Blog Post

IAVA Daily News Brief 07.02.12
Posted by Gretchen Andersen on July 2 2012

Here are some of today's top stories and happenings that IAVA is tracking. 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) Fort Bragg shooter dies

The soldier who shot and killed his superior officer at Fort Bragg before turning the gun on himself has died, the Army said in a news release. Spc. Ricky G. Elder of Hutchinson, Kan., died Friday after undergoing treatment at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center in Fayetteville, N.C. Elder was recently charged with larceny of a toolkit valued at $1,700 and was scheduled to appear before a Reno County district judge on Friday for sentencing on aggravated battery charges. 

2) Report: More Sexual Assaults at Camp Lejeune

Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune reported 70 instances of sexual assaults for fiscal year 2011, more than any other Marine Corps installation worldwide, according to a Department of the Navy and Headquarters Marine Corps report entitled “Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Campaign Plan 2012.” There was also a 10 percent increase in assaults Marine-corps wide, from the previous year, however the true number of assaults may be much higher as an estimated 80 percent of sexual assaults in the Marine Corps go unreported, according to the report.

3) Thousands of veterans failing in latest battlefield: college

Among the approximately 800,000 military veterans now attending U.S. colleges, an estimated 88 percent drop out of school during their first year and only 3 percent graduate, according to a report forwarded by the University of Colorado Denver, citing the analysis by U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education and Labor and Pensions. This may be partly because some schools, such as for-profit colleges, call themselves “military friendly” when they don’t actually offer veterans the counseling they need to graduate. To combat this issue, some colleges, such as the University of Colorado Denver, are offering programs specifically designed to help vets transition from military to college life based on similar transition programs used at U.S. military bases. 

AFGHANISTAN 

• An Afghan policeman killed three British soldiers. More than 20 foreign personnel have been killed in rogue shootings this year.
• On “CBS This Morning,” Kari Bales said she believes her husband, U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, is innocent. Bales is accused of murdering 16 unarmed Afghan civilians.

IRAQ 

• Oil Ministry spokesman Assem Jihad said Iraq’s oil revenues dropped 17.6 percent from May to June. The decline is due to plummeting prices in the international market as well as diversion of products for domestic needs.
• A half year after the U.S. military left Iraq, the government seems as if it is on the verge of collapse. Violence is escalating and with no relief in sight, there’s growing talk that Iraq is a failed state. 

MILITARY AFFAIRS 

• Retired General Peter Chiarelli, a Seattle native and former Army vice chief of staff, is now chief executive of One Mind for Research, a nonprofit that funds research for improved diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries and other brain disorders.
• In the New York Times, Rachel Natelson, legal director of the Service Women’s Action Network, examines the military justice system’s handling of sexual assaults. 

THE NEW GREATEST GENERATION 

• Since Marine Sgt. William C. Stacey, age 23, was killed Jan. 31 on a remote hillside in Afghanistan's Helmand province, a letter he wrote to his family has gained much attention from politicians and the news media.
• Christian Ellis, a 29-year-old former Marine machine gunner who has attempted suicide four times, is featured in “Fallujah,” a two-hour opera.
• Taylor Morris received a visit from President Obama and an invitation to the White House. Morris, a bomb disposal technician, lost his left arm at the elbow, his right arm at the wrist, his left leg at mid-thigh and his right leg at the knee in Afghanistan.
• Is it fair for city councils to limit flags and decorations for veterans graves? Read here.

INSIDE WASHINGTON 

• A new Pentagon review recommends changes to National Guard and reservists pay to make the salaries and benefits more equitable across the board.
• In a “programming request” sent to Congress, the Pentagon asked to shift $8.2 billion in previously approved fiscal 2012 funds to bankroll “higher priority” items, including added fuel costs to resupply U.S. forces in Afghanistan. 

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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