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American Legion - American Legion News Clips 12.4.20 Inbox

Marine Corps League Yankee Detachment #255  December 04, 2020    No comments

            A MESSAGE FROM THE NEW YORK DEPARTMENT ADJUTANT

James W. Casey
 
 
Good morning, Legionnaires and veterans’ advocates, it’s Friday, December 4, 2020, which is Bartender Appreciation Day, Extraordinary Work Team Recognition Day, National Cookie Day, and Wear Brown Shoes Day. 
Thanks to all of you who contributed on Giving Tuesday; you helped us set a single-day fundraising record for The American Legion as we raised over $118,500 to help support the Legion’s Veterans & Children Foundation! 
Here’s a roundup of some of the news coverage The American Legion received from the announcement of our new alliance with the Chip Ganassi Racing IndyCar team, which tied into the Giving Tuesday campaign: 
 
 
TABLE OF CONTENTS: 
If you wish to be removed from this email list, kindly email mseavey@legion.org with “Remove” in the subject line.  If you have received this from someone who forwarded it and would like to be added, email mseavey@legion.org.  
 
By Alex Horton | Dec. 3, 2020 at 3:27 p.m. EST 
The Department of Veterans Affairs expects to distribute coronavirus vaccines within a week or two, with a focus on inoculating high-risk veterans and staff members, VA officials told veteran group leaders on a call Thursday. 
Physicians and doctors treating veterans in covid-19 wards will be a priority for the vaccine, VA Secretary Robert Wilkie, who oversees the nation’s largest integrated health network, said on the call. 
VA’s effort will be an early test of the federal government’s enormous task of vaccine distribution as infections and daily deaths soar to new heights. More than 5,000 veterans have died under VA care, along with 74 staff members, according to VA data. 
Veterans and staff members in other high-risk categories, such as spinal cord injury wards, are also in the high-priority groups, according to a veterans group leader who spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak about the private call. 
Wilkie did not elaborate on other groups, and did not address prioritizing minority veterans — a group VA has said is infected at higher rates than White veterans. He also did not provide a timeline for when veterans and VA staff can expect to receive vaccinations. 
Wilkie did not take questions, according to two people on the call. 
VA spokeswoman Christina Noel did not respond to a request for comment. 
VA may also hire workers to handle the logistical challenges of delivering vaccines inside the sprawling network of 1,200 medical facilities that treat 9 million veterans. VA expects to receive both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and will order special freezers to house the Pfizer vaccine, which must be stored at minus-94 degrees Fahrenheit. 
Some clarity from VA was encouraging for an agency that has been challenged in releasing public details throughout the pandemic, said Jeremy Butler, chief executive of the advocacy group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. 
“We still have a lot of questions, and there’s still a lot of transparency we’d like to see,” he said. 
One question left unresolved, Butler said, is whether minority veterans will be prioritized or targeted for specific outreach as misinformation and conspiracy theories run rampant. 
There is a trust gap among Black and Hispanic communities about the vaccines, studies have found, and VA has not detailed the depth of its outreach to those groups. Black veterans make up 12 percent of the veteran population but more than 22 percent of covid-related deaths at VA, according to agency data. 
Confusion over who may receive the vaccine circulated in New Orleans after the VA hospital there told veterans in an email and Facebook that they can “reserve” their inoculations. 
The New Orleans VA Medical Center posted a phone number for veterans to call and save a spot. The post was deleted after The Washington Post inquired about it to VA. 
“Veterans do not need to call to reserve a vaccine,” Noel said, and she did not provide further explanation. Calls made to the listed number reached an operator who said the hospital was inundated with calls from veterans. 
 
