Army Recruiting in Virginia Bucks Nationwide Downturn

Army Recruiting in Virginia Bucks Nationwide Downturn

January 23, 2009
Richmond – U.S. Army recruitment in Virginia continues to rise, and those candidates are of a higher quality than the year before. But an independent analysis of military data also shows that, nationwide, recruiting goals are short by at least 10,000, and many recruits lack high school diplomas and the desired test scores.

Suzanne Smith, research director for the National Priorities Project, wrote the report. She says that the Army's success in Virginia may a lot to do with that state's military tradition.

"The Army is having a little more success in that state. This could reflect the tradition of military service in Virginia and the location of the Pentagon."

Another factor is the economy; traditionally economic downturns see a rise in military enlistment. The U.S. Army spends hundreds of millions of dollars on advertising and arcade games to attract potential recruits. Smith says that a Pentagon advisory group recently found the Department of Defense budget 'unsustainable' due to the rising costs of military personnel, health care and overhead. Analysts project a 60-billion increase in the 2010 defense budget, largely tied to increasing troop levels.

Aries Keck, Public News Service - VA

I am confused I thought I saw headlines recently that due to the poor economic data and the loss of millions of jobs that the military was having an easier time meeting their recruiting goals, and the success of the mission in Iraq that more people were joining the military.

See I found it my favorite PHD the now ex Deputy Secretary of Defense for Personnel David Chu

DoD Press Briefing on Recruiting and Retention with Dr Chu and the Service Commanders of the Armed Forces Recruiting Command at the Pentagon Briefing Room, Arlington, VA 10 October 2008

DoD Press Briefing on Recruiting and Retention with Dr Chu and the Service Commanders of the Armed Forces Recruiting Command at the Pentagon Briefing Room, Arlington, VA


BRYAN WHITMAN (Public Affairs, Department of Defense): Well, good morning and thank you for joining us.

As I have been promising you, for some time, we do have with us today Dr. David Chu, who is the undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, to talk to you about the past year in recruiting and retention. He's joined today by several individuals from the military departments.

With him, he has Major General Thomas Bostick, the commanding general of Army Recruiting Command; from the Navy, Rear Admiral Joseph Kilkenny, commander of Navy Recruiting Command; from the Air Force, Brigadier General Alfred Stewart, commander, Air Force Recruiting Command and somebody that you all in here know, Major General (Select) Robert Milstead, the commanding general, Marine Corps Recruiting Command, and former chief of Marine Corps Public Affairs.

Dr. Chu is going to kind of give you an overview of the years. And some of the services will also then speak to you and then take your questions on this year's recruiting and retention efforts.

So Dr. Chu, again, thank you very much for joining us today and bringing your colleagues.

Dr. Chu: Bryan, thank you.

you will need to go to DOD's website to read the entire interview, it seems now that DOD interviews are not government property and belong to a "private news service" and we need copyright permission to reprint what they publish on DOD wbesites WTF?

Thank you all.
FY2008 Press Brief Handbook
(C) COPYRIGHT 2008, FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE, INC., 1000 VERMONT AVE.
NW; 5TH FLOOR; WASHINGTON, DC - 20005, USA. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ANY
REPRODUCTION, REDISTRIBUTION OR RETRANSMISSION IS EXPRESSLY
PROHIBITED. UNAUTHORIZED REPRODUCTION, REDISTRIBUTION OR RETRANSMISSION CONSTITUTES A MISAPPROPRIATION UNDER APPLICABLE UNFAIR COMPETITION LAW, AND FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE, INC. RESERVES THE RIGHT TO PURSUE ALL REMEDIES AVAILABLE TO IT IN RESPECT TO SUCH MISAPPROPRIATION. FEDERAL NEWS SERVICE, INC. IS A PRIVATE FIRM AND IS NOTAFFILIATED WITH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. NO COPYRIGHT IS CLAIMED AS TO ANY PART OF THE ORIGINAL WORK PREPARED BY A UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT OFFICER OR EMPLOYEE AS PART OF THAT PERSON'S OFFICIAL DUTIES.

FOR INFORMATION ON SUBSCRIBING TO FNS, PLEASE CALL CARINA NYBERG
AT 202-347-1400.

I wonder how news organizations handle DOD news conferences now? Do they have to pay for access? Since when is government briefings not public property like GAO reports etc, we as taxpayers pay for it, I am sure DOD is paying this news service for their work. I am sure they are not doing it for free. Maybe it was one of Donald Runslfeds ways to privatize the propaganda coming out of the Pentagon.

Bottom line even in the worst economic times in decades they are having a hard time recruiting soldiers. And DR Chu was publicly lying about it less than 3 months ago. I have heard he is gone from the Pentagon, the nation is now a safer place because of it, and retirees and veterans may now get the respect they deserve from the office he held. Good riddance.

Sphere: Related Content

Welcome home all you new Vets

Welcome home all you new Vets

January 24, 12:16 AM
by Harmon Biehl, Miami Veterans Affairs Examiner
« PreviousHi all you regular Veteran readers!. I want to especially call out to you new Vets in V.A. Land. All you Kuwait Vets, Iraq, Afganistan, and all the rest of the the Non-Wars our warriors are used for. Here is a quick look into the window of the future for you as you get older.

1. You will be confused trying to understand why you deteriorate from the strange illnesses that are probably already beginning to manifest themselves in your daily life.
2. Your confusion and ability to reason out the issues will be almost impossible due to the fact that the truth is being withheld from you on purpose.
3. You will become angry that even after you find out the truth you will not be able to accomplish much because the Government will continue to deny any responsibility.
4. When you pass thru the stages of non-belief that your Government would treat you this way, and then deny it, then be forced to admit it, but continue to deny help or benefits you will begin to realise that you have been had.
5 If you are lucky it will not cost you your marriage, or you childrens lives having to be lived with deformities and early terminal illnesses.
6 If you are unlucky, well.............................
7 You wake up at night in a cold sweat shaking and afraid from the nightmare that seems so real.
8. Your wife has collected the children while you were out at the gas station and they will be gone before you get home. Soon you will get a letter telling you they don't want you or need you anymore.
9 Your husband has collected the children while you were out a the gas station and they will be gone before you get home. Soon you will get a letter telling you they no longer want you or need you.
10 you will not be able to hold down a job for long.
11 you seem to be angry most of the time.
12 Your pediatrician tells you offhandidly after the delivery of your new baby,"Say! while you were off at war were you around any lethal chemicals like DIOXIN? Your new baby may be suffering from something we are not sure of yet.
13 You may get headaches that bring you to your knees. The V.A. can't fix you because, you are screwed, you are unfixable.
14 the list goes on and on and on and on.............

Hey all you new Vets, I am in touch with many veterans, both men and women and I know that there are certain truths that cannot be white washed or explained away. You will in time learn these truths also.
I am a strong person and I have strong beliefs, like eventually right wins over wrong. Goodness triumphs over badness. Love is stronger than hate.

Every once in a while I get an email from a friend that is being dumped on way more than me, if that is possible. I just received oneof those. It is from a special friend of mine I will call MR.Murphy. He jokes about his ailments as though he were under the spell of Murphy's law. Remember that one? If it can go wrong it will at the worst possible moment.

Well, I wanted to do an article on Mr. Murphy but he is far more eloquent and honest than I could have been in the same situation.
A Little background............ I sent one of those really goofy but funny chain letters with pictures of small animals in funny situations. They are usually ok but if you have seen one you have seen them all. This particular one made me laugh. Soooooooooooooooooooooooooo, I sent it along to some special war buddies of mine(all Veterans are war buddies of mine), some are special to me. Darned if a bunch of us didn't get a good laugh. It was a hoot. One of my special war buddies also sent me back a return email. I cried. You read it. See what you think.


Harm thanks for the smiles it brought to my face, it has been a rough few weeks and with my PTSD it is usually rough but getting ready for the BVA hearing in 2 weeks and seeing that Cardiologist Wed hit me like a 2 x 4 between the eyes, he was rude short and told me regardless of my PTSD I was going to have a heart attack when I did I was like WTF and I am paying you for this why? My lawyer felt I needed another IMO to refute the C&P doctors from the VA we did a background check on the C&P doctors the VA has used to refute my cardiac claims one is a podiatrist, one is a nurse practioner, and the latest one graduated from med school in 2005 and is a radiologist and the VA raters used their opinions to dismiss my treating VA cardiologists opinion a cardiologist with an impeccable resume from Colorado, DR Ketchums IMO who as a retired Army Colonel and a very long and impressive resume as a doctor and psychiatrist for more than 40 years, so the Chief of Cardiology is writing another IMO linking the PTSD to be an aggravating condition to my series of cardiovascular problems and strokes for the past 20 years.

My wife and my sons security rests on getting my cardiac problems SC secondary to my Sc PTSD, otherwise they will lose our home because of my health problems I can not buy life insurance or mortgage insurance so I have been more of a SOB the past few weeks than usual, and I have been nasty to my friends, family and everyone else. I am and have been reclusive for years, but due to the stress and worries I have been worse than normal.

This set of pics made me smile and realize what a jerk I have been I hope my family and friends can accept this as my apology, because this is about as good as it's going to get.

Thanks Harm for being a friend even idiots like me need new good friends (Mr Murphy) to the rest of you. You are my friends and all I can say is I am sorry.



Well people. Do you think Mr Murphy needs to be sorry. I'll tell you who needs to be sorry. These make believe doctors lie about his illness. They lie about the government involvement in his disaster level proportion illnesses. What ever happened to the oath doctors take to become doctors? Maybe they dont do that any more. Maybe it is just the money.
It may be too late to save any of these doctors from having blood on their hands, but it may not be too late for them to keep from having Mr Murphys blood on their hands. There is a final accounting in everyones lives, and you all know it. These are the same doctors that are treating me. Gives you confidence, doesn't it? You know what, they are the doctors that are going to treat you.



