From: Wayne Gatewood, Jr 
Subject: Veterans News for Thursday, June 21, 2012

VA Veterans News for Thursday, June 21, 2012.  Thanks to Kevin Secor, VA VSO Liaison

 

1.     America, Pakistan and the impact of never having to say sorry.

2.     Retirement may unleash PTSD symptoms in Vietnam veterans. 

3.     Documentary looks at post-service challenges of female troops. 

4.     Calif. soldier still upbeat after losing both legs from Afghan blast. 

5.     Wide support for veterans. 

6.     Great Park considering $145000 program to train 6 veterans to farm. 

7.     Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment Hosts Workshops. 

8.     Upstate veterans question process to select VA officer.

9.     VA, U.S. Chamber of Commerce's. 

10.  Kent man arrested for investigation of fraudulent Veterans Affairs. 

11.  Initiative will improve current and future needs for Veterans. 

12.  Time to provide health care to veterans here. 

13.  VA Hiring Event Registration Ends Wednesday. 

14.  VRAP Allows US Solar Institute To Train Vets To Become Solar Installers. 

15.  Columnist Urges Readers To Spread Word About VRAP. 

16.  Job Training Grants To Assist Nearly 9,000 Homeless Vets. 

17.  Reducing The Risk Of Outpatient Medical Errors. 

18.  Advanced Technology Identifies "Core" Brain Abnormality In Gulf War Illness. 

19.  San Antonio VA Chosen For National Pilot To Test VA/DoD Health Record. 

20.  Tuesday House Hearing Focused On VA Claims Backlog. 

21.  Senate Bill Aims To Help Homeless Female Vets. 

22.  Women Vets Being Treated To Pampering, Food & Fun. 

23.  At Your Service. 

24.  Brooke County Starts Mental Health Court For Veterans To Provide Help,

25.  Reduce Incarceration. 

26.  American Homecomings: Veterans With PTSD Share Their Isolation. 

27.  Veterans Affairs Employees Charged With Fraud. Translating Military Experience Into A Civilian Career.

28.  "Invisible War" Documentary Tackles Military Rape. 

29.  Dempsey Looks To The Future In A Time Of Budget Constraints. 

30.  Oklahoma Has High Rate Of Uninsured Veterans, Report Says. 
VA / VSO-MSO Hearings as June 21, 2012: 

31.  Today in History:

1.    America, Pakistan and the impact of never having to say sorry.  Say you're sorry. That's what the Pakistani government says it wants from the United States in order to jump-start a number of initiatives between the two countries that would help the hunt for al-Qaida in Pakistan and smooth the end of the war in Afghanistan.

2.    Retirement may unleash PTSD symptoms in Vietnam veterans.  It took Sam Luna more than 35 years to get treatment for his post-traumatic stress disorder. “I didn’t realize anything was wrong,” the combat-wounded Vietnam veteran said. “I thought I had adjusted well after I came back. I had a job, I had a family, everything looked great from the outside.”

3.    Documentary looks at post-service challenges of female troops.  The film tracks the post-military lives of eight female servicemembers, chronicling their struggles with things like homelessness, marriage troubles, and PTSD.

4.    Calif. soldier still upbeat after losing both legs from Afghan blast.  While on foot patrol in Afghanistan earlier this month Pfc. Jonathan Harmon was seriously injured by an improvised explosive device. One leg was torn apart by the blast. The second leg was amputated later when doctors in Germany were unable to save it.

5.    Wide support for veterans.  Ct Post  ... shameful situation involving the fleecing of vulnerable veterans by fiduciary agents appointed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to watch out for them.

6.    Great Park considering $145000 program to train 6 veterans to farm.  OCRegister  The program, which would utilize the park's onsite farm, is to be funded and assisted by a coalition of organizations including U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs ...

