Grave markers at the Cheltenham Veterans Cemetery in Maryland were damaged this week, according to The Washington Post. Authorities told the news source that a cemetery employee unintentionally "drove a backhoe over the saturated ground," moving several headstones and defacing the cemetery lawn, which is operated by the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs.
"This is a regretful situation," said Maryland Secretary of Veteran Affairs Edward Chow. "I am deeply sorry for the events which occurred. … Every effort will be made to guarantee the dignity and respect of our cemeteries."
According to the news outlet, the incident may have been caused by a recent winter storm that brought more than an inch of rain to the Washington, D.C. area. Cemetery workers have already cleaned and repaired the grave markers, and are working to restore the grounds, which are the final resting place for more than 21,000 Maryland veterans and their relatives.
However, ABC7 reported that family members who visited the burial site this week are outraged. Many of them took to Facebook to post images of the damage. The photos quickly went viral, provoking other worried relatives to visit the cemetery to see if the graves of their loved ones were damaged, FOX5 News added.
The Department of Defense announced this week that three Guantanamo Bay detainees were transferred to a new facility following President Barack Obama's signing of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014, which lifted the ban on removing prisoners from the Cuba military prison.
Three ethnic Uighur Chinese nationals were transferred from the Guantanamo Bay detention camp to Slovakia, where they will voluntarily settle. According to a statement from the Pentagon, the release of the prisoners was the result of a 2008 court order issued by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Obama made closing the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay a top priority since he took office in 2009.
"I have repeatedly called upon the Congress to work with my Administration to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba," Obama said in a recent White House statement. "The continued operation of the facility weakens our national security by draining resources, damaging our relationships with key allies and partners, and emboldening violent extremists."
While the newly passed National Defense Authorization Act does not shut down the prison, the lifted restrictions on detainee transfers is a victory for Obama. However, the legislation prohibits government funds from being used on the cost of the transfers.
A pilot program in Arizona is helping homeless veterans find gainful employment by placing them in positions with the Arizona State Parks system, local news outlet KJZZ reported. The new government initiative has already hired five veterans as Arizona park rangers, including Joel Macejak, an Air Force and Army veteran.
"I thought it was a golden opportunity, not something you come across very often because most state and federal park service jobs are snatched-up as quickly as they're available," Macejak told the news source.
Macejak found out about the program, which launched in November, while staying at a local shelter, the news source reported. Although the program was the brainchild of Bryan Martyn, who serves as the executive director of the Arizona State Parks, the local Veterans Administration office provided some assistance.
According to a recently released report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, there were more than 57,000 veterans living without permanent shelter in the U.S. in January 2013. The report found that Arizona had an increase in its homeless veteran population in the last four years. Currently, the state has about 390 veterans who are living without shelter.
As part of the federal government's Open Data Initiatives project, the Department of Veterans Affairs debuted new applications on its website this week that provide visitors with greater accessibility of VA resources.
According to Information Week, visitors to the website will now have access to complete information of VA facilities nationwide, including medical centers and mobile clinics. A full list of health care, employment assistance, housing and other military benefits for homeless veterans is also available, as well as a complete database on services and resources, including specific forms of compensation for family caregivers of veterans.
Overall, there are 171 VA datasets now open to the public, the news source reported. Much of this information will be used by web designers developing mobile apps for veterans, as well as researchers, entrepreneurs and others looking to expand their knowledge.
President Barack Obama established the Open Data Policy through an executive order in May 2013 as a way to enhance transparency among the various federal departments and the American people. According to The White House blog, the policy builds upon the data program launched by the administration in 2009, which established an online hub for all federal government data.
The popular Santa-tracking program hosted by the North American Aerospace Defense Command broke its own record this Christmas Eve, fielding calls from thousands of children watching Santa and his reindeer make their way around the world, presents in tow.
NORAD has been monitoring Santa's gift-giving journey since 1955, when a Sears ad in a local paper misprinted the number for Santa's "private phone." Instead of listing the number for Sears, the ad printed the digits for Continental Air Defense Command, NORAD's predecessor, according to The Atlantic. After receiving numerous phone calls from excited children, the agency continued to play along every Christmas Eve.
This year, children were able to track Santa by live-streaming his all-night flight via the NORAD website. According to NORAD officials, volunteers received approximately 117,371 calls, indicating a 3 percent increase from 2012. The agency also responded to more than 9,600 emails, exceeding last year's count. Additionally, 19.58 million unique visitors accessed the NORAD website on Christmas Eve.
"Throughout the year the men and women of NORAD work hard to provide aerospace security for North America, but for this one night every year, we are able to help bring the magic of Christmas to children around the world," Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, NORAD's public affairs director, said in a statement. "We at NORAD are honored to be a part of so many peoples' holiday traditions."
Tommy Vallejos is frustrated. After campaigning for increased military benefits for veterans over the last year, the recent Congressional budget cuts to the pensions of military retirees and disabled veterans hit the veterans advocate hard. Now, the former U.S. Army servicemember and current county commissioner of Tennessee's Montgomery County would like to add another job title to his resume – activist.
