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American Legion - News Clips 11.20.20

Marine Corps League Yankee Detachment #255  November 20, 2020    No comments

A MESSAGE FROM THE NEW YORK DEPARTMENT ADJUTANT

James W. Casey
 
 
“Pro Deo et Patria”
    James W. Casey
          Adjutant
  The American Legion
Department of New York
 
 
 
 
Good morning, Legionnaires and veterans’ advocates, it’s Friday, November 20, 2020, which is Future Teachers of America Day, Globally Organized Hug A Runner Day, National Peanut Butter Fudge Day, and Universal Children’s Day. 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 
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Leo Shane III | 1 day ago 
Tens of thousands of Army veterans with other-than-honorable dismissals will see an easier path to upgrading their discharge status under a new legal settlement announced Wednesday. 
The deal, the resolution of a class-action lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for Connecticut more than three years ago, requires Army officials to automatically review tens of thousands of discharge upgrade applications denied over the last nine years, this time using “procedures more favorable to veterans” regarding evidence of underlying mental health conditions. 
Similarly, Army veterans whose applications were denied between 2001 and 2011 will be informed of new opportunities to reapply for a discharge upgrade, to include the same broad considerations of mental health factors in their cases. 
And the Army Discharge Review Board for the first time will allow veterans to argue their cases over the phone, instead of requiring them to travel to Washington, D.C. — at personal expense — for their upgrade hearings. 
“I’ve heard from veterans across the country who were kicked out for suicide attempts, are self-medicating to deal with combat stress, for going AWOL because they couldn’t deal with it anymore,” said Steve Kennedy, an Iraq War veteran and one of the named plantiffs in the lawsuit. 
“All of them were discharged for symptoms of mental health conditions and then stripped of the very benefits that may have helped them heal. Now they will have the chance for justice.” 
Officials from the Yale Law School Veterans Legal Services Clinic, which handled the case, estimate as many as 50,000 Army veterans may benefit from the new review board changes. 
Veterans advocates for years have pushed for widespread reforms in how military officials handle discharge upgrade requests, arguing that many veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were improperly kicked out of the ranks because of undiagnosed brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder and other unseen injuries. 
The difference between an honorable and other-than-honorable discharge can mean a denial of tens of thousands of dollars in education benefits, access to certain health care services and eligibility for many job training and financial assistance programs. 
A Government Accountability Office report released in 2017 found that nearly one in four troops booted for misconduct over a four-year span suffered from some type of mental health condition that may have been cause for a different discharge decision. 
Later that year, Pentagon officials issued a memo requiring that reviewers should take into consideration “conditions resulting from post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, sexual assault or sexual harassment” when deciding whether to upgrade a veterans' status. 
But those standards did not necessarily apply to veterans already denied discharge upgrades. The new settlement reopens that opportunity for Army veterans, through both the automatic reviews and the opportunity for other veterans to refile. 
The settlement also requires Army officials to conduct new annual training for review board members on how to properly evaluate claims of mental health conditions, and notify all applications of their right to legal and medical assistance when filing the claims. 
Yale Legal Services Clinic officials said they have a similar lawsuit pending with the Navy, and hope for similar accommodations from service officials there. 
 
Harm Venhuizen | 12 hours ago 
It pays to be a veteran, according to a new study by veterans claims law firm Hill and Ponton. 
The average annual income for veterans was about $65,000 in 2019, the study reported. Those who didn’t serve brought home nearly $11,000 less, with an average annual income of about $54,000. 
Hill and Ponton’s study also analyzed the states and careers where veterans stood to gain the most, using 2019 census data from the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series to draw their conclusions. 
Here’s what they found: 
Best states for veterans’ salaries 
The five locations where veterans made the most money in 2019 are Washington D.C. ($102,900), Connecticut ($101,000), New Jersey ($98,000), Massachusetts ($92,000) and Michigan ($82,900). 
In Michigan, veterans stood to gain the most, with average salaries 64.9 percent higher than their civilian counterparts. 
The only state in which veterans made less money than their civilian counterparts was Kentucky, where employees without prior service made an average of 3.9 percent more each year. 
The five lowest paying states include Arkansas ($48,200), West Virginia ($48,700), Wyoming ($49,000), Vermont ($50,200) and South Carolina ($51,200). 
Highest paying jobs for veterans 
The study also measured the highest paying career fields for veterans as well as the disparity between veteran and civilian salaries in each field. For instance, the highest paying career fields for vets were public administration, physicians and surgeons, and aircraft pilots and flight engineers; however, these careers respectively offered only a 17.1 percent, -2.7 percent, and 29.7 percent advantage to veterans. 
Careers as real estate brokers and agents, first-line supervisors of office and administrative employees and computer support specialists, while not as highly paid as the top jobs, gave veterans the greatest comparative advantage. Veterans in real estate made an average of 56.4 percent more than their civilian counterparts, and veterans working as supervisors or computer support specialists saw gains of 41 percent and 40.3 percent respectively. 
Few careers offered veterans lower average salaries than civilians. Among them were judicial workers such as judges and lawyers (-18.9 percent), wholesale and manufacturing sales representatives (-6.5 percent), and accountants and auditors (-6.4 percent). 
Unemployment 
The best locations for veterans to find employment are New Mexico, Delaware, Oklahoma, Florida, and Louisiana. Meanwhile, Alaska, Oregon, Washington D.C., Michigan, and Illinois were the worst. 
Overall, North Dakota is the only state where veterans had a higher rate of unemployment than civilians. 
Unemployment statistics differ significantly between veterans and non-veterans, Hill and Ponton found. At the time of the study, the nearly 18 million veterans in the U.S. accounted for approximately 7 percent of the adult population. 
Sixty-two percent of non-veterans were employed in 2019, 34 percent were not currently in the workforce, and nearly four percent were unemployed. Meanwhile, 49 percent of veterans were working, 48 percent were not in the workforce, and about 3 percent were unemployed. 
Those who are not actively employed or seeking employment are considered out of the work force. This can include retirees, those with family responsibilities, those in prison, and those pursuing education. 
More than five million veterans reported at least one disability, according to the IPUMS data, and 1.2 million veterans were living below the poverty line. Nearly 38,000 prior service members were homeless at the time of the study. 
Gender pay gap 
Hill and Ponton also found that the gender pay gap is lessened, albeit slightly, among employed veterans. Among non-veterans, men earn an average of $18,000 more than women. This difference shrank to about $16,000 when comparing the salaries of veterans. 
Women who served in the military made the most money in Alaska, Maryland, Massachusetts, Georgia and Virginia. The gender pay gap was highest for veterans in states like Arizona, Michigan, and Louisiana, all of which had a more than 50 percent gap between male and female veterans. 
The complete study on differences between veteran and civilian pay in the U.S. can be found on Hill and Ponton’s website. 
 
