Eight military couples win same-sex benefits retroactive to 2011
A federal judge in Massachusetts has ruled that eight same-sex military couples are eligible to apply for retroactive benefits back to the dates in 2011 when they tried to register their spouses in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System.
Army explores predicting suicides as a way to prevent them
Even as thousands of U.S. troops were dying in Iraq and Afghanistan during the 12 years of war following 9/11, about 3,000 perished by their own hand, nearly the same as the number of people lost on the day of those terrorist attacks.
Indeed, suicide is a perennial stain on the military that’s growing worse each year, a trajectory baffling to military leaders and devastating to the thousands of shattered families left behind.
Female combat vets report more assaults
The study found that 2.1 percent of the military women surveyed reported in an anonymous survey that they experienced some form of sexual assault during the prior three-year period. Yet that rate was almost twice as high, 4 percent, among women who said they had deployed and experienced combat, the study found.
Read more: http://www.armytimes.com/article/20131006/NEWS05/310060009/Female-combat-vets-report-more-assaults
Vets, widows say VA passes out pain meds too readily
The Iraq war veteran, who first hurt his back during search and recovery operations at the Pentagon on 9/11, became addicted to the powerful painkillers, living life in a fog and counting the minutes until his next dose, he said. “I was taking enough pills daily to treat four terminally ill cancer patients,” Minyard testified before Congress on Thursday.
Fort Hood trial cost government about $5 million
FORT WORTH, TEXAS — The U.S. government spent nearly $5 million to court-martial and convict an Army psychiatrist in the 2009 Fort Hood shooting rampage, according to records reviewed by a North Texas television station.
The biggest pre-trial expense in Maj. Nidal Hasan’s trial was more than $1 million for transportation for witnesses, jurors and attorneys, according to Army records obtained by KXAS-TV of Fort Worth and Dallas. About $90,000 was spent to house the witnesses.
VA to furlough 7,000 employees, close regional offices
Veterans regional offices will be closed and nobody will answer their phones beginning Tuesday morning as the government shutdown forces furloughs of 7,000 employees of the Veterans Benefits Administration.
“All public access to VBA regional offices and facilities will be suspended,” said Veterans Affairs Department spokeswoman Victoria Dillon.
Shutdown halts death benefits for military families
A growing number of military families are facing temporary denial of the $100,000 death gratuity benefit the Defense Department typically provides after service members are killed while on active duty.
At least 17 troops have died — including six killed in Afghanistan — since the government shutdown began Oct. 1. But their family members have not immediately received the lump sum payments known as a “gratuity benefits.”
For most Guardsmen, shutdown means no pay, no training
Members of the National Guard remain in limbo during the shutdown, with their weekend drills canceled and the funding necessary for training exercises left unapproved.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel’s Monday announcement that the Pay Our Military Act allows many civilian employees of the Defense Department to return to work, and also guarantees payment for the military, does not help most National Guardsmen.
Navy 3-star fired as No. 2 nuclear commander
WASHINGTON — The Navy says a three-star admiral was notified Wednesday that he has been relieved of duty as second-in-command at the military organization that oversees all U.S. nuclear forces. He is under investigation in a gambling matter.
Read more: http://www.armytimes.com/article/20131009/NEWS/310090029/Navy-3-star-fired-No-2-nuclear-commander
Support for Senator Gillibrand’s approach is building. Far from stripping commanders of accountability, as some critics have suggested, removing prosecution decisions in sexual assault and other serious crimes from the chain of command would not undermine discipline or end commanders’ responsibility to set the proper climate.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/09/opinion/broken-military-justice.html?_r=0
MILITARY JUSTICE FOR ALL 