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IAVA | November 28, 2016

Daily News Brief November 28, 2016

dnbAn F-16 Fighting Falcon flies over Aviano Air Base, Italy on Oct. 20, 2016. Staff Sgt. Krystal Ardrey/Air Force | Military Times >>

Today’s Top Stories

On December 4, hundreds of veterans plan to “deploy” to Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota to join in protest against the planned Dakota Access Pipeline. | KDVR >>

“They can’t be accurate. No way,” said Tucson resident Mary Marvella, who said her husband has been waiting since August for an appointment with a neurologist at the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System on South Sixth Avenue. | Arizona Daily Star >>

An examination of research on veteran business owners has been released by the Institute for Veterans and Military Families (IVMF) at Syracuse University. The assessment, covers a wide-range of areas connected to self-employed veterans, highlights gaps in existing literature and key traits that may contribute to veteran entrepreneurship, and calls for further research in the areas of self-employed women veterans and minority veterans. | Salisbury Post >>

Iraq and Afghanistan

“The Iraqi Security Forces inside of Iraq have taken back about 55 percent of the populated territory that ISIL originally seized back in 2014,” Rice said, using another name for the Islamic State. “They have now, with our support and that of our 68-country coalition, encircled Mosul and they’re beginning to move into parts of Mosul,” she added. | CNN >>

“Dostum came there, and he walked around the stadium, — then he called Ahmad Ishchi over to him,” said Gulab Khan, a relative of Mr. Ishchi who was among about 5,000 spectators at the game. “After talking with him for a couple of minutes, he punched him, and his bodyguards started beating him with AK-47s. They beat Ahmad very badly and in a barbaric way.” | The New York Times >>

U.S.-backed Iraqi government troops and Kurdish security forces have launched the biggest battle in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion to drive Islamic State fighters from Mosul, the militant group’s last major bastion in the country, many times larger than any other city the fighters have held. | Reuters >>

Military Affairs

Petersen enlisted in the Navy in 1950, and left in 1952 to accept a commission as a second lieutenant and become the first black pilot in the Marine Corps. He flew over 350 combat missions and more than 4,000 military aircraft hours throughout the Korean and Vietnam Wars. | Marine Corps Times >>

A team at Colorado State University has a grant to study whether the physical conditioning of the Human Performance Program, which is part of U.S. Special Operations Command’s Preservation of the Force and Families initiative, can help soldiers psychologically, spiritually and socially. | Army Times >>

James N. Mattis and John F. Kelly are both seen as contenders for a cabinet position in the new administration. Trump has tweeted that he is considering Mattis as a potential secretary of defense, while the president-elect’s senior advisers have indicated that Kelly could serve as secretary of state or homeland security.| The Washington Post >>

#VetsRising

Thompson is one of many veterans in South Dakota who are getting the kind of help that is contributing to a nearly one-third drop this year in the number of homeless veterans, according to HUD’s 2016 Homeless Assessment Report to Congress. | Rapid City Journal >>

In another life, Lynn was a sniper in Afghanistan, Damien trained paramilitary forces in Iraq, and John worked undercover infiltrating drug cartels in central America. Now all three are back in action, this time fighting what they describe as a “war” against poachers in southern Africa as the killing of rhinos escalates into a crisis that threatens the survival of the species. | Yahoo Sports >>

“We have been so busy with the new veterans program,” Olive said. “It gives me have a lot of job satisfaction knowing I have made the veterans of Johnston County happy. The response has been unbelievable.” But that’s not all the program offers. In addition to the IDs at no cost, Olive’s office also is also archiving veterans’ discharge papers for safekeeping, issuing the veterans certified copies. | The News & Observer >>

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