MilitaryConnection.com Archives

Military Connection: Great News for Veterans Suffering from TBI

May 16, 2015/in Military, Military News, Military Veteran, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

On April 13, 2015, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced the contract recipients for the Assisted Living Pilot Program for Veterans with Traumatic Brain Injury (AL-TBI) program.

The AL-TBI program was originally slated to end in 2014. But provisions in the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability Act of 2014 extended this program through October, 2017. Through the AL-TBI program, Veterans who meet the eligibility criteria are placed in private sector residential care facilities that specialize in neurobehavioral rehabilitation. Veterans in the program are provided with team-based care and assistance in many cognitive areas, including mobility, speech and memory.

To date, approximately 202 Veterans have participated in the AL-TBI program at 47 different facilities located in 22 different states. As of April, 2015, there are 101 Veterans enrolled in the AL-TBI program. And thanks to the extension through the Veterans Access, Choice, and Accountability act of 2014, the VA continues to accept new Veterans into the program.

In October, 2014, the VA issued a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) to all vendors (in this instance to care facilities) who wished to participate in the AL-TBI program. The VA awarded 20 contracts, effective April 1, 2015, to companies and organizations that have facilities in a total of 27 different states.

“We are pleased to extend this valuable program and provide specialized assisted living services to eligible Veterans with traumatic brain injury that will enhance their rehabilitation, quality of life and community integration,” said Dr. Carolyn Clancy, VA’s Interim Under Secretary for Health, “TBI is one of the prevalent wounds of the recent wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and VA remains committed to taking care of those Veterans suffering from TBI.”

Veterans suffering from TBI as a result of injuries sustained through service to their country deserve the best care that we can provide. The continuation of the Al-TBI program and the awarding of these 20 contracts reaffirms our support to those Veterans and their families.

Military Connection proudly serves those who serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve, Veterans and their Families. We are the go to site for Veteran Employment and information on Veteran education. Militaryconnection.com provides Veterans with and Directory of Employers, a Job Board, information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and a blog that offers Veterans boundless information. Be sure to visit Militaryconnection.com, the go to site.

Military Connection: Great News for Veterans Suffering from TBI: By Debbie Gregory

Military Connection: DOD Awards $2 Million Grant for PTSD Research

May 15, 2015/in Military Veteran, Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)

By Debbie Gregory.

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) has awarded a $2 million grant to RTI International, a nonprofit organization that is dedicated to improving the human condition by turning knowledge into practice.

The DOD grant will allow RTI International to lead the first randomized, controlled trials of a procedure to treat Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms by injecting an anesthetic into the nerve tissue at the base of the patient’s neck. Initial research has found basis to believe that the procedure, called Stellate Ganglion Block, has the potential to relieve PTSD symptoms. The procedure is intended to block the sympathetic nerve system in order to relieve the physical stress that is associated with instances of PTSD symptoms. In other words, this procedure combats the “fight or flight” feeling that is associated with PTSD.

Stellate Ganglion Block has been in use for about 100 years, mostly for treating chronic pain of the limbs. Only in the last few years has the procedure been used as a treatment for PTSD symptoms. The use of Stellate Ganglion Block is not being proposed as a cure for PTSD; raher, a way to alleviate symptoms. The traumatic experiences that caused the disorder will not be erased from the PTSD sufferer’s mind. But the procedure will help relieve the anxiety that the memories of those traumatic experiences cause.

As part of RTI International’s three year study, three military hospitals were chosen: Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany; Tripler Army Medical Center in Honolulu, Hawaii; and Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg, in California. The three facilities were chosen because they had previously used Stellate Ganglion Block to treat PTSD, on a limited basis. The study will enroll 250 active duty service members who have been diagnosed with PTSD.

For the study, participants will receive two injections, two weeks apart. The injections will be followed by mental health assessments that will be conducted at weeks 4, 6 and 8. The assessments will include a qualitative component to gather impressions of the procedure from the patients, their families, behavioral therapists and psychiatrists. The study will also use a placebo control group that will receive injections of saline.