7.    Vocational Rehabilitation & Employment Hosts Workshops.  MarketWatch  As part of the Veteran Open House, VA will educate Veterans on vocational ... services and resources that are available from federal, state and community

8.    Upstate veterans question process to select VA officer.  Spartanburg Herald Journal
More than 40 veterans questioned the appointment process for the ... director of the South Carolina State Office of Veterans Affairs, speaks to veterans Tuesday at ... applicants with local representatives from the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign ...

9.    VA, U.S. Chamber of Commerce's.  Business Wire  Leaders of the Department of Veterans Affairs and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's National Chamber Foundation's Hiring Our Heroes program

10.Kent man arrested for investigation of fraudulent Veterans Affairs.  Kent Reporter  Michael E. Seitler, special agent in charge of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of Inspector General, Northwest Field Office, stated that “the actions ...

11.Initiative will improve current and future needs for Veterans.  KLEW  Some say recent shootings in a downtown Seattle café was the result of an untreated case of Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome of a veteran.

12.Time to provide health care to veterans here.  Vineland Daily Journal  While the VA has established small area clinics, there is no federal Department of Veterans Affairs inpatient medical center in South Jersey, which leaves local ...

 13.VA Hiring Event Registration Ends Wednesday. Army Times Registration ends Wendesday for Veterans Affairs' "largest-ever hiring conference," scheduled to be held "on June 26-28 in Detroit and at satellite locations across the country." Mary M. Santiago, VA's director of veteran employment services, said events like the one in Detroit are called "hiring events because the expectation is that there are interviews and job offers." The Times adds, "The VA expects more than 10,000 veterans to visit Detroit or participate through video teleconferences from sites at Fort Drum, N.Y., Fort Knox, KY., Rock Island Arsenal, ILL., Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., Fort Riley, Kan., and at National Guard and Reserve facilities. Federal agencies will be in abundance, such as the Defense Department, Homeland Security Department, Department of Interior and the VA, Santiago said."  Although registration ended Wednesday, Veterans are still being encouraged to attend. 

14.VRAP Allows US Solar Institute To Train Vets To Become Solar Installers.  Clean Energy Authority  VA "chose the US Solar Institute (USSI) of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. as the first educational institution dedicated purely to solar to train veterans to install solar photovoltaics. Under the partnership veterans qualified" for VRAP "can choose to attend USSI to train for a new career as a solar installer or as part of a larger education program. The VRAP program allows veterans between the ages of 35 and 60 to receive up to a year of education assistance to be retrained in a new career, like as a solar installer."

15.Columnist Urges Readers To Spread Word About VRAP. Washington Times  John Fales says, "Although I have been encouraged by the efforts of the Department of Labor and VA to date, more needs to be done" to help unemployed vets find jobs. Fales adds, "Please help spread the word about VRAP to unemployed veterans you know in your communities. It is only through outreach at the local level that we can ensure this opportunity is taken advantage of to help our veterans find long-term careers."

16.Job Training Grants To Assist Nearly 9,000 Homeless Vets. American Forces Press Service  "Some 8,600 homeless veterans will benefit from $15 million in grant money for job training through the US Department of Labor's Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis said" on Tuesday. The money, "officials added, will go to state and local workforce investment boards, local public agencies and similar groups that are familiar with their homeless veteran populations, and have shown they can provide help for them." The AFPS adds, "DOL also works closely with the departments of Housing and Urban Development, Veterans Affairs and Health and Human Services to provide affordable housing for homeless veterans, Solis said."

17.Reducing The Risk Of Outpatient Medical Errors. Houston Chronicle  "Patient safety research has largely focused on hospitals. Efforts to improve safety in outpatient settings such as doctor's offices, though improving, are still a work in progress says Dr. Hardeep Singh, chief of the Health Policy and Quality Program at the Houston VA Health Services Research & Development Center of Excellence, in the June issue of the institute's Health Policy Research newsletter." The Chronicle says a "recent American Medical Association report on ambulatory patient safety...heavily cited the research of a team led by Singh."