Yes all you new Vets. This is what you have to look forward to 20-30-40 years from now, if you should live so long.

Welcome home all you new vets, welcome to the club.

Mr Murphy, you ar not a jerk in my book, you are a Special friend, and I love you.

Be Blessed;
Harm...............................:)

Sphere: Related Content

Broken Military Marriages: Another Casualty of War

Broken Military Marriages: Another Casualty of War

By Stacy Bannerman, AlterNet. Posted January 23, 2009.

If politicians want to protect marriage, they should work to support veterans and military families.

More than 13,000 military marriages ended last year, and mine came dangerously close to becoming one of them, but it wasn’t because of some gays getting hitched. Military marriages are at increasingly high risk of failure, and combat is the cause.

Most of the boots on the ground in Iraq are worn by Marines, active duty Army, or Army National Guard. They have served the most and longest deployments, seen the most combat, and suffered the most injuries, both physical and psychological. In 2008, the active-duty Army and Marines also had a higher percentage of failed marriages than the Navy or Air Force, whose rates held steady or decreased slightly.

Divorce rates for women in the Army or Marines were nearly three times that of their male counterparts, which speaks volumes about the effect of war on women, as well as the gender roles, societal expectations, and resiliency of their husbands. The fact that the Veterans Administration has just a handful of gender-specific treatment programs for women, and there’s been scant attention, research, and support for women veterans speaks for itself.

A study published in Armed Forces & Society revealed that male combat veterans were 62 percent more likely than civilian males to have at least one failed marriage. In 2006, Kansas State University professor Walter Schumm surveyed 337 soldiers at Fort Riley who had recently returned from Iraq. 6.1 percent said they would probably divorce, and 12.2 percent indicated that they would be divorcing. By comparison, two to four percent of civilian marriages end in divorce each year.

Due to the unprecedented deployments of citizen soldiers and the unique challenges faced by the families they leave behind, divorce rates among Guard and Reservists may be even higher than active duty. The military doesn’t monitor the divorce rates of citizen soldiers, who are more likely than active duty troops to be married, and nearly twice as likely to have combat-related stress. According to SOFAR (Strategic Outreach to Families of All Reservists), "20 percent of returned married troops are planning a divorce, [and] problems in relationships in families are four times higher after … deployment."

When "weekend warriors" are mobilized and deployed for a year or more (a Minnesota Guard unit served 22 months, the longest of the war) their families face the same strains as active duty families, without even the minimal formal support, informal peer networks, and child care services available on base.

Scattered across states, Guard spouses struggle with social isolation, and 40 percent of military spouses said that their mental health worsened during deployment. Some Guard families grapple with a reduced household income as the result of a military wage that is lower than the soldier’s civilian pay, or because the remaining spouse has to quit work to take care of the children. Financial stressors are challenging for any family; they are especially so for military families, whose emotional reserves are depleted from paying the compound interest on multiple deployments.

The August wedding of Ellen DeGeneres and Portia di Rossi won’t strain heterosexual marriages or raise the risk of divorce. The August departure of thousands of National Guard soldiers to train for a second tour in Iraq, nearly two years before they were eligible for redeployment, according to a Pentagon policy, most certainly will.

The Department of Defense doesn’t track the marriages that end after separation from service, but I know, or know of, at least 100 Iraq War veterans who have gotten divorced. More than half of them filed after they were discharged or retired. These broken bonds might not "count" statistically, but they counted to the men and women and children whose hopes and dreams -- of love, stability, and a two-parent home -- began to die in Iraq.

Military marriages are casualties of war, not gay matrimony, and they won’t be preserved by barring the doors of the Church or the State to same-sex couples. If Americans want to protect marriage, they should be working to support veterans and military families, and end the war in Iraq.

Stacy Bannerman is the author of "When the War Came Home: The Inside Story of Reservists and the Families They Leave Behind", and the creator and director of Sanctuary Weekends for Women Veterans and Wives of Combat Veterans. Her husband is serving his second deployment in Iraq with the Army National Guard 81st Brigade
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Multiple deployments and the stress on the spouses at home waiting for the knock of uniformed notification teams is terrifying and the multiple deployments are taking their toll on military marriages, they are at highs not seen since the Vietnam era, and it is the military families that are paying dearly for this long and continous 2 wars.

Sphere: Related Content

Veterans bounced by bank error

Veterans bounced by bank error

Veterans bounced by bank error
By Robert Brodsky rbrodsky@govexec.com January 23, 2009

Hundreds of veterans were unexpectedly slapped with fees and penalties last month when Citibank, one of the nation's largest banks and a government contract holder, refused to honor certain checks issued by the Veterans Affairs Department.
Multiple sources confirmed that the mistake apparently was caused by a Citibank employee who, without VA's knowledge, changed a contract arrangement between the bank and the department, placing stricter limits on the amount of time veterans had to cash government checks for reimbursement of certain expenses.

"Due to a Citibank error, approximately 465 checks which VA had provided to veterans and vendors were not honored when they were presented for payment," VA officials said in a statement. "This resulted in bounced checks and applicable fees and penalties being assessed. As soon as VA became aware of this issue, Citibank was contacted and corrective action was initiated to remedy the situation."
Citibank is in the process of reimbursing fees and penalties to the affected parties and has confirmed it will honor any additional checks presented for payment, VA said, adding it will "continue to work closely with Citibank to ensure all veterans and vendors receive full reimbursement."

The glitch was rooted in the governmentwide transition last year to the new General Services Administration SmartPay2 contract. Under the program, charge cards and convenience checks are provided to federal agencies through master contracts negotiated with major national banks.

Convenience checks are used primarily to pay vendors that do not accept government charge cards. At VA, the checks often are used to reimburse veterans for minor expenses incurred related to their care or support, such as travel and transportation expenses. Veterans are told they have 60 days to deposit these checks, which generally amount to a few hundred dollars.
Citibank was the vendor for VA under the original SmartPay contract, which expired on Nov. 30, 2008. While the bank was chosen as one of three firms to participate in the SmartPay 2 contract, which began Dec. 1, 2008, VA selected U.S. Bank as the primary vendor under the new contract.

In the weeks leading up to the transition to SmartPay2, a Citibank employee, whose identity was not disclosed to Government Executive, apparently altered the terms of the original decadelong contract with VA. The new terms, which were not approved by VA, allowed veterans only 10 days to deposit convenience checks.

Consequently, in late December and early January, hundreds of veterans began depositing convenience checks into their personal bank accounts only to discover that Citibank would not honor the payments.

The veterans were then charged penalties associated with bounced checks or, in some cases, overdraft fees for writing payments with insufficient funds in their accounts.
Affected veterans "were caught completely unaware by this," said a former government official familiar with the problem who requested anonymity. "This is a pretty big hit for their income."

In a statement, Citibank acknowledged the error and said it was working to make amends.

"Citi regrets the inconvenience caused to the Department of Veterans Affairs during its transition from SmartPay1 to SmartPay2 and the related change in providers," the statement said. "During this transition to a new provider, an error resulted in some client accounts being closed prematurely and as a result, some checks were returned when initially presented for payment. Citi has worked closely with the Department of Veterans Affairs to address this matter."

VA has begun the process of reissuing the convenience checks under US Bank to affected veterans and vendors. The department's new contract bank has said it will honor the checks up to 180 days, or longer upon approval from VA that a check is valid.

The department issues more than 140,000 convenience checks per year worth approximately $33 million.

Sphere: Related Content

Veterans For Change Demands Accountability for Those Who Served

Veterans For Change Demands Accountability for Those Who Served
Salem-News.com
They want Congress to amend the “The Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008” to speed up the update of the Disability Rating Schedule and several other sections of the law, as it is apparent that the VA has stalled these updates for years


American soldiers in patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan
Salem-News.com photo by Tim King

(GARDEN GROVE) - The small but vocal group Veterans-for-Change released a letter today calling for new legislation in the 111th Congress. The group's Jim Davis, says their request is based on what he calls the obvious fact, that while billions may be spent on war, on bailouts, and economic stimuli, the U.S. Government cannot appropriate sufficient funding to care for Veterans and Widows of Veterans disabled by their President.

The group hits on recent events horrendously dismissed by the Department of Veteran Affairs such as admitting they didn’t check their computer programs and change them to comply with legislation, thus causing monies to be erroneously collected from the widows of Veterans at the worst possible time, the moment of their deaths.

"The question hits on why, when claims for disability compensation and death and indemnity claims are delayed for months if not years, doesn’t the Department of Veteran Affairs pay interest and penalties to the claimant, when they CHARGE interest and penalties when overpayment, etc. is charged to the Veteran or widow?" Davis said.

The group also calls on the Congress and more particularly the Congressional Budget Office, to explain why an Active Duty family would have to pay for their health care, at a time when the majority of Defense budgets go to the Iraq and Afghanistan war efforts and major weapons systems. They want to know why sufficient funds to pay for the costs of retiree health care shortfalls can’t be appropriated.




If sleeping on the muddy ground and putting one’s life on the line for their country is not enough to garner a reduced cost for health insurance, the group maintains that active duty members should have the option to resign for service honorably.

With the opening of eligibility to Category 8 veterans, the group asks the Congress to ensure adequate funding is given to the Department of Veteran Affairs to fund these added persons and if the Department fails to make adequate request, or blame their failings on these added costs, that the Congress shall make the needed funds available, but also ask that the President hold those responsible accountable by requiring they resign.


