A group of Bakersfield, Calif. veterans honored nine military recruits this week with a special ceremony, local news outlet 23ABC reported. Seven of the recruits are entering the Army as active-duty members, while two are joining the Marine Corps.
According to the news source, the event was organized by the Kern County Armed Forces Support Riders, a veterans organization that provides new military recruits with motorcycle escorts as they enter active duty.
"We came out because it's our way to step up and say thank you for serving, telling their parents thank you," Kern County Armed Forces Support Riders founder Ben Patten told the news outlet.
In addition to sending-off recruits, the Armed Forces Support Riders also participate in various events in Southern California, including the upcoming Harley-Davidson Veterans Appreciation Day and Wounded Heroes Fund events, the organization's official Facebook page states.
The Bakersfield biker group is not the only motorcycle gang providing support and encouragement to servicemembers. Founded in 2006, The Legion Riders, a subset of the American Legion, have chapters throughout the country devoted to raising funds for wounded servicemembers, veterans and military families, according to the organization's website.
The House of Representatives passed a bill Oct. 28 that's expected to reduce the Department of Veteran Affairs disability claims and appeals backlog through new initiatives, The Marine Corps Times reported. HR 2189, officially known as the Ending VA Claims Disability Backlog and Accountability Act, implements a commission to streamline the VA's processing system.
"Republicans and Democrats came together to support a range of legislation with two overarching goals: helping veterans, while improving accountability and efficiency at the Department of Veterans Affairs," House Veterans Affairs Committee chairman Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., said in a statement released on the committee's website.
According to the VA, disability claims filed with the agency are meant to have a waiting period of only 125 days. However, the VA has seen its backlog grow considerably since 2009. Currently, 67 percent of the backlog is supplemental claims filed for additional veterans benefits, while just 33 percent are first-time claims, stated a recent released Veterans Benefits Administration report.
While HR 2189 is meant to improve the processing of disability claims and appeals, many VA officials believe that the newly created commission will only delay the backlog further.
For its first-ever Veterans Institute workshop taking place Nov. 14, Disney has secured first lady Michelle Obama as keynote speaker, according to entertainment news outlet Variety.
The event, which will be held at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Fla., will help small and mid-sized companies create initiatives to hire and support returning servicemembers, the Disney Parks Blog stated. This is the latest effort by the large corporation to assist veterans with their various needs. Last year, Disney launched Heroes Work Here, a company-wide directive that raised funds for veterans' education and recruited former servicemembers for casting roles and more.
Variety reported that Disney has already hired more than 1,000 veterans since implementing the Heroes Work Here program. According to the news source, the company decided to partner with the first lady because of her strong support of veterans. Obama started the Joining Forces program in 2012, providing former servicemembers and military families with the right resources to secure full-time employment, the White House website states.
The news source also reported that ABC anchor Bob Woodruff is scheduled to appear at the workshop, as well as Department of Veterans Affairs senior advisor Rosye Cloud and Disney CEO and chairman Robert Iger.
A tax credit created to help former servicemembers find employment opportunities is set to expire at the end of 2013, jeopardizing the future of veterans in the workforce, according to CNN Money. The credit offers companies a $9,600 incentive to hire veterans, who often have trouble finding work when returning from military service.
Called the Returning Heroes Tax Credit, the law was passed in November 2011. Earlier this year, President Obama called on Congress to make the tax credit a permanent fixture in the nation's fiscal budget. However, the news source stated that Congress has yet to do so, which means the credit will expire unless immediately renewed. The source added that several lawmakers, including Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-CT, are attempting to keep the tax credit alive through new legislation.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 7.5 percent of veterans are unemployed, just slightly hired than the national unemployment rate, which currently stands at 7.2 percent. While this number is lower than it has been in previous years – when the tax credit was introduced, 8.6 percent of veterans were unemployed – Gulf War-era II veterans continue to have the highest rate of unemployment at more than 11 percent and face a number of obstacles when re-entering the workforce.
A play opening next month at Minnesota's Fort Snelling Base Camp features the personal stories collected from more than 100 local veterans, according to The Bemidji Pioneer. Titled "The Veterans Play Project," the stage show is set in the fictional Minnesota town of Smedley and follows the triumphs and pitfalls of both veterans and civilian life while also honoring those who fought for the community.
According to the play's official website, tales from new recruits and military advocates are also highlighted in the show.
"When I talk to vets, I hear that serving, going away, giving your life over to service, changes you in powerful ways," director Leah Cooper writes in her artist statement. "But one way to unpack those experiences, I have found personally as an artist, is to share them with others."
Approximately 13 active-duty servicemembers and veterans are performing the play, which will preview Nov. 14 and run from Nov. 15 through Nov. 24, according to the news source. Minnesota-based veterans are invited to help out backstage, design sets and costumes or provide ushering during the show, states the play's website.
Inmates at a medium-security correctional facility in Maryland have been training 24 Labrador retrievers through America's VetDogs, a program that provides disabled veterans and wounded soldiers with service animals, The Baltimore Sun reported.
