Blog Post

IAVA Daily News Brief 07.13.12
Posted by Gretchen Andersen on July 13 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.) Soldier Suicide: The Stigma to Seeking Help

Rajiv Srinivasan, OEF vet and the CEO of the National Foundation for Veteran Redeployment, writes a TIME Ideas blog about the need for soldiers to reach out for help with their mental health instead of resisting. “This is in fact the greatest hurdle the military and veteran services community will face in their battle against veteran suicide is countering the disciplined self-reliance we train our service members to embrace.” Rajiv writes that he personally dealt with the issue of suicide, having lost a friend to suicide and has consoled soldiers during such circumstances. 

2.) 6 Killed in IED attack Were MPs From Bliss

Military officials said the six soldiers killed in a weekend enemy bombing in Afghanistan were Fort Bliss, Texas-based GIs. The Department of Defense has released their names. They were killed when their armored vehicle struck an insurgent bomb in Wardak province of eastern Afghanistan on Sunday. 

3.) Smart Business Plan: Hire a Vet

In this Battleland blog, the author reports that veterans are needed in the workforce for their experience with leadership, responsibility and work ethic, and that perhaps employers don’t understand the day-to-day requirements of a military career. The blogger recommends that a media plan developed by the Department of Veteran Affairs, by Congress, or by the Department of Defense could help instruct the public on what being a service member means.

AFGHANISTAN

• As of Thursday, at least 1,900 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan as a result of the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to an Associated Press count.
• A NATO service member was killed by a roadside bomb. Anifa Safi, a local official with the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs, and her husband were killed in a separate bombing.
• Outgoing U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Ryan Crocker said he thinks it's unlikely that the withdrawal of U.S. and coalition forces in 2014 will cause the country to fall into a civil war.

IRAQ

• The White House asked Iraq to review the case of Ali Mussa Daqduq, a Hezbollah commander or hand him over to the United States, a senior Obama administration official said Thursday. Daqduq is considered a top threat to Americans in the Middle East and was detained for more than four years by the U.S. military before it left Iraq last December.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

• Richard David McClanahan, who was convicted under the Stolen Valor Act and served 30 months in federal prison, doesn’t want his record expunged.

THE NEW GREATEST GENERATION

• TIME Magazine gives military spouses warning signs to look for in their service member and how best to handle severe situations if they are worried.
• Lance Cpl. Jeffrey Cole, a Marine, received the Silver Star this week.
• Army Spc. Johnny Kelly of Great Falls, a 33-year-old single father, will not deploy to Afghanistan this week after his house burned right before he was scheduled to deploy.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

• According to a Congressional Budget Office report, the Defense Department’s average costs to maintain a service member on active duty has jumped 50 percent since 2001.

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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