One of the more important requests of the group Davis says, is for Congress to amend the “The Veterans' Benefits Improvement Act of 2008” to speed up the update of the Disability Rating Schedule and several other sections of the law, as it is apparent that the Department of Veteran Affairs has stalled these updates for years, thus denying disability compensation and adequate quality of life payments for catastrophic disabilities suffered by Veterans.

Finally, the group calls for the support of changes to the Agent Orange Act of 1991, adding locations and cancers, and requesting the inclusion of all related health care costs for the children of AO Veterans who suffer from spina bifida.
Veterans For Change Demands Accountability for Those Who Served

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Like so many groups to say they represent veterans, it is easy to claim it, but I just did a Google search for this group and I could find nothing about them, why? Is this a new group created in someone's living room last week? What is their mission, their goals, how many members do they have, and are they going to attempt to become a full fledged member of the veterans advocacy mission as many groups are, are they attaching themslelves to an existing group as did the Veterans of Modern Warfare did when they joined with the Vietnam Veterans of America? I encourage all veterans advocates but really help veterans and not just create a group to raise money and pay yourselves nice salaries and transportation and hotel and rental cars while you are on "veteran business" get down and dirty and help, please.

Sphere: Related Content

Tale of a war trial

Tale of a war trial
Written by Sam Matthews
Friday, 23 January 2009


A pair of World War II veterans who guarded Nazi war criminals during the Nuremberg trials drew a big crowd this week to the Lolly Hansen Senior Center.




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From the size of the crowd that filled Lolly Hansen Senior Center on Wednesday night, the West Side Pioneer Association could be on its way to building oral-history sessions into an important part of the historical group’s efforts.


World War II veterans Bill Miller and Ken Fulkerson were the center of attention Wednesday, when they told of their experiences as guards during the first of the Nuremberg Trials at the conclusion of World War II.

The pioneers had thought the program might attract 50 to 60 people, but as more and more Tracyites showed up, additional chairs had to be put in place until there was an even 100 in attendance (according to official head-counter Ray Shipman).

In the past, the West Side Pioneers had hosted several sessions on phases of Tracy’s history, but the efforts were sporadic and hadn’t been continued on any consistent basis.

But the success of Wednesday’s session coupled with the promise of filling the Grand Theatre on Feb. 22 for the Japanese-produced film on the Byron Hot Springs prisoners-of-war interrogation center have given new life to interest in hearing about history from those who have lived it.

The Japanese film projects those memories onto the screen, but Wednesday night Bill and Ken gave their accounts in person.

The two combat veterans were chosen to be among the GIs who stood outside the cells (two hours on, four hours off during a 24-hour shift), peering through windows in the doors, of the 21 high-ranking Nazi officials facing justice in the first of a series of trials in Nuremberg’s Palace of Justice, beginning in October 1945.

Both Bill and Ken reported that conversation between the guards was minimal — it was actively discouraged — but that the most important of the Nazi prisoners housed in individual cells was the most engaging.

That would be Hermann Goering, chief of the Luftwaffe and No. 2 ranking official in the Nazi regime until the final weeks of the war.

“Goering was fluent in English and wanted to talk when we took him from his cell to the shower,” Miller said. “He asked where you were from and other things about your life.”

Fulkerson, who also talked to Goering, shed light on the ongoing question of how Goering obtained a cyanide capsule he used to commit suicide the day before he was scheduled to be hanged.

“I know that he asked a second lieutenant to bring him a small bag when he needed it,” Fulkerson said. “The lieutenant brought the bag that day, and the capsule was in the bag.”

The Tracyite said the lieutenant received a gold watch from Goering for his cooperation, but was never charged with aiding the suicide, as far as he knew.

Those present Wednesday night heard these and other insights into what turned two fellow residents of our town became a part of history.

There are many more stories to be told, and I’m looking forward to hearing those in the coming months and years.

/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

History is important and should be spread, WW2 was and is a personal family story many relatives served

Sphere: Related Content

Vets and seniors to benefit from new stimulus package?

Highlights of Senate economic stimulus plan
By The Associated Press – 41 minutes ago

Highlights of the economic recovery plan drafted by Senate Democrats and President-elect Barack Obama's economic team. Most provisions expire in two years.

CASH PAYMENTS

Seniors, disabled and veterans — $300 payments to Social Security beneficiaries, and $300 payment under the Supplemental Security income program for elderly and disabled people living in poverty. Veterans receiving disability or pension payments would also receive $300. The cash payments are one time only.

TAXES

Individuals — $500-per-worker, $1,000-per-couple tax cut for two years, costing about $142 billion; greater access to the $1,000 per-child tax credit for the working poor; expanding the earned-income tax credit to include families with three children; a $2,500 college tuition tax credit; $7,500 tax credit for middle-income, first-time home buyers who purchase homes in the first half of 2009; temporarily suspends taxation of unemployment benefits.

Businesses — An infusion of cash into money-losing companies by allowing them to claim tax credits on past profits dating back five years instead of two; bonus depreciation for businesses investing in new plants and equipment; a doubling of the amount small businesses can write off for capital investments and new equipment purchases.

Energy — $31 billion in tax credits to boost renewable energy production and promote energy efficiency, including making it easier for money-losing companies to benefit from energy tax credits. Makes tax credits for energy-efficient homes more generous.

SPENDING

Aid to the poor and unemployed — $40 billion to provide extended unemployment benefits through Dec. 31, increase them by $25 a week and provide them to part-time and other workers.

Health care — $27 billion to subsidize health care insurance for the unemployed and provide coverage through Medicaid; $87 billion to help states with Medicaid.

Infrastructure — About $140 billion, including $27 billion for road and bridge construction and repair; $20 billion to repair and renovate school and university buildings; $9 billion for improved access to broadband; and $1.4 billion for western water projects.

Education — Almost $100 billion, including $77 billion in grants to states for special education, local school districts, and a $500 increase in the maximum Pell Grant.

Sphere: Related Content

Bush may be gone but the effects of his power trip aren't

GAO report at: GAO Report
GAO says VA still underestimating costs


By Hope Yen - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Jan 23, 2009 13:10:41 EST


WASHINGTON — Two years after a politically embarrassing $1 billion shortfall that imperiled veterans health care, the Veterans Affairs Department is still lowballing budget estimates to Congress to keep its spending down, government investigators say.

The report by the Government Accountability Office, set to be released later Friday, highlights the Bush administration’s problems in planning for the treatment of veterans that President Barack Obama has pledged to fix. It found the VA’s long-term budget plan for the rehabilitation of veterans in nursing homes, hospices and community centers to be flawed, failing to account for tens of thousands of patients and understating costs by millions of dollars.

In its strategic plan covering 2007 to 2013, the VA inflated the number of veterans it would treat at hospices and community centers based on a questionably low budget, the investigators concluded. At the same time, they said, the VA didn’t account for roughly 25,000 — or nearly three-quarters — of its patients who receive treatment at nursing homes operated by the VA and state governments each year.

“VA’s use, without explanation, of cost assumptions and a workload projection that appear unrealistic raises questions about both the reliability of VA’s spending estimates and the extent to which VA is closing previously identified gaps in noninstitutional long-term care services,” according to the 34-page draft report obtained by The Associated Press.

Lawmakers expressed anger, saying they will be watching for new VA Secretary Eric Shinseki to provide a more honest accounting.

“The problems at the VA have been caused by years of mismanagement and putting the bottom line above the needs of our veterans,” said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash. “While we won’t fix everything overnight, Secretary Shinseki has pledged honesty and accurate accounting which are key to realistic budgets and providing the services our veterans have earned.”

The VA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the report, the VA acknowledged problems in its plan for long-term care, which accounts annually for more than $4 billion, or 12 percent of its total health care spending. In many cases, officials told the GAO they put in lower estimates in order to be “conservative” in their appropriations requests to Congress and to “stay within anticipated budgetary constraints.”

As to the 25,000 nursing home patients unaccounted for, the VA explained it was usual clinical practice to provide short-term care of 90 days or less following hospitalization in a VA medical center, such as for those who had a stroke, to ensure patients are medically stable. But the VA had chosen not to budget for them because the government is not legally required to provide the care except in serious cases.

The GAO noted the VA was in the process of putting together an updated strategic plan. Shinseki, a former Army chief of staff who was sworn in Wednesday as VA secretary, has promised to submit “credible and adequate” budget requests.

“VA supports GAO’s overarching conclusion that the long-term care strategic planning and budgeting justification process should be clarified,” wrote outgoing VA Secretary James Peake in a response dated Jan. 5. He said the department would put together an action plan within 60 days of the report’s release.

The report comes amid an expected surge in demand from veterans for long-term rehabilitative and other care over the next several years. Roughly 40 percent of the veteran population is age 65 or older, compared to about 13 percent of the general population, with the number of elderly veterans expected to increase through 2014.

In 2005, the VA stunned Congress by suddenly announcing it faced a $1 billion shortfall after failing to take into account the additional cost of caring for veterans injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. The admission, which came months after the department insisted it was operating within its means and did not need additional money, drew harsh criticism from both parties.

The GAO later determined the VA repeatedly miscalculated — if not deliberately misled taxpayers — with questionable methods used to justify Bush administration cuts to health care amid the burgeoning Iraq war. In Friday’s report, the GAO said it had found similarly unrealistic assumptions and projections in the VA’s more recent budget estimates submitted in August 2007.

According to latest GAO report, the VA is believed to have:

• Undercut its 2009 budget estimate for nursing home care by roughly $112 million. It noted the VA planned for $4 billion in spending, up $108 million from the previous year, based largely on a projected 2.5 percent increase in costs. But previously, the VA had seen an annual cost increase of 5.5 percent.

