On Tuesday, February 26, 2013 from 6:00 P.M. to 8:00 P.M., Cathi Starr, Southern Arizona Regional Manager of the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services will provide information on veterans’ service connected disabilities and compensation, veterans’ pension benefits and the Aid and Attendant Program, and veterans’ burial benefits and widowed spouses’ benefits. If you, your family members, or friends have any questions about any armed services issue, please come and ask. These folks are very helpful They not only give information and explanation, but they help people find answers to their questions (e.g. “My mother served in Viet Nam as a nurse. She died in the Tucson VA Hospital of causes we don’t understand. We need to access her hospital records. Please help us.”) and resolutions to their problems, whether they be health or benefit related…whatever.

Week of January 28, 2013

To Arizona Vietnam Veterans, Indian Vietnam veterans, families & friends:

The Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services, the Arizona Military Museum, and the Heard Museum  is proud to host an event Honoring Arizona’s Indian Vietnam Veterans. 

DATE:  May 25, 2013   Sign in 6:30 pm for table seating. Program begins at 7:00pm 

LOCATION:  Heard Museum, 2301 North Central Avenue, Phoenix, AZ 85004

SEATING: Limited to 250 and seating will be assigned to those who respond first

ATTIRE: Business/casual or Army Class A or service equivalent, military decorations

COST:  FREE

This event is for all who desire to honor Arizona’s Indian Vietnam veterans and is part of the 50^th Commemoration of the Vietnam War activities whose first stated objective is:

To thank and honor veterans who served in the Vietnam War, including personnel who were held as prisoners of war or listed as missing in action, for their service and sacrifice on behalf of the United States and to thank and honor the families of these veterans.

The event includes a Color Guard, a Native American Drum Group, special blessings, short speeches, videos, TAPS, a special presentation to Arizona’s Indian Vietnam veteran warriors, and catered refreshments.

Native Americans have one of the highest records of service in the Vietnam War, per capita, of any ethnic group. A majority of these men enlisted, and a disproportionate number served in combat units—airmobile, infantry, armor, airborne, and artillery. Their distinctive cultural value of the proud warrior tradition compelled them to serve.

We look forward to seeing many Indian Vietnam veteran warriors, their families, and friends at this event. The Heard Museum’s Steele Auditorium can hold only 250 attendees, so mail your completed RSVP form back ASAP.  Your name must be on our list for you to attend.  If you have any questions call Joe at 520-868-6777.

Colonel Joey Strickland, USA (Ret.), Director         

                        Arizona Department of Veteran Services

Colonel Joseph E. Abodeely, USA (Ret.)

                        Director, Arizona Military Museum

Marcus Monenerkit

                        Heard Museum

Sorry about the delay in posting this. I comb hundreds of articles to determine what is most useful for local veterans. VVA is always the most helpful. Us Vietnam Veterans of America are late bloomers ya know!

Senator Webb Introduces NDAA Amendments to Help Student  Vets

On November 27, Vietnam veteran Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) introduced two amendments to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA)  regarding the bipartisan “Military and Veterans Educational Reform Act of 2012″ (S.2179).

Summary of Amendment #2957 (both of these provisions are in the larger bill S.2179):

• Requires that all programs receiving funding from Tuition Assistance and Post-9/11 GI Bill be “Title IV” eligible, which is already a requirement for schools receiving other types of federal funding. Title IV eligibility requires, among other things, accreditation by a Department of Education-approved accrediting agency; new schools to have an undergraduate withdrawal rate for all students of no more than 33%; and mandated reviews by the Department of Education if a school has high dropout or default rates, which could lead to sanctions or other penalties.
• Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct a compliance review of an educational institution when certain quality measures are triggered.

