Blog Post

Daily News Brief 02.27.12
Posted by Jacob Worrell on February 27 2012

Here are some of today's top stories and happenings at IAVA.  Prefer to receive real-time updates about major stories and legislation that IAVA is tracking? Follow us on Twitter @IAVAPressRoom and click here to get the News Brief delivered to your inbox every morning.

MUST READS

1)Fayetteville convoy welcomes home Iraq war veterans

On Saturday, Fayetteville, North Carolina, became the latest city to honor Iraq veterans when it held a “Ride to Freedom” convoy. Thousands turned out to celebrate and honor veterans in the eight mile long convoy. The President will celebrate Iraq veterans with a formal dinner on Wednesday.

2) A Warship Returns, With the Family in Tow

After a long deployment, the Navy eases the transition home with a Tiger Cruise, reuniting service members with their families on the high seas. When the U.S.S. John C. Stennis returned from service in the Arabian Sea, over a thousand family members traveled to Honolulu to greet the service members and accompany them home on the last leg of the journey.

3) Wounded vets regain some strength in the kitchen

The Wounded Warrior Project recently held a four day healthy cooking boot camp for 16 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. The lessons were given by professional chefs at the Culinary Institute of America, a world renowned cooking school on the Hudson River.

AFGHANISTAN

• Two suicide attackers killed at least 9 Afghans at the entrance to a NATO base in eastern Afghanistan Monday morning.
• Enraged by NATO’s burning of the Koran, Afghan protestors lobbed a grenade at U.S. service members in northern Afghanistan, wounding six.
• After two U.S. officers were murdered by an Afghan ally, Marine Gen. John Allen gave a passionate speech to service members in eastern Afghanistan.
• Pakistan has demolished the Islamabad compound where Navy SEALs killed Osama bin Laden last May.

IRAQ

• The remains of the last U.S. service member declared MIA in Iraq have been recovered.
• Two months after the U.S. withdrawal, economic progress in Iraq remains mired in political stalemate and sectarian tension.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

• After a hacker penetrated U.S. Air Force computer networks, it took investigators weeks to discover the breach.
• Some veterans advocates say the military encourages medical professionals to falsely diagnose service members with personality disorders as a way to get rid of undesirables in the ranks.

NEW GREATEST GENERATION

• A Marine veteran walking across the country to raise awareness about homeless veterans has made a pit stop in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
• On Saturday, 40 Purple Heart recipients assembled at the MacArthur Memorial to observe the 80th anniversary of the award.
• Aided by the appearance of real life Navy SEALs, 'Act of Valor' took first place for the weekend box office.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

• The Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee plans to introduce a bill on Tuesday that would ban contractors and Afghan security forces from guarding U.S. bases in Afghanistan.
• A tight 2012 election season highlights the importance of hundreds of thousands ofoverseas voters, writes MSNBC.

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