Unfortunately, PTSD is an affliction that is rampant in the military community. It has been estimated that as many as 20% of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans suffer from the disorder. For the most part, prescribed treatments for PTSD included a lot of prescription drugs. The heavy use of drugs does little to treat the patient, and more often than not leads to other mental and physical health problems, including substance abuse of these very same prescribed drugs.

Proponents of Stellate Ganglion Block claim that the procedure is a low-risk injection that has very few negative side effects.

Our service members and Veterans deserve the very best treatment for whatever ails them. If any new procedure or method of care arises that could improve the lives of those who serve, then those procedures and methods should be given a chance.

Military Connection proudly serves those who serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve, Veterans and their Families. We are the go to site for Veteran Employment and information on Veteran education. Militaryconnection.com provides Veterans with and Directory of Employers, a Job Board, information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and a blog that offers Veterans boundless information. Be sure to visit Militaryconnection.com, the go to site.

Military Connection: DOD Awards $2 Million Grant for PTSD Research: By Debbie Gregory

Military Connection: Training Program for Solar Industry Expanded

May 15, 2015/in Archived Blogs

By Debbie Gregory.

Ten military installations are slated to participate in a new initiative that provides jobs and energy.

Recently, President Obama kicked off the expansion of what is being called the “Solar Ready Vets Program” at Hill Air Force Base, in Utah.

Last year, a few small pilot programs started around the country through a partnership between the Department of Energy and the DOD, with the intention of connecting Veterans to the solar energy industry. The program prepare participants for careers as solar photovoltaic (PV) system installers, sales representatives, system inspectors, and other solar-related occupations.

The success of these pilot programs, combined with the growing demand of jobs in the field of solar energy, and the ongoing need to employ our nation’s Veterans, has resulted in the expansion of the Solar Ready Vets Program. The goal is to train 75,000 workers for the renewable energy industry by 2020. Through the Solar Ready Veterans Program, a large portion of these workers will be former service members.

Hill AFB is one of the ten military installations that will participate in the expanded program. Solar Ready Vets is underway at Camp Pendleton, Fort Carson, and Naval Station Norfolk.

Through the program, transitioning service members will learn how to size and install solar panels, connect electricity to the grid, and interpret and comply with local building codes. This accelerated training will prepare them for these careers in this high demand field.

The solar industry is adding jobs at a rate of ten times faster than the bulk of the rest of the economy. This makes it a promising industry for Veterans to get into today. With the unemployment rate for transitioning service members being consistently over the national unemployment rate, a growing job market should attract a lot of Veterans to the solar industry.

For more information about the Solar Ready Vets program, please visit the U.S. Department of Energy’s web portal at http://energy.gov/eere/sunshot/solar-ready-vets.

Military Connection proudly serves those who serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve, Veterans and their Families. We are the go to site for Veteran Employment and information on Veteran education. Militaryconnection.com provides Veterans with and Directory of Employers, a Job Board, information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and a blog that offers Veterans boundless information. Be sure to visit Militaryconnection.com, the go to site.

Military Connection: Training Program for Solar Industry Expanded: By Debbie Gregory

Military Connection: DoD Names ‘Freedom Award’ Semifinalists

May 15, 2015/in Military, Military News

By Debbie Gregory.

The Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve (ESGR), a Department of Defense (DoD) office, has selected 30 employers as finalists for the 2015 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award.

Now in its 20th year, the award is the highest recognition given by the U.S. Government to employers for their support of their employees who serve in the Guard and Reserve. Up to 15 awards are presented each year to employers in three categories, large business, small business and the public sector.

The Freedom Award was created to publicly recognize employers who provide exceptional support to their Guard employees and Reserve employees. It is the highest in a series of employer recognition awards given by the Department of Defense. Nominations must come from a Guard or Reserve member who is employed by the organization they are nominating, or from a family member.

