FREE TALBOTS GIFT CARD!
Attention Female Veterans living in California!
Are you actively seeking employment?
Did you serve on active duty after September 11, 2001?
Were you junior enlisted (E-4 or below) at the time of your discharge?
If you answered YES, you qualify for a free $200 gift card from Talbots.
Former First Lady Maria Shriver has partnered with Talbots Inc. to help provide female veterans with gift cards to help them purchase professional attire and help them transition into today’s workforce. READ MORE »
WIDOW SUES GOVERNMENT OVER MARINE’S DEATH
LEXINGTON, Ky. — The widow of a Marine is suing the U.S. government, claiming two Veterans Affairs facilities refused to provide her husband with psychiatric help hours before he took his life.
The Lexington Herald-Leader reports the suit seeks $22.5 million in damages for 22-year-old widow Tiffany Anestis and the couple’s 2-year-old daughter, Isabelle, in the death of Marine Corps reservist Cameron Anestis.
Anestis was 21 when fatally shot himself at his Scott County home on Aug. 17, 2009. READ MORE »
OBAMA ANNOUNCES ‘UNPRECEDENTED COMMITMENT’ TO MILITARY FAMILIES
WASHINGTON, Jan. 24, 2011 – President Barack Obama today unveiled a governmentwide plan to strengthen military family support, offering a glimpse at a few of the new programs and cooperative efforts being launched in the coming months to improve quality of life and well-being for military families.
“Today, I’m proud to announce that for the first time ever, supporting the well-being of our military families will be a priority not just for the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs, but all across the federal government,” Obama said.
Speaking from the White House’s East Room, Obama unveiled this “unprecedented commitment” to military families READ MORE »
GUARD, RESERVE SUICIDE RATE SEES BIG SPIKE
Army officials continue to struggle to figure out why soldiers — especially the service’s citizen soldiers — keep committing suicide in record numbers, as 2010 was the sixth consecutive year the Army’s suicide rate increased.
Despite the rise, there was some progress: The active-duty suicide rate dropped slightly, but the number of suicides in the Guard and Reserve increased sharply.
In 2010, the number of suicides increased by 59, from 242 to 301, an increase of 24.4 percent. Almost twice as many READ MORE »
RETREAT FOR FEMALE VETERANS AND SERVICE MEMBERS
Coming Home Project
WHEN: February 10, 2011 - February 13, 2011
LOCATION: Oceanside, CA
APPLICATION: Female Veteran and Service Member Retreat Application Form
DETAILS:
During this four-day retreat we will focus on healing, connecting, & finding our strengths. READ MORE »
VA ADDS CHAT FEATURE TO ONLINE APPLICATION FOR HEALTH BENEFITS
VA Adds Chat Feature to Online Application for Health Benefits
WASHINGTON – Veterans will find it easier and faster to apply for their health care benefits now that the Department of Veterans Affairs has enhanced and streamlined its online Form 10-10EZ, “Application for Health Benefits.”
“VA is committed to tapping into the best that technology has to offer to ensure Veterans receive the benefits they have earned,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “We continue to look for new ways to improve access to care and benefits and engage Veterans.” READ MORE »
REPORT: WOMEN SHOULD BE ALLOWED IN COMBAT UNITS
WASHINGTON — Women should finally be allowed to serve fully in combat, a military advisory panel said Friday in a report seeking to dismantle the last major area of discrimination in the armed forces.
The call by a commission of current and retired military officers to let women be front-line fighters could set in motion another sea change in military culture as the armed forces, generations after racial barriers fell, grapples with the phasing out of the ban on gays serving openly.
The newest move is being recommended by the Military Leadership Diversity Commission, established by Congress two years ago. The panel was to send its proposals to Congress and President Obama. READ MORE »
STUDY: DEPLOYED GI’S BENEFITED FROM UPFRONT HELP
A battlefield study conducted by the Army on 20,000 soldiers during the troop surge in Iraq shows that more aggressive efforts to question and counsel GIs about their mental health reduce by nearly 80 percent the number who develop behavioral health illnesses during combat.
The results of the study, to be published Tuesday in the American Journal of Psychiatry, also show that 54 percent fewer soldiers contemplated suicide and that the number who needed to be sent home from Iraq with mental health problems dropped by nearly 70 percent. READ MORE »
ARMY: 22 SUICIDES IN 2010 AT FORT HOOD
The Army’s largest post saw a record number of soldiers kill themselves in 2010 despite a mental health effort aimed at reversing the trend.
The Army says 22 soldiers have either killed themselves or are suspected of doing so last year at Fort Hood, Texas, twice the number from 2009.
That is a rate of 45 deaths per 100,000, compared to 20-per-100,000 rate among civilians in the same age group and a 22-per-100,000 rate Army-wide. READ MORE »
UNEMPLOYMENT JUMPS IN DECEMBER FOR YOUNG VETS
Labor Department employment statistics released Friday show that young veterans continue to have serious and growing problems finding work in a tight job market, while older veterans are doing better than the general population.
The Jan. 7 release of December data shows the national unemployment rate fell slightly, from 9.8 percent in November to 9.4 percent in December, and that the unemployment rate for all veterans over the age of 18 remained steady, at 8.3 percent. READ MORE »