• Underestimated costs of care in noninstitutional settings such as hospices by up to $144 million. The VA assumed costs would not increase in 2009, even though in recent years the cost of providing a day of noninstitutional care increased by 19 percent.

• Overstated the amount of noninstitutional care. The VA projected a 38 percent increase in patient workload in 2009, partly in response to previous GAO and inspector general reports that found widespread gaps in services and urged greater use of the facilities. But for unknown reasons, veterans served in recent years actually decreased slightly, and the VA offered no explanation as to how it planned to get higher enrollment.


__._,_.___ GAO says VA still underestimating costs

Sphere: Related Content

Gulf War Veterans Need to know big meetings coming outside of DC

Subject: Alert Alert Alert: Gulf War Veterans Need to know big meetings coming outside of DC


Alert Alert Alert: Gulf War Veterans Need to know big meetings coming outside of DC

by Denise Nichols

VA Gulf War illness Research Advisory Committee will meet in DALLAS Feb 23-24 then June 29-30 Boston and Nov2-3 in DC. 2009 meetings of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses are currently planned for the following dates and locations:

February 23-24, 2009, Dallas, TX
June 29-30, 2009, Boston, MA
November 2-3, 2009, Washington, D.C.
Additional information will be posted here as the meeting dates approach. The most recent Committee meeting was held November 17, 2008, in Washington, D.C. Click here for the meeting agenda.

Committee meetings are open to the public and include time reserved for public comments. A sign-up sheet for five-minute comments will be available at the meeting. Members of the public who speak are invited to submit a 1-2 page summary of their comments at the time of the meeting for inclusion in the official meeting record. Individuals do not need to preregister to attend or speak at the meeting. However, when meetings are held at VA headquarters or facilities, all attendees will be required to check in and show valid ID at the security desk.

The Committee welcomes suggestions and information from veterans, physicians, scientists, and members of the general public regarding its mission.

VA Gulf War Veterans Advisory Committee http://www1.va.gov/gulfwaradvisorycommittee/ will meet
February 18-19 in Decatur Georgia and then March 18-19 in Waco Tx and April in DC
April 7 - 9, 2009 - Washington, DC (venue TBD)

Laura O'Shea, Designated Federal Officer, Laura.O'shea@va.gov
Lelia Jackson, Alternate Designated Federal Officer, Lelia.jackson@va.gov
WE need every gulf war veteran and their families notified of these meetings! There is need for Public Comment from them! They need to write a summary include; Name, Former Rank, Unit, Location in Theater, When and what symptoms occurred, When and What happened when they went to VA for help, How was their VA Claims handled, Where did they turn next to get help, What their health is right now and problems that the spouse and family have had.

This is your chance gulf war veterans! We have had only at most half a dozen vets show up in DC, Baltimore, Seattle.....So if you have problems now is the TIME to come forward! Have your input! Family members too!

There is time for you to be heard ie :Public Comment and also a panel is formed of veterans that are in that local VA system.

Please Distribute this as much as humanly possible with posting on Websites, getting info to radio stations for PSA's, TV station, Newspapers, Churches, post on grocery store bulletin boards, to all veterans organizations post at posts and in all newsletters to veterans. Email others to get them to spread the word to individuals they know by email or in their communities.

More Specific information on place and time schedules...go to www.va.gov and go to search on Advisory committees or email Denise Nichols at dsnurse1@yahoo.com


SOURCE: http://www.veteranstoday.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4539


__._,_.___

Sphere: Related Content

Severely injured get new disability process

Severely injured get new disability process


By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jan 22, 2009 16:01:02 EST

The most severely injured service members now can head straight to the Veterans Affairs Department disability retirement system, rather than first having to go through the Defense Department system — potentially cutting months of paperwork and launching their benefits that much sooner.

The new system, announced Jan. 22, applies to troops with so-called “catastrophic” conditions — anyone who would automatically receive a combined 100 percent rating for all his injuries or illnesses, based on the Veterans Administration Schedule for Rating Disabilities.

“This is for people who are catastrophically injured,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez, including those who were injured “in the line of duty as a direct result of armed conflict.”

The injuries or illnesses must be permanent and compromise “the ability to carry out the activities of daily living to such a degree that a service member or veteran requires personal or mechanical assistance to leave home or bed, or requires constant supervision to avoid physical harm to self or others,” the Defense Department said in announcing the new program.

Rather than going through a physical within the member’s service branch, and then the subsequent medical and physical evaluation board processes, service members eligible for the new process will go through one physical at VA.

VA then will provide a rating, as well as determine benefits, compensation and specialty care.

However, the new program also allows service members to rejoin the military with a waiver if they successfully recover and complete rehabilitation.

A similar program exists for service members involved in a broader pilot project. In that system, members at designated bases who volunteer to take part also go through one physical examination and are rated by VA for their injuries and illnesses.

So far, more than 1,000 troops have completed that option over the past 14 months.

That program, which began at three major military medical centers in the Washington, D.C., area in late 2007, is in the midst of a gradual expansion to 19 more installations through May
Severely injured get new disability process

Sphere: Related Content

Audit: More bad accounting in veterans health care

WASHINGTON – Two years after a politically embarrassing $1 billion shortfall that imperiled veterans health care, the Veterans Affairs Department is still lowballing budget estimates to Congress to keep its spending down, government investigators say.

The report by the Government Accountability Office, set to be released Friday, highlights the Bush administration's problems in planning for the treatment of veterans that President Barack Obama has pledged to fix. It found the VA's long-term budget plan for the rehabilitation of veterans in nursing homes, hospices and community centers to be flawed, failing to account for tens of thousands of patients and understating costs by millions of dollars.

In its strategic plan covering 2007 to 2013, the VA inflated the number of veterans it would treat at hospices and community centers based on a questionably low budget, the investigators concluded. At the same time, they said, the VA didn't account for roughly 25,000 — or nearly three-quarters — of its patients who receive treatment at nursing homes operated by the VA and state governments each year.

"VA's use, without explanation, of cost assumptions and a workload projection that appear unrealistic raises questions about both the reliability of VA's spending estimates and the extent to which VA is closing previously identified gaps in noninstitutional long-term care services," according to the 34-page draft report obtained by The Associated Press.

The VA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In the report, the VA acknowledged problems in its plan for long-term care, which accounts annually for more than $4 billion, or 12 percent of its total health care spending. In many cases, officials told the GAO they put in lower estimates in order to be "conservative" in their appropriations requests to Congress and to "stay within anticipated budgetary constraints."

As to the 25,000 nursing home patients unaccounted for, the VA explained it was usual clinical practice to provide short-term care of 90 days or less following hospitalization in a VA medical center, such as for those who had a stroke, to ensure patients are medically stable. But the VA had chosen not to budget for them because the government is not legally required to provide the care except in serious cases.

The GAO noted the VA was in the process of putting together an updated strategic plan. Retired Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, who was sworn in Wednesday as VA secretary, has promised to submit "credible and adequate" budget requests to Congress.

"VA supports GAO's overarching conclusion that the long-term care strategic planning and budgeting justification process should be clarified," wrote outgoing VA Secretary James Peake in a response dated Jan. 5. He said the department would put together an action plan within 60 days of the report's release.

The report comes amid an expected surge in demand from veterans for long-term rehabilitative and other care over the next several years. Roughly 40 percent of the veteran population is age 65 or older, compared to about 13 percent of the general population, with the number of elderly veterans expected to increase through 2014.

In 2005, the VA stunned Congress by suddenly announcing it faced a $1 billion shortfall after failing to take into account the additional cost of caring for veterans injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. The admission, which came months after the department insisted it was operating within its means and did not need additional money, drew harsh criticism from both parties.

The GAO later determined the VA repeatedly miscalculated — if not deliberately misled taxpayers — with questionable methods used to justify Bush administration cuts to health care amid the burgeoning Iraq war. In Friday's report, the GAO said it had found similarly unrealistic assumptions and projections in the VA's more recent budget estimates submitted in August 2007.

According to latest GAO report, the VA is believed to have:

_Undercut its 2009 budget estimate for nursing home care by roughly $112 million. It noted the VA planned for $4 billion in spending, up $108 million from the previous year, based largely on a projected 2.5 percent increase in costs. But previously, the VA had actually seen an annual cost increase of 5.5 percent.

_Underestimated costs of care in noninstitutional settings such as hospices by up to $144 million. The VA assumed costs would not increase in 2009, even though in recent years the cost of providing a day of noninstitutional care increased by 19 percent.

_Overstated the amount of noninstitutional care. The VA projected a 38 percent increase in patient workload in 2009, partly in response to previous GAO and inspector general reports that found widespread gaps in services and urged greater use of the facilities. But for unknown reasons, veterans served in recent years actually decreased slightly, and the VA offered no explanation as to how it planned to get higher enrollment.
Audit: More bad accounting in veterans health care
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

we veterans always knew they were cooking the books because we were the ones ealing with the delays in medical care, delays in compensation claims, it has been a long series of lies not for just the past 8 years but since the time the nation began and George Washington stated something to the effect "take care of the veterans if you do not future generations will not be so willing to serve" or something to that effect well they haven;t and now it is hard to recruit troops and the way the Vietnam vets and now the War on Terror" vets will make it harder for the next generation unless Congress fixes the problems with the VA claims process and make mandatory funding a reality now at the VA.

Pretend we are all from Missouri and "show us" don't tell us fix it and show us adopt Linda Blimes solution for claims processing if you can't pass mandatory full funding then pass the budget for the VA on the suggested bi annual basis so there are no surprises and they will know at least a year ahead what the budget will look like and adjust accordingly. This nations veterans deserve better than nothing but lies.