By NIKKI WENTLING | STARS AND STRIPES | Published: December 3, 2020 
WASHINGTON – Over a period of nine years, clinical psychologist William Haddad performed about 6,000 compensation and pension exams, acting as an arbiter of whether veterans were eligible for government benefits. 
Haddad examined four veterans every workday and sent their exam results to the Department of Veterans Affairs. If a veteran was paralyzed, ill or otherwise couldn’t make it into the clinic, he would go to them. When a veteran needed immediate mental health care, he referred them directly to the local VA. 
At one point, four nurse practitioners and three psychologists — including Haddad — worked out of a compensation and pension clinic that was part of the VA health care system in Providence, Rhode Island. They all enjoyed their work, Haddad said, believing they did a good job for the veterans they served and helped many get access to their earned benefits. 
Several months ago, that ended. 
The clinic disbanded and the staff was assigned to other areas of the VA. 
“Rumors started flying in January, but no one ever addressed it,” Haddad said. “Myself and another psychologist always asked the director but never got an answer. A few months ago, they brought in a guy from Washington, and things started to change. They kept us in the dark, and then that was it. We were done.” 
The closure was part of a VA plan to shutter its in-house compensation and pension program and outsource all the examinations, which are crucial to determining whether veterans are eligible for VA benefits. 
During a C&P exam, a health care provider examines a veteran to help determine whether his or her disabilities are connected to military service. The information gathered during the exam is used by the VA to issue a disability rating, which determines how much monthly compensation the veteran is due. 
The VA sent an email to its staff Oct. 21, saying compensation and pension examinations were “no longer conducted” by the department. The email, obtained by Stars and Stripes, directed employees to stop contacting VA hospitals and clinics about performing the examinations. 
Susan Carter, director of the VA’s office of media relations, claimed the effort would increase convenience for veterans because the VA would have access to a larger group of examiners closer to their homes. 
Haddad disagreed. While a veteran could undergo a mental health exam, an audiology exam and a physical in one day at his clinic, veterans would now have to set three separate appointments, he said. Since the clinic’s closure, he’s heard from some veterans who have been sent from Providence to appointments in Boston and New Hampshire. 
“Those are trips most veterans would rather not have to take,” Haddad said. 
Some lawmakers are also concerned about the quality of contracted exams and contractors’ lack of experience diagnosing conditions that are unique to veterans. The VA has increasingly relied on contractors for compensation and pension exams, but lawmakers said they were led to believe the contracted examiners were meant to supplement the VA program — not replace it. 
As of Thursday, contractors were handling about 80% of all the exams, Carter said. The VA is performing some telehealth exams, as well as “Acceptable Clinical Evidence” exams, in which staff review records to determine if there is enough information to decide a claim without having to see a veteran in person. 
Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va., sent a letter to VA Secretary Robert Wilkie on Oct. 20 and asked several questions about the decision to contract all exams. Luria leads the Subcommittee on Disability Assistance and Memorial Affairs, part of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs. She requested answers by Nov. 16, but that date came and went without a response, said Miguel Salazar, a spokesman for the committee. 
“VA still has yet to respond to the letter from Chair Luria, now roughly 15 days past the Nov 16 deadline, and their tone has become prickly around this issue,” Salazar said in an email. 
Primarily, Luria wanted to know why the VA decided to shutter its compensation and pension program at a time when there is a backlog of requests for exams. The department suspended exams in April, as coronavirus cases grew across the United States. During that time, the backlog grew to about 350,000 exam requests. 
Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and nine other senators asked the same question in a letter to Wilkie on Nov. 20. 
