By Donna Miles
July 29, 2008
Recently wounded combat troops are here getting advice and encouragement from those who understand best what they’re up against: other disabled veterans who have learned to live with their disabilities.
Veterans of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, including five current patients at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, are among about 500 participants in the 28th National Veterans Wheelchair Games.
The event is cosponsored by the Department of Veterans Affairs and Paralyzed Veterans of America, and is open to all veterans with spinal cord injuries, amputations and other conditions that impair mobility.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=50625
Thursday, July 31, 2008
New GI Bill Provides Increased Educational Benefits
By Army Staff Sgt. Michael J. Carden
July 28, 2008
The latest GI Bill considerably improves the opportunity for today’s servicemembers to obtain their education, a senior Defense Department official said.
President Bush signed the Post-9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2008 on June 30. The new law mirrors the tenets of the original GI Bill, which gave returning World War II veterans the opportunity to go to any school they wanted while receiving a living stipend, Bob Clark, the Pentagon’s assistant director of accessions policy, said.
“The original GI Bill was said to be one of the most significant social impacts of the 20th century,” Clark said. “We believe the new bill is going to have a similar impact.”
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=50620
July 28, 2008
The latest GI Bill considerably improves the opportunity for today’s servicemembers to obtain their education, a senior Defense Department official said.
President Bush signed the Post-9/11 Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2008 on June 30. The new law mirrors the tenets of the original GI Bill, which gave returning World War II veterans the opportunity to go to any school they wanted while receiving a living stipend, Bob Clark, the Pentagon’s assistant director of accessions policy, said.
“The original GI Bill was said to be one of the most significant social impacts of the 20th century,” Clark said. “We believe the new bill is going to have a similar impact.”
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=50620
Appropriators worry VA isn't capitalizing on IT centralization
By Bob Brewin,
07/28/08
Senate appropriators are concerned that centralization of Veterans Affairs Department information technology operations has failed to improve efficiency, according to a report accompanying the fiscal 2009 VA spending bill.
Comment on this article in The Forum.VA restructured its IT operations in April 2007, giving the Office of Information and Technology central decision-making authority. The new structure replaced a highly decentralized system where VA organizations such as the Veterans Health Administration, and even individual medical centers, ran their own IT show.
But the report, released early last week, said members of the Senate Appropriations Committee have "repeatedly heard complaints that VA's Office of Information and Technology has not established standardized policies and procedures for requesting and receiving information technology services, equipment…and has not established a clear organizational structure."
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20080728_3455.php
07/28/08
Senate appropriators are concerned that centralization of Veterans Affairs Department information technology operations has failed to improve efficiency, according to a report accompanying the fiscal 2009 VA spending bill.
Comment on this article in The Forum.VA restructured its IT operations in April 2007, giving the Office of Information and Technology central decision-making authority. The new structure replaced a highly decentralized system where VA organizations such as the Veterans Health Administration, and even individual medical centers, ran their own IT show.
But the report, released early last week, said members of the Senate Appropriations Committee have "repeatedly heard complaints that VA's Office of Information and Technology has not established standardized policies and procedures for requesting and receiving information technology services, equipment…and has not established a clear organizational structure."
http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20080728_3455.php
Disabled employees make up less than 1 percent of the federal workforce
By Alyssa Rosenberg
July 25, 2008
Disabled employees represent 0.92 percent of the federal workforce, a decrease of nearly 15 percent since 1997.
"There are laws and regulations [on] the need to go out and hire and recruit people with disabilities," said Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioner Christine Griffin, who announced the new statistics on Wednesday at Two Percent by 2010, a conference in Washington. "We have more of a hook, frankly. Our hook is that we actually have laws and regulations that say to the federal government, you need to do a good job in this area. And frankly, despite these laws, we're doing a terrible job."
Griffin and other leaders called on the federal government to set a goal of increasing the representation of disabled people in the workforce to 2 percent by 2010. The three Cabinet-level departments with the highest number of disabled workers are Treasury with 1.73 percent, Veterans Affairs with 1.49 percent and Education with 1.36 percent. Those departments with the fewest disabled employees are Homeland Security with 0.42 percent, Justice with 0.39 percent and State with 0.36 percent.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0708/072508ar1.htm
July 25, 2008
Disabled employees represent 0.92 percent of the federal workforce, a decrease of nearly 15 percent since 1997.
