Blog Post

IAVA Daily News Brief 06.12.12
Posted by on June 12 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) Hiring veterans is a good business, study reports

A new study released by the Center for a New American Security shows that most private-sector employers say its good business hire veterans for their leadership skills and discipline learned in the service. However, some executives say they “have a hard time translating what they see in someone's military résumé into skills a company can use.” The study involved in-depth interviews with 87 business leaders representing 69 companies.

2) Report: US military admits to mistakes in Iraq, Afghanistan

Senior officials in the military have written the first volume of a draft report titled “Decade of War” — part of a multi-volume survey of “enduring lessons” from the past ten years of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. The report highlights the “missteps and failures” the military encountered. 

3) Lost in Translation: from the Battlefield to the Office

Veteran unemployment is at 12.7 percent as of May, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistic. Often times there are barriers veterans must overcome when talking with employers about their resumes and work experience, such as how to translate military values to civilians. Watch the video to follow U.S. Marine veteran Matt Litton as he looks for work at a job fair in Philadelphia.

AFGHANISTAN

• As many as 100 people are feared dead after a landslide provoked by an earthquake in Baghlan province yesterday.
• Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called for no more NATO airstrikes on homes in any circumstance.
• A suicide bomber killed 8 civilians when he detonated explosives on a bicycle in the main market of the town of Chahar Bolak.
• The Afghan National Army will soon be responsible for their country’s defense when the U.S. and NATO forces depart in a few years. Many in the Afghan National Army worry they aren’t well equipped. “Twenty of them share a single helmet, which they passed from one to another as they posed for photos.”

IRAQ

• A spokesman for the Defense Ministry and the Baghdad operations command said Monday that security forces have been put on alert and stepped up security for a major Shiite pilgrimage after a mortar attack on a religious procession killed 7 people and wounded dozens more.
• Iraq’s oil production is now higher than before the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. Iraq is set to overtake Iran as OPEC’s second biggest producer, upsetting OPEC’s power balance.

MILITARY AFFAIRS

• Stephen Latta, dean of admissions at the United States Naval Academy, said Monday that the class of 2016 is on track to have the largest female class in the school’s history.
• The jury heard the opening statements for the court-martial for Col. James H. Johnson III, who pleaded guilty to 15 charges, including bigamy, adultery and fraud, but pleaded not guilty on two counts of conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman.
• The Pentagon will soon deploy the new Switchblade drone, which weighs less than six pounds and can “take out a sniper on a rooftop without blasting the building to bits.”

THE NEW GREATEST GENERATION

• Despite facing a tough budget, Sierra Community College created their own veterans program where veterans can learn about VA benefits and the GI Bill as well as relax and do homework. The program also brings faculty to workshops where they can understand problems veterans face.
• The University of Montana announced on Monday it would find a way to pay for the 19 student veterans to continue their education throughout the next academic year without interruptions or financial hardships.

INSIDE WASHINGTON

• The Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear appeals from seven of the 169 men being held in the military prison at a U.S. naval base in Cuba.
• As relations worsen with Pakistan, the United States has broken off talks with Pakistan officials reopening supply routes into Afghanistan, a Pentagon spokesperson said Monday.

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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