A competition funded by the U.S. military showed off the newest robotic technology designed by the world's top engineers and researchers, CNN reported.
Held in Miami, competition featured 13 teams hailing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Hong Kong University, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and Colorado's Team Mojavaton, among others – competing for a $2 million prize from the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Each team was given the chance to demonstrate its robotic creations on test tracks for the DARPA judges. Although a military competition, the robots were not only judged on how they perform in combat, but on simple day-to-day activities, such as opening doors, turning valves, climbing ladders and keeping balance on unsteady ground.
According to the news source, many of the robotics engineers believe that using robots will not only be the way of the future for the military, but also for other industries, such as health care and domestic services.
"This robotics challenge will change the way people perceive humanoid robots," Dennis Hong, a mechanical engineering professor at Virginia Tech, told the news outlet. "I envision them doing dishes, talking out the trash, doing the laundry. The future is quite near, but we've got a long way to go."
The winner for the annual DARPA competition was a two-legged, 209-pound robot built by the Japanese company SCHAFT Inc., Discovery.com reported.
Despite reducing the disability claims backlog by 36 percent, the Department of Veterans Affairs still has thousands of pending claims. Many of them affect veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, who are unable to receive the treatment they need as a result, The Los Angeles Times reported.
In a recent report, the news source interviewed many veterans with PTSD who experienced long waits when applying for health care benefits through the VA. Ari Sonnenberg, an Iraq veteran, told the news outlet that the process of receiving the military benefits was another burden in his life after service.
"You'd call up and you'd ask, 'What's the status?' Nobody knew," Sonnenberg said. "Then you'd make an official inquiry, and they would say, 'OK, here's the number.' And then when you call up a week later, there's no record of that inquiry. … I was losing my mind at one point."
It took Sonnenberg a year before he received his 80 percent disability rating, according to the news source. Many other veterans like Sonnenberg also had to wait at least a year for their ratings. However, by that time, the veterans told the news source that their symptoms had grown worse.
The VA has continued to cut its disability claims backlog through new initiatives and increased employee productivity, with the ultimate goal of eliminating the backlog by 2015, the federal agency said in a statement.
Defense officials announced this week that active-duty troops can expect a 5 percent increase in their basic allowance for housing rates in 2014. The raise marks the biggest housing allowance increase since 2008, according to Military Times.
The increase will add about $80 on average to a servicemember's housing paycheck. While the basic allowance for housing rates vary from region to region, the Department of Defense blog stated that servicemembers will not see a decrease in their basic allowance for housing even if the rates in their region lowered. All servicemembers, especially those who are in a long-term lease or contract, are covered by rate protection.
Although active-duty servicemembers will receive a higher housing allowance in 2014, the housing entitlement, as well as other military benefits, might be cut by the Defense Department and Congress for the 2015 fiscal year. However, no decisions on the cuts to basic allowance for housing have been made.
"Any changes to BAH proposed in the upcoming budget submission would not affect BAH rates this year for service members," Lt. Cmdr Nate Christensen, a Pentagon spokesman, told the news source. "No final decisions have been made regarding BAH rates for 2015 and beyond."
Wreaths were placed on thousands of graves last weekend to remember the lives of former servicemembers.
Since 1992, the tribute Wreaths Across America has brought military families, veterans and individuals to cemeteries in all 50 states, as well as 24 locations overseas, to honor the service of late veterans. According to the organization's website, the remembrance began with Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va., and expanded to more than 300 locations over the years. In 2008, Congress officially made Dec. 13 "Wreaths Across America Day," solidifying the tradition.
"If we don't honor those that have served and those who have fallen, then we will not carry the legacy on and teach our children what a great nation we live in," Tennessee wreath coordinator Bernice Koprince, whose son died while serving in Iraq, told local news outlet WBIR.
According to the news source, about 2,000 wreaths were placed on the graves of Knox County veterans this year. Meanwhile, The Washington Post reported that more than 100,000 headstones at Arlington National Cemetery were adorned with the wreaths over the weekend. A parade featuring military officials also took place at the expansive cemetery prior to the event.
Lawmakers in Congress introduced a bill this week that will cut $6 billion from the federal budget. Called the Bipartisan Budget Act, the proposed legislation will prevent another government shutdown from happening in 2014. However, it might impact the military benefits of many retirees.
According to Military Times, the budget compromise will reduce the annual cost-of-living adjustments for military retirees under the age of 62 over a three-year period. The COLA will decrease 0.25 percent in December 2014 and 0.5 percent in December 2015, while the full reduction will be enacted in December 2016. Former servicemembers who are on disability will not be affected by the reduction.
While the bill still needs to be voted on in the House, the news source stated that Senate leaders might oppose the bill if it reaches their chamber. Senate leaders have already struck down legislation that would harm both active-duty and retired servicemembers, including increases of TRICARE fees and cuts to tuition assistance.