“Given’s VA’s admission that there is a 350,000 backlog of C&P exams throughout the nation … we fail to see the logic for continuing to reduce VA’s internal capacity to perform these exams as VA already has experienced, qualified, and well-trained personnel ready to perform these duties,” they wrote. 
In September, the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs advanced legislation that would prohibit the VA from eliminating compensation and pension examiner positions until requests returned to pre-pandemic levels. Tester and the other senators accused the VA of rushing to eliminate positions before the bill could be passed by Congress. At the end of September, the VA reassigned examiners at the Hampton Road VA Medical Center in Virginia and closed a clinic in Columbia, Missouri, that performed the exams, Tester’s letter states. 
“In recent months, [compensation and pension] service lines across the country are being dismantled and hollowed out. … VA’s rush to privatize these exams is careless and veterans will suffer from this decision as a result,” the letter reads. 
Carter said Thursday that none of the VA’s compensation and pension examiners were terminated as a result of the department ending its in-house program. 
“Examiners will be absorbed into other necessary roles and responsibilities, including those focused on patient care,” she said. 
When the VA closed his clinic in Providence, Haddad, 69, was reassigned to a unit treating veterans with substance abuse. After a short time, he decided to retire, though he had hoped to work at least another year. 
“It’s really too bad because I could’ve helped with the backlog,” Haddad said. “Some of these guys have been waiting for months. Waiting for money is causing more distress for these people.” 
In addition to concerns about the backlog, lawmakers are worried about the quality of exams performed by contractors. 
Luria urged the VA to maintain in-house examiners for veterans suffering from military sexual trauma, traumatic brain injury and illnesses caused by toxic exposure — all conditions unique to veterans and that often call for specialists. Likewise, Tester and the nine other senators argued that contractors had less experience evaluating veterans’ unique conditions and could misdiagnose them, leading to an increase in appeals. 
The Government Accountability Office reported in 2018 that the department doesn’t track whether contractors are meeting quality and timeliness standards. The VA has not yet implemented the recommendations the GAO made in that report, Luria said. She’s worried that as the VA expands its use of contractors, the department lacks the ability to oversee them. 
The VA does perform oversight, according to Carter. The department conducts random audits on examination reports completed by contractors, and the agency does special reviews, focused on a certain examiner or a certain type of exam. The VA also provides feedback through monthly reports and calls with contracted examiners, she said. 
During Haddad’s years performing compensation exams, the VA would sometimes be unhappy with exams performed by contractors and would refer veterans to his clinic to be examined again. 
“Contract people really aren’t that invested in it,” Haddad said. 
Bruce Trickel, a former senior administrative officer at the VA Central Iowa Healthcare System, also has concerns about the lack of quality in contracted exams. 
Trickel, who retired in May, recently oversaw the compensation and pension program at the Des Moines VA. Starting about 18 months ago, he hadn’t been allowed to fill the empty positions when examiners retired or relocated. The program in Des Moines ended this year after the final retirement, he said. 
“I can tell you from personal experience that the quality of [compensation and pension] exams by the private sector contractors [is] not anywhere near the same quality the VA physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants provide,” Trickel said in an email. 
In their letter, Tester and the other senators referenced reports from the GAO and the VA Office of Inspector General listing problems with how the department oversees compensation contractors. The senators pleaded with Wilkie to address the concerns before outsourcing more examinations. 
“The track record of private contractors who perform [compensation and pension] exams, and VBA’s oversight of them is mixed at best, as these and other reports indicate there are problems with cost, quality, overbilling, lack of subject matter expertise, and training of those conducting the exams,” the senators wrote. “Based on the data available today, neither the contractors nor the VA have made their case that their approach is benefitting taxpayers or veterans.” 
 