Andrew Taylor, The Associated Press | 10 hours ago 
WASHINGTON — An annual defense policy measure that has passed Congress every year since the Kennedy administration is in danger of cratering next month over a move by Democrats to rename military bases, such as Fort Benning, that are named after Confederate officers. 
President Donald Trump opposes renaming bases like Fort Hood and has threatened to veto the popular measure over the provision, which was added to both the House and Senate versions of the so-called defense authorization bill this summer. 
Republicans are vowing they will not send the broader bill to Trump if it includes language requiring bases named after Confederate officers to be renamed. Trump used the debate this summer to appeal to Southern voters nostalgic about the Confederacy, and those appeals remain relevant now due to two Senate runoff elections in Georgia that will determine control of the chamber during the first two years of President-elect Joe Biden’s tenure. 
“I am concerned that there is at least the potential that political concerns, especially with the Georgia runoffs, are going to play a bigger role,” said top House Armed Services Committee Republican Mac Thornberry of Texas. “I have no doubt that we can reach an agreement. The question is whether the politics above us will allow us to.” 
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman James Inhofe, R-Okla., is strongly backing Trump, aides involved in the talks say. But Democrats, who won GOP support in both the House and Senate to force the renaming of the bases, vow they will not back down. Typically, when both House and Senate versions of legislation contain comparable provisions, the default position is to leave the language in the final product. The differences between the House and Senate provisions are relatively modest. 
“It’s Senate language that we want to agree to,” said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash. “So there shouldn’t be controversy here.” He called Trump “a little bit erratic at the moment.” 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., says the names must be changed. 
“It is imperative that the conference report include provisions that secure this essential priority,” said Pelosi. “Our bases should reflect our highest ideals as Americans.” 
The bill has to pass next month to avoid breaking a 59-year streak of enacting the annual measure, which sets policy across the Pentagon and would award the military a 3 percent pay raise starting Jan. 1, among its other provisions. 
“Look, the defense bill is really important,” Smith said, expressing hope that Republicans would relent. 
White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has even floated the idea of a tradeoff in which Trump would sign the legislation containing the Democratic language in exchange for repealing so-called Section 230, a legal shield for social media outlets like Facebook that protects websites from liability for content posted on their sites. The New York Times first reported Meadows’ attempt at deal making, which was confirmed by a Democratic aide who requested anonymity because the negotiations are occurring behind closed doors. 
Both the House and Senate defense measures passed by veto-proof margins but GOP leaders want to avoid the chances of a veto coming to pass. Either way, the issue seems to be a loser for Georgia’s Republican senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. Breaking with Trump to override the veto could mean a loss in support among core GOP voters, while standing in favor of keeping the base names could drain support from independents. 
 
