13 minutes ago
NATO plans for early Afghan exit
Stars and Stripes
By John Vandiver
Published: February 26, 2014
STUTTGART, Germany — NATO defense ministers will discuss plans for a complete withdrawal from Afghanistan by the end of 2014 should Afghanistan and the U.S. fail to reach agreement on a key long-term security deal, the alliance’s top official said Wednesday.
“This is not our preferred outcome. But these are the facts — facts that we need to take into account in our planning,” NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at the start of a two-day ministerial meeting in Brussels.
Rasmussen’s comments echoed those of President Barack Obama, who on Tuesday informed Afghan President Hamid Karzai by phone about U.S. plans for a possible exit at the end of the year.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the Pentagon would “move ahead with additional contingency planning to ensure adequate plans are in place to accomplish an orderly withdrawal by the end of the year should the United States not keep any troops in Afghanistan after 2014.”
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Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Fort Hood single soldiers welcomed home by Army wives
Spouses help prepare barracks for single soldiers’ return
Fort Hood Herald
Madison Lozano
Herald staff writer
February 26, 2014
Troopers from 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, will be returning soon to Fort Hood and the family readiness groups are ensuring each soldier receives a warm welcome.
Spouses gathered to prepare single soldiers’ barracks Feb. 18, ensuring each came home to a room full of all the necessities.
“It’s a little something to say thank you and welcome home,” said senior battalion family readiness group advisor Lori Brooks. “Just enough to get them through a couple days.”
Brooks led about 10 spouses around the 2nd Brigade barracks, moving quickly to fill each room with goody bags stuffed with snacks and shower caddies overflowing with toiletries.
The group made beds with fresh sheets, folded towels and hung up brand-new shower curtains in about 75 rooms for more than 150 soldiers.
read more here
Fort Hood Herald
Madison Lozano
Herald staff writer
February 26, 2014
Troopers from 3rd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, will be returning soon to Fort Hood and the family readiness groups are ensuring each soldier receives a warm welcome.
Spouses gathered to prepare single soldiers’ barracks Feb. 18, ensuring each came home to a room full of all the necessities.
“It’s a little something to say thank you and welcome home,” said senior battalion family readiness group advisor Lori Brooks. “Just enough to get them through a couple days.”
Brooks led about 10 spouses around the 2nd Brigade barracks, moving quickly to fill each room with goody bags stuffed with snacks and shower caddies overflowing with toiletries.
The group made beds with fresh sheets, folded towels and hung up brand-new shower curtains in about 75 rooms for more than 150 soldiers.
read more here
Congress Owes Veterans
Congress Owes Veterans
Not the other way around
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 26, 2014
Like most Americans I was deluded. I just assumed this country took care of veterans no matter what war, no matter where they lived or what they needed. My Dad was a Korean War veteran, 100% disabled and was taken care of after a fighting to have his claim approved. My uncles were WWII veterans but didn't go to the VA until they were elderly.
It was not until 30 years ago my rude awakening began. It didn't matter which party was in control or who was in the Oval Office at the time. Veterans were never taken care of properly.
While members of the House and Senate are trying to figure out how to pay for the new round of spending on veterans, people need to be aware of the simple facts.
Yes you read the year right. 1979.
When you read anything on PTSD and veterans remember how long they have been "doing" something.
Congress keeps talking about the number of veterans in this country, however the VA has never had all veterans in their system.
It does not matter which of our elected officials are sitting in the chairs because they never take care of the men and women putting their lives on the line. Had any congress been interested in fixing the VA for all veterans since 1989 there would be no need of veterans suffering and waiting for the care that was promised. Congress forgot that the bill is not what veterans owe but is in fact what congress owes them.
Not the other way around
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 26, 2014
Like most Americans I was deluded. I just assumed this country took care of veterans no matter what war, no matter where they lived or what they needed. My Dad was a Korean War veteran, 100% disabled and was taken care of after a fighting to have his claim approved. My uncles were WWII veterans but didn't go to the VA until they were elderly.
It was not until 30 years ago my rude awakening began. It didn't matter which party was in control or who was in the Oval Office at the time. Veterans were never taken care of properly.
While members of the House and Senate are trying to figure out how to pay for the new round of spending on veterans, people need to be aware of the simple facts.