Audrey McAvoy, The Associated Press | 12 hours ago 
HONOLULU — Navy sailor Mickey Ganitch was getting ready to play in a Pearl Harbor football game as the sun came up on Dec. 7, 1941. Instead, he spent the morning — still wearing his football padding and brown team shirt — scanning the sky as Japanese planes rained bombs on the U.S. Pacific Fleet. 
Seventy-nine years later, the coronavirus pandemic is preventing Ganitch and other survivors from attending an annual ceremony remembering those killed in the attack that launched the United States into World War II. The 101-year-old has attended most years since the mid-2000s but will have to observe the moment from California this year because of the health risks. 
“That’s the way it goes. You got to ride with the tide,” Ganitch said in a telephone interview from his home in San Leandro, California. 
Nearly eight decades ago, Ganitch’s USS Pennsylvania football team was scheduled to face off against the USS Arizona team. As usual, they donned their uniforms aboard their ships because there was nowhere to change near the field. The pigskin showdown never happened. 
The aerial assault began at 7:55 a.m., and Ganitch scrambled from the ship’s living compartment to his battle station about 70 feet (21 meters) above the main deck. His job was to serve as a lookout and report “anything that was suspicious.” 
He saw a plane coming over the top of a nearby building. Sailors trained the ship’s guns on the aircraft and shot it down. 
“I was up there where I could see it,” Ganitch said. 
The Pennsylvania was in dry dock at the time, which protected it from the torpedoes that pummeled so many other vessels that day. It was one of the first to return fire on the attacking planes. Even so, the Pennsylvania lost 31 men. Ganitch said a 500-pound (227-kilogram) bomb missed him by just 45 feet (14 meters). 
He didn’t have time to think and did what he had to do. 
“You realize that we’re in the war itself and that things had changed,” he said. 
The USS Arizona suffered a much worse fate, losing 1,177 Marines and sailors as it quickly sank after being pierced by two bombs. More than 900 men remain entombed on the ship that rests on the seafloor in the harbor. 
Altogether, more than 2,300 U.S. troops died in the attack. 
They’re why Ganitch likes returning to Pearl Harbor for the annual remembrance ceremony on Dec. 7. 
“We’re respecting them by being there, and showing up and honoring them. Cause they’re really the heroes,” Ganitch said. 
But the health risks to the aging survivors of the attack and other World War II veterans mean none of them will gather at Pearl Harbor this year. 
The National Park Service and Navy, which jointly host the event, also have closed the ceremony to the public to limit its size. The gathering, featuring a moment of silence, a flyover in missing man formation and a speech by the commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, will be livestreamed instead. 
Ganitch served the remainder of the war on the Pennsylvania, helping in the U.S. recapture of the Alaskan islands of Attu and Kiska. The battleship also bombarded Japanese positions to help with the amphibious assaults of Pacific islands like Kwajalein, Saipan and Guam. 
Ganitch remained in the Navy for more than 20 years. Afterward, he briefly worked in a bowling alley before becoming the shop foreman at a fishnet manufacturing plant. 
Along the way, he had four children, 13 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and nine great-great grandchildren. He and his wife, now 90, have been married for 57 years. 
Ganitch still shows glimpses of his days as a running guard protecting his quarterback: He recently crouched down to demonstrate his football stance for visiting journalists. 
Kathleen Farley, California chairwoman of the Sons and Daughters of Pearl Harbor Survivors, said many survivors are already talking about going to Hawaii next year for the 80th anniversary if it’s safe by then. 
Farley, whose late father served on the USS California and spent three days after the attack picking up bodies, has been attending for two decades. 
“I know deep down in my heart that one of these days, we’re not going to have any survivors left,” she said. “I honor them while I still have them and I can thank them in person.” 
 