Although the proposed bill presents new challenges to military retirees and veterans with disabilities, their families and survivors will be receiving a 1.5 percent COLA increase beginning Jan. 1, Military.com reported. The announcement was made last week by Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki.
Although it will be the lowest basic pay raise in 40 years, Military Times reported that servicemembers can expect a 1 percent salary increase in 2014. Effective Jan. 1, the raise is a slight drop from the 2011 salary bump of 1.4 percent, which until now was the smallest raise.
According to the news source, President Obama will use his executive power to cap the basic pay raise at 1 percent, even though the current law sets the rate at 1.8 percent. The House approved a 1.8 percent salary bump for servicemembers last June, but the Senate Armed Services Committee agreed with Obama's 1 percent increase.
Military pay raise has been a hotly contested issue, as Congress leaders struggled this year to reduce the defense spending budget by nearly $500 million by 2020, The New York Times stated. As lawmakers worked to resolve the sequester before the automatic budget cuts begin in 2014, many members of the military community feared that basic pay would be on the chopping block. Stars and Stripes previously reported that a cap on basic pay would be likely, especially because compensation for enlisted members currently exceeds the wages of 90 percent of civilian defense employees.
Members of the Senate and House Armed Services Committees announced this week that they reached a deal on the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual bill that outlines military spending for the 2014 fiscal year. According to ABC News, the bill grants the Department of Defense $552 billion for national defense spending and an additional $81 billion for overseas operations.
Legislators were pressured to resolve the bill before leaving for winter recess, the news source reported. For the bill to pass before the end of the year, the House needs to vote on the bill later this week and the Senate would have to open the floor for a vote next week.
"I wish we had time for a more full debate on this. But we're here at this point saying we are where we are and we ran out of time," Rep. Buck McKeon, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, told the news outlet. "We owe the men and women in uniform and our national security to finish up this bill."
According to The Huffington Post, the NDAA compromise would allow the executive branch to close Guantanamo Bay and transfer detainees to prisons in the U.S.
Despite a state ban on recognizing same-sex marriage, the Louisiana National Guard will begin processing applications for military benefits for its servicemembers who are in same-sex relationships.
According to The Washington Post, officials from the Louisiana National Guard devised a plan with the Department of Defense last week that allows servicemembers to receive their eligible benefits without conflicting with the state's laws. National Guard members who want to apply for the entitlements, which include military identification cards for their spouses and survivor benefits, will be temporarily placed on a federal status by the National Guard Bureau. Federal employees will then undertake the enrollment of the benefits. However, servicemembers will be able to apply for the benefits at Louisiana National Guard offices instead of federal installations.
"State officials will still follow the state constitution as we always have. We have worked with the Department of Defense and the National Guard Bureau to help them come up with a federal solution to their federal program," National Guard spokesman Lt. Col. Mike Kazmierzak told The Associated Press.
The state's change of policy for military spousal benefits comes just a few weeks after the Texas Military Forces created a similar measure for its National Guard members. According to The Washington Post, Georgia and Mississippi are the only states that are still resisting the directive from the Pentagon, which stated that all servicemembers in same-sex marriages must be able to apply and receive these spousal rewards.
In an Op-Ed for The Tampa Tribune, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) addressed the current issues facing both Congress and the military.
When the Senate reconvenes next week, it will again take up the National Defense Authorization Act, proposed legislation that outlines the fiscal budgets and priorities for all defense activities. While the bill is a major piece of legislation, Rubio stated that the Senate's current "dysfunction" means that many military benefits for servicemembers and veterans might fall through the cracks, including the legislation he drafted with Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass). The proposal calls for stronger protection for elderly veterans who fall victim to financial scams, and mandates that the VA work with federal agencies to cut down on the scam artists targeting veterans.
However, despite bipartisan effort on many measures, Rubio states that leadership in the Senate is still divided, which will eventually affect the military.
"Our nation deserves better than this and, without question, the men and women of our military deserve more," Rubio wrote. "As we continue to deploy troops overseas to fight terrorism, respond to disasters and defend our interests, we have a duty to take care of them and their families and ensure that they can live safe and dignified post-military lives."
Could the Internet be harming the up-and-coming crop of military recruits? Gen. Martin Dempsey seems to think so. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff stated at a conference this week that the widespread use of social media has made current teens ignorant to the potential damage they could do to their character, The Associated Press reported.
"I worry a bit about … the young men and women who are now in their teens, early teens, and who probably underestimate the impact of their persona in social media and what impact that could have later in life on things like security clearances and promotions," Dempsey said, as quoted by the news source.
Dempsey added that the military might give young recruits a second chance if their actions on social media accounts disqualify them from military service. However, he did admit that the ways teens are posting on social media are affecting the military's recruiting pool.
According to a 2013 report from the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, 95 percent of teens between the ages of 12 and 17 use the Internet. Of those teens who regularly go online, 8 in 10 have social media accounts. Facebook is the social media platform of choice for teens, but Twitter use is also on the rise.