Senior DoD and other officials and representatives of prior recipient organizations will narrow the field of 30 nominees to fifteen Freedom Award recipients, to be honored at the Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award ceremony. The field began with 150 semi-finalists.

Family and Employer Programs and Policy Acting Director M. Alex Baird said “Among thousands of employers across this great nation, these 30 employers have gone far above and beyond what is required to provide exemplary support to our military men and women as well as their families,”

Companies in the running are:

Arlington Police Department

Arvest Central Mortgage Company

BioTek Instruments Inc.

Black Hills Corporation

Boise Fire Department

BP America, Inc.

Cardinal Health

Christ’s Church of the Valley

Cigna

City of Glendale

City of Shawnee

College of the Ozarks

Columbus County Sheriff’s Office

Cranston Public Schools

CVS Health

Devon Energy

Dr. Joe A. Jackson, MD, PLLC

GlaxoSmithKline

Grandview Police Department

Hope Valley Industries

Kennebec County Sheriff’s Office

Lexmark International

Neil, Dymott, Frank, McFall & Trexler APCL

None Such Farm, Inc.

Seattle Fire Department

Snell & Wilmer, LLP

State of Wisconsin

T-Mobile USA

Town of Hingham

Walt Disney Co

Previous winners include Bank of America, McDonnell Douglas, Tektronix, Inc. and National Life of Vermont. If you would like to view all past recipients, visit http://www.freedomaward.mil/PastRecipientsView.aspx .

At MilitaryConnection.com, we tip our hat to these outstanding employers as finalists for the prestigious 2015 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award.

Military Connection proudly serves those who serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard,Guard and Reserve, Veterans and their Families. We are the go to site for Veteran Employment and information on Veteran education. Militaryconnection.com provides Veterans with and Directory of Employers, a Job Board, information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and a blog that offers Veterans boundless information. Be sure to visit Militaryconnection.com, the go to site.

Military Connection: DoD Names ‘Freedom Award’ Semifinalists: By Debbie Gregory

Military Connection: A Very Public Proposal

May 15, 2015/in Military Veteran

By Debbie Gregory.

The competition on “Dancing With the Stars” has been tough. Really tough. Two of the final four couples ended the semifinals with a perfect score. But that’s not what brought Noah Galloway to his knees. In one of the most memorable moments of the show, Galloway proposed to girlfriend Jamie Boyd.

Galloway got a standing ovation when he kneeled and proposed to Boyd after his score was revealed. The tender proposal, after he danced to “Time of My Life” was made even more special when Galloway told Boyd that she had given him the time of his life. Boyd hugged and kissed Galloway: “I’m speechless, and I’m never speechless. Oh, baby, I love you so much!” she said, and when Andrews asked her “Is that a yes?” Boyd replied: “Oh, heck yes!”

Galloway said that it “was just a moment I wanted to share with America, because so much of our relationship has been shared because of this show.”

Galloway is a former Army soldier who lost his arm and leg while serving in Iraq. The Birmingham, Alabama native was severely injured by an IED in 2005. He has consistently overcome his physical challenges, working as a personal trainer and also modeling.

The couple has been surprising each other throughout the competition. Boyd surprised her now fiancé during week two of the show, by coming out of nowhere to celebrate his participation in the competition for the prized “Mirror Ball.” Galloway thought she was away at basic training.

Boyd said Galloway tricked her by saying that she would be on camera when the hosts cut to her to ask her how he was doing, so she got a nice dress. Fortunately, for Galloway, Ms. Boyd will once again be shopping for a new dress; the one she will be wearing on the day when they both say, “I do!”

Military Connection proudly serves those who serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard,Guard and Reserve, Veterans and their Families. We are the go to site for Veteran Employment and information on Veteran education. Militaryconnection.com provides Veterans with and Directory of Employers, a Job Board, information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and a blog that offers Veterans boundless information. Be sure to visit Militaryconnection.com, the go to site.

Military Connection: A Very Public Proposal: By Debbie Gregory

Military Connection: Fort Bragg Airmen to Receive Silver Stars

May 14, 2015/in Military, Military News

By Debbie Gregory.

