Tag Archive for: MilitaryConnection

You are here: / MilitaryConnection

Posts

Senators Seek Quick Action on Stalled VA Projects

/in , ,

congress2016

By Debbie Gregory.

A group of senators are urging quick action from the lame duck Congress on two dozen stalled VA projects.

The senators are calling for Congress to set aside funding for a list of health care centers, outpatient clinics and research facilities proposed throughout the Veterans Affairs system. The list includes three each in California and Florida, research facilities in Boston and Charleston, S.C., and a business office in Denver.

In South Hampton Roads, the proposed 155,200-square-foot facility is aimed at easing the workload at the Hampton VA Medical Center, where demand has skyrocketed. Patient visits in Hampton’s service area increased by 30.5 percent from 2011 to September 2014. The national average across the VA system was 8.6 percent during that time.

The Hampton Roads center would offer primary and specialty care, day surgery, an eye clinic, pharmacy and radiology services. Two similar centers are operating in North Carolina, another high-growth area for veterans care.

While Trump has talked about improving  veterans’ health care, it is unclear how these proposed projects would fare under his administration.

Supporters say a plan that leans more on private hospitals would give veterans additional choices. Critics fear it marks the first step toward privatization of veterans health care and abandonment of long-held promises for retired service members.

VA hospitals could concentrate on military-specific areas for which it has expertise, such as traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Supporters say this would not lead to a dismantling of the VA health system. The federal government would still bear responsibility for veterans health care.

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.

Survey Reveals Many Mil Parents Don’t Want Their Children to Enlist

/in , ,

enlistment1216

By Debbie Gregory.

In what would have been almost unheard of in past decades, a new  survey of military families revealed that a majority of active-duty military families — 57 percent of them — said they were unlikely to recommend that their own children join the service.

In the past, military families tended to remain military families. But the Blue Star Families survey revealed a shift, which could be due to the multiple deployments faced by current and recent servicemembers. In the past 15 years, servicemen and women have been sent on multiple rotations to conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Another factor, according to Kathy Roth-Douquet, president and CEO of Blue Star Families, is the cuts in benefits.

“It’s the reductions in forces at the same time as we are increasing our mission,” said Roth-Douquet.

Blue Star said 72 percent of active duty personnel and their spouses found the rate of deployments created too much stress for them. “Among active duty and military spouses who indicated they planned to leave service in the next two years, deployment was the top stressor for both groups with 83 percent and 85 percent, respectively,” the report reads.

Repeated moves also have a serious effect on military spouse employment. Many spouses cannot get or keep jobs. More than 20 percent are unemployed, the survey found, and many more are underemployed.

Fewer than half of military families in which one spouse is a civilian earn two incomes, compared to 66 percent of non-military couples, the survey found.

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.

Army Faces Challenges in Recruiting 80,000 Troops

/in ,

army

By Debbie Gregory.

With only thirty percent of applicants being qualified to join the U.S. military, the U.S. Army is facing a big challenge to meet its  recruiting goal of  80,000 new soldiers.

Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Snow, commanding general of United States Army Recruiting Command,  is charged with signing 62,500 recruits for the U.S. Army and 15,400 for the U.S. Army Reserve in fiscal 2017, which runs Oct. 1, 2016, through Sept. 30, 2017.

Rising obesity rates in the U.S. have made recruiting people especially challenging, but  Snow is not in favor of changing or adjusting the requirements to enlist because he believes that doing so would ultimately reduce the quality of the military.

“We don’t want to sacrifice quality,” Snow said. “If we lower the quality, yes we might be able to make our mission – but that’s not good for the organization. The American public has come to expect a qualified Army that can defend the nation. I don’t think the American public would like us to lower the quality of those joining the Army if they knew it’s going to impact our ability to perform the very functions or nation expects us to do.”

In January, the Armed Forces will implement a five-part test to measure physical fitness, called the occupational physical assessment, to make sure male and female recruits will meet the physical requirements for the job.

Other requirements for joining any branch of the U.S. Military include: U.S. citizenship or a green card ; at least 18 years old, or 17years old with parental consent; a high school diploma.

Additional requirement to join the Army include: be aged 17-34; have no more than two dependents; pass the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude test with a minimum AFQT score of  31.

“If there comes a point where young men and women are unwilling to raise their right hand and commit an oath to something bigger than themselves, yes, it could be a national security challenge,” Snow said. ” “I have too much confidence in my team of recruiters, and I think the youth of today gets a bad rap.”

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.

