IAVA Daily Brief 07.29.09

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. [1]

MUST READS

(1) IAVA Launches Innovative GI Bill Website: NewGIBill.org [2]

Days away from the August 1^st implementation of the Post-9/11 GI Bill, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) announced the launch today of a groundbreaking outreach campaign, anchored by the website NewGIBill.org [3], to provide educational resources to new veterans seeking to attend college on the new GI bill.  NewGIBill.org [3] will help Iraq and Afghanistan veterans navigate the Post-9/11 GI Bill's confusing application process.  The website features a comprehensive section of frequently asked questions; a blog that provides real-time updates about the bill; three of the most accurate benefit calculators for calculating benefits, eligibility, and transferability; a streamlined checklist for applying for benefits; and an information section for colleges and universities to help make their campuses more veteran-friendly.  "As the media frenzy continues this week over Michael Vick's next move, nearly half a million new veterans are readying to take advantage of the historic new GI Bill. These new and improved benefits will transform the path of an entire generation of veterans and build the leaders of tomorrow," said IAVA Executive Paul Rieckhoff.  "IAVA is committed to ensuring that every veteran has the tools and resources they need to navigate the complicated GI Bill application process. The VA site is cumbersome, and other sites are looking to make a buck off of veterans.  Veterans need a modern, trusted place to go for all their GI Bill questions.  That is why IAVA created NewGIBill.org."  Click here [3] to visit the site and learn how to maximize use of your benefits.

(2)  OPINION: As Michael Vick Awaits Hail Mary, Vets Tackle a New GI Bill [4]

 In less than four days, the Post-9/11 GI Bill will finally take effect –ushering in the education dreams of hundreds of thousands of U.S. troops and veterans who have put their plans on hold to serve for our country.  Check out this latest column from IAVA’s Paul Rieckhoff unveiling NewGIBill.org, explaining how the bill will impact roughly 2 million eligible troops and why IAVA is calling on Congress, the VA and the White House to implement technical fixes to the bill so that full-time National Guard soldiers, distance and vocational learners, and vets attending private schools in CA, MA and DC do not miss out on benefits.  Click here [4] to read more.

(3) Gates Says Iraq Troop Withdrawal Could Be Accelerated [5]

On Day 2 of his trip to Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates [6] said Wednesday that as many as 5,000 United States troops could come home from Iraq [7] earlier than the Pentagon had planned because violence levels in the country were generally down and Iraqi security forces were doing well on their own.  Under the existing plan, two brigades, or about 10,000 troops, are to be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2009. Mr. Gates said it was now possible that an additional brigade, or 5,000 troops, would come home by that time.  Asked if he saw anything in Iraq that gave him reason to think there could be a slowdown or acceleration in the planned troop withdrawal, Gates reportedly replied, “I don’t think there’s anything in the cards for a slowdown… I think there’s at least some chance of a modest acceleration because of the way General Odierno sees things going. But that remains to be seen.”  The current plan calls for a modest drawdown by the end of this year so that there are still large numbers of American troops in place to help keep stability for Iraqi elections in January 2010. From March through August 2010, the plan calls for a steep drawdown of some 80,000 troops, so that by the end of next summer there remains a “residual force” of 30,000 to 50,000 troops. Under an agreement [8] with the Iraqi government, all United States forces have to be out of Iraq by the end of 2011.

AFGHANISTAN

NATO and Afghan officials slammed a new Taliban code of military conduct [9] on Tuesday calling it a “form of propaganda to try to show there is a central control over the insurrection.”  On Tuesday, Associated Press reported that the code, entitled "Taliban 2009 rules and regulations booklet," advises fighters to limit suicide attacks and avoid killing civilians.  Calling it a sham, NATO spokesman Brig. Gen. Eric Tremblay said the code is believed to have been published in May but that copies have been seized in operations throughout the country.  Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Zahir Azimi said the requirement for Taliban fighters to respect the rules of war contradicts the reality on the ground, noting that Taliban fighters captured and beheaded an Afghan soldier this week in the eastern Paktika region.