According to the news source, the inmates take care of the dogs for a year and work with a specialized dog trainer once a week in order to teach their dogs approximately 30 commands, such as picking up canes and opening cabinets.
"The VetDogs program was created so that America's veterans would have the opportunity and the chance to live with pride and self-reliance once again," the organization's website states.
In addition to service animals, America's VetDogs also provides guide dogs to veterans who are visually impaired.
The unlikely partnership between the veterans organization and the state correctional facility has not only fostered a strong connection between former servicemembers and inmates, but also between the inmates and their four-legged trainees. The news source reported that the dogs sleep and eat with the inmates, helping them pass the time of their prison sentences and instilling them with a new sense of purpose. One inmate told the news outlet that his Labrador became his "child."
Michigan has been suffering from a lack of skilled workers, impacting labor industries ranging from agriculture to construction. Utilizing veterans to their full potential, however, might help alleviate this shortage.
A recent report compiled by the state's Department of Technology, Management and Budget suggested that Michigan's large veteran population, which accounts for 8.8 percent of its adult population, is currently an untapped labor resource. Even though Michigan veterans only have a 44 percent labor participation rate, journalist Rick Haglund, writing for Michigan Live, suggested that returning servicemembers could put their acquired field skills to good use in the state's diverse labor market.
According to the report, veterans in Michigan are well-educated – about 1 in 4 hold a bachelor's degree or higher – and more likely than non-veterans to graduate high school. While veterans have the skills to be major players in the workforce, they might need some extra coaxing.
"We need to ensure our employers understand the value of military service and education," Christine Quinn, director of the state's Workforce Development Agency, told Michigan Live. "And we need to assist our veterans by taking their military experiences and cross-walking them into opportunities that fit the demand from employers."
According to the news source, the federal government has already started implementing programs to incorporate veterans into the labor ranks, including an August 2013 directive from the U.S. Labor Department requiring government contractors to have veterans compose 8 percent of their employees. Meanwhile, Michigan has a "Shifting Heroes" program that provides employment specialists to former servicemembers.
Police officials in an eastern Massachusetts town are notifying residents of a phone scam that purports to solicit money for former servicemembers, Your Town Hingham reported.
The Hingham Police Department sent an email to the town's residents this week, warning them about the so-called Hingham Veterans that has recently attempted to solicit money over the phone. About 15 complaints of solicitations were filed Oct. 24, raising the police department's suspicions.
Authority officials told the news source that while the phone calls are being driven by a real veterans organization – the Vietnam Veterans of Massachusetts – the Hingham Veterans group does not exist. The town, however, does have a Veterans Services department.
According to the news outlet, the veterans group hired a firm to collect the funds, some of which are going to actual veterans who do not reside in Hingham. This goes against the paperwork the firm, Focal Point Consulting, handed in to Veterans Services.
"To hire a firm that when [a resident asks], 'Is it going to Hingham veterans,' and they say, 'Yes,' that could be fraudulent," Hingham Veterans Service Officer Keith Jermyn told the news source.
Next month, Texas residents will be voting on two propositions that might greatly affect veterans benefits.
Proposition 1 will grant 100 percent housing tax breaks to the spouses and families of fallen servicemembers, while Proposition 4 will offer disabled veterans full relief on their property taxes, states the VoteSmart website. Both measures are state constitutional amendments.
According to local news source YNN, some disabled veterans are already exempt from paying property taxes because they are fully covered by the VA. Yet many disabled veterans don't qualify for 100 percent VA coverage and are constantly struggling to pay off their increasing medical and tax bills, which is why veterans are now speaking publicly to gain voter support of Proposition 4.
"They've given that sacrifice and they face tough financial times so it's a way to say thank you in a very tangible way," state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, a supporter of the measure, told the news outlet.
Meanwhile, servicemembers and military families gathered in San Antonio this week to raise awareness of Proposition 1. According to MySanAntonio.com, the tax exemption for surviving military spouses will only be available to those who remain unmarried and will be applied to the value of the house they owned when their military spouse was killed in action.
A VA medical center in Reno, Nev., has been issuing patients addictive painkillers at one of the highest rates out of all the VA hospitals in the nation, according to a recent multimedia report from The Center for Investigative Reporting. The long-form piece looks at the rise in drug use among veterans across the U.S. since 2001.
The Reno Gazette-Journal reported about the investigation, stating that CIR found doctors at the medical center were prescribing 130.9 painkillers containing opiates per 1,000 patients. This represents a 230 percent increase in opiate use at the Reno medical center. According to the news source, the dramatic spike makes the Reno facility the eighth-highest ranking VA hospital in the nation for prescribing addictive painkillers.
However, the hospital asserted that there was no misconduct when treating patients or prescribing the medication, and that the staff strives to work in the best interest of the veterans.
"The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has worked aggressively to promote the safe and effective use of opioid therapy for veterans," the hospital said in a statement. "All VA clinicians discuss with patients the potential benefits of a medication with its possible side-effects, and they are provided the latitude to deliver treatment that is in the best interest of the veteran."
According to the CIR report, the VA has continued to acknowledge the painkiller epidemic among its ranks, even implementing a pain management strategy in 2009 for improving its standard of medical care.