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posted by admin on May 26

Before he was out of his teens, Jeremy Mack, 20, witnessed horrors no one should ever see.

An Army medic, Mack, of New Milford, was in Iraq from August 2006 to October 2007. When he returned it wasn’t long before his mother, Terry Mack, noticed a change in him.

He was mistrustful. When he sat down he didn’t like people behind him. In stores he would constantly look over his shoulder. He also did not want to talk about his experiences.

“I can’t tell how horrible it was,” his mother recalled him saying. “Am I supposed to tell people I went around picking up body parts because I’m a medic?”

Jeremy Mack is one of an increasing number of young veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Many have returned with permanent wounds. Others, like Mack, though their bodies may have returned the same, have been forever changed on the inside by what they saw.

 Read the full story here.

posted by admin on May 19

Veterans area a very important part of the society, they fought valiantly to defend the country. Most of them lost friends in the wars that they fought, some of them even lost limbs. Now that they are in the twilight years of their lives isn’t it just right that the government give them the benefits that they have rightfully earned.

Veterans and widows of veterans may qualify for a little-known, little-used benefit through the Department of Veterans Affairs. Wartime veterans and widows may qualify for up to $22,000 a year in tax-free funds to pay for assisted living expenses. It’s been available since 1951 and no one knows about it. Only a little over 200,000 people are using it. According to a report, only 27 percent of veterans and 14 percent of widows receive the benefit. A VA study says that veterans generally “are completely unaware that the program exists.”

However, military service and financial requirements must be met for eligibility. Military requirements call for 90 days of continuous active duty with at least one day served during a declared time of war, including World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War and Gulf War. Veterans may have any kind of discharge except dishonorable. They must also be disabled or at least 65 years old.

Benefits are available in the amount of $18,654 for an unmarried veteran, $22,113 for a married veteran and $11,985 for a widow of a veteran. The benefit increases each year.

posted by admin on May 13

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq - The 4th Infantry Division’s Special Troops Battalion underwent numerous changes over the course of a month as some units left its formations and their replacements arrived.

Among those changes included the changes of command of Company A, Company B, and the Headquarters Support Company May 15 in addition to three company transfers of authorities.

“We’re flexible,” said Lt. Col. Dale Buckner, a native of Rochester, N.Y., who serves as the commander of the DSTB, 4th Inf. Div., Multi-National Division - Baghdad, on how his professional staff handled the changes.

“I don’t get hung up on ‘this is the way it used to be done,’ or ‘this is the way the book says it should be done’ or ‘I don’t have any template to stick with,’” said Buckner. “Every day, I look at what the command group requires of us. If the chief of staff calls and says that I need to go train Iraqis on how you put together and execute new radios, we’ll figure out a way. It’s all about flexibility.”

Buckner said the primary function of the DSTB is to support the division main from behind the scenes to provide whatever it takes to make the division main functional in supporting the command group.

The DSTB provides full-spectrum support for the division main. This includes, among a myriad of other tasks: providing all the battle squad support and personal security detachments for the command group; providing communication support directly to the command group; providing logistical support; providing all the administrative support; and for other tasks such as handling Soldiers promotion boards, etc.

“The primary mission of the DSTB is all the behind-the-scenes goings on so the Soldiers can focus on the battlefield,” said Buckner.

Having 14 units to keep track of, and having 2,200 Soldiers in 19 different forward operation bases in Iraq, Kuwait and Qatar, is a daunting task - and one of the main challenges the DSTB has to face.

Buckner said none of the 14 units are the same or mutually supporting.

Read the full story here.

posted by admin on May 8

Army Secretary Pete Geren said May 7 that the Army has appropriated $248 million in emergency funds to fix problems found during inspections of 148,000 rooms at bases worldwide over the past two weeks.”We ordered a look at literally every single room,” Geren said. “We didn’t find any looming danger to their health and safety.” Geren made his comments at Fort Bragg, N.C., which became the flash point for the Army’s latest move to upgrade the conditions of its old barracks after a Soldier’s video of his run-down barracks ended up on YouTube.

Read the full story here.

posted by admin on Apr 29

The U.S.  Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has just announced that a grant of $75 million to offer permanent housing for an estimated 10,000 homeless veteran nationwide. This includes the HUD-VASH or the HUD’S Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing Program, which provides local public housing agencies with an estimated 10,000 rental assistance vouchers. Read the rest of the story here.

posted by admin on Apr 25

Just today a group of Filipino veterans, who had been American allies in WWII won the final battle in the U.S. Senate. Their appeal was delayed because of the intention of improving benefits for younger U.S. veterans. Fortunately, the senators voted to give a $300 per month pension to 15,000 Filipinos. Read the rest of the story here.

posted by admin on Apr 23

What is the “Grill Sergeants”?  It is a program that the Pentagon Channel. It will be filmed at the Naval Base San Diego on May 12-16 2008. However, all of its episodes have been shot at Fort Lee, Virginia, which is the home to the Army’s Advanced Culinary Skills Course. The program presents the culinary skills of military chefs. Read more….

posted by admin on Apr 23

Unfortunately, servicemembers who have been using their VISA credit cards on- and off-post are currently charged with International Service Assessment fee, particularly on overseas transactions.  The assessment charge ranges from 0.15% to 1% of the purchase. However, the VISA people assure that customers buying at their commissary, post exchange and US Embassy will not be charged with the extra fee, or as long as the transaction is domestic.

posted by admin on Apr 23

The military authorities are encouraging servicemembers to take advantage of all the educational programs, which could include those from the private sources, federal and of course military-related. In fact, there are many organizations that offer to assist the members of the troops to pursue their educational dream. The Federal Student Aid is an example. The scholarship grant provides for tuitions and other educational loans. Click here for more information.

posted by admin on Apr 21

Those active-duty Airmen who have foreign-born spouses can avail of assistance through Designated Location Move (DLM) assignment program. However, only Airmen those who serve a dependent restricted tour. The program is accessible on the Internet using the web-based virtual Military Personnel Flight (vMPF), making it convenient for those who want to apply. If the Airman qualifies, travel expenses will be shouldered by the government to move the foreign-born spouse to their native country, while the Airman is on a dependent-restricted overseas mission.