Leo Shane III | 12 hours ago 
Congressional leaders on Thursday released their final draft of the sweeping defense authorization bill for fiscal 2021 with provisions for a 3 percent pay raise for troops next year, language to force the renaming of Army bases honoring Confederate leaders, and new provisions to improve medical care and safety related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. 
The $740.5 billion defense policy bill is expected to easily pass both the House and Senate in coming days but could face a White House veto after President Donald Trump vowed to halt the bill over the Confederate bases requirement and the lack of any provisions rolling back legal protections for social media companies. 
The base name fight has been lingering for months, while the social media issue was introduced by Trump in just the last few days, following months of negotiations over the voluminous military policy legislation. 
It has passed Congress for 59 consecutive years, an imposing streak in an increasingly politically fractured legislature. Both Republican and Democratic leaders in recent days have chastised Trump for the veto threats, calling them an attack on force readiness and military members. 
The bill “sends a clear signal to our troops that we support them, their families, and their mission: that we have their back,” said House Armed Services Committee ranking member Mac Thornberry, R-Texas. 
“It also sends an unmistakable message to our adversaries: America is united behind a military that is engaged with the world, that supports our allies, and will resolutely defend our interests and freedoms. Those are messages we cannot send often enough.” 
Pay priorities 
The 3 percent pay raise outlined in the bill matches the expected pay boost prescribed under federal statute. Even if the measure is vetoed, the pay raise will still go into effect next year. 
It’s the first time in a decade that troops have seen consecutive years with salary boosts of at least 3 percent. This past January, military pay increased by 3.1 percent. 
For junior enlisted troops, the raise would amount to roughly $860 more a year in pay. For senior enlisted and junior officers, the hike equals about $1,500 more. An O-4 with 12 years’ service would see more than $2,800 extra next year under the increase. 
Also under the bill, service members who qualify for hazardous duty pay would see maximum payouts increase from $250 a month to $275 a month. The increase would not apply to troops serving in hostile fire areas and combat zones, who are already eligible for up to $450 a month in extra pay. 
The measure also includes reauthorizations of dozens of other specialty pay and bonus which would be halted if the measure doesn’t become law by the end of December. 
Personnel moves 
The Navy would see an end strength of almost 7,000 sailors under the plan, while the Army would see a boost of almost 6,000 soldiers. 
The Air Force would increase by about 700 airmen, while the Marine Corps would be the only service to see a decrease in personnel (down about 5,000 from current force levels). 
Lawmakers also included language limiting any reduction in U.S. forces stationed in Germany below 34,500 for at least four months, until after the Defense Department submits an assessment of the possible changes. Trump in recent months has pushed for significant reductions there, to reposition American military forces elsewhere in Europe. 
It also prohibits reducing the number of troops deployed to South Korea below 28,500 “unless numerous certifications and requirements are met.” 
And the bill requires defense officials to submit a risk assessment to Congress on Afghanistan once troop levels drop below 4,000 or current levels there and again when they drop below 2,000. 
Acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller announced on Nov. 17 that forces in that country would draw down from 4,500 to 2,500 by Jan. 15, continuing on a Trump administration plan laid out earlier this year that would bring the number to zero by May. 
Congressional officials said the Afghanistan language was not specifically in response to Trump’s vows to withdraw all troops from Afghanistan in coming months, but instead basic oversight of the 19-year-old military mission there. 
Pandemic response 
Under the final draft of the legislation, defense officials would be required to maintain a 30-day supply of personal protective equipment “sufficient for every active and reserve service member” for the foreseeable future. 
It also includes extra protections for reservists and Guard members, tens of thousands of whom have deployed across the country in recent months to assist state pandemic response efforts. 
Troops whose drill weekends were postponed or cancelled due to coronavirus restrictions would not be penalized for the lost time in their retirement eligibility. Individuals mobilized for pandemic response missions would be guaranteed at least 14 days of quarantine housing following those activations. 
The legislation also creates a registry of Tricare beneficiaries diagnosed with coronavirus for potential future medical tracking, and calls for additional resources for department medical laboratories “to facilitate rapid research and development of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics in case of future pandemic.” 
Family assistance 
Child care is a major focus of the bill, following lawmakers’ vows earlier in the year to put more emphasis on military family and military children needs. 
The legislation requires defense officials to provide child care to any service member or defense civilian employee who works on rotating shifts at a military installation. Families with two or more children at military day care facilities would also be guaranteed discounts in their current bills. 
Lawmakers also are requiring defense officials to better track and respond to incidents of child abuse involving dependents of service members, after complaints from advocates about a lack of sufficient oversight to the problem in the ranks. 
Building on military housing reforms included in last year’s defense authorization bill, the legislation requires better response from private-sector landlords to tenant complaints and requires assistance for families who have been displaced because of privatized military housing issues. 
For military spouses seeking jobs, the bill includes improvements to the Military Spouse Employment Partnership Program and allows military officials to reimburse any costs incurred to maintain professional licenses and credentials amid military family moves. 
Base naming fight 
The most controversial aspect of the bill is the Confederate names issue. Lawmakers will require the Defense Department to establish a commission “to study and provide recommendations, within three years, concerning the removal of names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia” related to the Confederacy. 
Members from both parties and chambers supported the language in initial drafts of the bill, but several Republicans have decried the renaming move since Trump’s veto threats. 
Advocates for the changes have called it a matter of respect for minority troops forced to serve on bases honoring individuals who supported slavery and racism. Trump has called it an attempt at political correctness that erases an important part of American military history: the names of bases that have been used for several decades. 
Lawmakers expect to pass the measure in both chambers next week and send it to Trump for his final signature, even with some defections over Trump’s objections. 
If Trump follows through with his veto threat, lawmakers will likely only have a few days before the end of the current session — Jan. 3 — to hold a veto override vote, and will have to recall members from their holiday break to Capitol Hill for the action. 
Failing that, lawmakers could try and introduce a new version of the legislation in the next session of Congress in early January to ensure that some critical pay and policy provisions are reauthorized. But officials said they have not started any such work, hoping instead to avoid the presidential veto. 
 
