Fair informs war veterans of their health options

Thousands of dollars in funding and services go largely unused by thousands of war veterans in the Texas Panhandle.

The first Veterans Health Information Fair was Thursday at the National Guard Armory in Amarillo and brought together a variety of information on veterans' services to help reverse that trend, said Larry Witthar, a Texas Veterans Commission counselor.

"There's no real advertising by the (Department of Veterans Affairs), so much of it is word of mouth or through events like this," said Witthar, who was working one of about eight booths at the fair. "A lot of veterans don't realize what's available to them."

Only a fraction of veterans claim what they've earned and may be missing out on federal money available to them, he said. About 837,000 service members have been mobilized since 2002, and only 39 percent have used health care coverage, according to the Veterans Affairs' website.

By Madelyn Bankhead-Vieth

Defense.gov News Article: Programs Will Suffer Without Adequate Funding, Mullen Says

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16, 2011 – Military programs will suffer if the Defense Department’s budget for fiscal 2011 isn’t passed immediately, the nation’s top military officer told the House Armed Services Committee here today.

Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, echoed the warning issued by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates that the Defense Department faces a crisis if it’s forced to continue operating under a continuing resolution with less money than it needs.

“Some programs may take years to recover if the continuing resolution is extended through the end of September,” the chairman said in prepared remarks.

“I urge you to pass the fiscal year 2011 defense bill immediately,” Mullen said. “Even at a reduced topline, it will provide us the tools we need to accomplish the bulk of the missions we have been assigned.”

Forging on with money from the continuing resolution, he said, “would not only reduce our account by $23 billion, it would deprive us of the flexibility we need to support our troops and their families.”

By Terri Moon Cronk
American Forces Press Service

Defense.gov News Article: Programs Will Suffer Without Adequate Funding, Mullen Says

Budget Seeks 10.6% More to Fight Veterans’ Trauma

President Barack Obama today proposed a $61.85 billion budget for discretionary spending on U.S. military veterans in fiscal year 2012, including $6 billion to treat troops who return from the Afghanistan and Iraq wars with post-traumatic stress disorders and brain injuries.
The total budget request for the Department of Veterans Affairs, the second-largest federal agency with about 300,000 employees, is $124.3 billion, including $65.5 billion projected for mandatory entitlements, such as disability compensation. The $124.3 billion figure does not reflect about $3 billion in anticipated revenue from health-insurance reimbursements.
The numbers used by the White House in its budget documents reflect budget outlays for the mandatory entitlements. The Department of Veterans Affairs said Monday afternoon that it had budget authority of $70 billion for the mandatory portion of its budget, bringing the total VA budget for 2012 to $132 billion.

By Roxana Tiron

War's toll on teenagers - Spouse Calls - Stripes

Most teenagers in military families probably don’t remember life before war and deployment. Having a parent in a war zone may not fit into typical teenage thought processes, but our kids aren’t typical. Military members are less than 1% of the American populace, government statistics say. Our teens’ experiences set them apart, but how much and for how long?

Michelle Sherman, Ph.D., director of the Family Mental Health Program at the Oklahoma City Veterans Affairs Hospital, said there is not enough research to define the long-term affects of deployment on military children.

Although this is the most studied war in U.S. history, she said, “We did not start to do research on these kids early enough in the ten years of this war to have longitudinal data, so the jury is out.”

However, there is growing evidence of the short-term effects on children of all ages, said Sherman, who is also a professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center


By Terri Barnes


War's toll on teenagers - Spouse Calls - Stripes

Sports Programs For Disabled Veterans Get $7.5 Million Boost From The VA

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded two grants worth $7.5 million to the U.S. Olympic Committee. The money is to enhance sports opportunities for disabled veterans and members of the armed forces.
Funds will go to the USOC's member organizations, Paralympic sports clubs and other veteran and military organizations to further community based programs.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/13/disabled-veterans-sports_n_822263.html

Unique program helps "New Warriors" cope with trauma from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan - ContraCostaTimes.com

Justin Moore walked off a job in Livermore after his second tour in Iraq, hit the bourbon and stabbed the father of his girlfriend's child with a pocket knife. Chris Kuykendall, of Vallejo, grew aimless and drank, then the former Marine manhandled his girlfriend and landed in a Solano County jail cell. Ryan Kahlor, of Escondido, came home from Iraq and wound up in the hospital four times after picking fights "so people would kill me." Army reservist Kurt Furtado of Watsonville pointed a pistol to his head. He leveled a sword to his chest.

"Part of me got killed over there," said Furtado, 50. "This demon was taking control of my life, isolating me, pushing me into the bottle, destroying Kurt -- the man who went over there."

One by one, they arrived last spring to an unusual private residential treatment program for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, with no clear idea of when they would leave -- five months maybe, or eight or 10

By John Simerman
Contra Costa Times

Unique program helps "New Warriors" cope with trauma from battle in Iraq and Afghanistan - ContraCostaTimes.com

Soldiers Reintegrate at the "Las Vegas of the East"

Atlantic City, N.J., Jan 30, 2011 - Approximately 200 Soldiers and 100 Family members descended on the Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, N.J., to participate in the first Yellow Ribbon Reintegration event for the 99th Regional Support Command this year.

