The Department of Defense has discontinued the use of the advanced brain imaging machines sent to Afghanistan in 2011 for treating servicemembers in combat zones. Military Times reported that the MRI machines were recalled from the front lines in February 2013, and recently dismantled.
The MRI machines were sent to combat zones to provide doctors with the ability to respond more quickly to the traumatic brain injuries that affect troops due to roadside bombs and other blasts, the news source noted. However, a senior medical officer for the U.S. Central Command said it was unclear whether the machines were helping doctors treat these injuries in combat.
"The device itself doesn't necessarily help you treat that patient, it just helps you understand the nature of the injury in a little bit more meaningful way," Air Force Col. Mark Mavity, a Central Command surgeon, told the news outlet. "[It] was deemed not worth the cost and investment to keep those devices in theater."
Nearly 290,000 servicemembers have sustained a traumatic brain injury in either training or combat since 2000, according to the Defense Department. Mild brain injuries are the most common for military personnel.
A veterans group in Illinois is currently working to provide shelter and other services to homeless and at-risk veterans.
According to the Northwest Herald, the McHenry County Veterans Stand Down is joining forces with other organizations, including the Veterans Assistance Commission and the McHenry County Housing Authority, to provide housing assistance to county veterans currently living without permanent shelter. About 23 percent of the area's homeless population were veterans in 2013, compared to 46 percent in 2012. However, the news source reported that the sharp decrease could have been due to an area housing program that did not respond to the survey.
Stand Down recently held an event with the goal of attracting homeless and at-risk veterans to its available resources. According to the news outlet, Stand Down and the other participating organizations were pleased with the large turnout and hoped it was a sign that veterans will begin using more assistance.
"A lot of these organizations, people might not necessarily know about," Robin Doeden, executive director of the McHenry County Community Foundation, told the news source.
Veterans homelessness has become a top priority for both local and federal government agencies. A recent report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development found that there were more than 57,000 veterans living without permanent shelter in the U.S. in January 2013.
At a recent White House Council on Girls and Women event, President Barack Obama addressed the growing concern over the high rate of sexual assault in the military and reaffirmed his administration's commitment to tackling the issue.
"When a member of our military is assaulted by the very people he or she trusted and serves with, or when they leave the military, voluntarily or involuntarily, because they were raped, that's a profound injustice that no one who volunteers to defend America should ever have to endure," Obama said.
The president added that the he and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel are currently working toward strengthening the military's prevention and response to sexual abuse crimes.
Obama's recent statements build upon the continuing work of the Department of Defense, which began in August 2013 when Hagel introduced seven new anti-sexual assault initiatives. According to the DOD, these directives called for the increase of legal services for sexual assault victims and more follow-up reports on sexual abuse cases. Hagel provided an update on the military's progress last December, stating that these measures have already begun strengthening victim advocacy and safety, as well as DOD oversight and investigations.
A software glitch on a Department of Veterans Affairs website resulted in a data breach last week, revealing the personal information of thousands of veterans.
According to The Washington Post, the glitch occurred on eBenefits, a joint VA and Department of Defense Web portal. The site lets veterans and their dependents access private information, such as medical and bank records along with educational benefits. Because of the recent glitch, visitors to the site were able to view this information once they logged into the system.
VA officials told the news source that an estimated 5,300 users were affected by the security breach.
Reports of the software glitch first surfaced Jan. 15, according to The American Legion blog. The website was taken down for a few days before returning last Sunday.
"[The] VA took immediate action upon discovering the software defect and shut the e-Benefits system down in order to limit any problems," the VA said. "We offer our sincere apologies to any servicemember, veteran or family member impacted by the software defect and the downtime."
The department's Data Breach Core Team is currently investigating the incident. Once the DBCT determines the approximate number of users the breach affected, the VA may provide credit monitoring services to the victims.
As budget cuts due to the sequester begin to pile up, the Army is feeling more pressure to decrease its number of soldiers in combat roles. One way the Army may shrink its ranks is by adding more unmanned devices.
According to Military Times, Gen. Robert Cone, the head of the Army's Training and Doctrine Command, revealed at a recent symposium in Arlington, Va., that the branch is considering decreasing its brigade combat team from about 4,000 soldiers to 3,000 and replacing the soldiers with robots and unmanned ground vehicles.
"I've got clear guidance to think about what if you could robotically perform some of the tasks in terms of maneuverability, in terms of the future of the force," Cone said, as quoted by the news source.
Using robotic technology is not a new development for the military. While no unmanned vehicles or robots were used when the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, the military currently has more than 7,000 unmanned platforms in its inventory, according to Popular Mechanics. These products range from aerial systems to ground devices that can diffuse bombs and inspect other suspicious items.
The Army may be helped by unmanned technology over the coming years, as the branch is forced to reduce its size. USA Today recently reported that the latest defense budget plan will reduce the Army to 420,000 troops by 2019.