"There are laws and regulations [on] the need to go out and hire and recruit people with disabilities," said Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioner Christine Griffin, who announced the new statistics on Wednesday at Two Percent by 2010, a conference in Washington. "We have more of a hook, frankly. Our hook is that we actually have laws and regulations that say to the federal government, you need to do a good job in this area. And frankly, despite these laws, we're doing a terrible job."
Griffin and other leaders called on the federal government to set a goal of increasing the representation of disabled people in the workforce to 2 percent by 2010. The three Cabinet-level departments with the highest number of disabled workers are Treasury with 1.73 percent, Veterans Affairs with 1.49 percent and Education with 1.36 percent. Those departments with the fewest disabled employees are Homeland Security with 0.42 percent, Justice with 0.39 percent and State with 0.36 percent.
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0708/072508ar1.htm
Vet care spending is at record leve
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
July 23, 2008
The federal government is spending more money on veterans than at any time in modern history, surpassing the tidal wave of spending following World War II and the demilitarizing of millions of troops.
Expenditures hit $82 billion in 2007 because of the rising cost of health care, the expense of caring for an aging population of mostly Vietnam veterans and a new crop of severely wounded troops from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
That exceeds the $80 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars spent in 1947 after most of the 16.1 million Americans serving in World War II left the service, according to a Congressional Research Service report submitted to Congress last month.
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/07/gns_va_budget_072308/
July 23, 2008
The federal government is spending more money on veterans than at any time in modern history, surpassing the tidal wave of spending following World War II and the demilitarizing of millions of troops.
Expenditures hit $82 billion in 2007 because of the rising cost of health care, the expense of caring for an aging population of mostly Vietnam veterans and a new crop of severely wounded troops from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
That exceeds the $80 billion in inflation-adjusted dollars spent in 1947 after most of the 16.1 million Americans serving in World War II left the service, according to a Congressional Research Service report submitted to Congress last month.
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2008/07/gns_va_budget_072308/
Where telework isn’t working
By Stephen Losey
July 20, 2008
Scheduling a small office with herself and three other employees is tricky business, says Tamara Adams of the General Services Administration.
The Chicago-based human resources manager has to navigate everybody’s vacations, alternative work schedules, flex days, sick days and — most recently — telework days to make sure someone is always around to help her on any given day. One of her specialists teleworks once a week; soon, the other two specialists in her office will begin teleworking regularly as well. “I may need one of those transparent overlays to track everybody,” she said.
Like Adams, many managers across government say they see the benefit of teleworking, but they question whether the effort to promote more teleworking is worth the trouble.
http://www.federaltimes.com/index.php?S=3634199
July 20, 2008
Scheduling a small office with herself and three other employees is tricky business, says Tamara Adams of the General Services Administration.
The Chicago-based human resources manager has to navigate everybody’s vacations, alternative work schedules, flex days, sick days and — most recently — telework days to make sure someone is always around to help her on any given day. One of her specialists teleworks once a week; soon, the other two specialists in her office will begin teleworking regularly as well. “I may need one of those transparent overlays to track everybody,” she said.
Like Adams, many managers across government say they see the benefit of teleworking, but they question whether the effort to promote more teleworking is worth the trouble.
http://www.federaltimes.com/index.php?S=3634199
At DoD, retired officers gaining edge in hiring
By STEPHEN LOSEY
The Defense Department is increasingly turning to retired military officers to fill its top civilian ranks. And some experts worry that career civil servants without military experience are falling behind.
Retired service members are often viewed as more qualified than career civilians because the military provides them more education, training and leadership opportunities, experts say.
“No doubt there are some very fine retired military doing a great job,” said Carol Bonosaro, president of the Senior Executives Association. “But they certainly have a leg up. In the military, as you move up through the ranks, it’s pretty clear what you do to be successful. That’s not been clear on the civilian side, nor has it been fair.”
http://www.federaltimes.com/index.php?S=3644792
The Defense Department is increasingly turning to retired military officers to fill its top civilian ranks. And some experts worry that career civil servants without military experience are falling behind.
