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.
Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel is hitting the road this week to visit active-duty troops, wounded warriors and defense workers at various military installations and facilities in Texas, New Mexico and Wyoming.
Hagel's first stop is Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio where he will speak to wounded soldiers and the hospital staff, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said in a statement. After San Antonio, Hagel will be heading west to Albuquerque, N.M., for a tour at Sandia National Laboratories and Kirtland Air Force Base, which is home to the Air Force Materiel Command's Nuclear Weapons Center. Hagel will not only meet with servicemembers at the Air Force base, but will also receive security and safety briefings.
The last stop of Hagel's tour is F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne, Wyo., which houses intercontinental ballistic missile training and operation facilities. There, his speech to the active-duty troops will be broadcast live on the Pentagon Channel.
Hagel returned recently from a trip to the Middle East, where he made a surprise visit to Afghanistan to meet with active-duty troops stationed in Kabul, Bloomberg News reported. He told reporters that his two-day visit there "was planned for the sole purpose of working with our troops, thanking our troops."
Following the devastation caused by a massive typhoon that hit the Philippines last weekend, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has commissioned a Naval aircraft carrier to provide disaster relief to the country and its residents.
The Christian Science Monitor reported that the USS George Washington, which carries a crew of 5,000 sailors, is making its way to the Philippines this week, where the Naval members will join about 90 Marines who already landed there last weekend.
According to a statement released by the Pentagon, the aircraft carrier is currently at a port in Hong Kong and will take up to 72 hours to arrive at the South Pacific nation. In addition to the large number of crew members, the USS George Washington also carriers more than 80 planes, including Carrier Air Wing Five, an aircraft unit specially designed for disaster relief scenarios.
Pentagon Press Secretary George Little told members of the press that several other aircraft carriers are already on their way to the Philippines. Supply ship USNS Charles Drew is currently traveling to the location, as well as the missile destroyer USS Lassen.
Little added that the purpose of these ships' deployment to the weather-battered nation is to provide medical care, supplies and other assistance.
Although the government shutdown is expected to have a larger effect on domestic U.S. military installations, many overseas servicemembers might feel the strain of the federal closure on some of their military benefits.
Administrative services at overseas bases will be reduced due to civilian furloughs, while the Armed Forces Network will be scaled back to only one news channel, Stars and Stripes reported. However, overseas commissaries and exchanges will remain open, despite being closed stateside.
According to the news source, military personnel will step in for furloughed civilian staff to help facilitate AFN's broadcasts.
The U.S. Air Force in Europe and Africa is expected to lose 1,400 of its 1,726 civilian workforce, the news outlet reported, while the Navy is bracing for the furlough of 60 percent of its 200,000 civilian staff.
Health care services for active-duty troops in Europe might also be reduced if the government shutdown lasts longer than a week, according to a statement released by the U.S. Army's Europe Regional Medical Command. The ERMC is suspending 38 percent of its civilian staff, and another 25 percent at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany – the largest military hospital outside the U.S.
"The absence of such a large portion of our Army Civilians could have an impact on access to care and the level of non-critical services we are able to provide," a spokesperson for the ERMC said in a statement.
The White House released a video Sept. 30 of President Obama addressing the military just hours before the government shutdown occurred. It is the first federal government shutdown in 17 years.
In the video, Obama thanks active-duty troops and defense department employees for their service before outlining the terms of the shutdown and how it is going to affect both civilians and uniformed servicemembers.
According to Obama's recorded statement, those in uniform will remain on normal duty status.
"The threats to our national security have not changed, and we need you to be ready for any contingency," Obama said in the video. "Ongoing military operations – like our efforts in Afghanistan – will continue."
Obama added that servicemembers in danger or combat zones will have the proper tools to fulfill their missions.
However, civilian employees of the Department of Defense face many uncertainties, including the possibility of being furloughed until the government shutdown is resolved. The president expressed his concern for the civilian employees and their families, stating that they deserve better than how Congress has treated them during the sequester and consequential shutdown.
"Your talents and dedication help keep our military the best in the world," Obama said of civilian defense employees.
Prior to recording the video message, Obama signed a measure into law that will maintain the issuance of paychecks and allowances for active-duty troops, according to the White House's official website.
As servicemembers were beginning to worry about their lack of pay during the first federal government shutdown in 17 years, Congress stepped in and passed a last-minute bill Sep. 30 that benefits those in uniform and their families, Government Executive reported. President Obama signed the measure just hours before the government officially closed.
The law allows active-duty troops and reserve members to receive on-time paychecks and allowances during the shutdown. According to the news source, the law affects about 1.4 million servicemembers.
Civilian employees and contractors of the defense and homeland security departments who are providing support to servicemembers will also receive their paychecks on time at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense. The Department of Defense expects 50 percent of its civilian employees to be furloughed, while the Department of Homeland Security estimates about 15 percent of its civilian staff will be suspended, the news source reported.
Sen. Ted Cruz, who tried to block the Senate from voting on the initial spending bill in a 21-hour-long speech last week, praised Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid for passing the bill.
"The men and women who risk their lives defending this nation should not have their paychecks delayed," Cruz said on the Senate floor.
