Although active-duty troops will continue to work and receive paychecks during the government shutdown, they might find the bases in fragile conditions.
USA Today reported that the furloughing of civilian workers at military installations around the nation will affect base maintenance and might result in the suspension of various military programs. Recreational activities might also be eliminated.
One of the largest domestic U.S. bases, North Carolina's Fort Bragg, furloughed half of its 14,500 staff Oct. 1. A Fort Bragg spokesperson told the news source that there will be cuts to the base's survivor outreach program, while a free phone service for military families to call their loved ones in Afghanistan will be reduced.
Meanwhile in California, Marine Corps base Camp Pendleton furloughed more than 1,100 civilians, base spokesman 1st Lt. Ryan Finnegan told the news source.
Despite the vast effect the shutdown might have on the U.S. military, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel told reporters Tuesday that America's homeland security is not in jeopardy.
The Pentagon expects to furlough 400,000 of its civilian workforce, the news source reported. Those civilians who work in national security will be able to stay on with pay at Hagel's discretion.
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.
An Iowa nursing home for military veterans has recently been targeted by the state for an investigation into its management practices, The Des Moines Register reports. The nursing home, which is the largest senior care facility in Iowa, has faced allegations of poor management and care abuse in the past, placing the facility under scrutiny from state officials from the Department of Administrative Services and the Department of Elder Affairs.
Nursing home manager Commandant David Worley, a Gulf War veteran, faced repeated criticism of his "blunt management style" over the last three years, according to the news source. Last April, about 40 nursing home staffers penned a letter to The Des Moines Register and other Iowa newspapers describing the lack of morale and stressful conditions.
The allegations took a serious turn when state Sen. Daryl Beall, chairman of the Iowa Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, wrote a letter to State Ombudsman Ruth Cooperrider claiming he received firsthand accounts of sexual harassment and bullying by Worley against his staff and residents, the news outlet reports.
State Sen. Steve Sodders also told the news source that he hears stories from his veteran constituents about poor conditions at the nursing home, mostly because the facility is under-staffed. However, Sodders said that the atmosphere at the nursing home has reportedly improved.
"People say that as far as Worley is concerned, he has been far less abusive. They have hidden him away in an office most of the time … So in that respect, it's better," Sodders told the news outlet.
For Naval Senior Chief Dwayne Beebe-Franqui and his husband, Jonathan Beebe-Franqui, a routine trip to the commissary has never felt so satisfying as it did Sept. 3.
In a three-minute video released this week by the Department of Defense, the Beebe-Franquis document their new life as a married couple finally recognized by the U.S. military.
"It all changes today, for not just us, but thousands of other families," Dwayne says in the video's opening.
Following the Supreme Court's landmark ruling on the Defense of Marriage Act, servicemembers currently involved in same-sex relationships became eligible to receive various military benefits previously available exclusively to heterosexual couples, including family healthcare plans, military identification cards and survivor benefits. A valid marriage license is needed to obtain these benefits. For couples who are based in a state where same-sex marriage is outlawed, the DoD is granting seven days of leave for travel.
Since the DoD officially expanded these benefits Sep. 3, same-sex military couples across the nation have celebrated, like the Beebe-Franquis, by proudly flashing their military I.D. cards on military bases and installations. In the video, the Beebe-Franquis happily grocery shop in a Naval commissary – for the first time as a true military family.
"Now to be recognized through the federal government, his career, his job, is just amazing, it's a crazy feeling," Jonathan says in the video.
Newly released data from the Pentagon reveals that mental illness hospitalized the most servicemembers and veterans at military medical centers in 2012. Post-traumatic stress disorder, substance abuse and other mental illnesses were among the leading causes for the hospitalizations.
USA Today reports that some servicemembers suffering from mental illness remained in a military hospital for more than a month. The only patients who reported longer stays were amputees. Pentagon data also reveals that servicemembers coping with severe mental illness account for the most lost workdays than any other disease or injury, the news source reports.
About 20 percent of Iraq and 11 percent of Afghanistan veterans currently suffer from PTSD, according to the National Institute of Health. The PTSD rate is highest among Gulf War-era II veterans, though about 30 percent of Vietnam servicemembers are afflicted with the mental illness.
The institution also states that PTSD is often linked to mild or moderate traumatic brain injury, which is triggered by blast waves rattling the brain inside the skull. According to data compiled by the Department of Defense, more than 30,000 servicemembers were diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury in 2012.
Defense officials stated to USA Today that both the decade-long wars and the stigma of mental illness are the most likely causes for the high hospitalization rates.