By COREY DICKSTEIN | STARS AND STRIPES | Published: November 19, 2020 
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has narrowed its choices on the permanent headquarters location for U.S. Space Command to six finalists, Air Force officials announced Thursday. 
The remaining candidates to house the newest combatant command are Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, Patrick Air Force Base in Florida, Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, Port San Antonio in Texas, and Redstone Arsenal in Alabama, according to the Air Force. A final decision is expected in early 2021, said Ann Stefanek, a spokeswoman for the service charged with making the final basing decision for SPACECOM. 
“The Department of the Air Force evaluated each location and will now conduct both virtual and on-site visits at each candidate location to assess which location is best suited to host the U.S. Space Command Headquarters,” Stefanek said. “This assessment will be based on factors related to mission, infrastructure capacity, community support, and costs to the Department of Defense.” 
The Air Force initially expected to announce a home base for Space Command’s about 1,400 military and civilian headquarters workforce by late 2019, even releasing a different list of six finalists as possible locations last year. But the service scrapped those plans in May and began a new search. 
The new effort allowed American communities to self-nominate themselves for consideration to host Space Command. Air Force officials at that time announced that to be considered, communities must be within 25 miles of an existing military base, within one of the top 150 most populous Metropolitan Statistical Areas within the country, and score at least 50 out of 100 points on the American Association of Retired Persons’ Livability Index. 
SPACECOM was formally established in August 2019 to oversee and control the U.S. military’s myriad space-based infrastructure and operations. It has been temporarily housed at Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs since it was established. 
Peterson AFB is one of two locations to twice be named a finalist. The Army’s Redstone Arsenal near Huntsville, Ala., is the other. 
Stefanek said the Air Force considered locations in 24 states before naming the finalists on Thursday. 
Air Force officials have said previously the service estimated it could take some six years to build the facilities necessary to house U.S. Space Command, once a location is chosen. 
Space Command’s establishment last year was actually a re-establishment of the combatant command, after the Pentagon shuttered it in 2002 as part of the post-9/11 government restructuring. It was established just months before the newest military branch, U.S. Space Force, was founded last year. 
Under Defense Department structure, the military services — in this case, the Space Force — are responsible for training and equipping troops who then operate under the leadership and control of a combatant command— in this case, the Space Command. Space Force, as it grows, is expected to provide the bulk of the troops assigned to Space Command, but the other military services will also provide some troops to the command, officials have said. 
Space Command is now led by Army four-star Gen. James Dickinson. 
Space Force, like all military services, is headquartered at the Pentagon, where it will remain. It is led by Gen. Jay Raymond, the chief of space operations. 
 
By: Aaron Mehta | 9 hours ago 
WASHINGTON — A top Pentagon civilian has tested positive for COVID-19 after meeting with a foreign dignitary — who may have also exposed Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, as well as the top civilians from the Air Force, Navy and Army, Defense News has learned. 
Lithuanian Minister of Defense Raimundas Karoblis met with Miller, the service secretaries and retired Brig. Gen. Anthony Tata, who is performing the duties of the undersecretary for policy, during a Nov. 13 visit to the Pentagon. Upon returning to Vilnius this week, he tested positive for COVID. 
Miller, as well as Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett, Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy and Navy Secretary Kenneth Braithwaite, who met with Karbolis Nov. 16, have all tested negative and do not plan to self-isolate. 
The disease, which has claimed the lives of over 250,000 Americans, has an incubation period of up to 14 days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is unclear when or where Karoblis contracted the disease and whether he was contagious during his visit to the Pentagon. 
Photos from the meetings between Karoblis and the Pentagon leaders show those in attendance wearing face masks, although one formal photo shows Miller and Karoblis standing without face coverings. 
In response to questions about a possible infection from Defense News, chief Pentagon spokesman Jonathan Rath Hoffman said the department learned of Karoblis’ positive test today and began testing. Tata tested positive twice, and will now isolate at home for 14 days. 
“We have and are continuing to conduct further contact tracing of DoD personnel who have had close contact with the Lithuanian delegation or Mr. Tata, and are taking appropriate precautions in accordance with CDC guidelines,” Hoffman said. “Additionally, DoD personnel who had contact with the delegation have received or are receiving at this time rapid COVID tests as deemed necessary based on CDC protocols. Additional necessary testing for individuals who had contact with Mr. Tata is ongoing.” 
“We will report additional positive cases as appropriate,” Hoffman added. 
COVID tests are more accurate the further from the potential infection, which is now six days ago. However, individuals infected with COVID can still spread the virus at any point during the 14-day infection period, per CDC guidelines. It is also possible that others in their circle were exposed during Karbolis’ visit or in the days after, when he traveled to Pennsylvania to meet with adjutant general Maj. Gen. Anthony Carrelli; in one photo posted on Twitter, Karbolis is seen without a mask. 
The Pentagon leaders have made several public appearances since the meeting with Karoblis. On Tuesday, Miller made his first public comments since taking the helm by appearing in the briefing room to announce troop drawdowns in Iraq and Afghanistan; he then spent Wednesday traveling to Fort Bragg in North Carolina, where he met with members of the military, as well as the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier. 
The same day that Barrett met with Karoblis, she attended the retirement ceremony for Gen. Stephen Wilson, the outgoing Air Force vice chief of staff, along with several service leaders. On Nov. 18, McCarthy was present at the Tomb of Unknown Soldier’s 100th anniversary, pictured both with and without a mask. 
This is not the first COVID scare to hit top Pentagon leadership. On Oct. 6, almost the entirety of the Joint Chiefs of Staff chose to self-isolate after the vice commandant of the Coast Guard tested positive for the disease. On Oct. 19, the officers were given the all-clear to return in-person work. 
 
 
     
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