By NIKKI WENTLING | STARS AND STRIPES | Published: December 3, 2020 
WASHINGTON — A measure was included in the final version of the defense bill to grant Department of Veterans Affairs benefits to tens of thousands of Vietnam War veterans believed to be suffering the effects of Agent Orange.  
A group of lawmakers Wednesday finalized the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, a policy and spending bill for the Defense Department that passes through Congress every year. It’s a compromise between separate versions of the bill passed earlier this year by the Republican-led Senate and Democratic-led House.   
The final version includes a measure that would approve benefits for Vietnam War veterans suffering from bladder cancer, hypothyroidism and Parkinson’s-like symptoms — conditions thought to be caused by exposure to the chemical herbicide Agent Orange. The provision would add the diseases to the VA presumptive list, which lowers the amount of proof veterans must provide in order to receive VA benefits.  
The measure was included in the House version of the defense bill earlier this year but was omitted from the Senate bill. Congressional negotiators decided to include it in the final bill, said Rep. Josh Harder, D-Calif., who sponsored the House measure.   
“This is an incredible day for veterans who have waited decades to get the care they deserve — Congress has spent years paying lip service to vets, but thanks to our bipartisan efforts we’re putting our money where our mouth is,” Harder said.   
President Donald Trump, however, has threatened to veto the $740 billion legislation because it does not include a measure to repeal a legal protection for social media companies. Republicans and Democrats have objected to his veto threat. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who pushed to include the measure for Vietnam War vets, urged Trump to sign the legislation.  
“It’s my hope that both the House and Senate can quickly move this bill to the President, and that he signs it into law without any delay,” Tester said. “These Vietnam veterans have already waited long enough.”  
The VA secretary has the power to add the conditions to the presumptive list. However, Secretary Robert Wilkie said earlier this year that he wouldn’t make a decision about the conditions until at least the end of 2020, when results of two more scientific studies on the issue were expected to be published. The VA told Military.com last week that the coronavirus pandemic had delayed the studies until mid-2021.   
Advocates believe there already is enough evidence. 
In 2018, researchers with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine determined there was “suggestive” evidence linking Agent Orange exposure to hypothyroidism. 
A 2016 report from the academies determined that there was “limited” or “suggestive” evidence linking Agent Orange to bladder cancer. That year, the academies also clarified that Parkinson’s-like symptoms should be considered as part of Parkinson’s disease, which is on the list of presumptive diseases. 
Previous efforts were made by former VA secretaries to add the conditions. Under former VA Secretary David Shulkin, the agency recommended in 2016 the addition of bladder cancer, hypothyroidism and Parkinson’s-like tremors to the presumptive list. Shulkin’s recommendation never made it past the Office of Management and Budget. Lawmakers were told at the time that OMB was waiting on the results of more scientific studies. 
OMB and Mick Mulvaney, its director at the time, objected to the recommendation. In addition to a lack of scientific evidence, OMB had concerns about the budget implications of expanding access to VA benefits to the thousands of veterans diagnosed with the conditions, Military Times reported, citing emails between Shulkin and OMB. 
Seven national veterans’ groups wrote to Trump in February and asked him to intervene. They criticized the VA for dragging its feet. In August, the organizations held an event they described as a “final push” to get the measure added to the National Defense Authorization Act.   
Navy veteran Lyle Ducheneaux, who spoke at the event, served as a machinist mate aboard the USS Blue Ridge during the Vietnam War. He was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 2015, making him one of five veterans from his division who have the disease, he said. Ducheneaux has undergone two operations and multiple treatments. He’s relapsed twice.  
Ducheneaux applied for VA benefits but was rejected. He has appealed that decision multiple times and is waiting for his case to be heard by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals.  
“I’m now on my third or fourth denial,” he said. “I lost track of how many times at this point.”  
Tester’s office estimated there are about 34,000 Vietnam War veterans who are suffering from the three conditions and could be eligible for benefits if the defense bill is signed into law.   
 