Sphere: Related Content

San Francisco Chronicle and Baltimore Sun Reviews of "The War Comes Home"

Aaron Glantz sent a message to the members of "The War Comes Home: Washington's Battle Against America's Veterans."

--------------------
Subject: San Francisco Chronicle and Baltimore Sun Reviews of "The War Comes Home"

From Thursday's' San Francisco Chronicle:

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.sfgate.com%2Fcgi-bin%2Farticle.cgi%3Ff%3D%2Fc%2Fa%2F2009%2F01%2F22

"Powerful ... The vets are victims not of some sinister plot, but of a government forced to cut back VA staffing and programs to pay for the very war that is disabling so many of them. Glantz shows that the problem stems ultimately from the way our society uses, then discards, its warriors."

From the Baltimore Sun:

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http://www.sfgate.com%2Fcgi-bin%2Farticle.cgi%3Ff%3D%2Fc%2Fa%2F2009%2F01%2F22/DD5P156O3M.DTL

"[Glantz's] disturbing book describes a bureaucracy that mistrusts those it accepted into service and subjects them to long waits for benefits."

We are making progress! Help spread the word!

Aaron
--------------------

To reply to this message, follow the link below:
http://www.facebook.com/n/?inbox/readmessage.php&t=1010585994804

The War Comes Home
Washington's Battle Against America's Veterans

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Images

View Larger Images


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By Aaron Glantz
University of California Press; 254 pages; $24.95

Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan
Eyewitness Accounts of the Occupations
By Iraq Veterans Against the War and Aaron Glantz
Haymarket Books; 236 pages; $16 paperback
Get ready, America: The Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are starting to make their voices heard. Just as it took decades for us to learn the full extent of the damage wrought by the Vietnam War, we are just now starting to glimpse the hurt and suffering and enduring wounds created by the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

With "The War Comes Home" and "Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan," independent journalist Aaron Glantz puts himself at the forefront of those who are bringing this new generation of veterans into public view. Not only did Glantz spend several years in Iraq, covering the war and reporting on the lives of Iraqis, but he was deeply affected by the conflict to the point of suffering post-traumatic stress disorder when he returned.

What makes "The War Comes Home" such a powerful plea is that Glantz admits his initial bias against the vets - they were the ones who caused all the misery among the poor Afghans and Iraqis. But his eventual realization that both reporter and soldier are common victims of a government that wages such wars allowed him to identify with the vets and to empathize with their struggles.

Like the Vietnam vets, these vets return to face their own people who wish to put these unproductive wars behind them. One of the most poignant observations comes from Shad Meshad, a Vietnam veteran who spent decades counseling troubled vets. Meshad tells Glantz: "When I go through airports I see soldiers just sitting up against a wall - you may see hundreds of them in a large airport - just by themselves. No one goes up to them, that positive energy toward them is faded ... No one is spitting or shouting, but they're still left with the fact that they're responsible for what they did or didn't do and they're supposed to think about that alone."

Depression, suicide, homelessness, jail, PTSD - the statistics for the veterans are as staggering as they were for Vietnam vets. A 2008 Rand Corporation study claims that "at least 300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or major depression, while another 320,000 suffer from traumatic brain injury." It also claims that "a majority of the injured are not receiving help from the Pentagon and VA."

The scandal over the horrible conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center was the most dramatic manifestation of what is daily reality for most vets seeking treatment: A VA backlog of tens of thousands of claims, interminable waits to see a doctor and general bureaucratic apathy. In one of the more wrenching stories, Glantz relates how the parents of Marine Cpl. Jeffrey Lucey watched helplessly as his mental health deteriorated after his return from Iraq - while the VA refused to treat him for PTSD because of his chronic drunkenness - until one day Lucey's father found him hanging dead from a garden hose tied to a beam in their cellar.

The vets are victims not of some sinister plot, but of a government forced to cut back VA staffing and programs to pay for the very war that is disabling so many of them. Glantz shows that the problem stems ultimately from the way our society uses, then discards, its warriors.

"Nobody really knows how to deprogram a soldier," Glantz quotes former Army instructor Karl Risinger. Even more to the point are the words of a veteran who spent 15 years homeless and in prison: "I needed to learn how to live again." The military, as Glantz points out, teaches well how to kill and how to survive in the most adverse and threatening circumstances, but not at all how to get a job, keep a family together, or live "life on life's terms."

The reader will get a concentrated, almost unbearable dose of soldiers' pain in "Winter Soldier: Iraq and Afghanistan," a book that Glantz put together with the help of the organization Iraq Veterans Against the War. The book comprises selections of the testimony given by about 50 veterans at a four-day event staged by IVAW in Silver Spring, Md., in March. IVAW modeled its hearings on the Winter Soldier Investigation held by Vietnam Veterans Against the War in Detroit in 1971, whose goal had been to show that atrocities such as the My Lai massacre had not been freak occurrences perpetrated by a "few bad apples," but the product of official military policy. Similarly, IVAW wanted to show that "high-profile atrocities like the torture of prisoners inside Abu Ghraib and the massacre of twenty-four innocent civilians at Haditha were ... part of a pattern of increasingly bloody occupations."

The vets' words in "Winter Soldier" are at times so shocking that many Americans will not want to believe them. In fact, the public got no chance to assess the truthfulness of the testimony because most of the national media refused to cover the hearings. But all of the vets who testified were checked out ahead of time. Moreover, the terse, understated way that many of the vets related unthinkable horrors testified to the banality of these experiences.

Not all of the stories related in "Winter Soldier" are gruesome, and it may be hard sometimes to tell whether the shelling of a mosque, say, or the tearing apart of an old woman's house in the middle of the night were "atrocities" or simple military necessity. But in a way that is what the "Winter Soldier" hearings set out to show: that in this endless so-called war on terror, the "rules of engagement" eventually loosened to the point where American soldiers were told they could use lethal force against any Iraqi showing "hostile intent."

Like "The War Comes Home," "Winter Soldier" makes us feel the pain and despair endured by those who serve in a military stretched to the breaking point by stop-loss policies, multiple combat tours, and a war where the goals and the enemies keep shifting. But these books also make us admire the unbreakable idealism and hope of those men and women who still believe that by speaking out they can make things better both for themselves and for those who come after them.

"We were all good people," said Army scout Steven Casey. "We were just in a bad situation and we did what we had to do to get through."


Gerald Nicosia is the author of the Jack Kerouac biography "Memory Babe." E-mail him at books@sfchronicle.com.
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

Congrats Aaron on your well received book and helping to point out the impossible VA claims system

Sphere: Related Content

Veterans Turn To Online Strangers For Financial Help

Veterans Turn To Online Strangers For Financial Help
by Daniel Zwerdling

Listen Now [7 min 47 sec] add to playlist



Courtesy of Vicky Sprenger
A roadside bomb hit Army Spc. Robert Sprenger's Humvee while he was serving in Iraq. His mother, Vicky, who helped take care of him during his recovery, says she's still suffering financial hardship.




Enlarge

Courtesy of Vicky Sprenger
Sprenger recovered at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. Burns covered much of his body.




“If the VA is meeting [its] obligations to America's veterans, why is there a need for any other nongovernmental organizations or veterans service organizations to provide any level of assistance?”
Peter Gaytan, director of national veterans affairs, the American Legion



More On Aid For Veterans
Organizations and other Web resources for veterans seeking financial assistance:


National Resource Directory (compiled by Defense, Labor and Veterans Affairs Departments)AdoptAPlatoonAdopt-A-Soldier NowAdopt-a-Solider Platoon, Inc.Adopt A U.S. SoldierThe American LegionAngels 'n CamouflageThe Benevolent and Protective Order of ElksIraq and Afghanistan Veterans of AmericaOperation Forever FreeRebuild HopeSoldiers' AngelsUSA Together
Morning Edition, January 22, 2009 · When Robert Sprenger's Humvee blew up in Iraq, the Army specialist was burned black over large swatches of his body.

After the Army transported him to Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas, Sprenger spent months lying in his bed, wrapped in gauze, almost like a mummy.

When he was released, he moved back home with his mother to the farm town of Sleepy Eye, Minn., where they made a troubling discovery.

The government compensated him, but his mother says the money wasn't anywhere near enough to cover his family's expenses. So Sprenger and his family swallowed their pride, as a growing number of veterans have done, and went cyberbegging: They posted their story on a Web site and asked strangers to help.

"That was the most horrible-est thing," says Robert's mother, Vicky Sprenger. But she says they had no choice. "I wouldn't ever cut the Army down for any reason whatsoever," she says. "I just think ... it kind of stinks, you know, that we do have to struggle the way we do."

The Sprengers posted a profile on www.USAtogether.org, one of a new breed of Web sites that help Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. The USAtogether profile includes a small photo of Sprenger in his hospital bed, staring dazed at the camera.

"I was a gunner in a Humvee that was hit by an IED," Sprenger writes in his profile. The roadside bomb left him "burned on 40 percent of my body. One week before my injuries, my sister was diagnosed with bipolar/borderline personality disorder and put in placement. Since then, my mom lost her job. She had taken too much time off from her previous job taking care of me and my sister."

Then Sprenger asks donors for a little help — but not cash. "Our washing machine no longer works," he writes, asking for a new machine.

Sprenger didn't return NPR's phone calls, but he did allow his mother to speak for him.

Stepping In Where Government Hasn't

The government offers a huge range of benefits to disabled vets — such as disability payments, job training and subsidies to buy cars and houses. Veterans advocates say if every vet received all the benefits they're entitled to, they should be able to afford a decent quality of life. But reports have shown that many vets vets don't know about all the benefits, so they don't apply for them.

And the average vet who does apply has to wait at least six months, and sometimes years, to receive them.

