Blog post

IAVA Daily Brief 07.22.09
Posted by Michelle McCarthy on July 22

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.

MUST READS

(1) Applications for stop-loss pay still on hold

According to the Military Times, the Defense Department has yet to provide details about how long it will take before applications are accepted for a $500/month retroactive stop-loss allowance ordered by Congress and signed into law in June.  By law, the Defense Department can take up to 120 days from June 24, the date Obama signed into law the Supplemental War Appropriations Act for 2009 that included the payment. If they use all 120 days, an application process would not be announced until Oct. 22.  Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez said Tuesday she could not speculate on when people could start applying. “We are currently working with the services to develop plans and procedures. When those procedures are finalized, the services will release the details of their plan and its implementation to the public,” she said.  To be the first to know when the Department of Defense releases its application, register for a breaking news alert from IAVA at www.iava.org/stoplossalerts.

(2) Senate OKs Army increase of up to 30K

Less than one day after Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the Pentagon needed a 22,000 increase in the Army to reduce the strain of overseas deployments, the Senate voted 93-1 to allow the Army to increase by up to 30,000 soldiers beginning October 1st.  The 30,000-person increase would be temporary, expiring on Sept. 30, 2012, under an amendment to the 2010 defense authorization bill that was crafted by Sen. Joseph Lieberman of the Armed Services Committee.  While the Lieberman amendment does not identify how to pay for the extra people, a cost estimated to be in excess of $100,000 per service member, the extra cost for 2010 could be covered either by supplemental funding, if the Obama administration requests it, or from reserve funding within the Defense Department.

(3) Co. Senators Want Ft. Carson in Alcohol Program

Colorado Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet urged the U.S. Army Tuesday to include Fort Carson soldiers in a pilot alcohol abuse program following the release of a military study last week linking the trauma of fierce combat in Iraq to 11 separate slayings from 2005 to 2008, allegedly committed by Soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.  The report found that trauma of fierce combat in Iraq and then the Soldiers' refusal to seek mental health aid because of a stigma, may have helped drive them toward violence after returning home.  It also found that that Soldiers in the unit seeking substance abuse or mental health treatment face ridicule and accusations from fellow Soldiers that they were faking it.  "There is a need to do more at Fort Carson - and across the Army - to help Soldiers transition from battle to the routines of daily life," said Udall, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee. "I'm concerned that more and more service members suffering from psychological wounds are self-medicating with drugs and alcohol."  Of 14 Soldiers accused in the slayings, attempted homicides, or aggravated assault, nine had previously been charged with alcohol or drug related crimes. Five of those Soldiers had sought help through the Army's Alcohol and Substance Abuse Program (ASAP), which requires Soldiers to notify their commanders.  The pilot program, currently planned for Schofield Barracks, Hawaii; Fort Richardson, Alaska; and Fort Lewis, Wash., would remove a requirement that Soldiers getting help notify commanders.

(4) More Troops Relying on Food Stamps

Military.com reports today that military members and their families are using more food stamps than in previous years – redeeming them last year at nearly twice the civilian rate, according to Defense Commissary Agency figures.  The agency reports that more than $31 million worth of food stamps were used at commissaries nationwide in 2008 – an increase of about $6.2 million, or more than 25 percent – from the $24.8 million redeemed in 2007. That contrasts with a 13 percent overall increase in food stamp use by Americans for the same period, according to the Department of Agriculture, which administers the food stamp program.  The spike reverses a 5 percent decrease in food stamp redemptions by military families from 2006 to 2007.

AFGHANISTAN

New York Times reported late Tuesday that Pakistani officials are objecting to expanded American combat operations in neighboring Afghanistan, creating new fissures in the alliance with Washington at a critical juncture when thousands of new American forces are arriving in the region.  Per intelligence officials, Pakistani officials told the Administration that U.S. Marines fighting the Taliban in southern Afghanistan are forcing militants across the border into Pakistan, with the potential to further inflame the troubled province of Baluchistan. In particular, the officials cautioned Washington that Pakistan does not have enough troops to deploy to Baluchistan to take on the Taliban without pulling troops from its border with its archenemy, India.