18.Advanced Technology Identifies "Core" Brain Abnormality In Gulf War Illness. 91 Outcomes   "A discovery by a Minneapolis medical researcher may lead to a new test to help identify Gulf War Illness," or GWI. Dr. Aposotolos Georgopolous of the Veterans Affairs hospital in Minneapolis used "sophisticated brain mapping equipment and techniques called magnetoencephalography (MEG)" to find a "unique visual signature of a 'core' brain abnormality in GWI." Hardie adds, "Following on the heels of a presentation of new research findings by Dr. Dane Cook showing powerful objective evidence -- functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) -- of dysfunction in the brains of ill veterans of the 1991 Gulf War," Dr. Robert Haley, "one of the pioneers in the field of Gulf War Illness research," recently "presented an overview of findings" that "dovetailed" what Cook found.

19.San Antonio VA Chosen For National Pilot To Test VA/DoD Health Record. San Antonio Business Journal  "San Antonio has been selected for a pilot program to test a joint medical-record database that will be used" by the US Department of Defense and the US Veterans Affairs Department. Once "testing is completed in San Antonio, the full program should be made operational by 2015." The Business Journal adds, "VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta each have committed resources to create an electronic record that documents" a service member's "medical history from enlistment to retirement or discharge."

20.Tuesday House Hearing Focused On VA Claims Backlog. Stars And Stripes "Veterans Affairs officials say they're poised to make a major breakthrough on the department's massive claims backlog, but skeptical lawmakers and veterans advocates say they've heard such proclamations before." While testifying at a House Veterans Affairs Committee hearing on Tuesday, Allison Hickey, VA's undersecretary for benefits, "said new initiatives on the way coupled with the reassignment" of Agent Orange "claims adjusters will help the agency reach" VA Secretary Eric Shinseki's goal of eliminating the backlog in the next three years. But US Rep. Bob Filner (D-CA), a member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, said the backlog is "disgraceful and an insult to our veterans." Another committee member, US Rep. Gus Bilirakis (R-FL), added, "It is time for VA to break this cycle of unproductivity and deliver the benefits that the agency was created to provide."  CQ "House Veterans Affairs members on both sides of the aisle voiced outrage Tuesday over the longstanding backlog of disability claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs, with several lawmakers suggesting the solution may lie in greater private sector involvement." CQ adds, "The VA has developed a broad plan aimed at achieving VA Secretary Eric Shinseki's goal of eliminating the backlog by 2015, but many lawmakers at Tuesday's hearing said they had not seen a copy of it." At Tuesday's hearing, however, VA "officials said they have been working to reduce the backlog, noting that they are almost finished awarding benefits to more than 150,000 Vietnam War veterans exposed to Agent Orange."  NextGov VA's "highly touted paperless benefits system has processed fewer than 800 benefits claims despite VA's investment of $491 million. The news comes as the number of backlogged claims hit 913,690, representatives of veterans services organizations told lawmakers" at Tuesday's hearing. NextGov says Shinseki "told the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee in March that by 2015, the department will process all claims in fewer than 125 days with a 98 percent accuracy rate."  NextGov "The Veterans Affairs Department would have to employ 4,000 more workers in order to scan billions of pages of paper benefit claims, William Bosanko, a top executive at the National Archives and Records Administration, told" lawmakers conducting Tuesday's hearing. Bosanko "said NARA has recommended VA seek help from the private sector for meeting its systemwide scanning requirements." Also testifying at Tuesday's hearing was Richard Dumancas, deputy director of the American Legion's Claims, Veterans Affairs and Rehabilitation Commission, who "said the largest concern looming over full deployment of VBMS is scanning claims in an electronic format."  American Legion "The effectiveness of a new technology for handling veterans' disability claims was challenged by The American Legion" at Tuesday's hearing, which focused on VA "efforts to improve its claims process. The Veterans Benefits Management System (VBMS) is a pilot program that shows much promise, yet the Legion sees potential problems with it already." For example, an "American Legion representative who uses an office with the system installed has reported that, despite recent hardware upgrades, the system 'continues to take between 15 and 20 seconds to load each page of an electronic record.'"

