2006 VFW Magazine - Veterans of Foreign Wars

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washingtonwire News from VFW’s Washington Office By Tim Dyhouse WAYNE SCARBERRY / AP WIDE WORLD PHOTO ------------------ LEGISLATION------------------- VA Budget Includes Care for Recent War Wounded Some 109,000 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan are included in the 5.3 million patients VA expects to treat in fiscal year 2007. To that end, the Bush Administration in February proposed a $33.2 billion budget for VA healthcare, an 8% increase in discretionary funding from last year. VFW believes it is a “significant” step in the right direction for the wounded of the nation’s latest wars. “VA provides a great service to America’s veterans, but let’s not forget that we are a nation at war,” VFW Commander-in-Chief Jim Mueller said. “Our servicemen and women must know that their country—their government—is going to care for their minds and bodies if they are wounded or for their families should they die.” Iraq vet Sgt. Kenneth Dixon works with therapist Katrina Alexander at the McGuire VA Medical Center in Richmond, Va., on March 11, 2004. Additional VA funding is being sought to provide care for recent war wounded from Iraq and Afghanistan. Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), chairman of the Senate VA Committee, released a statement Feb. 6 noting that approximately 16,500 troops have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan as of that date and that overall, VA expects to grant disability compensation to more than 266,000 veterans between 2005 and 2007. According to VA’s Web site, returning GIs—including reservists and National Guardsmen—who served on active duty in a theater of combat operations have special eligibility for hospital care, medical services and nursing home care for two years following discharge from active duty. For more information, returning vets can access www.seamlesstransition.va.gov. The total amount proposed by the Administration for VA in 2007 is $80.6 billion, an increase of $8.8 billion, or 12.2%, over last year. In addition to health care, the proposal includes a 14% increase in benefits spending. Co-pays, Enrollment Fee Opposed VFW opposes two proposals in the Administration’s budget: boosting the prescription co-payment for a 30-day supply of medication from $8 to $15, and creating an annual VA enrollment fee of $250. VA estimates the enrollment fee would apply to some 200,000 vets who would remain in the system despite the enrollment fee, and 1 million vets would pay the higher drug fee. The Administration’s proposed budget assumes 235,000 veterans would drop out of VA’s health care system rather than pay the new fees. VA Undersecretary for Health Jonathan Perlin told USA Today that 95% of veterans who would be subjected to the higher fees already have private health insurance or are eligible for Medicare. VA estimates that the two fees would generate about $765 million. This is the fourth year in a row the Bush Administration has proposed the co-payment increase and enrollment fee. Congress has rejected both measures the last three years. ----------------------- SERVICE------------------------ GI Bill Needs 21st Century Upgrades VFW’s goal of improving GI Bill benefits received some help in February from within the halls of Congress. “The Montgomery GI Bill, as good as it is, does not reflect the realities facing today’s service members, especially those in the Guard and Reserve,” said Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), chairman of the House VA Committee.“We must modernize the GI Bill.” VFW members have been calling for a “GI Bill for the 21st Century” for several years, most recently with passage of Res. 625 at last year’s national convention. The resolution calls for a new education benefit to cover the full cost of tuition, fees, books and related expenses along with a stipend to cover housing expenses at the university or college of a veteran’s choice. Buyer says he welcomes ideas for GI Bill improvements, singling out proposals made by the Partnership for Veterans Education, a coalition of veterans groups and higher education associations of which VFW is a member. One of the Partnership’s objectives is to upgrade GI Bill benefits for Guard and Reserve members and equate the benefits with 8 • WWW.VFW.ORG • © 2006 VFW Magazine
VFW VETERANS HELPLINE Call VFW’s Tactical Assessment Center if you have questions, concerns or issues about VA care you are receiving. (800) VFW-1899 the level of military service performed. Benefit rates would be structured as follows: Tier One: Similar to the current Montgomery GI Bill active-duty, three-year rate, would be provided to all who enlist in the active armed forces. Service entrants would receive 36 months of benefits at the active-duty rate. Tier Two: Montgomery GI Bill benefits for direct entry (non-prior service) in the selected reserve for six years. Benefits would be proportional to the active-duty rate. Historically, selected reserve benefits have been 47%-48% of active-duty benefits. Tier Three: Montgomery GI Bill benefits for members of the ready reserve who are activated for at least 90 days. They would receive one month of benefit for each month of activation, up to a total of 36 