Planned Space Weapon Could Destroy Multiple Nuclear Missiles

/in , ,

mokv

By Debbie Gregory.

A multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) is a ballistic missile payload space weapon containing several warheads, each capable of being aimed to hit one of a group of targets.

More countries have or are developing long-range missile technology, including systems that can carry MIRVs and/or decoys.

Last year, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency awarded contracts to Raytheon, Lockheed-Martin and Boeing to begin designing what is known as a “Multi-Object Kill Vehicle” or MOKV, which could destroy several objects in space with a single launch. Raytheon’s contract was for $9,775,608.

This program is similar to an earlier program that had been terminated.

Design work on the MOKV kill vehicle concept has been underway at Raytheon’s Advanced Missile Systems, an industry-leading technology and innovation hub.

Raytheon’s plan, which is scheduled for a concept review in December, is to load multiple MOKVs onto a single missile for launch. Each MOKV would be outfitted with multiple sensors, a steering and propulsion system and communications equipment that will allow them to hone in on an individual target and hit it, destroying the object by sheer kinetic forces.

The points of impact would take place beyond Earth’s atmosphere, but on a trajectory that would send the resulting cloud of debris back into the atmosphere, where it burn up.

A major technological challenge is figuring out how to differentiate between bombs and decoys, such as balloons that look like they might have a hydrogen bomb aboard.

The military hopes to begin proof-of-concept demonstrations late next year and a non-intercept flight test in 2018. If successful, the Missile Defense Agency would conduct an intercept test in 2019.

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.

Continuing Resolution Will Keep Government Running

/in

resolution

By Debbie Gregory.

A temporary spending bill signed by President Obama will keep the funded through April of next year, and includes the Pentagon’s highest procurement priorities.

House Appropriations Chairman Hal Rogers introduced the short-term Continuing Resolution (CR) (H.R. 2028) to prevent a government shutdown and continue funding for federal programs and services until April 28, 2017. The legislation also contains funding for emergency disaster relief.

The Senate voted 63-36 to pass the 70-page continuing resolution that was released by the House Appropriations Committee.

Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain was one of 13 Republicans who voted nay. McCain characterized the bill as shortchanging defense.

“This is absolutely disgraceful,” McCain said. “We’re going to kick the can down the road because we failed to fund our troops. The fiscal irresponsibility [of] another continuing resolution, which will force the Department of Defense to operate for seven months of the fiscal year without a real budget. Tell me one company or corporation in the world, small or large, that has their budget frozen for seven months of the year and you expect to operate with any kind of efficiency. You can’t.”

Congress ended this year by abandoning regular order, as GOP leaders expect to give the new administration a chance to put its stamp on federal spending. Congress only passed one of 12 appropriations bill this year.

In a letter to congressional leaders, Defense Secretary Ash Carter complained that the lengthy continuing resolution, through the presidential transition, was “unprecedented and unacceptable” and urged Congress to reject it.

The CR extends funding for operations for most federal agencies, programs and services and maintains the current budget cap level of $1.07 trillion put into place under the Budget Control Act of 2011.

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.

Florent Groberg Honored At Citizenship Ceremony

/in , , ,

groberg1216

By Debbie Gregory.

Capt. Florent Groberg was the special guest at a citizenship ceremony last month, where he was honored with the Outstanding American by Choice award.

The Outstanding American by Choice initiative recognizes the outstanding achievements of naturalized U.S. citizens. Through civic participation, professional achievement, and responsible citizenship, recipients of this honor have demonstrated their commitment to this country and to the common civic values that unite us as Americans.

Groberg, one of  only 11 living Medal of Honor recipients from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Medal of Honor recipient, was born in Poissy, France, and became an American citizen in 2001 at age 17.

Groberg addressed 164 newly minted American citizens who hailed from 43 different countries. He shared with them that he had come to understand what it meant to be an American through his seven years of military service.

“When I lost my friends, when I felt that pain, it reminded me why this is the greatest country in the world. Because of its people, because of our history,” he said. “We stand up while others run. We face our struggles head on, and when we get back down, we get back up.”

Army Secretary Eric Fanning, another guest of honor at the ceremony, gave more weight to passages in the oath of citizenship that commit new citizens to “bear arms on behalf of the United States” and “perform noncombatant services for the Armed Forces” when required by law to do so.

Fanning hailed the diversity in the room, saying it was crucial to American military strength.

“For me, the existence and frequency of these naturalization ceremonies ranks as an important national achievement,” he said. “As Army secretary, when I look at a formation of soldiers, I want to see strength. I want to see the resilience. I see that as I look around this room today. These characteristics are what makes Americans and America great.”

