Subcontractors For New VA Hospital Say They’re Not Getting Paid

Strange story since subcontractors are usually paid by the primary contractor, the one that actually signs the contract with the customer. Is the primary contractor getting paid or not?

Subcontractors For New VA Hospital Say They’re Not Getting Paid
April 4, 2013
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4)

The new Veterans Administration Hospital is started to take shape in Aurora but some of the subcontractors working on that project say they haven’t been getting paid.

They claim the total owed equals $41 million for two years of work.

“Companies are on the brink of going bankrupt if they already haven’t. Jobs are being lost and the stress on families is unimaginable,” said Small Business Administration Greg Lopez.

The Department of Veterans Affairs and its prime contractor, Kiewit Turner, are pointing fingers at each other. Colorado’s entire congressional delegation and the Small Business Administration are involved.

Lopez said more than 30 subcontractors, some of the veteran-owned companies, have been stiffed $41 million by the VA and Kiewit Turner.

“And a lot of them have been waiting over a year to get paid,” said Lopez.

Lopez has been in talks with the two sides for months. Colorado’s entire Congressional delegation fired off a letter to the VA last month and demanded it outline how it intended to “remedy nonpayment issues.”

The VA responded stating that Kiewit is responsible for paying its subcontractors.
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Woodside veteran mentally unfit for assault charges

Woodside veteran mentally unfit for assault charges
April 05, 2013
Daily Journal Staff Report

A 24-year-old military veteran from Woodside is mentally unit to stand trial for allegedly assaulting his cousin with a shovel and grabbing for a responding sheriff deputy’s gun, according to court-appointed doctors.

Milo McIntosh Imrie had already pleaded not guilty to the charges but a pair of doctors agreed he should be treated at a mental facility rather than prosecuted and potentially incarcerated. He will be formally committed at a May 15 hearing.

Prosecutors say Imrie is thought to have post-traumatic stress disorder.

If Imrie is ever deemed returned to competency, he will return to San Mateo County for prosecution on charges of assault and trying to remove an officer’s firearm.
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Robert Gates basically admitted CSF did not work way back in 2010

Robert Gates basically admitted CSF did not work way back in 2010
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
April 5, 2013

This morning when I posted that Veterans groups fighting over VA Claims and equal treatment for all veterans it dawned on me that people tend to forget a lot that happens. While talking about where we are, if we do not face how we got here, nothing will be fixed. That is the premiss of my new book THE WARRIOR SAW, SUICIDES AFTER WAR, so we can not only see what has been going on but take a look at how it happened and how to fix it. Nothing I could guess at without knowing for sure what has taken place all along.

There was a Bill to address the backlog of claims in June of 2009 and it is a good way to remind people of what was going on back then.

The bill comes as the number of unprocessed veterans claims exceeds 915,000 — a 100,000 jump since the beginning of the year. In testimony two weeks ago before a House committee, VA officials said the current 162 days is 17 days less than one year ago, a sign that they are beginning to make process.

Now that you have that reminder, you need another one.

Shinseki Sworn In, Vows 21st Century Service to Veterans
January 21, 2009

WASHINGTON – Retired Army Gen. Eric K. Shinseki took the oath of office today as the Nation’s seventh Secretary of Veterans Affairs, assuming the leadership of the Department of Veterans Affairs following Tuesday's confirmation by the Senate.

"The overriding challenge I am addressing from my first day in office is to make the Department of Veterans Affairs a 21st century organization focused on the Nation's Veterans as its clients," Shinseki said.

Shinseki plans to develop a 2010 budget within his first 90 days that realizes the vision of President Obama to transform VA into an organization that is people-centric, results-driven and forward-looking.

Key issues on his agenda include smooth activation of an enhanced GI Bill education benefit that eligible Veterans can begin using next fall, streamlining the disability claims system, leveraging information technology to accelerate and modernize services, and opening VA’s health care system to Veterans previously unable to enroll in it, while facilitating access for returning Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans.

