Archive for July, 2009
Senator Boxer’s Legislation for Military Families
As Americans, we are so lucky to live in a free country, defended by the brave men and women of our armed forces. We owe them our gratitude, respect, and support for sacrificing so much for us.
That’s why I’ve just introduced new legislation in the Senate that will ease the burden on our military families. My three amendments are being considered, right now, during this week’s debate on the defense authorization bill — and I need your help.
Please stand with me, add your voice, and help me build support for these crucial amendments to help our military families: Please endorse my amendments now!
What would my amendments do?
- Give families with two parents on active duty the option to stagger their overseas combat deployments — so one parent can stay home as the primary caregiver for their children. In addition, after one parent returns, provide a 90-day re-integration period before the other parent is deployed. This amendment is supported by the National Military Family Association.
- Reimburse military families who have to travel more than 50 miles from home in order to receive medical care — down from the current 100-mile requirement. This amendment is supported by the Military Coalition.
- Provide flexible spending accounts for all uniformed service personnel — so military families receive tax breaks for spending on medical expenses and child care. This amendment is supported by the VFW, National Military Family Association, Military Officers Association of America, and other organizations.
These amendments are the right thing to do for our servicemembers and their families. They do so much to protect us — now it’s time for us to stand up for them.
Senator Barbara Boxer
(D-CA)
VDOT Wounded-Veterans Training Program Gets Grant
The Virginia Department of Transportation has received a $1.2 million federal job-training grant for its Wounded Veteran Internship Program.
The funds from the economic stimulus package are aimed at providing on-the-job training in transportation, engineering or construction for underrepresented or disadvantaged people, according to the U.S. Transportation Department.
The federal agency singled out Virginia’s wounded-veterans initiative, started in 2006, as a successful example of the training programs. The state program helps wounded active-duty military personnel develop or improve job skills while they recover from their injuries.
Connolly Cares About the Troops
Two of the key elements required of our elected representatives is to listen to constituents and act on their behalf. Congressman Connolly has done just that with his recently passed bill, the Helping
Active Duty Deployed Act, drafted to ease financial burdens on our military personnel.
When talking to people he represents (and Connolly does this a lot) he found that they had to pay many extra costs for financial obligations when they were deployed.
Congressman Connolly along with Virginia Congressmen Perriello and Nye drafted up a bill to help our warriors and it was passed in record time, in a bipartisan vote.
As a Vietnam veteran, I would have appreciated someone who cared so much about me in 1968. Thank you Congressman Connolly.
BRUCE ROEMMELT
Haymarket
Veterans Affairs Faces Surge of Disability Claims
The department says its average time for processing those claims, 162 days, is better than it has been in at least eight years. But it does not deny that it has a major problem, with some claims languishing for many months in the department’s overtaxed bureaucracy.
“There are some positive signs in terms of what we’re doing,” said Michael Walcoff, deputy under secretary for benefits in the Veterans Benefits Administration. “But we know that veterans deserve better.”
Mr. Walcoff said the department recently finished hiring 4,200 claims processors, but many will not be fully trained for months. The Government Accountability Office reported last year that the Veterans Affairs Department had about 13,000 people processing disability claims.
The larger significance of the backlog, veterans groups and officials said, is that resources for veterans are being stretched perilously thin by a confluence of factors beyond the influx of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Veterans for Deeds
Creigh, along with U.S. Senator Jim Webb, announced the Webb, a combat Marine and former Secretary of the Navy, will serve as the Chair of “Veterans for Deeds,” a policy steering committee composed of Virginians from every part of the Commonwealth and representative of every branch of the armed services. You can click here to read the entire veterans plan. The full list of veterans is below:
• David Ashe, Virginia Beach — U.S. Marines
• Ollie Bates, Virginia Beach — Captain, U.S. Navy
• Pixie Bell, Alexandria – Sergeant, Women’s Air Force
• Thomas Beres, Potomac Falls – Colonel, U.S. Air Force
• Kenneth Bernstein, Arlington – U.S. Marines
• Del. Joseph F. Bouchard, Virginia Beach – Captain, U.S. Navy
• Frank Carr, Halifax – U.S. Army
• John Francis Carter, Virginia Beach – Captain, U.S. Army Special Forces
• Larry Gene Clevinger, Pulaski – Sergeant, U.S. Air Force
• Sen. Charles Colgan, Manassas – U.S. Air Force