21.Senate Bill Aims To Help Homeless Female Vets. Military Times  US Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA), chair of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, "unveiled a bill Monday aimed at helping homeless female veterans." The bill "would provide community grants for transitional housing on the condition that it meets physical privacy, safety and security needs, providing legal services to help low-income veterans find permanent housing." Murray said that while she is pleased by Veterans Affairs' progress in eliminating veteran homelessness, the "number of homeless women veterans has continued to increase," in part because there is a scarcity of adequate housing options for women with children.

22.Women Vets Being Treated To Pampering, Food & Fun. WIAT-TV "Ordinarily, you wouldn't expect to see manicures, pedicures, massages and facials taking place at the Birmingham VA Medical Center." But today, "women vets will be treated to four hours of spa-type beauty treatments, as well as delicious treats and drawings for prizes. The Women Veterans Health Fair is a collaborative effort between VA, numerous beauty and wellness vendors, and 'Against All Odds, Inc.'"

23.At Your Service. Wheeling (WV) Intelligencer  "Combat veterans who need help getting back to enjoying life can learn how at the Vet Center" in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The facility, "located at 1058 Bethlehem Blvd. at the Village Plaza, offers free counseling services to combat veterans of all wars and their family members. Team Leader John Looney said veterans from across the Ohio Valley receive the readjustment counseling services at the Bethlehem location."

24.Brooke County Starts Mental Health Court For Veterans To Provide Help, Reduce Incarceration.  AP  West Virginia's Brooke County is "launching a special court for military veterans to help reduce the number of non-violent offenders behind bars. The Northern Panhandle Mental Health and Veterans Treatment Court is the first of its kind in West Virginia and an expansion of current diversion programs." The "new program unveiled Monday provides mentors and outreach specialists from the Veterans Administration."

25.American Homecomings: Veterans With PTSD Share Their Isolation. Southgate (MI) News Herald  Iraq veteran Sarah C. Humphries is "one of 45 veterans whose stories of grappling with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are shown on a Veterans Administration website designed for frank discussion about the affliction and the potential for treatment. Called About Face, the project is produced by the VA's National Center for PTSD." It was "launched in time for PTSD Awareness Month this month."

26.Veterans Affairs Employees Charged With Fraud. Tacoma (WA) News Tribune "Two Veterans Affairs employees, including a Kent man, were arrested...on suspicion of submitting fraudulent claims totaling more than $100,000, according" to the US Attorney's Office. The two employees, says the News Tribune, are 32-year-old Kent, Washington, resident Keishjuan Daniels, and 46-year-old Seattle resident Nick Hall. The News Tribune adds, "If convicted on all charges, Daniels and Hall face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine."  Kent (WA) Reporter  Daniels was "one of two Veterans Affairs employees arrested Tuesday at work following an investigation of more than $110,000 in fraudulent claims in a program designed to reimburse veterans for their travel to medical appointments. The two employees allegedly recruited veterans to submit phony vouchers for travel expenses they had not incurred, according to a US Attorney's Office media release." The Reporter says the case against Daniels and Hall, who "were employed at the VA Medical Center on Beacon Hill" in Seattle, is "being investigated by the Veterans Affairs Office of Inspector General (OIG) as part of a nationwide focus on rooting out fraud in the travel benefits program."

27.Translating Military Experience Into A Civilian Career. Fortune

28."Invisible War" Documentary Tackles Military Rape.  Reuters

29.Dempsey Looks To The Future In A Time Of Budget Constraints. American Forces Press Service  "As fiscal constraints reshape priorities, the military will become a leaner force but one still able to provide the nation's leaders with options, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said" on Tuesday. While speaking to "an audience at the National Press Club" in Washington, DC, US Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey "noted the drawdown of troops from Afghanistan and also said about 120,000 personnel will transition out of the military in the next decade. This will prompt an important linkage between DOD and the Department of Veterans Affairs and other organizations that assist service members migrating into the private sector."

30.Oklahoma Has High Rate Of Uninsured Veterans, Report Says. Oklahoman