Posts Tagged ‘ defense ’

The Iraqi election process shows how far the country has come, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said here today.

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Gates Says Elections Show Iraq’s Progress

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION BEAUFORT, S.C. — The Department of Defense is looking into health concerns raised last month by staff and faculty at two schools at the Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort. Marine Gunnery Sgt. Chad McMeen said Thursday that an independent firm will conduct tests on air and soil quality, drinking water, radon levels, mold, mildew and asbestos levels at the schools. They are Baler Elementary and Bolden Elementary/Middle Schools, both located on the Marine installation. The schools are overseen by the Defense Department’s Domestic Dependent Elementary and Secondary Schools division. A spokeswoman for the division, Cindy Gibson, said the complaints came from about a half-dozen adults and were passed on through their union. Gibson said she was not aware of any health complaints from the 650 students who attend the two schools. “We want to get to the bottom of this,” the spokeswoman said. “That’s why we are seeking more extensive tests.” McMeen, a spokesman for the Marine installation, said the staff members’ concerns were raised in February and passed on to their union representative, who contacted administrators and the Defense Department. He said the complaints were not identical, so officials planned a wide range of tests as well as an epidemiological study of those who work at the school. School is continuing at the sites, he said. An initial round of tests conducted in mid-February turned up no specific problems. The school schedule has not been interrupted. McMeen said results of some of the more in-depth tests might be available by May, but some would take longer. Gibson said the school division will meet again with the teachers in May and pledged to keep them informed of the ongoing studies. A report in the Beaufort Gazette quoted Charles Yahres, the principal at Bolden, saying that there was no specific pattern to the health concerns raised. “That’s why this testing will be so broad in scope,” Yahres said. A request to speak with Yahres was declined by a school receptionist, who referred all calls to the division spokeswoman.

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Air, soil to be tested at MCAS Beaufort schools

Recommendations from a congressionally directed Defense Department disability review board have resulted in 61 percent of applicants having their status changed to retirement on the permanent disability list.

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Board Reassesses Service Disability Ratings

Rep. Glenn Nye, D-Va., will hold a roundtable meeting at 4 p.m. Sunday at his Virginia Beach office to hear from local military spouses affected by the Defense Department’s sudden halt of a tuition assistance program that paid up to $6,000 for education, training, licenses, certificates and degrees leading to portable careers. The military spouse My Career Advancement Account program was halted suddenly Feb. 16, and many spouses have said they found out about it at the worst time — when they were trying to apply for funding to be sent to their schools for courses that had already been approved by the Defense Department. “I want to hear from military spouses who were counting on this program, so I can take their stories back to Washington and fight to get MyCAA restored as quickly as possible,” Nye said in a statement announcing the meeting. Any spouse affected by the suspension of these accounts is welcome to attend, said Nye’s spokesman Clark Pettig. The office is located at 4772 Euclid Road, Suite E, Virginia Beach.

Read the original here: Va. Beach lawmaker to hold MyCAA discussion

Programs that help service members start applying for veterans’ disability compensation while they are still on active duty are shaving months off the waiting times for benefits, but limitations and a lack of strong military support prevent them from helping everyone. “The potential of these programs has yet to be fully realized,” said Tom Tarintino of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. “Their full impact will not be felt until the [Veterans Affairs Department] begins aggressive outreach to service members and the [Defense Department] makes transition programs uniform and mandatory. We cannot rely on word of mouth to spread this information.” Tarintino, who testified Wednesday in a hearing before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s disability panel, said the Defense Department and VA, which each play a role in the process, “must integrate their outreach and ensure a smooth transition of services before a service member is ready to leave the uniform behind. Otherwise, more men and women will fall through the cracks.” Noel Koch, who is responsible for the Defense Department’s wounded warrior care and transition policy office, said changes are coming. A joint-service order is about to be issued asking senior military leaders and commanders “at all levels to strengthen their emphasis” on the two pre-discharge programs to help prepare veterans claims. A joint memorandum will be a “call to action to commanders” to be “more engaged” in getting eligible service members to start the benefits process before separation, Koch said. Other programs Two other programs have a similar goal but slightly different eligibility requirements. One program, called Benefits Delivery at Discharge, aims to help service members who are within 60 to 180 days of discharge prepare to file disability claims by getting a complete medical examination and forwarding copies of their personnel and medical records to local VA personnel. A second program, called Quick Start, is available for those who are less than 60 days from separation, such as National Guard and reserve members being demobilized. People facing medical discharge from the military are not eligible for either program. Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y., the disability assistance panel chairman, said the two programs appear to be helping. Last year, 46,856 disability claims were processed using the pre-discharge process, with payments made, on average, 95.5 days after discharge, or about four months faster than for those who did not file claims until after separation. Hall said one of the good things about the two pre-discharge programs is that most claims are paperless — the wave of the future for VA. Gerald Manar of Veterans of Foreign Wars said the disability assistance programs have not reached their full potential because only about 85,000 of 200,000 service members who separated last year received pre-discharge briefings. “A large portion of those serving on active duty and in the reserves are not receiving critical information through VA’s outreach efforts,” Manar said.

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A week after announcing the temporary halt of the Defense Department’s Military Spouse Career Advancement Account operations, the head of the program assures participants with approved financial assistance that their enrollment will be unaffected.

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MyCAA Halt Won’t Affect Approved Spouses

Europeans’ aversion to military force is limiting NATO’s ability to fight wars effectively, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday.

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Gates: Europe Needs to Invest in Defense

The popularity of the Armed with Science webcast in its first year has prompted the Defense Department to expand its on-line presence with the new Armed with Science blog, http://science.dodlive.mil.

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DoD Adds Blog to Military Science Dialogue

The Defense Department’s review of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law, which bans gays from serving openly in the military, will help to ensure readiness and unit cohesion remain intact if Congress repeals it, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said.

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‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ Repeal Demands Study, Gates Says

Iran’s continuing nuclear development program only serves to put the Middle East in danger of nuclear weapons proliferation, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said in Paris.

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Gates: Iran’s Nuclear Program Puts Middle East in Danger