Hundreds of private groups try to fill the gap — from the American Legion, founded after World War I, to newer organizations, such as Soldiers' Angels, Fallen Heroes and Community of Veterans.

Advocates hail the nonprofit groups for donating hundreds of millions of dollars worth of goods and services — from toys and clothes for veterans' children to brand-new houses designed for amputees.

Still, an entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, Dave Mahler, perceived a need for a group that helps vets in a slightly different way. Mahler cheerfully acknowledges that he knows nothing about the military. He used to work for the technology company Hewlett-Packard, then he co-founded and sold a software company for a ton of money. About a year ago, he was looking for a new project, and he had an idea on his morning commute.

He drives past a federal Veterans Affairs hospital in Palo Alto, Calif., "and have driven past it almost every day for the last 25 years, and I'd never been on the property," he says.

It suddenly struck Mahler that perhaps he could use his Web skills to help the wounded troops.

As Mahler explains it, most veterans' support groups raise money from the public. Then their leaders — not the donors — decide exactly how to spend the money and who should get the help. Mahler set up USAtogether so a donor can choose an individual vet to support.

For instance, one photo on his Web site shows soldier "Tara H." standing on a prosthetic leg. "I could use any help with one month's mortgage," she writes.

Another posting, by "Michael T.," asks for "food for our family. Our refrigerator unexpectedly died and we lost all our food."

Before they agree to post any veteran's pleas, Mahler and a colleague check the vet's military and medical records and other information to make sure the requests are legitimate.

Vicky Sprenger and her son had barely posted their request when somebody sent them a brand-new washer and dryer from Sears.

"I was so tickled, because they actually came to my house," Vicky says. "I was kind of embarrassed they had to put these brand-new washer and dryer down in my basement, but you know, I even took all my kids down there and said, 'Oh, look at this, guys — brand new!' I've never had a brand-new washer and dryer."

Vicky Sprenger has found a job at a local supermarket, working at the deli counter and doing other tasks, but she says she can't afford health insurance and hasn't been able to pay her property taxes for months. She's just sent another appeal to USAtogether.org, hoping that other donors will help her.

Peter Gaytan, the American Legion's director of national veterans affairs, says the proliferation of groups like USAtogether raises a question.

"If the VA is meeting [its] obligations to America's veterans," he asks, "why is there a need for any other nongovernmental organizations or veterans service organizations to provide any level of assistance? If our [federal support] system were ideally able to meet all the needs, then we wouldn't have the need for these organizations springing up."

Privately, one top official at the American Legion says the fact that veterans receive so little compensation from the government and need to go cyberbegging is "pathetic." But, publicly, they echo Gaytan.

"It's heartening to see that the citizens of this country … care enough to go to a Web site," he says, "to take the time to help returning veterans and their family. I think that's heartening as a country.

Earlier in January, the Veterans Affairs Department announced "a new partnership" to help private organizations assist veterans. The outgoing secretary, James Peake, said he'll appoint a federal employee to help private groups identify the "unmet needs" of veterans and their families. But the VA won't give them more money.
Veterans Turn To Online Strangers For Financial Help

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

As a disabled veteran this makes me sick but the sad fact it is so true, many veterans without the aid of family friends and strangers would end up under the bridge if they had to depend on the VA to help them yes they may get finanacial help down the road they claim 6 months but most times that is the first denial or a lowball award of 10% - 50% when the veteran should be rated a 100% disabled, and the appeals take anywhere from 2-7 years in the meantime many veterans end up divorced, homes foreclosed and cars and trucks repossessed only to get 5-7 years of 100% back pay years from now without any interest on the delayed payments the VA battle often takes longer than the war the veterans was in.

Sphere: Related Content

Coping with a traumatised nation

Coping with a traumatised nation

By Martin Patience
BBC News, Kabul



Patients have just one dedicated mental health facility in the nation (Photos: Mahfouz Zubaide)
At a small, white-washed building on the outskirts of Kabul, a handful of doctors try to cope with one of Afghanistan's biggest problems.

Rugs hang from doorframes to keep out the bitter winter cold, and patients, along with their visiting families, crowd into the bare hospital wards.

According to studies cited by the Afghan health ministry an astonishing 66% of Afghans suffer mental health problems.

And yet this hospital is the only facility in the country dedicated to mental disorders - and there are just 40 beds.

The resident psychiatrist, Musadiq Nadimee, has a weary look as he paces up and down the building's corridors.

"This hospital is just for the complicated cases that are referred to us from across the country," he says with a resigned shrug.

One father has admitted his teenage daughter, Hamida, who suffers from schizophrenia. "She's got a lot better," he says, a smile breaking across his face.

'Vicious cycle'

But most experts agree that the mental health problems here go far deeper than the illnesses that are commonly found in almost all countries.


There's little trust between people. Sometimes cruel acts committed are seen as part of normal life for Afghans. If this continues then our future will be dark

Dr Abdullah Fahim

Afghanistan is a traumatised nation. In 30 years, hundreds of thousands of Afghans have died and most of its people have witnessed horrendous violence at some point in their lives.

Many of the mental disorders are connected to these experiences, say health officials.

Local journalist Hanif Sherzad says that Afghans continue to be traumatised by their past and the continuing violence.

"Many people don't feel safe, they simply don't feel secure," he says.

"Even those people that have good physical health and are living in secure places are constantly hearing bad news. It affects them and the vicious cycle continues."

The Afghan health ministry readily admits that there simply are not enough facilities or doctors to even begin dealing with the most serious cases.

Other health issues - such as infant and maternal mortality - have taken priority.

But a senior adviser to the health minister, Dr Abdullah Fahim, worries that if the issue of mental health is not addressed immediately, it will continue to have a slow, corrosive effect on Afghan society.

"There's little trust between people," he says. "Sometimes cruel acts committed are seen as part of normal life for Afghans. If this continues then our future will be dark."


The hospital close to Kabul has only 40 beds

Because of a lack of understanding, many Afghans suffering mental health problems are believed to be possessed.

Some are chained in rooms or even caves until it is believed that the "jinns" - evil spirits - have been exorcised.

But others are simply abandoned by their families because they can no longer cope or afford the medication that is required to treat their medical conditions.

A small number of mentally ill people are cared for by local charities.

At one such centre run by the Red Crescent Society, a group of women crowds round the director, Mohammed Zahaid.

Mr Zahaid says that one of the women refused to eat and drink for days. She was constantly crying and kept asking about former Afghan President Najibullah.

When the staff got the woman a picture of the ex-president she immediately perked up - and began eating and drinking again.

But she is one of the fortunate few.

In a country wracked by problems, mental health is an issue that is largely forgotten.
///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

This nation has known nothing but war since the 1980s at least Russia, then the Taliban and Bin Ladin and since 2001 war with the United States I tthink it's amazing that only 2/3 or the nation has mental health issues but to only have 40 beds for mental health patients is ludicrous this begs for Doctors without Borders and lots of United Nations medical assistance

Sphere: Related Content

Airmen Care for Wounded Warriors

Airmen Care for Wounded Warriors

January 16, 2009
Air Force Print News|by MSgt. Jeff Loftin

SOUTHWEST ASIA - Airmen of the 379th Expeditionary Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron airlift warriors on military aircraft out of locations throughout the war zone and to military medical treatment facilities.

Consistent and readily available airlift is usually the difference between life and death for servicemembers fighting the war on terrorism.

"It's very humbling to me and very much an honor," said Maj. Susan Behrens, the unit's chief nurse. "I have the greatest job. It's like taking care of my kids. I take care of them so they can do their job the very best they can. You can't tell people what that is like."

Squadron members transport patients with a wide variety of medical problems to where they can get the best treatment.

"We get patients from explosions, patients with multiple fractures, motor vehicle accident (injuries), sports injuries, and psych patients," said Major Behrens, a native of Finlayson, Minn. "There are gastrointestinal problems. There are head injuries. We have to know a little bit about everything."

Staff Sgt. Rebecca Jaudon, a squadron crewmember, added burn victims and gunshots to the major's list of medical conditions they care for in flight.

"I've had a patient with third-degree burns over 90 percent of his body, and I've had someone with a sprained ankle from a sports injury," Sergeant Jaudon said. "It really depends."

Caring for wounded warriors with a variety of medical conditions is further complicated by the flight itself.

"What happens when you take them up where the air is really thin and you are vibrating on a plane?" asked Major Behrens, a member of the Minnesota Air National Guard. "You have to know what that does to a fracture or an injury and how to take care of it. It is a whole different medicine in itself."

The squadron stands ready to provide that expertise 24/7. In addition to its weekly missions, the unit provides the only alert air medical transport team in the theater. The alert team must be at the aircraft in 10 minutes and be ready to take off in one hour. Alert missions can come at any time making it difficult for the five-member crews to know when to sleep.

"We've had times when we've had quick mission launches in the middle of the night," said Lt. Col. Georgeanne Johnson, the 379th EAES commander. "They'll call up in the middle of the night and say to whoever is up, 'We're launching a mission. Can anybody come up and help?' They are over there to help right away. Everybody pitches in."

The key to the unit meeting the timelines is the squadron's operations team, according to the commander. The team is responsible for preparing for the mission, working the patient manifest and paperwork and configuring the aircraft for medical airlift.

"We have crews who aren't on duty to help get the equipment ready and preflight it," said the native of Eagin, Minn. "They go out to the alert facility to load all their stuff on a big truck. They go out to the aircraft and configure it. We have to configure everything and bring all of our equipment on before each mission."

It takes about six hours of preparation for a normal mission to get the aircraft ready for patients and to load the 600 pounds of medical equipment. If the mission calls for transporting warriors in critical condition, the unit adds a three-person Critical Care Air Transport Team and another 600 pounds of equipment. Flights with the CCATT often pick up patients from Iraq or Afghanistan and transport them to Germany.