• Fmr. Del. Howard Copeland, Norfolk — Captain, U.S. Coast Guard
• Carlos Del Toro, Stafford – Commander, U.S. Navy
• Del. David Englin, Alexandria – U.S. Air Force
• Vivian Greentree, Norfolk – U.S. Navy
• Joseph Harmon, Fairfax – Sergeant, U.S. Marines
• John Harvey, Manassas – 1st Lieutenant, U.S. Army
• John Jaramillo, Nokesville – Major, U.S. Air Force
• Supervisor John Jenkins, Dale City – Lt. Colonel, U.S. Army
• Carol Johanningsmeier, Suffolk – Quartermaster First Class, U.S. Coast Guard
• Joseph Keating, Jr., Leesburg – Specialist, U.S. Army
• David Kovacs, Henrico Co. – Lieutenant Junior Grade, U.S. Navy
• William Lahue, Fairfax – Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army
• Rufus Rudy Langford, Hampton – Sergeant, U.S. Marines
• Councilman George Lovelace, Vienna – U.S. Army
• Albert J. McAloon, Springfield – Lt. Commander, U.S. Navy
• John Montgomery, Sandston – U.S. Army
• Rev. Dr. Calvin Motley, Rocky Mount – U.S. Marines
• J. Brian Nicewander, Richmond – U.S. Army
• Ralph Parrott, Fairfax Station – Captain, U.S. Navy
• Anne J. Rawley, Chesapeake – Captain, U.S. Navy
• Chris Rey, Newport News – Captain, U.S. Army
• Beth Roemmelt, Haymarket – U.S. Air Force
• Bruce Roemmelt, Haymarket – U.S. Navy
• Sen. Richard Saslaw, Annandale – U.S. Army
• Rep. Robert C. Scott, Newport News – U.S. Army Reserves
• Alonzo E. Short Jr., Portsmouth — Lieutenant General, U.S. Army
• Terron Sims, II, Arlington – Captain, U.S. Army
• John Robert Slaughter, Roanoke – Sergeant, U.S. Army
• Fmr. Sen. Sonny Stallings, Virginia Beach — U.S. Marines
• Don Stanton, Alexandria – Commander, U.S. Navy
• Dr. Jarris L. Taylor, Jr., Yorktown — Master Sergeant, U.S. Air Force
• Harry Tenney, Charlottesville – Corporal, U.S. Army
• Ross Thompson, Virginia Beach – Sergeant, U.S. Marine
• Mike Turner, Waterford – Colonel, U.S. Air Force
• Mayor Kristen Umstattd, Leesburg – Lieutenant, U.S. Navy Reserves
• Sen. Jim Webb, Falls Church – Secretary of the U.S. Navy; U.S. Marines
• William Westhoff, Woodbridge – Colonel, U.S. Marines
• Kate Wilder, Springfield — Lt. Colonel, U.S. Army
• Kayla Williams, Broadlands — U.S. Army
• Jerry Wood, Warrenton — Petty Officer Third Class, U.S. Navy
• David R. Oliver, Jr., Arlington — Rear Admiral (Upper Half), U.S. Navy (Ret.)
A Soldier’s Wife
My childhood friend of 31 years visited my home on base, in Quantico, a few months after I gave birth to my first baby. As we took a leisurely stroll one evening through the lingering humidity of early September, I explained to her how different military life is from the world in which we grew up in San Francisco. We passed rows of colorful houses on the tree-lined, manicured blocks and gazed at the playgrounds around the neighborhood, ready to welcome the children of the officers who live there. American flags hung from virtually every front door. The occasional “My daddy fights for your freedom” bumper sticker adorned some vehicles. As we looped around the bend toward my house, my friend turned to me and asked, “How do you accept what your husband does for a living?”
Grace After Fire
One of our own VMFC members, Kayla Williams, is a member of the Board of Directors of the new “Grace After Fire”. Grace is designed to serve women veterans from all eras and branches of service (currently 1.8M), and is preparing to meet the high numbers of women (approximately 14 percent of the armed services) currently serving. Although women veterans represent less than 6 percent of veterans accessing VA healthcare, 71 percent of the women who do use the VA System have a mental health concern. Unfortunately, a challenge that can occur in offering VA services to women is providing accessible gender-responsive and trauma-informed care at all locations.
Grace is a virtual organization reaching across the nation, and is already engaging with women veterans still in theater as they prepare to come home. Grace’s Board of Directors is comprised of 80 percent veterans, managed by women veterans; and our Clinical Advisory Committee is comprised of 100 percent women trauma experts, researchers, and addiction specialists.
Learn more at www.graceafterfire.org
Congressman Glenn Nye’s First Annual Hampton Roads Veterans Job Fair
On Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 Congressman Glenn Nye will host his first annual Hampton Roads Veterans’ Job Fair at VFW Post 4809 in Norfolk.
The fair is intended to bring together employers in Hampton Roads with local veterans who have valuable skills and training from their military service.
The fair will feature:
- Twenty local employers, including the public and private sector, as well as staffing firms.
- Résumé counseling and interview training sessions
- The world premiere screening of a new episode from the In Their Boots documentary series. The episode “Vets for Hire,” focuses on the stories of three veterans battling to find work after returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan. Congressman Nye was interviewed for the program, discussing his Veterans Business Center legislation, which recently passed the House of Representatives,
- A panel discussion of veterans employment issues with the producers of In Their Boots, representatives of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and Congressman Glenn Nye.