In 2012, Vallejos created the social media accounts for "Save My Military Benefits," long before cuts to military benefits were being discussed. Vallejos told The Leaf-Chronicle, however, that he frequently wrote about the possibility of impending reductions to personnel costs and military pensions. President Barack Obama signed the defense spending bill for the 2014 fiscal year last week, cutting $6 billion from military pensions.
"Congress doesn't seem to be allowing their benefits to be eroded, so as a military retiree, I want to be an advocate for our benefits and our pay. It really concerns me," Vallejos told the news source. "We earned [the military benefits] on the battlefields and training for war and missing events and holidays with our families."
Vallejos has a grassroots sort of philosophy. He told the news source that the best way for veterans to fight back and regain their benefits is through getting involved, whether in politics or the local community. Veterans don't have to run for political office for change to happen – it could be as simple as casting their ballots on election day or calling representatives and senators at the state and federal levels, Vallejos said.
A bonus program for Ohio veterans coping with life after service is nearing its deadline, NBC 4i reported.
Established in 2009 following a statewide election, the Veterans Bonus Program provides additional monetary support to Ohio veterans who served in the Gulf War, Iraq and Afghanistan. The $200-million program, which is funded entirely by the state, grants veterans $100 for each month spent on active-duty service, with the maximum benefit for domestic-only service capped at $1,000.
While Iraq veterans have until Dec. 31, 2014 to apply for the entitlements, those who served in the Gulf War between Aug. 2, 1990, and March 3, 1991, are only eligible to apply until midnight on Dec. 31, 2013. An application deadline for Afghanistan veterans has yet to be finalized.
According to the news source, many Ohio veterans, including former Ohio National Guard member Jonathan Field, use the military benefits to cover day-to-day living, health or education costs.
"I've actually applied for [the program] twice," Field told the news outlet. "I applied when I was going to Ohio State. And I used the money to pay for books, and I had some credit card debt that I used it for."
To be eligible for the bonus, veterans must be current Ohio residents who were also living in the state at the beginning of their active-duty service, according to the program's website. Veterans must have also received an honorable discharge from the service, or continued to serve in the reserves following their active-duty time.
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced this week that the agency was on track to eliminate its disability claims backlog by 2015.
According to Stars and Stripes, the VA has already reduced the backlog by one third since last March, when the backlog peaked at more than 600,000 pending cases. At the beginning of December, the agency had about 390,000 cases that were still awaiting responses after the VA's standard 125-day wait.
Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki claims that the reduction has been helped by updated computer systems and the mandatory overtime policy for claims processors, which was introduced last March but suspended by the VA in November, according to Reuters. Shinseki also implemented several other policies over the last year to streamline the processing system, including one that solely focused on the disability claims that have been pending for more than two years. The news source reported that 99.4 percent of those claims have been processed as of November.
While the VA has been making steady process with its disability claims backlog, Stars and Stripes added that the agency's on-going efforts do not take into account the backlog of disability claims appeals. Currently, there are more than 260,000 appeals pending a response.
President Obama signed a bill this week granting military benefits to servicemembers and veterans. House Resolution 3304, formally known as the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014, provides pay and bonuses for active-duty troops. The bill also reforms the military's sexual assault prevention program and strengthens overseas counterterrorism efforts.
In a statement released by the White House, Obama also said that the bill will help put the U.S. on the path to close the detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. One section of the bill allows the executive government to transfer the detainees at Guantanamo Bay to other facilities in the U.S. However, other sections of the bill bar the U.S. from appropriating funds for these transfers – a provision that the president opposes.
The bill also grants military members and civilian defense workers a 1 percent pay raise, according to FOX News. It's the first pay raise for civilians in four years. While many military members were pleased about the pay raise, it is lower than previous raises. The news source reported that servicemembers have been receiving an annual pay raise of 1.8 percent.
According to Just International, the bill also strips military commanders of their ability to overturn sexual assault convictions.
A group of veterans in Boston currently spend their weeks walking through the city's back alleys and bridge underpasses, looking for those who are struggling with life after service.
The Washington Post reported that the state of Massachusetts has recruited a team of veterans who were once living without permanent shelter to help reduce the state's homeless veteran population. The former servicemembers forge connections with those still living on the streets, help them find a home – typically an apartment subsidized by the government – and then continue to check up on them every week so they do not become homeless again – something the team of veterans knows well.
"When [the homeless veterans] say, 'Oh, you don't know what I'm talking about,' I can say, 'Yeah, I do, because I was there myself,'" team leader Christopher Doyle told the news source.
Boston's new method of reducing its rate of veterans homelessness is part of a larger effort. According to The Boston Globe, the state revealed a master plan in early 2013 to eliminate veterans homelessness by 2015.
Although the veterans homelessness rate has declined by 24 percent since 2010, a recent report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development found that on a single night in January 2013, there were more than 57,000 veterans living without permanent shelter in the U.S.