The Air Force has selected Tech. Sgt. Matthew J Greiner and Senior Airman Goodie Goodman, both of Fort Bragg, as recipients of the Silver Star for their valor and heroic actions during a 48 hour battle in Afghanistan’s Helmand River Valley. The Silver Star is the third highest medal a military service member can receive, below the Air Force Cross and Medal of Honor.

Both airmen are combat controllers with the 21^st Special Tactics Squadron, an elite Air Force special operations unit based at Pope Field, and are credited with helping to save and protect the lives of 38 troops, including 14 U.S. special operators and 24 Afghan commandos.

Working alongside a Special Forces detachment and Afghan commandos, Greiner and Goodman assaulted a hostile bazaar via helicopter, seeking to disrupt insurgent operations. As the battle dragged on and the troops were low on ammo, more than 100 insurgents surged in an attempt to capture the Special Forces team. The airmen exposed themselves to heavy fire to call in precision strikes, controlling 70 air assets during the 48-hour fight, allowing the team to resupply and stop the insurgent advance.

The valor awards for the 21^st Special Tactics Squadron and Greiner will help solidify the squadron as being the most decorated unit of its size in the Air Force since Vietnam.

This isn’t the only award Greiner will be receiving, however. On top of his Silver Star, Greiner will be awarded the Bronze Star medal with valor before his Silver Star, and after his Silver Star, will be honored as the Air Force’s national Non Commissioned Officer Association Vanguard Award recipient.

Just one week prior to the battle that earned him the nation’s third-highest award, Greiner preformed his duties as a combat controller despite grievous injuries to his head and body. A medic pulled him to cover and began to provide aid while requesting a medical evacuation helicopter. Greiner, with a radio and map in one hand and a fentanyl lollipop for pain relief in the other, called in airstrikes — controlling multiple aircraft for 38 minutes to push the insurgents back and protect his own medevac. Greiner was placed in a Kandahar hospital, and just five days after his release, he joined Goodman and their Special Forces team for their epic two-day battle.

Military Connection proudly serves those who serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard,Guard and Reserve, Veterans and their Families. We are the go to site for Veteran Employment and information on Veteran education. Militaryconnection.com provides Veterans with and Directory of Employers, a Job Board, information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and a blog that offers Veterans boundless information. Be sure to visit Militaryconnection.com, the go to site.

Military Connection: Fort Bragg Airmen to Receive Silver Stars: By Debbie Gregory

Military Connection: Racist Comment Ends Air Force General’s Career

May 14, 2015/in Military, Military News

By Debbie Gregory.

A racially charged comment forced Maj. Gen. Michael Keltz to resign last week. The four words that derailed his career? “Drunker than 10,000 Indians.”

Keltz, the former commander of 19th Air Force at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, resigned from his job and announced he would retire, saying in a written statement that he “inadvertently made an unfortunate comment.”

While serving as the convening authority at a company-grade officer’s Article 15 hearing on April 9^th , Keltz said the accused and another officer looked “drunker than 10,000 Indians,” referring to a photograph of the two officers. Blogger and former airman Tony Carr wrote on his John Q. Public blog that Keltz, during the hearing to determine whether the officer’s punishment was fair, had a photo of the officer and a friend standing together at a unit event. While they had both been drinking, Keltz observed that they appeared to be “drunker than 10,000 Indians.”

“The audience, which apparently included members of Native American descent, was taken aback,” Carr wrote in the blog. ”Keltz reportedly continued the commentary a little longer, at one point saying the officer looked ‘drunker than 10,000 sailors.’”

Carr said in his blog that several sources reached out to his site “with first-hand accounts of the incident.”

Maj. Toni Whaley, a spokeswoman for AETC, the parent unit to 19th Air Force, confirmed Keltz made the comment about the photograph.

Because of Keltz’s remark, the accused officer’s Article 15 was terminated, his punishment was voided, and no decision was made at the hearing, Whaley said.