PTSD
America's Wars Total (1775-1991)
U.S. Military Service during Wartime 41,892,128
Battle Deaths 651,031
Other Deaths (In Theater) 308,800
Other Deaths in Service (Non-Theater) 230,279
Non-mortal Woundings 1,431,290
Living War Veterans (Total will be more than sum of conflicts due to no “end date” established for Persian Gulf War.) 16,962,000
Living Veterans (Periods of War and Peace) 23,234,000
Since 1979, VA’s Readjustment Counseling Service has operated Vet Centers, which provide psychological counseling for war-related trauma, community outreach, case management and referral activities, plus supportive social services to veterans and family members. There are 232 Vet Centers.
Yes you read the year right. 1979.
When you read anything on PTSD and veterans remember how long they have been "doing" something.
Congress keeps talking about the number of veterans in this country, however the VA has never had all veterans in their system.
In fiscal year 2008, VA provided $38.9 billion in disability compensation, death compensation and pension to 3.7 million people. About 3.2 million veterans received disability compensation or pension from VA. In addition, about 554,700 spouses, children and parents of deceased veterans received VA benefits. Among them are 170,144 survivors of Vietnam-era veterans and 235,000 survivors of World War II veterans.
1988....Legislation to elevate VA to Cabinet status signed by President Reagan. 1989....On March 15, VA became the 14th Department in the President's Cabinet. (Department of Veterans Affairs)
Secretaries of Veterans Affairs
Eric K. Shinseki 2009 – Present
James B. Peake 2007 - 2009
Bush left a backlog of 816,211 in 2008. This was left after some veterans were just cut off in 2003. VA officials say they must focus on veterans with the greatest needs - those with the most serious service-related illnesses and injuries and those too poor to afford other health care. But many veterans - and the organizations that represent them - say it is a broken promise.R. James Nicholson 2005–2007
Anthony J. Principi 2001–2005
Before Afghanistan and Iraq veterans required VA.
In FY 2000, more than 3.8 million patients used VA health care, over 2.6 million veterans and family members received monthly VA disability compensation paymentsClinton left a backlog of 400,000 in 2001.
Over the next 5 years, we anticipate losing over 1,100 experienced VSRs due to retirement. To avoid a skill gap, we have added a significant number of new employees and will continue to do so for the next few years. We expect our quality and timeliness will be affected as we recruit and train new employees. It takes 2 to 3 years for VSRs to achieve a full level of decision-making expertise.We expect a significant increase in workload due to (1) the Veterans Claims Assistance Act of 2000 (P.L. 106-475, also referred to as the Duty to Assist), which requires additional duties in assisting claimants; and (2) a recent regulatory change, which makes diabetes a presumptively service-connected disability for Vietnam veterans who served in Southeast Asia. As a result, we amended our FY 2001 performance target upward from 142 days to 195 days.Togo D. West Jr. 1998-2000
Jesse Brown 1993–1997
Edward J. Derwinski 1989–1992
It does not matter which of our elected officials are sitting in the chairs because they never take care of the men and women putting their lives on the line. Had any congress been interested in fixing the VA for all veterans since 1989 there would be no need of veterans suffering and waiting for the care that was promised. Congress forgot that the bill is not what veterans owe but is in fact what congress owes them.
Ex-VA doctor says she was forced out after limiting opiate prescriptions
The stories we need to know!
RETURNING HOME TO BATTLE
Ex-VA doctor says she was forced out after limiting opiate prescriptions
The Center for Investigative Reporting
Aaron Glantz
The Center for Investigative Reporting
Byron Pitts
ABC News
Feb 25, 2014
On the eve of a congressional hearing about the Department of Veterans Affairs’ skyrocketing use of narcotic painkillers, a former VA doctor has stepped forward with new allegations about the agency’s prescription practices.
In an exclusive interview with The Center for Investigative Reporting and ABC News, Dr. Basimah Khulusi said she was forced out last year after patients complained that she would not prescribe high doses of opiates.
“I had to do something about it. And I tried,” said Khulusi, a rehabilitation specialist who worked at the VA hospital in Kansas City, Mo., for five and a half years. “And then, you know, I was let go.”
In September, CIR revealed that VA prescriptions for four opiates – hydrocodone, oxycodone, methadone and morphine – surged by 270 percent between 2001 and 2012.
That far outpaced the increase in VA patients and contributed to a fatal overdose rate of nearly double the national average, the agency’s own scientists found.
