A top Air Force official warned this week that the steady increase in pay and benefits costs could be harmful to the overall function of the military branch in the future, according to a news release from the Department of Defense.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III said that the Air Force will not be able to complete its duties within the next 10 years because the cost of benefits, salaries and health insurance account for half of the branch's total budget.
"We've all benefited immensely and we thank them for that," Welsh said in the statement. "But it is time to slow it down a little bit until we know we can do our primary job, which is fight and win the nation's wars."
Welsh stated that Congress would need to slow the growth of military pay and benefits so that the DOD can iron out its current financial issues. Experts added that these costs might be unsustainable as early as 2023.
The Pentagon's base budget is currently 26 percent higher than it was a decade ago, The Huffington Post reported. Under the new spending cuts, the Defense Department's spending budget would average around $528 billion per year.
When the federal shutdown hit last October, Catholic chaplains were barred from entering military bases, depriving active-duty troops and their families of Catholic mass and other services. Now, a New Jersey-based priest who filed a lawsuit against the Department of Defense is pressing on to protect chaplains from being furloughed during future federal closures.
The Star Ledger reported that Rev. Ray Leonard, a chaplain assigned to the Kings Bay Naval Submarine Base in Georgia, filed the lawsuit Oct. 14, claiming that the cancelation of religious services violated his freedom of speech. He ultimately won the lawsuit, as the Pentagon lifted the furlough on the chaplains a day later. However, the news outlet stated that Leonard is determined to take the lawsuit further.
"I've lived under a system where somebody else dictated to you when, where, how and what type of religious service you can have — or not have — and I'm not going to come home to my country and call it the land of the free and the home of the brave and allow anyone to tell me, 'You can't have church this weekend,'" Leonard told the news source.
According to the Archdiocese for the Military Services, Catholic chaplains who provide religious services at military installations are employed as federal contractors, which means that their jobs are currently not exempt from furloughs during government shutdowns. The archdiocese added that there is currently a shortage of Catholic priests in the military, with only 234 active-duty priests serving 275,000 servicemembers.
Following a heated debate, the Senate has postponed its vote on proposed legislation to curb sexual assault in the military.
The Military Justice Improvement Act was introduced in Congress as a way to improve the handling of sexual assault, abuse and discrimination in the military community. If passed, the bill would amend title 10 of the United States Code, which leaves the charging of sexual assault crimes up to military commanders under the current Uniform Code of Military Justice. While the bill was debated during the Senate's session last week as part of the discussion on the National Defense Authorization Act, The Huffington Post reported that the Senate went to Thanksgiving recess without voting on the legislation.
The bill was sponsored by Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.). Both Sen. Gillibrand and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee and are looking to reform the way in which sexual assaults on military members are reported, charged and convicted, Mother Jones reported. Currently, military commanders have the final say whether a perpetrator of a sexual assault is charged, while commanding officers can overturn any sexual assault conviction.
More than 50 senators currently support the bill, including Sen. Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Al Franken, The Huffington Post reported. The news source added that the Senate will take up the legislation following the Thanksgiving break.
A recent report by Military Times found that the defense budget has been increasing across the board since 2001, leading critics to question the Pentagon's claims that military and civilian personnel are the main cause of the spike in military spending.
According to the report, which used documents compiled by the Department of Defense and the White House, overall military spending increased 85 percent over the 11-year period, compared to the 78 percent increase of military and civilian personnel cost. When considering overseas operations, the total military budget increase is 104 percent.
Overall, the military and civilian personnel budget was only 24 percent of Pentagon spending in 2012, increasing by only 0.03 percent since 2001. The news source noted that this is a historically low percentage. For instance, military and civilian personnel accounted for more than 30 percent of the Pentagon's budget in 1991.
This report comes at a time when pay and allowances for active-duty troops are at their most vulnerable. According to The Wall Street Journal, top military officials have been considering making cuts to salaries, housing allowances and health care benefits as a way to reduce the defense spending budget.
"What we have asked these young men and women to do over the last 10 years, we can't pay them enough," Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey said at a recent press conference, as quoted by the news source. "Having said that, we also have an institution to manage."
U.S. News & World Report recently released its rankings of the top colleges and universities for veterans for its 2014 edition of the U.S. News Best Colleges. While the index of the best universities and liberal arts colleges is released annually, this is the first time that the publication created a list of the best higher-education institutions for returning servicemembers.
To compile the inaugural index, the news outlet looked at the federal initiatives serving veterans at each college. Many of these programs, including the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, help former servicemembers apply and pay for continuing their education. In order to qualify for the rankings, the news outlet stated that the institutions had to be certified for the G.I. Bill, participate in the Yellow Ribbon Program and be a member of the Servicemembers Opportunity Colleges (SOC) Consortium.
Which universities came out on top? Pennsylvania State University – University Park claimed the No. 1 spot, while Tulane University in New Orleans came in at No. 2. The University of Texas – Austin, Syracuse University and Texas A&M University – College Station rounded out the top five.
Aside from best national universities, the index also ranked the top liberal arts colleges for veterans, with Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Penn., coming in at No. 1.