“I inadvertently made an unfortunate comment, I own it, and I hold myself accountable to the same high standards my subordinate commanders are held to,” Keltz said. “As a result, I have tendered my resignation from command and requested to retire from service.

Keltz retires after serving 34 years in the Air Force.

Military Connection proudly serves those who serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard,Guard and Reserve, Veterans and their Families. We are the go to site for Veteran Employment and information on Veteran education. Militaryconnection.com provides Veterans with and Directory of Employers, a Job Board, information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and a blog that offers Veterans boundless information. Be sure to visit Militaryconnection.com, the go to site.

Military Connection: Racist Comment Ends Air Force General’s Career: By Debbie Gregory

Miltary Connection: Female Soldiers In Army Ranger School Fail To Advance

May 14, 2015/in Military, Military News

By Debbie Gregory.

The remaining eight female soldiers washed out of the Army’s prestigious Ranger School after 11 others didn’t make it past the first cut. Sadly, none of these brave women will earn the vaunted black and gold Ranger tab. As for the men, 115 of the original male contenders met the requirement to begin the Mountain Phase of Ranger School in Dahlonega, GA.

The eight female candidates, along with 101 male candidates, will be recycled to repeat the Darby Phase of Ranger School.

Approximately 35 male Ranger students failed to meet the standards of Ranger School and will not be recycled, the press release said.

“They will return to their units having learned a great deal about themselves and small unit tactics, patrolling, leadership, and team work,” according to the release.

While some headlines are declaring this a failure, which suggests it’s a sign that women can’t handle the demanding tests, women made it past some of the physical hurdles at nearly the same rates as men. And the fact that no women candidates moved forward this time doesn’t spell the end of women tackling the Army’s toughest leadership course, which spans two months, three phases and endless physical obstacles, including sleep and food deprivation

These women completed the Ranger Assessment Phase, or RAP week, which consists of day and night land navigation, obstacle courses, skill tests and a 12 mile road march with a rifle, fighting load vest and rucksack weight approximately 47 pounds.

The Darby Phase will not repeat RAP week, according to officials.

The important take-away from this exercise is that the Army has stood by what Ranger School graduates and women soldiers alike have demanded: maintaining the incredibly high standard of what senior military leaders call the “Army’s most physically and mentally-demanding course” while making room for women who could handle the test and sought the chance to meet that bar. No one wanted any slack cut, and none was.

Military Connection proudly serves those who serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve, Veterans and their Families. We are the go to site for Veteran Employment and information on Veteran education. Militaryconnection.com provides Veterans with and Directory of Employers, a Job Board, information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and a blog that offers Veterans boundless information. Be sure to visit Militaryconnection.com, the go to site.

Miltary Connection: Female Soldiers In Army Ranger School Fail To Advance: By Debbie Gregory

Military Connection: The Evolution of Warfare

May 14, 2015/in Military, Military News

By Debbie Gregory.

During a keynote address on international security and the future of defense strategy at the U.S. Army War College, Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work said, “In the future, U.S. Army and U.S. Marine forces and our allies who fight with us are going to have to fight on a battlefield that is swept by precision-guided munitions but also one that is swept by persistent and effective cyber and electronic warfare attacks.”

Mr. Work’s statement on April 8, 2015 is not a prediction, but a warning based on the continuation of the current evolution of warfare. In the past hundred years, this evolution has seen the following: the introduction of the first aircraft (World War I); the first all aerial battles (World War II); the use of long range missiles (Korean War); ground warfare sped up by the rapid delivery and extraction of personnel through use of helicopters (Vietnam War); the total combined surveillance, air cover, bombing, and air superiority that we see today using aircraft, satellites, and computers. In the last ten years, we have even witnessed the rise of the unmanned aerial vehicle (drones), including the X-47.

