The Veteran Thread

[Tommi]

The Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) has announced an Open Enrollment Window for the DoD Survivor Benefit Plan (SBP) for same sex couples.

Military Retirees who were married to a same-sex spouse on or before June 26, 2013, may now have spouse coverage in the SBP. Depending on the retiree?s circumstances, enrollment for their spouse may be automatic or the retiree may need to elect spouse coverage. Either way, retirees MUST ACT by June 25, 2014 to participate in the SBP Open Enrollment Window.

The DFAS announcement encourages Military Retirees with same-sex spouses to visit http://go.usa.gov/Ww6x<http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fgo.usa.gov%2FWw6x&h=IAQE1kxwf &s=1> as soon as possible for more information to learn what steps are to be taken by June 25, 2014 to secure or decline the SBP benefit for their spouse. (NOTE: The above link takes you to the DFAS website that discusses the general topic of SBP and making the election. (See: http://www.dfas.mil/retiredmilitary/provide/sbp.html<http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.dfas.mil%2Fretiredmilitar y%2Fprovide%2Fsbp.html&h=-AQE0Ou-E&s=1> ) There are other links to websites with information about who is eligible, costs, and the procedures.)

Although it is not discussed in the DFAS announcement, same-sex ?former spouses? would also be eligible for court awarded Former Spouse SBP coverage in the event of a divorce or dissolution of a same-sex marriage

[Jet]

MEDAL OF HONOR AND ANGELINA JOLIE; VETS AWARDS ARE LONG OVER-DUE

WASHINGTON -- Seeking to correct a historic injustice, President Obama will award the nation's highest combat honor to two dozen veterans -- mostly Latino and Jewish -- who fought as far back as World War II but were denied the coveted Medal of Honor because of discrimination. Only three of the recipients are still alive. After reviewing about 600 records from Dec. 1941 to Dec. 2001, the Pentagon discovered 19 Latino and Jewish service members who deserved the Medal of Honor. The review also found five additional service members who had been overlooked for the honor. During a ceremony on March 18, the president will award the 24 medals to Army veterans of major combat missions in World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Twenty-one medals will be given posthumously.

More from the LA Times:

http://www.latimes.com/nation/politi...#axzz2uZJMCc2l

Angelina Jolie will direct "Unbroken"

Angelina Jolie will direct her upcoming coming film, Unbroken, the true story of WWII vet on Louie Zamperini, now 97. Jolie and Zamperini visit with Tom Brokaw:



All news services are carrying this story including USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/p...thing/5802253/

I salute all vets.

[Jet]

Click and be grateful.

http://www.history.com/interactives/thank-a-vet

[theoddz]

Remembering those who didn't come home today.

....and thanking them, and everyone else, who served.



Semper Fi....always.

~Theo~

[*Anya*]

It has been reported that 22 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans commit suicide each day

(CNN) -- Every day, 22 veterans take their own lives. That's a suicide every 65 minutes. As shocking as the number is, it may actually be higher.

The figure, released by the Department of Veterans Affairs in February, is based on the agency's own data and numbers reported by 21 states from 1999 through 2011. Those states represent about 40% of the U.S. population. The other states, including the two largest (California and Texas) and the fifth-largest (Illinois), did not make data available.

The Defense Department reported that 295 active duty soldiers, airmen, Marines and sailors committed suicide in 2010. Overall, the Department of Defense tracked 863 suicide attempts that year. Suspected and confirmed Army and Marine Corps suicides totaled 311 in 2011. Since the different services have different criteria for tracking suicide and do not all release data regularly, it is difficult to get a clear picture of the suicide epidemic in the military.

What is most troubling is our limited understanding of veteran suicide. The VA does not regularly release data on the number of veterans that commit suicide and there is almost no information about veteran suicide among the 47 percent of veterans of Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom who never interact with the VA. Thirty-seven percent of IAVA members who were surveyed in January of 2012 knew a fellow veteran who committed suicide. It is fundamental that the government find a way to track all veteran suicides in order to properly address the issue. Recently the VA has announced that it will work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to track veteran suicide in 48 states. However, it will take at least 2 years to aggregate that data.

Another critical step to understanding how we can stop veteran and service member suicide is to understand that suicide itself is not the whole issue. Suicide is the tragic conclusion of the failure to address the spectrum of challenges confronting returning veterans. And, they are not just mental health injuries; they include the challenges in finding employment, reintegrating to family and community life and many others. Fighting suicide is not just about preventing the act of suicide; it is providing a soft and productive landing for our veterans when they return home.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/21/us/22-...day/index.html

Two-thirds of IAVA members told us in a recent survey that they do not think troops and veterans are getting the mental health care they need. This claim is backed up by a recent VA IG report that exposed that, despite the VA’s claims of low wait times, only 49% of vets seeking mental health evaluation are seen w/in 14 days of a request. The other 51% are waiting an average 50 days for evaluation. This is unacceptable and IAVA is working to hold the VA accountable by mapping out where the VA is providing timely care and where they are leaving veterans behind.

Part of the problem is the serious shortage of military mental health professionals. For example, the Army Surgeon General recommends that there should be at least one behavioral health specialist deployed overseas for every 700 service members. The ratio in Operation Enduring Freedom was one provider for every 646 service members in 2009. Yet because service members were dispersed over a large geographical area, it is unclear whether each service member had access to the necessary support. Effective treatment is also scarce for veterans who have left the military. The VA has given mental health diagnoses to more than 385,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, or more than 52 percent of new veterans who visit the VA. But VA care is not always convenient and just over half of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who are eligible for its care are registered with the VA. Some veterans face significant hurdles in accessing proper care. Veterans in rural communities are especially hard hit and the availability and quality of mental health care for female veterans ranges widely. Many veterans are turning to community-based solutions, such as nonprofit and private sector care to address their needs. As care for these invisible injuries is developed, it must include a clear role for private and nonprofit leaders that are often the front lines of care.

Invisible injuries also can contribute to issues relating to mental health. When service members are near an exploding mortar or roadside bomb, the blast can damage their brains, often leaving an invisible injury, such as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). The vast majority of these invisible injuries are mild or moderate, but the injury is widespread: RAND’s 2008 study, found that 19 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans reported a probable TBI during deployment. And tens of thousands are coping with psychological and neurological problems other than TBI.

http://iava.org/issues-and-campaigns...-mental-health

An analysis last year by the Center for Investigative Reporting found that since 2001, the number of major narcotic painkillers prescribed to veterans has increased 270 percent, a rate that dwarfs the concurrent rise in the number of patients. As part of our investigation, VICE spoke with whistleblower Pamela Gray (an MD), who testified before Congress about the dangerous levels of narcotics she witnessed being prescribed while working as a doctor in a VA hospital.

Instead of helping, the VA is actually creating addicts, she tells us. “Narcotics are very cheap. You can see high volumes of patients in a short amount of time at relatively no cost."

For veterans suffering from mental health issues like PTSD and anxiety, narcotics such as OxyContin and Vicodin actually increase the risk of depression and suicide. A major study of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans found that the VA contributes directly to these problems by prescribing such high levels of opiates.

As Gray says, “I do not understand how any medical institution in good conscience can perpetuate a therapy that is harmful to the people that they are supposed to serve."

https://news.vice.com/article/im-pts...icide-or-death

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22396516