By: Joe Gould | 12 hours ago 
WASHINGTON ― Eyeing China’s rise as a global military and economic power, lawmakers unveiled a compromise defense policy bill Thursday that targets China on multiple fronts, with $6.9 billion prescribed for a new Pacific Deterrence Initiative over two years. 
The 2021 National Defense Authorization Act reflects a national defense budget of $740.5 billion, and it includes a second Virginia-class submarine and contract authority for up to two Columbia-class submarines. 
Beyond the president’s budget request for U.S. forces in the Pacific, the bill ― a compromise version of three House and Senate proposals ― added $158 million, including $45 million for an Army’s Multi-Domain Task Force and $34 million for infrastructure improvements. 
The bill would require the Pentagon report on the necessary military infrastructure, construction investments and logistics needs for the region by Feb. 1, 2021. 
“The PDI will send a strong signal to China and any potential adversaries, as well as to our allies and partners, that America is deeply committed to defending our interests in the region,” said a bipartisan Senate Armed Services Committee bill summary, adding that the bill, “includes numerous provisions to deter China’s malign behavior, position the United States for strategic competition, and protect our assets from infiltration.” 
The Pacific Deterrence Initiative, or PDI, would require the incoming administration to submit a plan on the initiative’s funding levels and activities, and that the defense secretary report to Congress each year. The military’s Indo-Pacific commander would also be required to deliver a report on what the command needs to fulfill the National Defense Strategy and maintain an edge over China. 
Responding to a requirement in the FY20 National Defense Authorization Act, Indo-Pacific Command previously provided Congress with a plan for $20 billion in spending through FY26 so that the combatant command can fulfill the National Defense Strategy and maintain an edge over China. 
The bill’s new reports could set the stage for future investments. However, this year’s bill authorizes only a portion of what’s envisioned, $2.2 billion, for fiscal 2021. That means the effort will rely in large part on President-elect Joe Biden and his incoming administration. 
“The only way this is truly successful is if the Biden team embraces the concept and builds it into their FY22 request. It’s an operational necessity and strategic opportunity for them out of the gate,” said the American Enterprise Institute’s Eric Sayers, a former special assistant to the head of U.S. Pacific Command 
The plan was inspired by the multiyear European Deterrence Initiative, which has consumed $22 billion since its inception in response to Russia annexing Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. 
“We’re pleased with the $2.2 billion in investments and new programs, and then the intent is really to modernize and strengthen U.S. posture and capability in the Indo-Pacific region,” a House staffer said of the compromise legislation. “It a good message to U.S. allies and partners as we attempt to deter Chinese malign behavior, and it was really modeled after the success of the European Deterrence Initiative.” 
Industrial concerns 
Beyond the PDI, the bill mandates the president create a whole-of-government strategy to impose costs on China to deter industrial espionage and the large-scale theft of personal information. 
The bill would also require the defense secretary to create a “continuous assessment activity” to study the industrial bases of China and other foreign adversaries, with its first assessment due Aug. 1. It re-ups a requirement that DoD report annually on military and security developments involving the PRC, and requires U.S. Naval Intelligence study of fishing fleets as the so-called “third arm” of foreign navies, like China’s. 
In a report accompanying the bill, lawmakers echoed concerns the U.S. industrial base has fallen victim to an unfair and non-reciprocal trade environment fostered by China and that the U.S. is over-reliant on China for key components of national security capabilities. 
The language comes amid news the U.S. plans to increase the portion of the spying budget devoted to China by nearly 20 percent this year. The outgoing Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe penned a recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal naming China as “National Security Threat No. 1.” 
The F-35, structural changes and oversight 
The bill, which is the product of weeks of negotiations to reconcile House and Senate versions, is not law yet. President Donald Trump has threatened to veto it over its inclusion of language requiring several bases named after Confederate leaders be renamed, and for its exclusion of a repeal of the legal immunity for online companies. 
Among many other weapons programs, the NDAA authorizes nearly $9 billion for 93 F-35 joint strike fighters across the Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps, including an additional 14 aircraft above the president’s budget request. 
The language elevates the deputy undersecretary of defense for industrial policy – the lead role for oversight of the health of the defense industry – to an assistant secretary level, an upgrade that would make it a senate-confirmable position. The language would also re-establish the ASD for energy, installation and environment, an office that disappeared in the initial Acquisition & Sustainment reorganization. 
Conferees also agreed to drop a provision in the Senate bill that would have provided $10 million to allow a live test of a nuclear weapons, if requested by the president. That provision had proven particularly concerning for democrats, following reports that the Trump administration was discussing using a live nuclear test, the first since 1992. 
Lawmakers included several measures aimed at checking Trump, due to be replaced by Biden, on troop movements. It set 34,500 as the floor for U.S. forces stationed in Germany and 28,500 for U.S. forces stationed in South Korea, pending certain requirements. 
 
