Blog post

IAVA Daily Brief 7.23.10
Posted by Blake Henderson on July 23

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 or subscribe at www.IAVA.org/DailyNewsBrief.

NOTE: Please be advised the IAVA Daily News Brief will be on hiatus from Wednesday, July 28th through Friday, July 30th.

MUST READS

1) Mental illness costing military soldiers
 
The number of soldiers forced to leave the Army solely because of a mental disorder has increased by 64% from 2005 to 2009 and accounts for one in nine medical discharges.  In 2009, 1,224 soldiers with a mental illness, such as PTSD, received a medical discharge. That was an increase from 745 soldiers in 2005.
 
2) Rep.: VA Must Speed Up PTSD Research
 
The chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee asked Pentagon and VA officials why they have been slow to try out alternative treatments for PTSD and TBI. Rep. Bob Filner pushed for answers after a roundtable discussion that included testimony from a wide range of experts and researchers into the injuries.
 
3) State Department planning to field a small army in Iraq
 
Under the terms of a 2008 status of forces agreement, all U.S. troops must be out of Iraq by the end of 2011. However, a sizeable American civilian presence will be left behind, including the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad and five consulate-like 'Enduring Presence Posts' throughout the country.
 
AFGHANISTAN

• The Taliban denounced this week's international conference on Afghanistan's future, saying the "vague and terrible agenda" shows that the U.S. and its allies intend to abandon the country and blame their ultimate defeat on the Afghan government.
• For one battalion in Afghanistan, their jobs have proved especially dangerous, as eight soldiers have died in the past month from a rash of roadside attacks.

IRAQ

• U.S. planners in Iraq are considering cutting troop unit deployments from 12 months to as low as nine months some time after the force falls to the 50,000 mark.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

• An influential Pentagon advisory board is poised to recommend Defense Secretary Robert Gates close contractor-heavy U.S. Joint Forces Command and rid his office and the Joint Staff of redundant functions - which could save billions of dollars.
• Lt. Dan Choi, who has engaged in numerous acts of civil disobedience in an effort to get the military to repeal Don't Ask, Don't Tell, was honorably discharged from the Army.
• Veteran and journalist Christina Brown is raising awareness about veterans' issues by bringing her own military experience into her reporting on MSNBC.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

• Senior officials at the VA and DOD have joined veterans' groups and representatives of academia to endorse the reforms to the Post-9/11 GI Bill recently introduced in Congress.

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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