Today’s Top Stories 

The Department of Veterans Affairs fails to report 90 percent of poor-performing doctors to national and state databases intended to alert other hospitals of misconduct, according to findings released Monday by the Government Accountability Office. | Stars and Stripes >>

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Veterans Affairs Department issued a joint “Warning Order” last week asking service members and veterans with VA loans to beware of “too good to be true” unsolicited offers that could turn out to be financial scams. | Air Force Times >>

“Veterans have the leadership skills needed to succeed in small business ownership, but frequently they are not financially able to manage the up-front costs,” Brownley said in an email. “Making small business ownership – including franchises – more accessible will better enable more veterans and their families to thrive.” | Military Times >>

Iraq and Afghanistan

Last month, Iraq’s central government retook control of the field from the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan. Production of some 300,000 barrels per day (bpd) has been disrupted since then as Baghdad and Erbil argue about export routes. | Reuters >>

“The Pakistanis have been engaged in a very tough fight against extremism inside their own country,” Army General John Nicholson, the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, told reporters Tuesday. “They did displace many of those terrorists who were fighting their own government. But at the same time, we’ve seen the ones who weren’t displaced were the Afghan Taliban” and the affiliated Haqqani network, he said. | Bloomberg >>

Iraq’s government released footage Wednesday of May arriving in Baghdad to meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi. It’s May’s first trip to Iraq as prime minister. May is scheduled to later travel to Saudi Arabia, where she will meet the assertive Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. | Fox News >>

Military Affairs

Jonathan’s military lineage extended to a grandfather and great-grandfather who also served in the Navy, and a great-great-grandfather who was a Prussian cavalryman. One of the few times I saw Jonathan beam with genuine pride was when he was given his great-great-grandfather’s sword at my retirement ceremony. | The Atlantic >>

The data belonged to the U.S. Army’s Intelligence and Security Command, a division of both the Army and the National Security Agency. It’s the latest known setback linked to the NSA where former agency contractor Edward Snowden disclosed a cache of classified material in 2013. | CBS News >>

Military operations overseas were given funding priority during the 2013 shutdown, with office closings and program halts confined to bases far from the front lines. Daycare and commissary services were not deemed essential to department operations, forcing curtailed hours and closures at those facilities. | Military Times >>

#VetsRising

“There are a lot of really good adult volunteers within this program – and some individuals from outside the program – that wanted to be part of this team here at headquarters,” Jones said. “I just consider myself blessed and lucky to have been selected out of that group.” | The Spokesman-Review >>

Lopez, who is now retired from the military, shared his story with Grundy Area Vocational Center students enrolled in Jeff Hanley’s criminal justice class at Coal City High School. As Hanley reports, Lopez’s story is, “one of courage, self sacrifice and patriotism.” | Free Press Newspapers >>

En route to graduating Saturday, Dec. 16, with a bachelor’s degree in business (3.4 GPA and double major in finance and economics), Wright and nearly 20 fellow student veterans took a break between classes, work and their families to receive a special red stole they will wear at commencement. | Daily News Journal >>