Meanwhile, in an op-ed today in the Wall Street Journal former assistant secretary of defense and combat Marine Bing West [10] writes that overall, too few of the enemy [in Afghanistan] are being killed or captured to sap Taliban or al Qaeda morale.  “Although [Afghans] welcome the largess provided by coalition forces, the village elders with whom [American and NATO] soldiers drink tea are intimidated by an enemy that prowls at night when our forces return to their bases. The Taliban is a highly mobile, amorphous force, with little popular support. But it is very willing to fight.”  Bing is calling on the U.S. government to allocate funding for 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan – up from 60,000- as well as more helicopters and rotating seven-month tours down from 12 months to keep brigades intact, as do the Marines.  Click here [10] to read his editorial.

Bing’s editorial comes as CNN reports today that Gen. Stanley McChrystal [11], top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, is expected to ask the Obama administration in coming weeks for additional troops and equipment when he delivers an August report on the war’s status to Congress.  The request will be for troops and equipment for conducting intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as more assets to deal with roadside bombs and explosives, according to officials speaking on condition of anonymity.

Stateside, Mohammed Jawad [12], a young Guantanamo inmate accused of throwing a grenade that maimed two American Soldiers in Afghanistan has been moved to a section of the detention center reserved for detainees ready for release.  According to his lawyers, the Afghan government is ready to dispatch a plane to Cuba to pick him up if U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle grants him release at a hearing scheduled for Thursday.  Jawad has been held at Guantanamo for seven years. He originally was accused of the grenade attack and was to stand trial before a military commission, but both military and civilian judges have banned virtually all the Pentagon prosecutor's evidence, saying it was the result of torture.

IRAQ

The Pentagon’s special Inspector General for Iraq [13] reconstruction released two new reports Tuesday concluding that the government has kept a closer eye on U.S. contractors in Iraq since a deadly 2007 shooting by Blackwater guards, but that it still needs to do a better job tracking and investigating when private security guards fire their guns.  The reports examined oversight of at least 13 U.S. firms working for the Defense and State departments between May 2008 and February 2009.  In perhaps the most serious lapse of oversight, the first audit concluded contractor watchdogs did not properly report and track the May 2008 death of an Army Corps of Engineers employee who was caught in a gunfight between security guards and al-Qaida suspects near Bayji, in central Iraq.  Pentagon auditors said the employee’s death should have been recorded in a database and triggered an Army investigation. Overall, the audit indicated the watchdogs’ database did not have evidence supporting 51 percent of incidents reported.  The second audit found that new rules for contractors that were put in place after the 2007 Blackwater shootings generally have helped oversight and coordination between private guards and the military.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

Military Times reports today that service members and their families will get a special opportunity to watch the upcoming G.I. Joe [14] movie for free, and before the film opens to the general public.  Free screenings of Paramount Pictures’ “G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra” will be held at Air Force and Army Exchange Service theaters at 11 military installations, starting with Andrews Air Force Base, Md., at 6 p.m., Friday, July 31. The other ten will be held on Saturday, Aug. 1.  Tickets for all screenings are available on a first-come, first-served basis.  Click here [14] for more details on screenings near you.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

Early today, IAVA Member Veteran and Paralympian Carlos Leon testified before the House Veterans Affairs Committee at a hearing focusing on meeting the needs of injured veterans in the military paralympic program.  Click here [15] to watch the video recap or read his written testimony [16]!  Learn more [17] here about his trip to the 2008 Paralympics with his exception veteran teammates.

CONGRESSIONAL SCHEDULE

THE SENATE 

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

Senate Committee Reports.

• Senate Report 111-41 [18] Veterans’ Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act of 2009
• Senate Report 111-46 [19] Military Spouses Residency Relief Act
• Senate Report 111-60 [20] Veterans’ Health Care Authorization Act of 2009

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 10:00 a.m.

HR 3326 [21] — Defense spending

FUTURE  HOUSE COMMITTEE HEARINGS of  INTEREST

• 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
• July 30, 2009  Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity Hearing:  VRE Contracts for Veteran Counseling  1:30 p.m.; 340 Cannon HOB
• September 10, 2009 - Joint House and Senate Full Committee Hearing:  Legislative Presentation of the American Legion  9:30 a.m.; 345 Cannon
  

IAVA In the NEWS

Outlet: Huffington Post
Title: As Michael Vick Awaits Hail Mary, Vets Tackle a New GI Bill [22]

Date: Wednesday, July 29^th

Representative: 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.