REPORT: COMBAT SOLDIERS CARRY TOO MUCH WEIGHT

SEATTLE — A newspaper report says combat soldiers are carrying too much weight, leading to increasing injuries.

The report by the Seattle Times found that the number of soldiers medically retired from the Army with at least one musculoskeletal condition increased nearly tenfold from 2003 to 2009, according to Army statistics.

The heavy loads contributed to rising numbers of Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans retiring with degenerative arthritis, cervical strains and other musculoskeletal injuries. The newspaper estimated that disability benefits for READ MORE »

FOR SOME TROOPS, POWERFUL DRUG COCKTAILS HAVE DEADLY RESULTS

In his last months alive, Senior Airman Anthony Mena rarely left home without a backpack filled with medications.

He returned from his second deployment to Iraq complaining of back pain, insomnia, anxiety and nightmares. Doctors diagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder and prescribed powerful cocktails of psychiatric drugs and narcotics.

Yet his pain only deepened, as did his depression. “I have almost given up hope,” he told a doctor in 2008, medical records show. “I should have died in Iraq.” READ MORE »

MEDAL OF HONOR RECIPIENT GIUNTA TO END ARMY CAREER

Medal of Honor recipient and Iowa native Staff Sgt. Sal Giunta will end his Army career in June and move to Colorado to pursue his education, a military spokesman said Tuesday.

Giunta has opted not to re-enlist and will leave the Army in mid-June, said Army spokesman George Wright. Giunta and his wife, Jenny, plan to move to Fort Collins, Colo., where he will attend school.

Wright said he didn’t know what school Giunta will attend, but Fort Collins is home to Colorado State University. READ MORE »

SENATORS: WHY IS HELP FOR CAREGIVERS DELAYED?

A bipartisan group of senators that last year helped to pass landmark legislation providing more support for caregivers of severely wounded veterans is pushing the administration to stop stalling implementation of the new law.

The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 was signed into law May 5 and was supposed to take effect Jan. 20. So far, nothing has happened — not even the development of an implementation plan that was supposed to be complete by the end of November. READ MORE »

Murray, Fellow Senators Call on VA to Stop Dragging its Feet in Getting Family Caregivers Critical Benefits

Because of VA inaction, family members of seriously injured veterans who have had to leave their jobs and make tremendous sacrifices are going without training, counseling, and financial benefits

(Washington, D.C.) – Yesterday, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, along with 17 Senators from both sides of the aisle, wrote to Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Eric Shinseki, and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Jack Lew, to urge the Administration to carry out the law and begin providing supportive services to caregivers of wounded veterans. The Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus READ MORE »

HOUSE GOP LOOKS TO TRIM DEFENSE, VETS SPENDING

House Republicans who are hoping to finally complete work on the delayed 2011 federal budget are looking at cutting funds from defense and veterans programs.

A revised budget proposed by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the House Budget Committee chairman, calls for a 2 percent increase in defense spending over 2010 levels, which is about 2 percent less than the Obama administration requested.

As a result, defense spending would increase about $9.5 billion above the READ MORE »

BACHMANN BACKS OFF PAY CUTS FOR DISABLED VETS

Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., sought Friday to quell a controversy over her budget-cutting plans, dropping a proposal that would have cut compensation for some disabled veterans by $12,000 a year or more.

Bachmann, who heads the tea party caucus in the House of Representatives, said she remains dedicated to cutting federal spending, and has not backed off the idea of freezing veterans health care funding.

But her list of ways to cut $400 billion from the federal budget no longer READ MORE »

UNEMPLOYMENT FOR YOUNG VETS JUMPS TO 15 PERCENT

The unemployment rate for veterans took an unexpected jump in January — even as the overall unemployment rate fell.

The Labor Department reported Friday that the national unemployment rate dropped 0.4 percentage point, to a new level of 9.0, but the rate for veterans climbed to 9.9 percent, up from 8.3 percent the previous month.

For Iraq and Afghanistan-era veterans, the unemployment rate for January was 15.2 percent. This is a sharp increase from 9.4 percent in November and 11.7 percent in December, a clear trend of a worsening job market for younger READ MORE »

20,000 MILITARY MEMBERS, VETS FACED FORECLOSURE IN 2010

More than 20,000 veterans, active-duty troops and reservists who took out special government-backed mortgages lost their homes last year — the highest number since 2003.

The rate of foreclosure filings in 2010 among 163 Zip codes located near military bases rose 32% over 2008, according to RealtyTrac, a foreclosure research firm. This compares with a 2010 increase in foreclosures filings nationally of 23% over 2008.

The housing crisis has hit military families particularly hard in part because of READ MORE »

BACHMANN PLAN WOULD CUT VETERANS BENEFITS

Tea party favorite Rep. Michele Bachmann, R-Minn., has unveiled a plan for cutting $400 billion in federal spending that includes freezing Veterans Affairs Department health care spending and cutting veterans’ disability benefits.

Her proposed VA budget cuts would account for $4.5 billion of the savings included in the plan, posted on her official House of Representatives website.

Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, said cutting veterans’ health care spending is an ill-advised move at a time when the number of veterans continues to grow as troops return from Iraq and Afghanistan. Sullivan said he finds it difficult to see how VA could freeze health READ MORE »