In the same vein, Newsweek reports from Moscow today that with the U.S. increasing military pressure in Afghanistan and Pakistan mounting security operations along its border with the country, fighters from Russia and the ex-Soviet republics of the Caucasus and Central Asia are returning home.  By consequence, authorities are fearful their push out of Afghanistan and Pakistan could export violence into Central Asia, upsetting the fragile peace in the region's poorest republics.  "The European Union is highly concerned about the situation in Pakistan and its reflection on Tajikistan [in particular]," said Ambassador Pierre Morel, the E.U.'s special representative in Central Asia, at a recent news conference.  According to sources on the ground, a spate of bombings, mass arrests and gunfights in Tajikistan over the past few months has been directly connected to militants fleeing the increased fighting in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

To address these and other concerns, U.S. special envoy Richard Holbrooke departed for Pakistan on Tuesday to visit President Asif Ali Zardari.  He is expected to address during the trip the plight of 2 million people displaced by recent Taliban fighting in the Swat Valley, according to the State Department.  From there, Holbrooke is scheduled to travel to Afghanistan to continue discussions on economic and security issues.

In an interview that aired Tuesday, President Obama issued his first remarks addressing the disappearance of Pfc. Bowe Bergdahl in Afghanistan saying: "Our young men and women who are serving in our armed forces do such an extraordinary job; put themselves in harm's way each and every day -- especially those who are deployed in Afghanistan and in Iraq… Seeing something like this, it makes you think about families. It makes you think about the young man. We are hopeful that it will have a good ending. And we are doing everything we can” to secure his release.

IRAQ

A U.S. military spokesman said American soldiers killed two people on Tuesday who attempted to throw grenades at their convoy near Abu Graib west of Baghdad.  An Iraqi police official gave a conflicting account of casualties, saying four civilians — a boy and three bus drivers — were killed when U.S. forces opened fire on the attackers near a bus station.

Ahead of Iraqi Prime Minster Nouri al-Maliki’s arrival in Washington, D.C., Dan Senor, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, argues in today’s Wall Street Journal that President Obama should not throw away his most potent negotiating card: a clear signal that he is prepared to slow down planned U.S. troop withdrawals in Iraq.  “There is pressure building within the Pentagon to cut forces in Iraq even faster than planned to send more troops to Afghanistan. That pressure should be resisted.,” Senor writes. “We must not do in Iraq what Mr. Obama, when campaigning last year for the job of commander in chief, said we did in Afghanistan: lose a key fight by focusing too intently on another theater.”  Click here to read more.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

According to the San Jose Mercury News, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed Tuesday its Palo Alto facility has put the chief of optometry on administrative leave while it investigates the treatment of hundreds of eye patients, some of whom experienced significant vision loss under the department's care.  At issue is whether the optometry department failed to follow VA policy requiring it to consult with medical doctors on glaucoma cases — possibly costing the patients their vision.  In February, the Palo Alto Veterans' Health Care System initiated a three-month internal review of 381 charts and determined 23 glaucoma patients experienced "progressive visual loss" while receiving treatment in the hospital's optometry department. The VA informed seven of those patients that improper care might have caused their blindness.

In legal opinion released Tuesday, the U.S. Comptroller General concluded that the Pentagon tried to favorably influence public opinion when it gave retired military officers working as TV news analysts insider access to war briefings.  While emphasizing the Pentagon did not break any law, Daniel Gordon, acting general counsel for the Government Accountability Office, said “we believe that legitimate questions were raised by members of Congress and the press regarding the intersection of [the Pentagon’s] public affairs activities and the possibility of compromised procurements resulting from potential competitive advantages for defense contractors with commercial ties” to retired military officers.  The investigation stemmed from an outcry following an April 20, 2008, New York Times story revealing that the Pentagon, beginning in 2002, gave “hundreds” of special briefings on wartime operations, including its detention center at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to select retired military officers working for various news networks. In some cases, analysts were reportedly given access to classified information and were taken on tours of Iraq.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

The Senate voted by voice vote Tuesday to repeal an offset in pay for surviving spouses who are eligible for both military and veterans’ survivor payments.  The amendment to the 2010 defense authorization bill would allow full payments of two benefits - dependency and indemnity compensation from the VA-  fulfilling a push by the 34-member Military Coalition and veterans groups.  About 57,000 survivors, mostly widows, would be affected if the provision were to become law. For most, elimination of the offset would result in a more than $1,100 increase in monthly benefits.