This week, the Department of Defense announced the launch of a new online program that will help servicemembers and veterans with traumatic brain injuries continue their higher education.
Developed by the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, "Back to School: A Guide to Academic Success After Traumatic Brain Injury" is a comprehensive handbook that can be accessed through the center's website. The guide addresses various ways in which veterans and servicemembers with TBIs can return to school despite the difficulties of their physical and psychological symptoms, including chronic head pain, insomnia and an inability to concentrate.
"The idea of going back to school is not easy for anybody," Navy Lt. Cdr. Cathleen Shields, acting director of education at the center, said in a statement. "We find it's harder for servicemembers, [if they have] been deployed, because reacclimation is difficult. … Talk to your health-care team and your [school] adviser. Learn to be an advocate for yourself."
According to the DOD, a specially created panel of health, psychology and education experts devised the guide with the help of the Department of Veteran Affairs. A version of the handbook, which is more than 50 pages long, can also be printed via the center's website.
About 50 veterans will travel to Washington, Ill., this week to provide disaster relief services to the tornado-ravaged town, NPR reported.
Members of Team Rubicon, a nonprofit organization composed mostly of veterans dedicated to helping others through crises, will spend the next three weeks in the Illinois town clearing out the rubble. The news outlet reported that by doing so, the veterans will save the homeowners who had their houses destroyed by the tornado about $10,000 in clean-up costs.
The veterans volunteering with Team Rubicon have become known as "second responders," the news source stated. In many ways, it makes sense that servicemembers who have recently returned from war would be well-suited for disaster relief services: The highly trained servicemembers have already been in war zones, so they're equipped with the skills and resources needed to tackle the destruction.
"One of the reasons they allow us in first is that a lot of the cities don't have 100 people to send out to do [property] assessments," Team Rubicon member and Marine veteran David Casler told the news outlet. "I can give you in real time what's going on, on the ground."
Many veterans told NPR that giving back through their service with Team Rubicon can be a healing experience, especially for those with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Men's Trauma Recovery Program at the Palo Alto VA Hospital has introduced a new form of therapy to its rehabilitation system – man's best friend.
According to The San Jose Mercury News, the program is using Golden and Labrador retrievers to help treat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder through Paws for Purple Hearts, an organization that strives to provide healing to servicemembers with military-related mental illness. The news source reported that the dogs have shown the ability to reduce negative feelings such as depression and anxiety, as well as alleviate insomnia and irrational impulses and emotions.
"It's like they have a sixth sense about stress,"Jon Tyson, an Iraq war Army veteran from North Carolina, told the news outlet. "I'm sure [the dog] knows he has a purpose, and it's to make people like us feel better. It's unconditional love. When you have a hard time loving yourself, he will love you."
However, it's hardly a one-sided benefit. As the dogs help the former servicemembers soothe their symptoms of PTSD, the patients are training the four-legged creatures to become service dogs for veterans with disabilities that limit their mobile ability. According to the Paws for Purple Hearts website, the dogs need to undergo training for at least 18 months before they are passed on to the veterans.
Family members of U.S. military personnel received some relief last week with a recent announcement from the Department of Homeland Security.
The federal agency announced in a memo released Nov. 15 that it will stop deporting the relatives of servicemembers because it places "stress and anxiety" on both active-duty troops and veterans, according to USA Today.
"We as a nation have made a commitment to our veterans, to support and care for them," DHS said in the memo. "It is a commitment that begins at enlistment, and continues as they become veterans."
According to the memo, relatives of servicemembers will not be deported if they have a clean criminal record, but will be labeled "parole in place," making them eligible to apply for permanent legal status while remaining in the U.S. instead of returning to their home countries. Currently, undocumented immigrants are able to apply for a Green Card only if they return to their native country.
While many are celebrating the new directive from Homeland Security, not every relative of a military member is exempt. According to the news source, those with criminal backgrounds still face deportation.
Servicemembers, veterans and military family members who are currently covered by TRICARE are exempt from an important provision of the Affordable Care Act, Opposing Views reported.
TRICARE holders are not eligible to remain on their parents' health insurance plans until their 26th birthday – a new policy that was enacted under the ACA in 2011. According to the news source, in an attempt to reduce spending, the Department of Defense has set a cut-off age for young people dependent on their parents' health insurance. The cut-off age is currently 21, while full-time students are eligible to stay on their parents' plans until age 23.
However, the young adult children of servicemembers and veterans do have other options. The TRICARE website states that "qualified adult children" who are unmarried and over 21 but younger than 26 can buy the TRICARE Young Adult plan, which guarantees minimal essential coverage under the ACA. Those interested in purchasing the Young Adult plan must also be ineligible for an employer-based health insurance plan, according to the website.
While the TRICARE Young Adult is a viable option for many servicemembers, veterans and their families, several veterans expressed disappointment over the new health care plan to Fox News.
"It'd be nice if they leveled with everybody and let them know so that people could make plans, because this is going to hit all, I mean it's going to hit thousands of retirees over time," Air Force veteran Eddie Grooms told the news source.