Shinseki, a former Army Chief of Staff, takes the reins of a 284,000-employee organization delivering health care and financial benefits to millions of Veterans and survivors under a $98 billion budget authorized this year through networks of regional benefits offices and health care facilities from coast to coast.

Born in 1942 on the island of Kauai, Hawaii, Shinseki graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., in 1965. He served two combat tours and was wounded in action in Vietnam. He served with distinction in Europe, the Pacific and stateside, eventually becoming the Army’s senior leader from June 1999 to June 2003.

Retired from military service in August 2003, Shinseki's military decorations include three Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts.

Shinseki replaced Dr. James B. Peake as Secretary of Veterans Affairs from 2007-2009.

Everything that happened at the VA came under James Peake.

Peake served for four years as the United States Army Surgeon General. He also served as commander of several Army medical units. Previous key assignments include Commander, U.S. Army Medical Department Center and School and Installation Commander, Fort Sam Houston; Deputy Commander, U.S. Army Medical Command, Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Commanding General, Madigan Army Medical Center/Northwest Health Service Support Activity, Tacoma, Washington; Commanding General, 44th Medical Brigade/Corps Surgeon, XVIII Airborne Corps, Fort Bragg; Deputy Director, Professional Services/Chief, Consultant, Office of the Surgeon General, Falls Church, Virginia; Commander, 18th Medical Command and 121st Evacuation Hospital/Command Surgeon, Seoul, Korea; Deputy Commander for Clinical Services, Tripler Army Medical Center, Honolulu, Hawaii; Assistant Chief, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas; Staff General Surgeon/Chief, General Surgery Clinic, DeWitt Army Hospital, Fort Belvoir; and General Surgery Resident, Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

Just was what was happening in the Department of Defense came under Robert Gates from 2006 until 2011 when he was replaced by Leon Panetta.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates elaborated on the impact of wartime stress on the nation’s troops Wednesday night. “These consequences include more anxiety and disruption inflicted on children; increased domestic strife and a corresponding rising divorce rate, which in the case of Army enlisted has nearly doubled since the wars began,” he told an audience at Duke University. “And most tragically, a growing number of suicides.”

That came from an article on TIME, Battleland, Top Admiral: Military Suicides Will Keep Rising, by Mark Thompson. This was the first paragraph.

Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was talking of the military’s ability to fight future wars Wednesday when he suddenly changed gears. “We had five suicides in the Army last weekend,” the nation’s top military officer abruptly volunteered. And, he warned, such horrors are only going to grow.

But this was the most telling release of all.

Defense Department Joins Suicide Prevention Alliance
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2010 – Taking care of servicemembers is among Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates’ top concerns, he said today, and that includes preventing military suicides.

“It is always a horrible tragedy to see a servicemember safely off the battlefield only to lose them to this scourge,” Gates said. “It is the ongoing duty of this department to do everything possible to care for those who protect our nation.”

Speaking at the launch of the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention at the National Press Club here, Gates underscored the importance of a nationwide approach to suicide prevention. The alliance’s strategy pools federal and private-sector research and resources in hopes of better addressing the national suicide rate.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric K. Shinseki and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius are part of the alliance and represent the public sector on the board. Army Secretary John M. McHugh represents the public sector as co-chair.

The military suicide rate has increased steadily over the past five years, exceeding the national average of 11.1 suicides per 100,000 people. The military last year averaged 12.5, according to a Defense Department task force.

Suicide claimed 309 military members last year, and 267 troops committed suicide in 2008, the task force said. From 2005 to 2009, more than 1,100 servicemembers took their own lives, an average of one suicide every 36 hours, the task force said.

“We must and we will do better,” Gates said.

Gates outlined some of the challenges the military faces in suicide prevention, citing nearly a decade of war and advancements in protection and battlefield medicine. While more troops are surviving physical injuries, psychological war wounds have taken a toll on the military, he explained.

The stigma associated with seeking help for post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injuries also is a challenge in suicide prevention, he said, noting that such conditions can increase the risk of suicide.