Retired service members are often viewed as more qualified than career civilians because the military provides them more education, training and leadership opportunities, experts say.
“No doubt there are some very fine retired military doing a great job,” said Carol Bonosaro, president of the Senior Executives Association. “But they certainly have a leg up. In the military, as you move up through the ranks, it’s pretty clear what you do to be successful. That’s not been clear on the civilian side, nor has it been fair.”
http://www.federaltimes.com/index.php?S=3644792
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
President Truman Championed Military Integration
By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008
The idea that President Harry S. Truman would integrate the armed forces in 1948 was counterintuitive.
Truman, after all, was the product of a segregated society in Missouri. He served as an artillery captain in the segregated World War I Army. He had a reputation as a machine politician who didn’t rock the boat.
There was really nothing in his biography to suggest he would champion integration.
Yet less than four months before the 1948 presidential election, Truman signed Executive Order 9981.
“It is hereby declared to be the policy of the president that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin,” the July 26, 1948, executive order read in part.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=50561
July 23, 2008
The idea that President Harry S. Truman would integrate the armed forces in 1948 was counterintuitive.
Truman, after all, was the product of a segregated society in Missouri. He served as an artillery captain in the segregated World War I Army. He had a reputation as a machine politician who didn’t rock the boat.
There was really nothing in his biography to suggest he would champion integration.
Yet less than four months before the 1948 presidential election, Truman signed Executive Order 9981.
“It is hereby declared to be the policy of the president that there shall be equality of treatment and opportunity for all persons in the armed services without regard to race, color, religion, or national origin,” the July 26, 1948, executive order read in part.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=50561
Historian Charts Six Decades of Racial Integration in U.S. Military
By Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service
July 23, 2008
July 26 marks the 60th anniversary of President Harry S. Truman’s executive order that integrated the U.S. armed forces.
Conrad Crane, director of the U.S. Army Military History Institute at Carlisle Barracks, Pa., said the order recognized a basic tenet of warfare.
“When your life depends on your buddy, the color of their skin tends to become less important; it’s how good they are,” he said.
The order came five years before the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education that struck down the idea of “separate, but equal” and ushered in integration of American schools.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=50560
July 23, 2008
July 26 marks the 60th anniversary of President Harry S. Truman’s executive order that integrated the U.S. armed forces.
Conrad Crane, director of the U.S. Army Military History Institute at Carlisle Barracks, Pa., said the order recognized a basic tenet of warfare.
“When your life depends on your buddy, the color of their skin tends to become less important; it’s how good they are,” he said.
The order came five years before the Supreme Court’s decision in Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education that struck down the idea of “separate, but equal” and ushered in integration of American schools.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=50560
Pentagon Official Calls Integrated Military ‘Model of Diversity’
By John J. Kruzel, American Forces Press Service
July 22, 2008
The U.S. armed forces have exemplified racial diversity since integrating 60 years ago, but further efforts are necessary to diversify military leadership, a Pentagon official said today.
On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed an executive order that led to racial equality among servicemembers. Six decades later, the Defense Department now boasts a diverse work force of roughly 3 million employees.
“The military has been a model for the nation,” Clarence Johnson, DoD’s principal director and director of civilian equal employment opportunity, said in an interview. “Other institutions look at us and see what programs that we’re putting in place.”
Johnson, a former Air Force colonel, said diversity of the services creates a wider talent pool to recruit from, and allows for a more productive and prepared force.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=50571
July 22, 2008
The U.S. armed forces have exemplified racial diversity since integrating 60 years ago, but further efforts are necessary to diversify military leadership, a Pentagon official said today.
On July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed an executive order that led to racial equality among servicemembers. Six decades later, the Defense Department now boasts a diverse work force of roughly 3 million employees.
“The military has been a model for the nation,” Clarence Johnson, DoD’s principal director and director of civilian equal employment opportunity, said in an interview. “Other institutions look at us and see what programs that we’re putting in place.”
Johnson, a former Air Force colonel, said diversity of the services creates a wider talent pool to recruit from, and allows for a more productive and prepared force.
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=50571
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