In a lopsided 58-40 vote on Tuesday, the Senate decided to end production of the F-22, bringing the Fiscal 2010 National Defense Authorization Act a step closer towards passage.  In the controversial debate over saving the F-22, which many lawmakers argued could save 90,000 job, Senator John McCain (R-AZ) sided with President Barack Obama saying a vote against the F-22 was a vote for real acquisition reform.  Despite the vote, the bill is likely to be fought as it makes its way to a House-Senate conference committee in the fall to work out differences between the two chambers’ versions of the NDAA. The House has already voted to spend $369 million buying parts and materials to build another dozen F-22s, and the House Appropriations Committee has concurred.  If authorized, the NDAA would include a mandatory mental health screening amendment, requiring the Department of Defense to screen all U.S. servicemembers post-deployment in an effort to better identify post-combat stress.

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

THE SENATE 

The Senate will convene at 10:00 a.m..

FUTURE COMMITTEE HEARINGS  of  INTEREST

• July 29, 2009 - SVAC will hold a hearing entitled, "Review of Veterans' Disability Compensation: Forging a Path Forward."  9:30 a.m.; 418 Russell (Smith)
• August 2, 2009 - SVAC will conduct a field hearing on VA’s outreach to returning Guardsmen.  10:00 a.m.; Oahu Veterans Center (Vasquez)
• August 28, 2009 - SVAC will conduct a field hearing on the state of VA’s services on Maui, to include an OIG report of the same.  10:00 a.m.; Maui Cultural Center (Vasquez)

THE HOUSE of  REPRESENTATIVES       

The House will convene at 9:30 a.m.

Roll call votes expected.

S 1390 — Defense authorization

Markups

House Appropriations marks up a draft fiscal 2010 Defense spending bill. 9 a.m., 2359 Rayburn

FUTURE  HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of  INTEREST

• July 22, 2009  Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Hearing: Enforcement of VA’s Brachytherapy Program Safety Standards  10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon HOB
• July 23, 2009  Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs Hearing: Examining Quality of Life and Ancillary Benefits Issues  10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon HOB
• July 29, 2009  Full Committee Hearing:  Meeting the Needs of Injured Veterans in the Military Paralympic Program  10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon HOB
• July 30, 2009  Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Hearing:  The Implications of VA’s Limited Scope of Gulf War Illness Research  10:00 a.m.; 334 Cannon HOB.
  

IAVA IN THE NEWS

Outlet: Marine Corps Times

Title: Veterans organization wants to recognize Colbert

Date: Thursday, July 16th

Representative: IAVA, Paul Rieckhoff

WHAT THE BLOGS ARE SAYING

Blog: NoFactZone.com

Title: Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist

Date: Tuesday, July 21st

Representative: Paul Rieckhoff

Blog: DailyKosTV

Title: Maddow Eviscerates Fox Analyst for Captured Soldier Comments

Date: Tuesday, July 21st

Representative: Paul Rieckhoff, IAVA

Blog: Red Tory v 3.0

Title: Tough Words

Date: Tuesday, July 21st

Representative: IAVA, Paul Rieckhoff

Blog: Human Resources

Title: GI BIl Tuition

Date: Tuesday, July 21st

Representative: IAVA, Paul Rieckhoff

Blog: Corksphere

TItle: Rachel Maddow Sounds off on Ralph Peters

Date: Tuesday, July 21st

Representative: IAVA, Paul Rieckhoff

A wide-range of views, positions, and publications are represented in these articles.  These views, positions and publications are not endorsed by nor do they necessarily represent the views of IAVA.

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