“We are also confronting a historical stigma attached to these kinds of wounds -- a lack of understanding that they, too, are an inevitable consequence of combat, that those fighting to recover deserve respect for their sacrifice, as well as the best state-of-the-art care,” Gates said.

(This is after 2008 when Battlemind started and everyone had to be trained.)

The Defense Department has taken several measures to reduce stress on the force and help troops and their families in need, he said.

Gates noted that the Army and Marine Corps are growing the size of their forces to increase time at home between deployments. Also, the Pentagon is working to improve access to care by adding more 2,000 mental health providers at military health care facilities. Initiatives are also under way to improve care for reserve-component troops and their families, many of whom don’t have the same access to support as active-duty troops, he said. The Pentagon’s most notable -- and perhaps most difficult -- challenge is working to change the reluctance within the military culture to seek mental health care. Gates said troops who seek psychological care are not at risk of damaging their careers. In fact, he added, he praises their willingness to come forward.

“As with almost every issue in our military, progress on this front comes down to leadership among those in command and leadership positions,” he said. “They need to aggressively encourage those under them to seek help if needed, and also set an example by doing the same.”

Tackling the military’s suicide issue will translate to success in the civilian world, he added. “In everything we do, we must remember that every soldier, sailor, airman or Marine is part not just of the military, but also of a larger community,” the secretary said.

“Their families, their hometowns, their civilian employers, their places of worship all must be involved in the solution.”

McHugh agreed. The Army’s efforts to better understand what it takes to prevent suicide among its force have determined that many of the issues are not related just to the Army and military, he said.

“Many [psychological issues] are the shared challenges that every citizen in every community in this country and indeed in every corner of this world faces -- things like drug and alcohol abuse, financial hardships [and] relationship challenges,” he said.

Getting people to seek help and reducing the nation’s suicide rate must be a team effort, McHugh said.

“As proud as we are of what we can accomplish, we neither can nor wish to go it alone,” McHugh said. “This is such an exciting opportunity and an honor for us to partner with some of the most illustrative organizations and minds, some of the most leading scholars and groups involved in this critical challenge.

“I look forward to the work ahead,” he continued. “I look forward to learning and to taking those lessons back to the department.”

Sad looking back on what was said since the DOD was spending billions of dollars every year to "prevent" PTSD and get rid of the stigma along with reducing suicides. How many died because they refused to end what they already knew was not working?

Chief Warrant Officer Curtis S. Reagan died in Afghanistan

Officer's body returns home after non-combat related death in Afghanistan
Count On News 2
updated 4/4/2013

A Summerville man supporting Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan has been brought home.

Chief Warrant Officer Curtis S. Reagan died Friday, March 29 in Kandahar, Afghanistan, from a non-combat related illness.
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Retired Fort Collins Special Forces Major urges veterans to get help for PTSD

Former Fort Collins councilman convicted of drunken driving, urges fellow vets to get help for PTSD
Apr 4, 2013
Written by
Trevor Hughes

With his service dog at his side and tears in his eyes, a former Fort Collins city councilman and retired Army Special Forces major pleaded guilty Thursday to drunk driving and said the incident got him the help he so desperately needed.

Diggs Brown said an incident in Afghanistan four years ago where soldiers under his command accidentally killed four children left him with PTSD that roared to the surface of his brain while drinking at an Old Town bar last year.

“That one day, if I could just take it back ...” the 34-year Army veteran said Thursday in court. “It’s just made my life hell. You blame yourself.”

Brown, 56, said his experience is prompting efforts to push for a special veterans-only court in Larimer County. And he urged other veterans to get the help they need. Brown’s service dog, a black Lab named Arthur, wakes him from nightmares and helps comfort him on bad days.

Colorado State University police arrested Brown in October 2012, and he resigned from his position as deputy Larimer County clerk and recorder as a result. Prior to working for the clerk’s office, Brown served in the Army and was a member of Fort Collins City Council, helped establish the community’s memorial to veterans and ran for the Republican nomination in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District in 2010.
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