“We are the greatest country in the world. This is a place where we can make anything we want of ourselves; this is the land of opportunity,” Groberg said. “So I’m very confident in the leadership that we have had, and will have. And I just, every day, am grateful to call myself an American. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

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’s Adm. Howard a Possible Nominee for VA Secretary

/in , , , ,

michelle howard

By Debbie Gregory.

President-elect Donald Trump is considering Navy Adm. Michelle Howard to head the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Howard, who serves as the commander of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe, is accustomed to being among the first to brave the uncharted waters of diversity. In 1978, she was admitted into the U.S. Naval Academy; only the third academy class that accepted women. In 1999, she was among the group of five women chosen to be the first female combatant commanders in the U.S. Navy. This group included the first female to command a U.S. Navy warship, the late Captain Kathleen A. McGrath, who took command of the USS Jarrett (FFG-33) in December, 1998. A few months later, on March 12, 1999, Howard took command of the USS Rushmore (LSD-47).

In April 2009, Adm. Howard was just three days into her new job as head of a U.S. Navy task force charged with countering piracy in the Arabian Sea, when a cargo ship sailing under a U.S. flag was hijacked by pirates. Richard Phillips, the captain of the Maersk Alabama, was taken hostage in the waters southeast of Eyl, Somalia, and transferred to a small life raft; it was Howard’s job to get him back. She did, and the incident later inspired the 2013 movie Captain Phillips.

Earlier this week, a group of 20 veterans organizations sent a letter to Trump asking him to “strongly consider” keeping Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald.

The groups signing the letter included Got Your 6, AMVETS, Community Solutions, Give An Hour, Institute for Veterans & Military Families, Marine Corps Reserve Association, Military Child Education Coalition, Military Chaplains Association, National Association of Drug Court Professionals/Justice For Vets, National Association of Veteran-Serving Organizations, National Military Family Association, Veterans and Military Programs, Points of Light, Service Women’s Action Network, The Mission Continues, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, Travis Manion Foundation, Veteran Artist Program, Warrior-Scholar Project and Wounded Warrior Project, Inc.

Their letter said, “While you continue your deliberations over who you will select to lead the Department of Veterans Affairs, we ask you to strongly consider the proven track record of the current VA Secretary, Bob McDonald, who is leading the largest transformation in the department’s history,” the groups said in the letter.

The groups said in the letter that McDonald led an agency-wide transformation of the VA, which is showing “early signs of success.”

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.

One Veteran’s Road to Entrepreneurship

/in , , ,

derek

By Debbie Gregory.

You may not have heard of professional comic book artist Derek Rodenbeck. His road to entrepreneurship has not been a smooth one, but his attitude is one of perseverance.

The Army sergeant returned home from a year’s deployment with post-traumatic stress disorder. Through no fault of his own, Rodenbeck was homeless for a while, living in his 1998 Subaru with his service dog, Kuma, a 140-pound Akita. He worked as a bouncer and occasionally competed in strongman contests.

In April, 2015, Rodenbeck had been one of 19 participants in St. Joseph’s University’s Veterans Entrepreneurial Jumpstart (VEJ) program, an all-expenses-paid business-development training program for disabled vets.

Participants completed online classes to develop a business plan, then spent seven days on campus with guest lecturers, panel discussions, one-on-one mentoring, and a Shark Tank-style presentation. Post class assistance included website development, tax and accounting assistance, and mentoring.

At the conclusion of his VEJ program, Rodenbeck impressed the panel of judges with his pitch for a line of clothing featuring artists’ designs.

“You are the canvas,” he said of the idea behind his brand. He planned to start with T-shirts, then expand to dresses, swimsuits, and jackets, and to have his own cut-and-sew facility.

Small-business reality interfered with that plan, however. He sold his first batch of 40 T-shirts for $20 each, but “was definitely in the red” and did not have the capital to keep going.

Recently Rodenbeck attended the awards dinner for this year’s VEJ class, where he impressed Ralph Galati, director of the Office of Veterans Services at St. Joe’s and co-creator of the entrepreneurial-training program.

“I noticed a different person that was not the quiet, reserved person” he met last year, Galati said. “I think we drew it out of him. You never know what little nugget you might drop in a class, and someone takes it and that seed germinates.”

“The struggle still exists but I’ve learned it’s how we adapt to the problems we face and utilize them to find solutions,” Rodenbeck said.