CIR’s report helped spark a congressional hearing. At that hearing in October, VA officials promised to present a plan to address problems with opiate prescriptions within 30 days. A follow-up oversight hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
Khulusi said the majority of veterans she saw in the pain clinic already were addicted to prescription opiates – receiving doses as high as 900 narcotic pain pills a month and 1,000 milligrams of morphine a day, 10 times the level she considered safe.
read more here VA's lack of pain treatment options led to opiate addiction, veteran says VA’s opiate overload feeds veterans’ addictions, overdose deaths
RETURNING HOME TO BATTLE
Ex-VA doctor says she was forced out after limiting opiate prescriptions
The Center for Investigative Reporting
Aaron Glantz
The Center for Investigative Reporting
Byron Pitts
ABC News
Feb 25, 2014
Dr. Basimah Khulusi says she was forced out of her job as a rehabilitation specialist at the Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Kansas City, Mo., after patients complained that she would not prescribe high doses of opiates. She says many of her patients had been addicted to opiates for years yet received escalating doses from VA doctors as their tolerance built.
Credit: ABC News
On the eve of a congressional hearing about the Department of Veterans Affairs’ skyrocketing use of narcotic painkillers, a former VA doctor has stepped forward with new allegations about the agency’s prescription practices.
In an exclusive interview with The Center for Investigative Reporting and ABC News, Dr. Basimah Khulusi said she was forced out last year after patients complained that she would not prescribe high doses of opiates.
“I had to do something about it. And I tried,” said Khulusi, a rehabilitation specialist who worked at the VA hospital in Kansas City, Mo., for five and a half years. “And then, you know, I was let go.”
In September, CIR revealed that VA prescriptions for four opiates – hydrocodone, oxycodone, methadone and morphine – surged by 270 percent between 2001 and 2012.
That far outpaced the increase in VA patients and contributed to a fatal overdose rate of nearly double the national average, the agency’s own scientists found.
CIR’s report helped spark a congressional hearing. At that hearing in October, VA officials promised to present a plan to address problems with opiate prescriptions within 30 days. A follow-up oversight hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.
Khulusi said the majority of veterans she saw in the pain clinic already were addicted to prescription opiates – receiving doses as high as 900 narcotic pain pills a month and 1,000 milligrams of morphine a day, 10 times the level she considered safe.
read more here VA's lack of pain treatment options led to opiate addiction, veteran says VA’s opiate overload feeds veterans’ addictions, overdose deaths
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
PTSD on Trial Kentucky National Guardsman pushed over edge
Latonia standoff suspect says bills, PTSD and police response contributed to break
WCPO News
Brian Mains and Kendall Herold
COVINGTON, Ky. – A military veteran says a $10,000 bill he received led to a 20-hour standoff with police in December.
"It was just a final straw... a click," Michael Vaughan said on Tuesday.
Vaughan barricaded himself in his house and shot at Covington police officers throughout the night of Dec. 21 and morning of Dec. 22. Police went to his house in response to a call that Vaughan posted disturbing messages on his Facebook page.
His children were in his Michigan Avenue home for most of the incident and were only let go hours before police say Vaughan surrendered to them after setting his house on fire and getting shot in one final volley of gunfire.
Vaughan sits in the Kenton County Detention Center, awaiting trial on a charge of attempted murder of a police officer.
On Tuesday, Vaughan said the bill that came from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service was a result of “bad advice” he received while seeking treatment Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
"I received bad information from the Kentucky National Guard so I didn't get the help I need," he said.
read more here
WCPO News
Brian Mains and Kendall Herold
COVINGTON, Ky. – A military veteran says a $10,000 bill he received led to a 20-hour standoff with police in December.
"It was just a final straw... a click," Michael Vaughan said on Tuesday.
Vaughan barricaded himself in his house and shot at Covington police officers throughout the night of Dec. 21 and morning of Dec. 22. Police went to his house in response to a call that Vaughan posted disturbing messages on his Facebook page.
His children were in his Michigan Avenue home for most of the incident and were only let go hours before police say Vaughan surrendered to them after setting his house on fire and getting shot in one final volley of gunfire.
Vaughan sits in the Kenton County Detention Center, awaiting trial on a charge of attempted murder of a police officer.
On Tuesday, Vaughan said the bill that came from the Defense Finance and Accounting Service was a result of “bad advice” he received while seeking treatment Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.
"I received bad information from the Kentucky National Guard so I didn't get the help I need," he said.
read more here
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