debbie Gregory.

The Department of Defense will allow 17,092 California National Guard members to keep more than $190 million in disputed enlistment bonuses and other payments.

A Defense Department report concluded that there was no wrong-doing on the part of the majority of California Guard soldiers who accepted bonuses of between $15,000 and $80,000 each. In fact, only 393 soldiers have been ordered to return the money, chiefly due to disciplinary action or criminal conduct.

The bonuses were previously recalled, years after recipients had completed their military service. Student loan repayments, which were given to some soldiers with educational loans, sometimes totaled as much as $50,000. The soldiers, who received the bonuses, took the money in good faith, served honorably, and fulfilled their enlistment contracts, often serving in war zones.

The forgiveness represents a retreat by the Defense Department and the California Guard from the aggressive recoupment effort, which included tax liens, wage garnishments and other heavy-handed tactics to try to recover the bonuses it paid for enlistment or reenlistment between 2004 to 2010. According to the report, the California Guard paid more than $233 million in bonuses and student loan repayments to fill its enlistment goals.

Most of the improper bonuses in California were processed by Army Master Sgt. Toni Jaffe, who pleaded guilty in 2011 to filing false claims of $15.2 million and was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison.

Many soldiers ordered to repay the large sums were slapped with interest charges, wage garnishments and tax liens if they refused or could not.

Going forward, the National Guard has put in place new computer software that is intended to ensure that bonuses are not given out improperly, and California has adopted the system, the report said.

But nothing has been said about an apology to those who were caught up in this unfortunate situation.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.


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