Typical missions for the squadron can range from 12 to 16 hours, but can go as long as 24 hours.

"On a typical mission, once you get to your starting point it is really busy," said Sergeant Jaudon, a native of Clarksburg, W. Va. "It's about 2.5 hours up there and then it is about 30 minutes between stops. You are up and down. You are only on the ground for about 25 minutes at each place. It is dark. You're on the flightline, but you can't go out and use flashlights because depending on where you are everyone may be using (night-vision goggles). It's definitely a contingency situation."

The experiences the flight crew have had with the patients on typical missions are anything but typical.

"One of the first missions I did was a (coming) back from Germany to the states hauling kids," said Major Behrens as she started choking up. "We had 74 patients on board. It was in a C-141 (Starlifter) so it was kind of dark. I had to crawl up the litters to start an IV on a young man that was up there. He said to me, 'Ma'am, can you just stay here with me for a little bit and hold my hand. You remind me of my mom.'"

Interacting one-on-one with wounded warriors is why many squadron members endure the long hours, unpredictable schedules and emotional stress of their job.

"It's emotionally draining because you really do care about these people," said Sergeant Jaudon, deployed from Pope Air Force Base, N.C. "Some of them are really hurt and you just don't know what is going to happen to them. We really care about them or we wouldn't be in this job. Some patients we'll never forget."

Colonel Johnson, a member of the Minnesota Air National Guard, is a critical care nurse in her civilian job, but said working with military members is an entirely different experience.

"It is a job that is our honor and privilege to do," she said. "I truly think it is the best job in the Air Force. It is important we constantly have our skills up to speed and that we are ready to go at any time. We never know what we might see when we open that aircraft door and start loading patients."

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

The Air Force has been doing an outstanding job moving the wounded from Afghanistan and Iraq to Germany and to the US thruout the entire years of war, the flight crews and flight nurses and doctors do an outstanding job bringing our fellow military personnel back home and we owe them a thanks that can never be fully repaid.

Sphere: Related Content

Army's drug abuse policy under fire

January 22, 2009 http://www.news-leader.com/article/20090122/NEWS01/901220365


Army's drug abuse policy under fire

Critics say system is likely to punish troops rather than help them.

Alan Scher Zagier, The Associated Press

Fort Leonard Wood -- Spec. Jeremiah Thomson didn't know what was worse: excruciating back pain from a combat explosion in Baghdad or the prescription drug addiction he developed once home.

The Army was quick to prescribe Percocet, Vicodin, Oxycontin and similarly powerful painkillers to Thomson and other injured soldiers at Fort Leonard Wood, Thomson testified in a court-martial hearing. He's now serving a three-year sentence for illegally buying prescription drugs -- the sellers included a former commanding officer in Iraq -- and selling the pills to eight other soldiers.

As more troops return home with war injuries, the Army is prescribing more pain medication . But a military system that relies on discipline as well as treatment is drawing fire from some prominent critics, including those inside the system.

"It's a terrible problem," said Barbara McDonald, a civilian social worker and Army drug abuse counselor, describing a recent surge in prescription drug abuse and the Army's handling of the problem.

Legal painkiller use by injured troops has increased nearly 70 percent since the start of the Iraq war six years ago, according to Army records. Surveys show that more soldiers are struggling with prescription drug addiction -- and seeking help from Army doctors and counselors.

Thomson is among seven soldiers convicted by court martial in 2008 of illegal drug use or distribution who served in the installation's 5th Engineer Battalion. An additional five await trial on similar charges. A dozen have been kicked out of the Army, and two others went AWOL after being implicated .

Dr. Les McFarling, who heads the Army's substance abuse treatment program, acknowledges the increased potential for abuse.

"You can put soldiers at risk when you're managing their pain," he said.

But McDonald and other critics call the military's approach a broken system, as likely to punish or denigrate troops as to treat their addictions.

The criminal cases in Missouri, coupled with allegations of misconduct and staffing shortages in the Army Substance Abuse Program levied by McDonald and another whistleblower, caught the attention of Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo. She has asked Secretary of the Army Pete Geren to investigate.

"Clearly, at Fort Leonard Wood and potentially across the military, they have not prioritized this as a health issue," McCaskill said. "The culture has traditionally looked at this as a discipline issue."

Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, such punishments can include reductions in rank and pay, imprisonment and discharges from military service for bad conduct.

The Army says those disciplined in the Fort Leonard Wood investigation committed criminal misconduct by selling or illegally possessing drugs, as opposed to those who become dependent on narcotics prescribed for legitimate injuries.

"A soldier who steps forward is someone who should be admired, not as someone with a black mark next to their name," McCaskill said.

In a Dec. 22 response to McCaskill's inquiry, Geren indicated the Army will consider abolishing its policy that a commanding officer be notified when a soldier comes forward voluntarily for ASAP counseling.

Still, officials at Fort Leonard Wood and the Pentagon defend their approach, even as they acknowledge staffing shortages that have left ASAP nationwide nearly 90 counselors short of required employment levels. Staffing levels at the Missouri post are now above the required minimums, the Army says.

McDonald disputes that, saying at least one recently hired counselor for Fort Leonard Wood's ASAP unit lacks required mental health certification.

Army statistics provided to The Associated Press show that the number of soldiers enrolled in ASAP at Fort Leonard Wood at the end of 2008 was the highest since the start of the Iraq war six years ago.

McCaskill's office learned of the problems at Fort Leonard Wood from former ASAP counselor John Speckhals, a Vietnam veteran and former Veterans Affairs social worker now stationed in Germany. Speckhals declined an AP request for an interview.

An inquiry by the senator's office said as many as 180 cases referred to the base's ASAP unit were misclassified in what McCaskill suggested in a Nov. 12 letter to Geren were "deliberate clinical findings that soldiers who were dependent on alcohol or drugs were not dependent in order to keep the caseload down for an overwhelmed staff."

"There was an effort to give a cosmetic fix to a problem that was systemic," McCaskill said .

In his letter to McCaskill, Geren said a review of those cases and 17 others showed some record-keeping errors, but no evidence that cases were deliberately mislabeled.

McDonald, whose son is a soldier, spent 20 years as a civilian substance abuse counselor before joining the Army's fight against drug and alcohol abuse one year ago. She has filed a workplace complaint against her supervisor and faces disciplinary action she says stems from her criticisms. Army officials have not commented.

McDonald claims that some Army doctors and counselors point to drug dependency as a sign of weakness. Since McDonald's complaints surfaced, she is no longer allowed to see patients.

Lori Mullins of Idaho Falls, Idaho, said her 18-year-old daughter, Destiny, was told McDonald had quit and that McDonald was told Destiny Mullins no longer wanted treatment.

"They told (Destiny) she didn't belong in the military, that she was a shame to the uniform," the elder Mullins said. "Instead of being protected by the Army, they're blaming her for it."

Destiny Mullins received an honorable discharge in November.

Chuck Ashbrook, who oversees ASAP prevention and education efforts at Leonard Wood, maintained that counselors pay close attention to links between substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder and combat injuries.

He said that, thanks to medical advances, soldiers who might have returned from previous conflicts as casualties are instead surviving with injuries that may require stronger pain management.

However, Ashbrook also noted historical increases in drug dependency among soldiers during wartime.

"We've always seen these kind of problems," he said. "This is not unique."

Additional Facts
The issue at a glance
Wounded troops: Legal painkiller use by injured troops has increased nearly 70 percent since the start of the Iraq War, the Army says. As more soldiers seek help with prescription drug addiction, the Army is struggling to hire enough drug counselors to meet the increased demand.
Black market: An investigation at Fort Leonard Wood revealed a group of soldiers who illegally bought and sold Percocet, Oxycontin, Vicodin and other powerful painkillers. The investigation ensnared more than two dozen soldiers.
Congressional inquiry: A whistleblower who worked in the Army Substance Abuse Program took his concerns to Sen. Claire McCaskill, a Missouri Democrat. She has asked Army Secretary Pete Geren to investigate.
-- The Associated Press


Army's drug abuse policy under fire

Sphere: Related Content

House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Adopts Oversight Plan for the 111th Congress

NEWS FROM…

CHAIRMAN BOB FILNER

HOUSE COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 22, 2009




http://veterans.house.gov


House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Adopts Oversight Plan for the 111th Congress and Officially Names Members


Washington, D.C. – Today, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Bob Filner, led the Committee’s organizational meeting for the 111th Congress. Committee rules, membership and the oversight plan for the 111th Congress were adopted.

Chairman Filner (D-CA) commented, “We have a remarkable opportunity as a Committee to make significant progress when it comes to improving services and benefits for our veterans. President Obama has laid out an ambitious agenda and the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee is committed to bringing results to our veterans and their families. I plan to tap the energy of our new Committee members and rely on the dedication of our Republican colleagues to work in an effective and bi-partisan way to find and implement solutions to the real problems that exist for our veterans. Today, the members of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs came together to pledge to fight for our veterans in the 111th Congress, just as our veterans fought for the rights and liberties that our Nation enjoys today.”