Summary of Amendment #2958 (this is S. 2179; includes the two provisions in Amdt. #2957):

• Requires that all programs receiving funding from Tuition Assistance and Post-9/11 GI Bill be “Title IV” eligible, which is already a requirement for schools receiving other types of federal funding. Title IV eligibility requires, among other things, accreditation by a Department of Education-approved accrediting agency; new schools to have an undergraduate withdrawal rate for all students of no more than 33%; and mandated reviews by the Department of Education if a school has high dropout or default rates, which could lead to sanctions or other penalties.
• Expands the training responsibilities of the State Approving Agencies by requiring them to conduct outreach activities to veterans and members of the Armed Forces; to conduct audits of schools; and to report those findings to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
• Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense to develop a centralized complaints process to report instances of misrepresentation, fraud, waste, and abuse, and other complaints against educational institutions.
• Requires that all schools with 20 or more students enrolled in VA and/or DOD educational assistance programs provide support services to veterans and military students.
• Requires the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense, to the extent practicable, to provide one-on-one, in-person educational counseling to veterans and members of the Armed Forces participating in programs of educational assistance at or before the individual enrolls.
• Requires the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of Defense to conduct a compliance review of an educational institution whenever certain quality measures are triggered.

Ah yes, yet another clandestine plan to privatize the planet and promulgate crony capitalism. Sorry, but commissaries are about more than a head of lettuce. Does not seem that the cost of gas is factored in either. How little do you want to give the soldier that fights for those groceries?

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2012/12/military-budget-cutting-plan-shut-down-commissaries-120312w/

Report blasts suggestion to close commissaries

By Rick Maze – Staff writer
Posted : Monday Dec 3, 2012 16:23:24 EST

A budget-cutting plan to shut down commissaries and instead pay an annual allowance to active-duty families for the projected increase in their grocery bill has drawn a sharp rebuttal from a research group affiliated with the military resale industry.

The Military Resale and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Center for Research, affiliated with the American Logistics Association, says in a report released Monday that the $400 allowance wouldn’t come close to making up for the higher grocery costs, especially for families.

“Patrons who consistently use their commissary, can save nearly $4,500 per year for an average family of four, over $2,800 for a couple, and more than $1,500 for a single service member,” the report says.

Getting rid of taxpayer-subsidized commissaries, with groceries available on base only at exchange stores, would save the government about $1.3 billion a year, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, which has suggested this cost-cutting measure for years.

CBO has recommended cushioning families from what could be a 7 percent increase in grocery prices by providing a grocery allowance that would reduce total government savings to about $1 billion a year.

The proposed allowance would average $400 a year, but could be targeted to specific pay grades as a retention benefit or “to benefit junior enlisted members with large families,” CBO says in its March 2011 version of a report called Reducing the Deficit: Spending and Revenue Options.

Military retirees and their families would not receive the annual grocery allowance under CBO’s assumptions.

Because closing commissaries and consolidating grocery sales with exchanges takes time, CBO estimates the immediate savings would be just $200 million the first year but would reach $2.8 billion over five years and $9.1 billion over 10 years.

CBO’s suggestion to close commissaries has been included in many deficit reduction proposals, most recently by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla. In his plan for cutting Pentagon waste, Coburn said closing the 175 stateside commissaries while keeping overseas stores makes sense to him.

“By getting the Department of Defense out of the grocery business here in the United States, Congress could increase military pay across the board and allow military members to shop at the stores of their choice,” Coburn’s report says.

But the resale research report notes that commissary patrons “save 32 percent at commissaries and 24 percent at exchanges, according to independent surveys and market basket analysis. This equates to $4.584 billion per year in savings.”

“This is a direct compensation benefit to the Department of Defense in that it extends the household budgets of military, personnel, families and retirees. If the benefit ceased to exist, military total compensation would drop correspondingly unless pay would be increased to provide the funds needed to shop at more expensive alternative sources,” the resale research center report says.

http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2012/12/military-budget-cutting-plan-shut-down-commissaries-120312w/?org=403&org=403&lvl=100&ite=5313&lea=1592&ctr=0&par=1