TREA: The ENLISTED ASSN

FROM WASHINGTON

NEWS FOR THE ENLISTED

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1) In State of the Union Speech President Praises U.S. Military/ Must Wait Till Next Month to See Definite Proposals

On Tuesday evening when President Obama was walking into the chamber to present his State of the Union Address he shook Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta’s hand and said: “Good Job tonight.” We did not know what he was referring to then but the next morning we learned that American Commanders had dropped into Somalia and rescued American aid worker (as well as a Danish aid worker.) They killed 9 Somali pirates.

While he did not mention the rescue on Tuesday evening he both started and ended his speech by praising the U.S. military and focusing on the death of Osama Bin Laden. He clearly stated that the federal government needed to help returning veterans and noted that the Department of Veterans Affairs’ budget had increased every year he had been in office. What does this mean for possible cuts in military retiree and other personnel benefits (which are paid for by the DoD budget?) Who knows? The President’s proposed budget will be released in February and then we will know the kind of fight we are facing.

2) But DOD Secretary Panetta Gives Us Hints

On Thursday Secretary Leon Panetta with Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Dempsey held a press conference to get a jump on expected criticism and explain parts of his 5 year budget (though the explanation gave us no proposed dollar amounts.) The Secretary repeated that he had been directed by the White House to cut $259 billion in the next 5 years and $487 billion over the full decade. He said that in total he has $500 billion less than he had anticipated having through 2017. He said that his proposals include cutting the size of the forces, limiting military pay raises, closing bases, limiting weapons systems, newly purchased planes and ships, and increasing health care costs for military retirees. He said that there will be a drawdown of Army personnel (from its recent peak of 570,000 to 490,000) and of the Marines (from 202,000 to 182,000.)

He said that the President was going to call for another BRAC round. Again, no details were given-that must wait for the Administration’s roll-out of its proposed budget in February. But the cuts and increases will not happen if Congress does not approve. And members of Congress have already started to voice their general objections of these general proposals. Reacting to the idea of a new round of BRAC, (something that is always extremely unpopular with Congress especially when a round finally ended only last fall.) Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan) said until some of the European bases are closed, “I am not going to be able to support” closing bases back home. And the Chairman of the House Armed Service Committee Rep. Buck McKeon said: “These cuts reflect President Obama’s vision of an America weakened, not strengthened by our men and women in uniform. To be clear, the impacts of these cuts are far deeper than Congress envisioned.”

We must remember that different members of Congress will be trying to protect a host of different programs (including military end strength, military bases in their home districts and states, weapon systems and much more.) We need to make sure that Congress focuses on the retirement promises already made to and relied on by military retirees. TREA will continue to fight this crucial fight and urges all of you to individually contact your members of Congress about the need to protect all your earned benefits.

3) Veterans and Beneficiaries See Their 2012 Cost Of Living Adjustment

On January 1 the 3.6% COLA increase has been applied to the VA’s compensation and pension benefit. The COLA (which is by law the same percentage as the Social Security COLA.) means that the Service Connected Disability rates will range from $127 per month for a 10% to $2,769 for 100% disability. The basic Dependency and Indemnity Compensation (DIC) rate has risen from $1154 to $1195. The full rates for all effected programs are available on the Internet at: www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/Rates/#BM01 or you can call the VA at 1-800-827-1000.

4) Bill Targets For-Profit Colleges That Swindle Veterans

For-profit colleges that solicit soldiers and veterans will face proposed legislation to curb recruiting, according to Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin (R-IL), the U.S. Senate’s No. 2 Democrat said.

Congress, the Education Department, the Justice Department and state attorneys general are scrutinizing the sales practices and student-loan default rates of for-profit colleges, which received almost $32 billion in federal grants and loans in the 2009-10 school year.

Durbin’s proposal will “reduce incentives for for-profit colleges to target and aggressively recruit service members and veterans,” according to his office. While details are still scarce, he may be referring the for-profit colleges using servicemembers’ education benefits as a way to get around on a cap on the percentage of federal money that makes up their yearly income.

Eight for-profit college companies --including Apollo Group Inc. (APOL), which owns University of Phoenix, the largest chain by enrollment; and Education Management Corp. (EDMC), the second-biggest --received about $626 million in veterans’ education benefits in the most recent academic year, the Senate education committee said in a report in November.

Durbin’s legislation will create “barriers to critical job-training and educational programs for veterans,” Brian Moran, interim president of the Washington-based Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, which represents for-profits, said in a statement.

TREA is supportive of efforts to cut down on abuses of former servicemembers as they attempt to become educated and will work to ensure that access to educational institutions remains accessible to as many veterans as possible.

5) 2011 Army Suicides Down, Sex Assaults Up

The Pentagon reported last week that the number of suicides in the US Army fell last year for the first time since 2004, but that sexual assaults increased.

The number of suicides among active service members and reservists fell to 278 in 2011 from 304 in 2010. Among only active Army soldiers, the total rose by five to 164. The number does not count those recently separated from the service.

Army Vice Chief of Staff General Peter Chiarelli said that he thinks the process of de-stigmatizing behavioral and mental health issues has begun in order to get help to people in need.