3 Dec 2020 | Military.com | By Hope Hodge Seck 
Tucked inside the newly released final version of the next defense budget is a provision that would enable four soldiers to receive the nation's highest combat honor -- including a Korean War veteran, a Vietnam veteran, a living veteran of the war in Afghanistan and fallen Iraq War legend Alwyn Cashe. 
The conference report for the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal 2021, released Thursday night, waives the five-year limit between the acts of valor and approval of the Medal of Honor for retired Col. Ralph Puckett; Specialist 5th Class Dwight Birdwell; Sgt. 1st Class Earl Plumlee; and Cashe, a sergeant first class. 
Nominations for these soldiers would still need to be approved by the defense secretary and the president to authorize them to receive the medal. 
Each of the men named in the bill has a unique story of heroism. 
Puckett, now 93, commanded the Eight Army Ranger Company in Korea as a first lieutenant, and proved his mettle in 1950 by holding a strategic position, Hill 205 near Unsan, against tremendous odds. With 51 men, he captured the objective and held off six counterattacks over a span of two days, despite sustaining multiple wounds himself. 
"Detecting that his company was about to be overrun and forced to withdraw, he ordered his men to leave him behind so as not to endanger their withdrawal," his citation states. "Despite his protests, he was dragged from the hill to a position of safety." 
Puckett received the Distinguished Service Cross for these actions, and would later be named an honorary colonel in the 75th Ranger Regiment. 
Birdwell proved himself a hero in 1968 while serving with C Troop, 3d Squadron, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. When his tank commander sustained serious wounds near Tan Son Nhut Air Base, Birdwell stepped up and took command of the vehicle, delivering M-60 machine gun fire until the weapon could no longer shoot. 
"With complete disregard for his own safety, he then ran through the hail of enemy fire to get ammunition from other damaged vehicles and distributed it to his comrades," his Silver Star medal citation states. "He then aided in the evacuation of wounded men. His valorous actions contributed immeasurably to the success of the mission." 
Now 72, Birdwell was recommended for the Medal of Honor at the time, according to news reports, but never received it. 
Plumlee's act of bravery took place most recently, as did the Army's decision to pass up awarding him the Medal of Honor in favor of a lesser award. A member of Operation Detachment Alpha 1434 (ODA-1434), 1st Special Forces Group (Airborne), Plumlee was deployed to Forward Operating Base Ghazni, Afghanistan, when the base was attacked with a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device and nine heavily armed insurgents. 
"During the attack, Sergeant First Class Plumlee repeatedly engaged the enemy at close range, was wounded by a detonating suicide vest, risked his life to bring another Soldier to safety and provide first aid, all while continually putting himself in the line of fire in order to prevent the assault from penetrating the perimeter of the FOB," his Silver Star citation reads. 
Plumlee was nominated for the Medal of Honor by his commander, but documents obtained in 2016 by the Washington Post show the members of the Senior Army Decorations Board voted against awarding it to him, citing among other things his senior rank and the leadership demands it entailed. 
However, a key advocate for Plumlee's Medal of Honor case was then-Lt. Gen. James McConville, then the Army's deputy chief of staff for personnel. He's now chief of staff of the Army, meaning Plumlee's case may have a strong chance for review. 
Plumlee in 2016 discussed his feelings about being denied the medal in an interview with the Post. 
"I kind of have mixed emotions about it," Plumlee told the paper. "I kind of have a lot of trust in the system, but if somebody says it's broken, maybe it is. But I'm always leery of decisions like this getting reversed." 
Cashe's Medal of Honor case has seen the most momentum of the four over the last year. The 35-year-old soldier died in November 2005 of burns sustained weeks prior when he pulled soldiers out of a burning Bradley Fighting Vehicle in Iraq. 
A breakthrough in a 15-year fight to secure the Medal of Honor for Cashe came in August, when then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper wrote a letter to lawmakers saying he supported the award. While Cashe posthumously received the Silver Star, procedural hurdles including witnesses and incomplete evidence -- since addressed -- thwarted previous attempts to recognize him with a higher award. 
Cashe's acknowledgement in the NDAA text is largely pro forma, as a separate bill that would waive the time limit on his award cleared Congress Nov. 10. 
The lawmakers who have championed the award for Cashe are now urging the Defense Department to renew efforts to recommend him for the Medal of Honor. 
The NDAA and the waivers it contains are not yet law; it still must be signed by President Donald Trump, who has threatened to veto it over unrelated matters. 
 
 
 
     

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