As the government shutdown looms closer, the defense department is preparing for the worst.
Although servicemembers are exempt from government furloughs, military members will be working for free if Congress fails to pass its budget for the 2014 fiscal year, according to Business Insider. In the case of a government shutdown, servicemembers will have to wait for retroactive pay once the shutdown comes to a close.
However, some military banks will reportedly pay the troops through other means. The news source reports that the Navy Federal Credit Union will provide servicemembers with their scheduled Oct. 15 paycheck as long as the money is deposited directly into their accounts. According to the bank's website, this option is available to all active-duty members of the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard. Members must sign-up for the direct deposit prior to Oct. 9.
The Navy Federal Credit Union is not the only military bank providing assistance to at-risk servicemembers. The USAA is extending several benefits to active-duty troops, including a zero-interest payroll advance, while also remaining flexible with credit card and insurance fee payments, the news source reports.
Veteran benefits will not be affected by the possible government shutdown.
As use of robots on the battlefield increases, a strange connection is being forged between these machines and the active-duty troops they serve. Slate recently reported that servicemembers are becoming attached to the mechanical beings – and it might have detrimental effects.
Military bots
Nearly all military organizations utilize robots on the frontline to meet various needs, including inspecting, detecting and defusing explosives. As a result, the robots work closely with Explosive Ordnance Disposal squads. According to Army of Robots, the Daksh robot is one of the most used machines among military organizations. Controlled through a remote, the small robot locates and handles active explosives, ultimately defusing them. It also features an X-ray scanning device that has come in handy for identifying strange material.
The MARCbot was also heavily featured during the Iraq war. Small and low-cost, the robot, which resembles a toy truck, is primarily used to inspect suspicious or risky objects.
An emotional attachment
Because the servicemembers spend so much time with the robots, they have come to know them in an almost-intimate way, said Julie Carpenter, a writer and researcher from the University of Washington. Carpenter interviewed 23 soldiers who regularly worked with the machines for a recent book on human and robot relations, Slate reports.
According to the news source, Carpenter found that the servicemembers began identifying with their mechanical colleagues, giving them names – that they sometimes painted onto the robots – and personalities. In an interview with the University of Washington, Carpenter added that the servicemembers felt powerful emotions when their fellow mechanical mates were destroyed. Many soldiers even held funerals for their robots.
"Some operators reported they saw their robots as an extension of themselves," Carpenter told the university, adding that the soldiers would become frustrated or angry when a robot was experiencing technical issues.
Dangers of friendship
After uncovering the soldiers' intense feelings toward the robots, Carpenter started worrying about the effects it would have on their combat performance. Although the soldiers insisted to Carpenter that they were able to fully function despite their emotional attachment, the researcher believes there might be dangers on the battlefield.
"They were very clear it was a tool, but at the same time, patterns in their responses indicated they sometimes interacted with the robots in ways similar to a human or pet," Carpenter said.
To ensure that the use of military robots doesn't compromise the performance of active-duty troops, Carpenter suggests the U.S. military takes a closer look at human-robot relations when further developing robot technology, especially since new designs have added human and animal-like features to the tiny machinery.
The tuition assistance program is among the most popular benefits available to active duty servicemembers, but as the beginning of the next fiscal year inches closer, the military community is largely in the dark about what potential changes the program could see in the coming months. An estimated 380,000 troops make use of tuition assistance, and many of them are seeking answers, Military Times reports.
Earlier this year, tuition assistance was temporarily suspended as the Department of Defense grappled with spending cuts triggered by sequestration. Eventually, the program was re-instated at least until the beginning of the next fiscal year, which starts Oct. 1. Over the summer, branches have been working with the DOD, but so far the Air Force is the only one with a plan. The Air Force's new rules re-instate transition assistance for 2014 but require airmen to get permission from their supervisors to take classes.
"DOD leadership is committed to preserving a tuition assistance program that assists service members in achieving their education goals while maintaining mission readiness during this fiscally challenging time," Pentagon spokesperson Nate Christensen said.
Tuition assistance isn't the only academic program undergoing changes, as the Post-9/11 GI Bill has also seen some tweaks in recent months. Most notably, servicemembers who want to transfer their benefits to a dependent have to serve an additional four years.
For months, President Barack Obama has been pushing for a 1 percent pay raise for troops rather than the 1.8 percent they would receive under the government's formula. Earlier this week, he told Congress he was exercising his position as the government's pay agent in order to do just that, Military Times reports.
The announcement comes after Congress has failed to come to an agreement on the pay raise, and with the Department of Defense looking to cut costs as sequestration continues to have an impact, reducing the pay raises seemed like the smart move. Obama made the announcement in a letter sent to Congress and said that while this is committed to supporting the troops, economic conditions have forced him to take drastic steps.
"As our country continues to recover from serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare, however, we must maintain efforts to keep our Nation on a sustainable fiscal course," he wrote. "This effort requires tough choices, especially in light of budget constraints faced by Federal agencies."
Obama's plan would go into action Jan. 1, but it can be changed if Congress takes appropriate action. Specifically, lawmakers need to find $580 million for 2014 to make up for the savings garnered from the pay raise reduction.