months, at the active-duty rate. Veterans would have up to 10 years to use the active-duty or activated-service benefit in Tier One and Tier Three from their last date of active/activated duty or reserve service, whichever is later. A selected reservist could use remaining Tier Two benefits while satisfactorily participating in the selected reserve and for up to 10 years following separation from the reserves, if the separation were for disability or qualification for a reserve retirement. According to the Partnership, the next step is for Congress to pass legislation that would combine administration of benefits for both the active-duty and reserve programs under Title 38. Based on Buyer’s support for the plan—as well as that of the House VA Committee’s ranking Democrat Rep. Stephanie Herseth, who said she sees the improvement of the GI Bill “as an area of common ground”—progress is hopeful. The Partnership believes that “if current benefit levels are maintained, a Total Force Montgomery GI Bill is expected to be low-cost.” (See the related article on page 14.) Iraq Vets Suffer Hearing Loss An Army study released in February revealed that soldiers who served in Iraq are nearly 53 times more likely to suffer hearing problems than those who did not. The study examined 806 Iraq vets diagnosed with “post-deployment noiseinduced hearing loss” between April 2003 and March 2004. Here are some findings: • 30% suffered tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and “permanent threshold shift,” which is inner ear damage resulting in lifelong hearing loss. • 16% had hearing losses that would likely affect their performance in combat. • 6% suffered “acoustic trauma” resulting from a single loud noise such as a bomb or rocket blast. • 2% had broken eardrums. VA pays out about $850 million a year in disability compensation to vets suffering from tinnitus. Auditory problems are the third-most common disability. --------------------- SECURITY ---------------------- GIs in Iraq Receiving More Body Armor Efforts to equip troops in Iraq and Afghanistan with better body armor have intensified since last fall. Procurement officials for the Marine Corps told Congress in early February that they expect to have all of their 26,000 troops in Iraq supplied this month. Army officials added that they hope to have 100,000 sets of body armor to troops in the war zone by June. A Pentagon study made public in January concluded that side and back plates added to the standard issue body armor system could have saved up to 80% of the Marines who had died in Iraq from upper torso wounds. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) introduced S. 2230— the Servicemembers Safety Act of 2006—on Jan. 31 that would require the Defense Department to provide a complete set of body armor for all troops in a combat zone. It also would require reimbursement of up to $1,100 for any GI who purchases the armor on his or her own. The new Interceptor Body Armor, which is now the Army standard and similar to the Marine Corps design, includes ceramic plates that protect the sides of troops’ bodies against bullets and shrapnel. The inch-thick plates are made from boron carbide, lighter than aluminum but one of the hardest materials known, and can stop a 9mm pistol shot. Mobility for troops wearing the armor is a concern. The new system weighs from 31 pounds in a medium size up to 38 pounds in the largest size. “Piling on too much armor presents as much risk to the soldier as providing too little,” said Maj. Gen. Stephen Speakes, the Army’s director of force development, in a USA Today article. Casualty reports, he added, don’t “reveal how many soldiers or Marines have been saved because they were able to quickly raise and fire their rifles first” at the enemy. Ceradyne, of Costa Mesa, Calif., is the Army’s largest supplier of ceramic armor and ships it to the Marine Corps as well. It also makes armor that protects helicopter gunships from .50-caliber machine-gun fire and plans to provide armor for a Marine Corps landing craft. “We’re shipping 32,000 to 50,000 plates a month, and they are held to a very high standard,” Ceradyne founder Joel Moskowitz told the San Diego Union-Tribune. Army Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Sorenson, deputy chief for acquisition, says the military will look at all options to further protect its troops. “We will test any legitimate product, and we will see if it meets our standards,” he said. © 2006 VFW Magazine • WWW.VFW.ORG • 9
Page 2 and 3: contents SPECIAL ISSUE All the majo
Page 4 and 5: mailcall Young Vets in the Limeligh
Page 6 and 7: issuesupfront Succeeding in the Civ
Page 10 and 11: ‘Just Don’t Forget Me’ Societ
Page 12 and 13: New generation subjected to ‘Wack
Page 14 and 15: Student Veterans Battle Financial H
Page 16 and 17: Caring for the Wounded in the Long
Page 18 and 19: funded by the Intrepid Fallen Heroe
Page 20 and 21: Society’s Obligation to War Veter
Page 22 and 23: State Benefits for National Guard a
Page 24 and 25: Recognizing and Remembering Today
Page 26 and 27: youngvetsinfocus Inspiring Others:
Page 28 and 29: soundoff Views of VFW readers on to
Page 30 and 31: VFW Magazine’s Coverage of the Wa

2006 VFW Magazine - Veterans of Foreign Wars

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