Members of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs



Bob Filner, CA, Chairman

Corrine Brown, FL

Vic Snyder, AR

Michael M. Michaud, ME

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, SD

Harry E. Mitchell, AZ

John J. Hall, NY

Deborah L. Halvorson, IL

Thomas S.P. Perriello, VA

Harry Teague, NM

Ciro D. Rodriguez, TX

Joe Donnelly, IN

Jerry McNerney, CA

Zachary T. Space, OH

Timothy J. Walz, MN

John H. Adler, NJ

Ann Kirkpatrick, AZ

Glenn C. Nye, VA


Steve Buyer, IN, Ranking Member

Cliff Stearns, FL

Jerry Moran, KS

Henry E. Brown, Jr., SC

Jeff Miller, FL

John Boozman, AR

Brian P. Bilbray, CA

Doug Lamborn, CO

Gus M. Bilirakis, FL

Vern Buchanan, FL

David P. Roe, TN


Subcommittee Assignments for the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs


Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs

John J. Hall, New York, Chairman

Deborah L. Halvorson, Illinois

Joe Donnelly, Indiana

Ciro D. Rodriguez, Texas

Ann Kirkpatrick, Arizona

Jeff Miller, Florida, Acting Ranking Member

Brian P. Bilbray, California

Vacancy

Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, South Dakota, Chairwoman

Thomas S.P. Perriello, Virginia

John H. Adler, New Jersey

Ann Kirkpatrick, Arizona

Harry Teague, New Mexico

John Boozman, Arkansas, Ranking Member

Jerry Moran, Kansas

Gus M. Bilirakis, Florida

Subcommittee on Health

Michael H. Michaud, Maine, Chairman

Corrine Brown, Florida

Vic Snyder, Arkansas

Harry Teague, New Mexico

Ciro D. Rodriguez, Texas

Joe Donnelly, Indiana

Jerry McNerney, California

Glenn C. Nye, Virginia

Deborah L. Halvorson, Illinois

Thomas S.P. Perriello, Virginia

Jerry Moran, Kansas, Acting Ranking Member

Cliff Stearns, Florida

Henry E. Brown, Jr., South Carolina

John Boozman, Arkansas

Gus M. Bilirakis, Florida

Vern Buchanan, Florida

Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations

Harry E. Mitchell, Arizona, Chairman

Zachary T. Space, Ohio

Timothy J. Walz, Minnesota

John H. Adler, New Jersey

John J. Hall, New York

Brian P. Bilbray, California, Acting Ranking Member

Vacancy

Vacancy



Republican Members of Congress listed in italics.

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

I am personally pleased to see Congressman John Hall keep his Chairmanship of the Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs he has worked hard on the behalf of veterans the past 2 years and I look forward to more good work coming from his committee........

Sphere: Related Content

Outreach Center for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Opens

Outreach Center for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Opens

January 15, 2009 - DCoE

Contact DCoE Communications
703-696-9460 Ext. 122 or 166

The Department of Defense today announced the opening of a 24-hour outreach center to provide information and referrals to military service members, veterans, their families and others with questions about psychological health and traumatic brain injury.

The new center, which is operated by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE), can be contacted around the clock, 365 days a year, by phone at 866-966-1020 and by e-mail at resources@dcoeoutreach.org.

“We’re providing 24/7 support to assist callers with questions regarding psychological health and traumatic brain injury,” said Brig. Gen. Loree K. Sutton, M.D., director of DCoE. “Getting the best possible information and tools, hassle-free, will empower and strengthen warriors and their families to successfully manage what can be confusing and disturbing circumstances.”

The center can deal with everything from routine requests for information about psychological health and traumatic brain injury, to questions about symptoms a caller is having, to helping a caller find appropriate health care resources.

DCoE promotes resilience, recovery and reintegration of service members facing psychological health and traumatic brain injury issues, and works to advance research, education, diagnosis and treatment of these conditions.

“If we need to research a question, we’ll do the legwork and quickly reconnect with callers,” Sutton said. “We welcome feedback on how we can better meet the needs of those we are so privileged to serve.”

The DCoE Outreach Center is staffed by behavioral health consultants and nurses, most with master’s degrees. In addition to answering questions, staffers refer callers to contact centers in other parts of the Department of Defense, other federal agencies, and outside organizations when appropriate. Other contact centers also refer callers to the DCoE Outreach Center.

The center serves members, leaders and healthcare providers of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard, Reserve and all uniformed services, along with veterans of all the services. The families of service members and of veterans are also served by the new center.

Sphere: Related Content

Cold War in paradise

Cold War in paradise


Footage of early nuclear test

By Marie Jackson
BBC News


Some 50 years ago thousands of excitable young servicemen landed on the white sands of a Pacific paradise to oversee Britain's testing of early nuclear bombs. But what happened next damaged them mentally and physically for life, some claim, and now they want to be compensated.

Dressed in overalls, white protective gloves and a balaclava, 21-year-old naval cook Dougie Hern was ordered to sit on the beach, back to the bomb, his knees pulled up, eyes closed and hands over his face. A countdown began...three, two, one.

"We saw a bright, brilliant light," he recalls. "It was as if someone had switched a firebar on in your head. It grew brighter and you could see the bones in your hands, like pink X-rays, in front of your closed eyes."

Seconds later, they were ordered to stand and turn towards the blast.

People were knocked off their feet, palm trees shook, birds were blinded and glass shattered as a mushroom cloud rose from the horizon, parting the clouds.

Moments later, the servicemen were told to stand down and resume their duties.
We knew what had happened in Japan - I thought it could not happen here, they would not do it to us

Douglas Hern, former navy cook drafted to Christmas Island

It was all over in about 14 seconds, but Mr Hern, now 72, believes radiation exposure on that day and four others is behind his diabetes, the spurs growing on his sternum, and much worse, the death of his 13-year-old daughter from cancer.

For decades, British ex-servicemen who were stationed on Christmas Island in the South Pacific in the 1950s have been embroiled in legal battles, trying to win recognition for their work and compensation for poor health they say is the result of the nuclear tests.

Their latest attempt to sue the British government goes before the High Court on Wednesday, when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) is expected to argue the claims have been brought too long after the events.

If the MoD loses, the government could face its largest class action yet, involving claims for millions of pounds from 1,000 individuals, say the veterans' lawyers.

Compensation claims by members of the armed forces are not uncommon these days, but the events from the 1950s are unlikely to ever be seen again.

Against a backdrop of de-colonisation and the growing threat of the Cold War, Britain was desperate to establish itself as a nuclear power. The tests, which encompassed six nuclear blasts in all, sent a message of might to the world. But the apparent lack of concern for the wellbeing of servicemen has left shockwaves of anger in some.

"If they gave the order today, there would be wholesale mutiny on the ship," says Mr Hern.

"We had complete faith in our masters. We were trained not to ask questions. We knew what had happened in Japan. I thought it could not happen here. They would not do it to us." BRITAIN'S NUCLEAR AMBITIONS
The US dropped the first atomic bomb used in war on the Japanese city of Hiroshima in 1945
About 20,000 servicemen from Britain and overseas were involved in nuclear tests in the Pacific and Maralinga, Australia in the 1950s
Six nuclear detonations took place on Christmas Island 1957-8
Christmas Island, part of the Republic of Kiribati, is also known as Kiritimati
Bombs were exploded in the air, rather than on ground, to try to reduce fallout
The trials led to Britain becoming a thermonuclear power

A job in the armed forces was about being "one of a number", according to Derek Chappell, who had to record data from the H-bomb from about 20 miles away.

Tony Stannage, a sapper in the Royal Engineers brought to the island to build living quarters, roads and the airstrip, says they had no choice.

"It was our duty. If they were going to do another test today, where would they do it?"

The take-it-in-your-stride attitude was so ingrained in Mr Stannage, it was not until a 2002 Christmas Island reunion with fellow servicemen that he spoke of the bombs. "My family and friends might have read about them but they would never have understood," he explains.

For others, the day Britain detonated its first H-bomb over Christmas Island is a story that has been told time and time again, some memories merging, others melting away.

"Everyone in my mind tells a different story but no one is telling lies," says Mr Stannage.

Shorts and sunglasses

The recollections of these three ex-servicemen suggest an island that may have looked like a tropical idyll but in reality was a place to make do and dream of home.

There was little food, land crabs roamed the island, coconut palms were used for fans and clothes were stored in orange boxes.

Orders were to dress only in long-sleeved shirts and full trousers to avoid the blistering heat.

On bomb test days, some servicemen were given the same protective gear as that worn by Dougie Hern, others wore just shorts and sunglasses.

Many complained of being at a loss for things to do, with sport and fishing the only leisure activities.




Mr Chappell, in the RAF, claims in his 50 days on the island, he did just one day's work, the day of the H-bomb.

He is convinced they were there as part of an experiment, a view shared by some fellow servicemen.

"We were lemmings," he says. "There was never any need for that many people to be there."

The Ministry of Defence will not comment on the allegations but did say in a statement that it recognised the "vital contribution" these men played.

It said compensation claims were considered on the basis of whether or not the MoD had a legal liability to pay compensation and were paid if a legal liability was proven.

Leukaemia 'link'

Three years ago, Mr Chappell, now 73, was diagnosed with polycythemia vera, a blood-thinning leukaemia, that he believes can be traced back to the 1958 bomb blast.

Links between nuclear testing and premature deaths and cancer among veterans have been contested for years.

The National Radiological Protection Board, now amalgamated into the Health Protection Agency (HPA), has been conducting a study of nuclear test veterans since the 1980s.

It compares cancer and mortality rates among servicemen involved in nuclear testing with rates among a control group of servicemen without any nuclear test links.

Dr Colin Muirhead, the HPA's head of epidemiology in the radiation protection section, says his findings showed similar levels of mortality and cancer in both groups.

However, there is "some indication of a raised risk of leukaemia" among those who had worked with nuclear tests, he says.

The veterans may be used to battles. But this one, hindered by funding shortages and legal technicalities, has gone on longer than the Cold War during which it all began. Maybe now there is an end in sight.

Cold War in paradise it is worth going to the link and seeing the pictures and the video and the iformation in boxes they have

Sphere: Related Content