Military News Archive | Stateside Legal

Military News Archive

Report: Combat troop discharges increase sharply -- May/20/2013

The number of soldiers discharged from the Army for misconduct has risen to its highest rate in recent times, and some are wounded combat troops who have lost their medical care and other veterans benefits because of other-than-honorable discharges, according to an investigation by the Colorado Springs Gazette.
Male rape survivors tackle military assault in tough-guy culture -- May/17/2013
Grants offered for Michigan vets and service members going into foreclosure -- May/08/2013
VA plan to cut claims backlog will prioritize cases older than two years -- May/07/2013

The Veterans' Affairs Department initiative to quickly and dramatically reduce the claims backlog is making it a priority to process files that have been pending for two years or longer.
USAF sexual assault prevention chief charged with sexual battery -- May/07/2013

The chief of the Air Force's Sexual Assault Prevention and Response branch has been removed from the position following his weekend arrest on a sexual battery charge in Arlington, Va., according to an Air Force spokeswoman.
Officials: Military sex assault reports are up -- May/07/2013

A new Pentagon study shows that the number of sexual assaults reported by members of the military rose from 3,192 to 3,374 in 2012, while the department estimates that as many as 26,000 service members were assaulted, based on anonymous surveys, officials said Tuesday.
For Veterans, Health-Care Law Offers New Options, And Struggles -- May/07/2013

Military Veterans will have more health insurance options under the Affordable Care Act, but some vets, like many Americans, may still struggle to find affordable, accessible care that meets their needs. Roughly 40 percent of the 22.3 million military Veterans receive health-care services from the Veterans Health Administration, which operates a nationwide network of medical centers, hospitals and clinics. Many Veterans are eligible for both VA health care and Medicare, Medicaid or Tricare, the health plan for active and retired military and their families. About half of Veterans have private insurance; approximately one in 10 Veterans younger than 65 are uninsured.
Cuts in monitoring GI Bill raises threats of fraud, abuse and waste in Minnesota -- May/06/2013

A school for helicopter pilots in Superior, Wis., was ordered to stop describing itself as VA approved when it wasn’t. For several years, a Christian college in Brooklyn Park took GI Bill money from students for programs it wasn’t qualified to charge for. When irregularities were discovered in what courses veterans at Hennepin Technical College were taking and which ones they finished, the school was forced to review its enrollment of GI Bill students.
DOD civilians notified about housing benefit error -- May/02/2013

More than 500 Defense Department employees in Europe and the Pacific were notified this week that they were erroneously given housing benefits and must now apply for a special waiver to avoid being indebted to the government for all past allowances received, according to military officials.
Pace of justice at Air Force appeals court comes under scrutiny -- May/02/2013

The nation's top military appellate judges will scrutinize a seemingly sluggish Air Force court that's vexed airmen from Alaska to Florida and beyond. In a highly anticipated move, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces has agreed to hear the case of a former master sergeant who waited nearly three years for the Air Force to resolve his appeal of a court-martial conviction.

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