"The increase in mental health hospitalizations is most likely influenced by exposure of servicemembers to stressful events associated with deployment," Army Lt. Col. Catherine Wilkinson, a spokeswoman for Pentagon health affairs, told the news outlet.
A group of wounded warriors took a ride through the historic streets of Concord, Mass. last weekend, finding a calming peace of mind through cycling in solidarity.
The Boston Globe reports that 50 disabled veterans participated in Soldier Ride, a biking event sponsored by the national nonprofit Wounded Warriors Project. Most of the veterans who participated suffered from traumatic brain injuries or post-traumatic stress disorder, or were amputees. Event organizers expected to raise more than $100,000 for the Wounded Warriors Project through the event.
Beginning near the Old North Bridge, the location where the "shot heard 'round the world" jump-started the American Revolution, participants rode as a group throughout the 22-mile course, the news source reports. The veterans were also joined by 400 civilians, including former New England Patriots linebacker Steve Nelson.
For most of the veterans, the ride was a milestone in their long road to recovery.
"When you're in a bike, you're free, you're outside, and it's liberating," Iraq war veteran Kathleen White told the news outlet. White suffered a traumatic brain injury during her 2004 tour in the Army National Guard. It took her years to recuperate from the experience.
"I never thought I'd be in the place I am now," she added.
Gulf War II-era veterans have joined the fight to protect military shopping benefits and base commissaries, which are increasingly under pressure to close due to reduced defense budgets.
The Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a veterans association with more than 270,000 members nationwide, has teamed up with The Coalition to Save Our Military Shopping Benefits, a military advocacy group composed of 1.9 million members devoted to maintaining shopping and exchange credits for servicemembers, veterans and military families, the Herald Online reports. The two organizations are currently fighting cuts to commissary subsidies, which offer servicemembers and veterans a 30 percent discount for various household goods and products.
"Commissaries and exchanges are a key part of the military community, connecting the youngest service members to military families and even local retired veterans," IAVA Chief of Staff Derek Bennett said in a statement. "Protecting this benefit will ensure that veterans and their families have access to discounted, quality groceries and products."
According to the National Military Family Association, commissaries do not make a profit, and the cost of running a commissary is subsidized by the federal government. However, the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee has voted in the past to eliminate the federal subsidy of commissaries and combine the commissaries with military exchanges, the organization states on its website.
The sequester and impending government shutdown might jeopardize the future of military commissaries, the Herald Online reports. The closing of commissaries and exchanges might also affect the stability of the military, the news outlet adds, since it is the largest employer of veterans in the nation.
The fight over full military benefits for National Guard members in same-sex relationships continues despite the Department of Defense's shift in policy last July. Oklahoma just became the latest state to block military benefits to its gay Guard members on the grounds that it violates its state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, the Associated Press reports.
As the Sooner State joins Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi in the legal fight against military benefits for same-sex Guard members, ABC News looked into whether the blockades work or simply create a nuisance for Guard members.
According to the news source, DoD officials insist that same-sex servicemembers can still receive their benefits regardless of state law.
"All federal military installations (in Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi and Louisiana) will issue IDs to all those who provide a valid marriage certificate from a jurisdiction that recognizes same-sex marriage," Pentagon spokesman Nathan Christensen told the news source.
However, the news outlet reports that same-sex military couples are forced to travel longer distances to obtain their promised benefits. For example, Texas National Guard spouse Alicia Butler told ABC News that she will have to drive 120 miles round-trip to a federal military installation – a trip she can not make with her current job and 6-month-old child.
"This is an ominous signal Texas is giving," Butler said.
National security think tank the Stimson Center presented a 27-point budget plan for the Department of Defense this week, Military Times reports. The guideline will help the DoD stay within its financial limits set by the 2011 Budget Control Act, cutting roughly $50 billion from the annual defense budget through a new defense strategy called "Strategic Agility."
The report recommends saving $22.4 billion in management reforms by eliminating excess civilian and military personnel at federal defense agencies, limiting centralized training, cutting funding for inessential commissaries and exchanges, and further reforms to veterans benefits.
Changes in force structure, including cuts to active-duty troops, will result in a savings of $24.1 billion, according to the report. An additional $5.7 billion can also be shaved off from modernization costs, such as slowing the purchases of ballistic submarines and F-35s and halting CONUS missile defenses. However, the report states that the long-range strike bomber program can remain untouched.
According to the report, this new budget plan builds on several legacies of the U.S. military, including its superiority in air and naval power and the strength of its special operations and ground forces.
"We hope that consensus can show there is a way to move forward," the report states.