How long VEJ continues depends on how effectively Galati, a disabled Air Force vet and former Vietnam POW, meets his current mission: finding a financial backer.

Its seed money – a $1 million endowment by 1968 alum Frank Trainer – will fund the program through 2018, Galati said.

“We would love to have a local sponsor, a local large corporation or two, stand tall with decent money,” he said.

“These programs help disabled veterans realize their goals by providing education and mentorship services free of charge that are too often unaffordable for those who have served our country,” Galati said.

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.

Tips for Veteran Job Seekers to Ace the Interview

/in , , ,

ace the interview

By Debbie Gregory.

You already know your resume set you apart as a veteran job seeker because you have secured an interview. Perhaps your status as a military veteran aided you in this first step, because employers recognize the value of your military experience.

The one thing your military experience may not have prepared you for is the interview process when seeking post-service veteran employment. Polishing your interviewing skills can mean the difference between getting the job and being a runner-up.

Here are some great tips to guide veteran job seekers before, during and after the interview:

Before the interview do’s: Preparation is key. Know your strengths and weaknesses, your interests, and your career goals. Gear your resume to the particular job you’re applying for. Research the people interviewing you, the company, and the job itself. Know what does the company does, how they compare culturally and financially to their competitors, the company’s history, the requirements for the job, and how your experience matches those requirements. Practice interviewing with friends.

During the interview do’s: Arrive early. Offer a confident, firm handshake. Remember that you are, first and foremost, having a conversation. It’s nerve-wracking and highly formalized, but avoid stock responses. Communicate effectively with your interviewer. Mirror his or her communication style. Allow your interviewer to set the tone of the conversation. For example, if the interviewer seems all business, don’t attempt to loosen him or her up with a joke or story.  If the interviewer is personable, try discussing his or her interests. Often personal items on display in the office can be a clue.  If asked a direct question, answer directly. Maintain good posture, eye contact, as steady a voice as you can muster, even if you’re nervous, and a positive attitude.

After the interview do’s: Make sure the interviewer knows that you’re interested in the position, you know you can do the job, and that you will put forth 100% effort. Thank the interviewer for his/her time, and inquire what the next step is. Be sure to get the interviewer’s business card and send a thank-you letter.

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.

Ninety-one Year-old Gay Veteran Seeks Honorable Discharge Status

/in ,

Spires

By Debbie Gregory.

Long before “Don’t ask, don’t tell,” H. Edward Spires served as a chaplain’s assistant in the Air Force.

When his supervisors discovered Spires was gay, they interrogated him, threatened him, and ordered him to see a psychiatrist. Ultimately, they gave him an “undesirable” discharge and showed him the door.

Now the frail 91 year-old, assisted by a group of lawyers at the Yale Veterans Legal Services Clinic, is seeking to upgrade his discharge status to honorable, allowing Spires to have a funeral with military honors.

Spires’ husband, David Rosenberg, spoke on his spouse’s behalf.

“The idea that this man of faith who served dutifully as a chaplain’s assistant in the armed forces, who built a life and a career that has brought joy to those around him, would leave this earth considered undesirable in the eyes of his country, it’s unthinkable.”

The couple has been together for nearly six decades, marrying in 2009.

Spires recently suffered a bout of pneumonia and spent three weeks in the hospital. His declining health adds an undertone of urgency to the legal mission.

Spires joined the U.S. Army Air Force in 1946, at the age of 20. After completing basic training, he was assigned to be a chaplain’s assistant at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. Within 18 months, he reached the rank of sergeant.

Spires built a large group of civilian friends in San Antonio, many of whom were gay. But there were ominous signs: In October of 1947, the commander called a meeting to “clean up the base of homosexuals,” the lawsuit states.

According to Spires, shortly after a 1947 off-base Halloween party, he was summoned to the judge advocate’s office and asked if he was a “homosexual.” When Spires did not initially answer, the master sergeant threatened to throw him into the stockade.

As word of his interrogation spread across the base, he was taunted and verbally abused by his fellow soldiers. Only his direct supervisor, Father Major John Habitz, stood up for him.

“We hope the Air Force will remedy this injustice promptly,” said Erin Baldwin, a law student intern who is working on Spires’ case. “By granting Mr. Spires justice, the Air Force will finally send a message to Mr. Spires and to all veterans who received undesirable discharges for homosexuality, despite their faithful service to our country, that the honor of their service does not depend upon their sexual orientation.”

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.


© 2006-2020 Military Connection, Owned by BL, LLC. All rights reserved

Military Connection