The bad news in the report is that the number of sexual assaults rose to 2,290 in 2011. That is up 64 percent from 2006. In six out of 10 assaults, the aggressors had been consuming alcohol. Most of the victims were female soldiers in their first 18 months of service, with most knowing their attacker. The report also cited a sharp increase in cases of domestic violence and child abuse involving service members.

Chiarelli said post-traumatic stress (PTS) is linked to many of these issues: many of those injured in combat have suffered brain trauma, which has been linked to aggression. According to Chiarelli, a person diagnosed with PTS is three times more likely to participate in some kind of partner aggression.

TREA strongly endorses the movement to eliminate the stigma associated with PTS to ensure that people get treatment for whatever issues they are facing: alcohol problems, drug abuse problems, prescription-drugs abuse problems, anger management problems, or spouse and child abuse. The consequences of these problems are too terrible to leave untreated.

6) Detroit to Host VA Small Business Conference, Hiring Fair

Help for Veterans Who Own Businesses, Seek Jobs

VA Press Release:

WASHINGTON (Jan. 25, 2012) – The National Veterans Small Business Conference, the government’s premier event for Veteran-owned small businesses, is coming to Detroit’s Cobo Center June 25-29, the Department of Veterans Affairs announced today.

VA also announced that a “VA for Vets” Hiring Fair will be held during the conference for Veterans looking for careers in the public and private sectors. The conference is expected to attract thousands of Veterans, business owners and federal employees, and bring an estimated $3 million in direct spending to the city.

“VA is committed to bringing more Veteran-owned businesses into the public-private partnership,” said VA Chief of Staff John Gingrich. “In addition to the National Veterans Small Business Conference, our Detroit Hiring Fair will provide Veterans with on-the-spot job opportunities and interviews, while also offering career search classes and one-on-one counseling.”

Last year’s National Veteran Small Business Conference and Expo in New Orleans drew almost 5,000 attendees, and more than 6,000 participants are expected this year.

The Detroit Hiring Fair builds upon VA’s success Jan. 18 in Washington at which a partnership of federal agencies and private industry attracted over 4,100 Veterans and resulted in over 2,600 on-the-spot interviews and more than 500 tentative job offers.

“These events are part of Secretary Shinseki’s ongoing efforts to help Veterans find employment in both the public and private sectors,” said Gingrich. “As the President said in yesterday’s State of the Union address, Veterans are crucial to

This year’s conference will include an open house that gives Veterans the chance to learn the wide range of resources available to help them with their own businesses. Also available will be the VetGovPartner online platform, which enables networking, viewing the business profiles of all participants, and identifying business opportunities with more than 400 government procurement decision makers in attendance.

Known historically as the world’s capital for the transportation industry, the Detroit metro area is reinventing itself with six booming industries: medical research, defense, entertainment, green tech, urban farming, and aeronautics. About 330,000 Veterans are served by the city’s VA medical center, and more than 704,000 Veterans live in Michigan.

VA invites all interested persons and businesses to attend. More information is available at www.nationalveteransconference.com. Registration for the conference begins Friday, January 27.

7) VA Launches Acquisition Internship for Returning Veterans

“Warriors to Workforce” Offered by VA Academy

VA Press Release:

WASHINGTON (Jan. 25, 2012) – A special internship to prepare newly-returned Veterans to become federal contracting specialists was launched recently at the Acquisitions Academy of the Department of Veterans Affairs in Frederick, Md.

“I’m pleased to welcome our new interns to the VA family,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki, who gave the keynote address Jan. 19. “These Veterans know the importance of integrity, and have learned to work together in diverse teams to accomplish difficult objectives. Those are skills we value in our professional acquisition corps.”

Called “Warriors to Workforce,” the internship is a three-year program. Participants will earn the 24 educational credits in business required to become contracting professionals. The program includes courses in leadership, technical acquisition training and on-the-job experience.

“This program is possible because of VA’s steadfast commitment to Veteran employment,” said Lisa Doyle, chancellor of the VA Acquisition Academy. “These Veterans have served and sacrificed, and it is our turn to give back by making sure they have gainful employment when they return. We hope this program will serve as a model for other federal agencies and private organizations.”

At graduation, participants will have taken the required coursework to achieve a Federal Acquisitions Certification in Contracting, which is recognized throughout the federal sector as evidence of solid education in the career field. Successful graduates will be eligible for contract specialist positions at the GS-11 level.

In the past two years, the government’s contracting force has shrunk, although the volume and complexity of contracts has increased. VA opened its Acquisitions Academy in September 2008 in response to the growing shortage of contracting professionals, both for VA and other federal agencies.

Twenty-three Veterans are enrolled in the inaugural class of the “Warriors to Workforce” internship. Between them, they have seven Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars and over 170 years of military experience.

More information about VA’s Acquisitions Academy is available on the Internet at www.acquisitionacademy.va.gov.

8) Senator Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) suffers serious stroke

Senator Mark Kirk (R-Illinois), one of the new members of Congress with military experience, suffered a stroke last weekend in Chicago. Senator Kirk joined the Navy Reserves in 1989 as an intelligence officer and currently holds the rank of Commander. He served on active duty in the former Yugoslavia in 1999 and in Operation Northern Watch in Iraq in 2000. He is presently on several important committees including Appropriations.

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