We have also seen a rapid trend in warfare not involving one nation against another nation, but organizations (terrorist, militia, or otherwise) against a nation or other organization. This type of warfare knows no international borders. What’s worse is that it provides the means to use international borders and international policy to give organizations an advantage over nations, like we have seen from al-Qaeda, the Taliban and the Islamic State).

With the evolution of weapons and tactics, along with the need to fight enemies within close proximity to friendly civilians and cities, the future of warfare will see further developments in guided munitions and advanced weaponry. Ground forces will be faced with guided rockets, artillery, mortars and missiles that utilize laser guidance, infrared homing, and GPS capability.

In the future, ground combat will also have to contend with “informationalized warfare”– warfare that uses the combination of cyber, electronic warfare, information operations, and deception and denial to disrupt command and control, giving the enemy an advantage in the decision cycle.

In order to be successful in boots on the ground campaigns, U.S. forces will have to use a combination of informationalized warfare and guided munitions, in conjunction with existing traditional ground combat strategies.

The DOD announced the Defense Innovation Initiative in November, and new Defense Secretary Ash Carter has since expanded it. The initiative is intended to provide the framework and funding for new operational and organizational concepts, and the development of new technological capabilities.

Over the past hundred years, the U.S. military has established itself as the most innovative and technologically superior military in the world. It has become apparent that several other nations are catching up with our capabilities, even surpassing us in some. The department’s focus on innovation is about finding new ways to create organizational constructs, train, and fight in order to remain at the head of the evolution of warfare.

Military Connection proudly serves those who serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve, Veterans and their Families. We are the go to site for Veteran Employment and information on Veteran education. Militaryconnection.com provides Veterans with and Directory of Employers, a Job Board, information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and a blog that offers Veterans boundless information. Be sure to visit Militaryconnection.com, the go to site.

Military Connection: The Evolution of Warfare: By Debbie Gregory

Military Connection: Benefit Concert for Those Who Serve

May 14, 2015/in Holidays & Events, Military, Military News, Military Veteran

By Debbie Gregory.

In return for the service and sacrifices they have made for our country, the American Freedom Foundation (AFF) works tirelessly to better the lives of our veterans, service members and their families. AFF serves and supports them by creating awareness and building support for their service, sacrifice and needs through partnerships with military focused organizations.

In just over ten years, the American Freedom Foundation has made grants of approximately $1.2 million to more than 30 military organizations. The non-profit has awarded over 755 full and partial scholarships to military spouses and their dependents, in 47 states and nine countries, valued in excess of $11 million.

Additionally, through Warriors To The Workforce, the AFF national veterans employment initiative program, thousands of veterans have been connected to hundreds of participating companies for civilian employment opportunities. “Our veterans and their families need help finding jobs,” said American Freedom Foundation Co-Founder SMA Jack Tilley (retired). “They have given so much to our country, providing opportunities for employment is one way we can give something back to them.”

On May 23^rd, AFF is presenting the 6th American Freedom Festival Concert in San Diego, CA. This year, the event stars 5-time GRAMMY award winner and country music icon, Wynonna, and her band, The Big Noise. The concert, held annually aboard the historic USS MIDWAY MUSEUM, will benefit San Diego Armed Service YMCA, Wounded Warrior Support Network, ReBoot Workshops, Nice Guys Victory Fund and Support the Enlisted Project.

Over the past five years, American Freedom Festival San Diego has raised approximately $150,000 for local San Diego military charitable organizations. But just as important, the festival has brought great awareness to the service, sacrifice and needs of our veterans, military service members and their families.Click here for ticket information.

Military Connection is proud to join forces with this outstanding non-profit. To learn more about the American Freedom Foundation and how you can support veterans, please visit them online at www.americanfreedomfoundation.org.

Military Connection proudly serves those who serve in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard,Guard and Reserve, Veterans and their Families. We are the go to site for Veteran Employment and information on Veteran education. Militaryconnection.com provides Veterans with and Directory of Employers, a Job Board, information on the Post-9/11 GI Bill, and a blog that offers Veterans boundless information. Be sure to visit Militaryconnection.com, the go to site.