The Department of Defense's central repository for visual images will undertake a massive archival preservation project in 2014, the agency announced in a recent statement. The Defense Imagery Management Operations Center recently received $5 million to preserve hundreds of thousands of historical images, with the ultimate goal of enhancing its digital archive.
The DIMOC archives military images for not only the Defense Department, but also for other federal agencies and the public. The images are often found in obscure places, such as closed bases or deserted warehouses. Once the physical images are digitized, they can be viewed online. The photos available for viewing were taken by members acting on the behalf of the DOD, according to Defense Imagery website.
However, it's not only photographic prints that the archival center is working to preserve, but also negatives, film slides and videotapes.
"That material is deteriorating faster than we can offer it to the National Archives and we need to get it into a digital form," said DIMOC director Mike Edrington.
According to the DOD, one reason why the DIMOC is taking on this massive archival process is because its climate-controlled storage space at the March Air Base in Riverside, Calif., is quickly filling up.
The recent cuts to the cost-of-living adjustments may affect more than just military retirees under the age of 62.
According to The Associated Press, the 1 percent reduction to the annual COLA increases for working-age military retirees extends to survivors who receive annuity payments under the Survivor Benefit Plan. The insurance plan provides surviving spouses with a monthly payment to make up for the loss of retirement benefits and income. Sen. Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) said in a statement that survivors can receive up to 55 percent of the retiree's amount of coverage.
"Those who have kept us safe and taken bullets for us shouldn't be singled out to sacrifice even more," Ayotte said. "I am continuing my efforts to immediately right this wrong and to ensure our military retirees, survivors and combat-wounded receive the full benefits they've earned."
The COLA reductions were one of the most controversial measures in the National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed by President Barack Obama in late December. The Washington Post reported that a new Veteran Affairs bill featuring a provision that would reverse the pension cuts was recently introduced in the Senate by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
The Georgia branch of the gift-giving holiday program Toys for Tots received a record number of toy donations in 2013. According to an announcement from the Department of Defense, the program at the Marine Corps Logistics Base in Albany, Ga., set out to collect 15,000 toys throughout the 2013 Christmas season. When program wrapped up this month, it received 17,000 toys – far exceeding the members' expectations.
"Thanks to the outpouring of support from the local community and surrounding counties, we had enough toys to give three to five per child," Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Johnny R. Ruby, an assistant coordinator for Toys for Tots, said in a statement.
The program at the Georgia base helped approximately 3,000 children, according to Toys for Tots coordinator Marine Corps Gunnery Sgt. Ernest Thompson. About 2,000 toys were also donated to a local Salvation Army, where they were given to more than 500 families.
In addition to toys, Thompson said that the Georgia branch of the organization received $3,000 in funds.
Toys for Tots began as an official Marine Corps program when it was approved by the Department of Defense in 1995. Since its inception, Toys for Tots has provided toys for more than 216 million children, according to the organization's website.
The Senate will be bringing military pensions back to the drawing board later this month in an effort to undo the recent cuts to the cost-of-living adjustments for working-age military retirees.
According to USA Today, a hearing slated for Jan. 28 will discuss military pensions and the recent changes made to the military retirement system. The hearing comes shortly after the passage of the National Defense Authorization Act, which was approved by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama in late December. The bill authorized 1 percent cuts to the COLA payments of former servicemembers under the age of 62. However, these reductions will not begin until December 2015. A higher rate will apply once the retirees reach age 62.
While the Department of Defense approved the 1 percent cut to COLA, many veterans organizations and lawmakers opposed the reductions. According to The Washington Post, an omnibus Veteran Affairs bill that was introduced in the Senate last week includes a provision that will repeal the COLA reductions. Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) introduced the bill, stating that it "delivers on the promises that we have made to our service members," the news source reported.
A veterans cemetery in southeastern Louisiana is entering its final stages of construction, according to The Associated Press.
The Southeast Louisiana Veterans Cemetery, which is slated to open in April, cost $8 million to construct, the news source reported. Once completed, the cemetery will span 75 acres adjacent to the Louisiana National Guard's Camp Villere, which donated the property for the cemetery.
"When we get the landscaping in here, it's really going to set this thing off," project superintendent Greg Gibson told the news outlet "It's going to look really nice."
Robin Keller, communications director for the state Department of Veterans Affairs, added that the burial grounds will have an information kiosk where visitors can find the location of a grave. Those who are eligible to be buried in the cemetery are qualifying veterans, their spouses and their dependents.
The Department of Veteran Affairs provided the state with the funding for the cemetery. According to the VA website, there are more than 130 national veterans cemeteries in 39 states, as well as 33 monument sites and soldier's lots. Louisiana currently has four veterans cemeteries, but only one – the Louisiana National Cemetery – is open to new interments.