"Less than one percent of Americans are serving in the military -- a very small, elite group of people defending our nation and what we stand for," explained Col. Mikey Kloster, 99th RSC chief of staff and commander, 1st Mobilization Support Group, during the opening remarks of the event. "Today is all about a chance for you to reach out and get into these resources."

The Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, which the Secretary of Defense initiated in 2008, provides information, services, referral, and proactive outreach programs to Soldiers, Sailors, Marines, and Airmen in the reserve component and their Families through all phases of the deployment cycle.

The program consists of seven events that take place at intervals before and after mobilization, which gives the Soldiers and Family member's information, counseling, skills and techniques for upcoming deployments and re-deployments.

By Sgt. 1st Class Alyn-Michael Macleod, 99th Regional Support Public Affairs

Virginia may create 'Veterans Courts

The House of Delegates has unanimously passed a bill that could provide treatment instead of jail for veterans who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury and run into trouble with the law.

House Bill 1691, introduced by Delegate Christopher P. Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, allows localities to establish "policies and procedures for service members who are nonviolent offenders." The initiative is popularly known as "veterans court," although no separate court is established. Such programs exist in 18 states.

"It would afford veterans charged in nonviolent crimes the opportunity to be addressed in a separate docket that has access to treatment programs that are specifically designed for veterans that may have post-service disabilities," Stolle, a medical doctor, said in an e-mail.

By Jeannette Porter/Capital News Service

Helping Soldiers Trade Their Swords for Plows

On an organic farm here in avocado country, a group of young Marines, veterans and Army reservists listened intently to an old hand from the front lines.

Farming offers veterans a chance to decompress, Mr. Archipley said, but, more important, provides a sense of purpose. “It allows them to be physically active, be part of a unit,” he said. “It gives them a mission statement — a responsibility to the consumer eating their food.”

By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN

NFL and U.S. military partnership at Super Bowl XLV - National public safety | Examiner.com

From Air Force fighter jet flyovers to Army parachutists dropping in at halftime, the U.S. military and the National Football League have shared more than 40 years of Super Bowl history, according to American Forces Press Service's Michael Carden.

That tradition continues this week during the Super Bowl XLV festivities in North Texas.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: NFL and U.S. military partnership at Super Bowl XLV - National public safety Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/public-safety-in-national/nfl-and-u-s-military-partnership-at-super-bowl-xlv#ixzz1DJ21v71w

NFL and U.S. military partnership at Super Bowl XLV - National public safety Examiner.com

Jim Kouri

Four new fact sheets address impact of combat injury on intimacy

The impact of combat injury on intimacy is an important and often neglected aspect of healthcare communication. Four new fact sheets addressing the impact of the injuries of war, both physical and psychological, on intimacy have just been released for healthcare providers and affected military families. They are: Intimacy and Health: The Impact of PTSD and Other Invisible Injuries on Returning Service Members for providers, Reintegration and Intimacy: The Impact of PTSD and Other Visible Injuries for families; Physical Injury and Intimacy: Helping Wounded Warriors and their Loved Ones Manage Relationship Challenges and Changes for providers, Physical Injury and Intimacy: Managing Relationship Challenges and Changes for families.

Source: University of the Health Sciences

Four new fact sheets address impact of combat injury on intimacy

Defense.gov News Article: Collaboration is Key to Family Support Effort, Official Says

Collaboration is at the heart of the government’s new military family support directive and is the key to supporting service members and their families in the months and years ahead, a Defense Department official said today.

“We clearly are trying to find in every agency in the government ways to collaborate and work together so that we can do the job better,” John R. Campbell, deputy assistant secretary of defense for wounded warrior care and transition policy, told American Forces Press Service. “Everybody believes now that collaboration is the future; it’s no longer going it alone.”

Earlier this week, President Barack Obama unveiled a new, whole-of-government approach to military family support, with agencies uniting to create new resources and support programs for military families worldwide. From health care to child care to spouse employment, Obama announced the government has made nearly 50 commitments to improving families’ quality of life, which are outlined in a White House Report, “Strengthening Our Military Families: Meeting America’s Commitment.”

By Elaine Wilson
American Forces Press Service

Defense.gov News Article: Collaboration is Key to Family Support Effort, Official Says

Army desperately seeking health care providers

The Army's vice chief of staff, Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, who has been at the forefront of the effort to reduce soldier suicides, said Wednesday that he is most concerned about the Army not having enough doctors, nurses and other caregivers.
"It's just not enough," Chiarelli testified during a House Armed Services hearing.
He said the problem began several years ago when a limit was set on the number of Army doctors, nurses and other providers.
"The area that I'm most concerned about is that I don't have enough uniformed health care providers. We made a decision in the Army a while ago to cap the number of uniformed health care providers we had at a certain number," Chiarelli said. "We've been able to make up for that in contract health care in certain areas. But when it comes to behavioral health care, I have a real problem."

y Larry Shaughnessy, CNN Pentagon Producer