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Military.com
Veterans no longer able to handle their finances would need a judge's ruling that they were "mentally defective" before losing their 2nd Amendment rights to buy firearms under a bill that passed a House committee.
"The freedoms granted by the Constitution should apply to all Americans — especially the men and women who have been willing to risk their lives to protect those freedoms," House Committee on Veterans' Affairs Chairman Phil Roe, a Tennessee Republican, said in a statement.
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Veterans Association of America wants to know...
Do you think the "Veterans Choice Program" accommodates more of your needs than the VA itself?
- Yes, I think it gives veterans a greater access to private care and specialty medicine.
- I'm not really sure since there have been so many flaws in the program.
- It appears that the "choice program" allows veterans health care outside of the scope of the VA.
- I don't think complete coverage for certain specialty access is 100% available.
- It appears that the program is a work in progress.
Please provide your unique response as we take each them very seriously..
As a reminder, we assess all answers with the utmost of care and consideration. Survey results revealed in next week's VAA Dispatch.
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Feb. 28 and March 7 survey results: Do you think President Trump's initiative for more Defense Spending is to create another war?
The Associated Press via Military.com
Montana military veterans who were referred to health specialists in 2015, faced delays in getting appointments or receiving needed medical services nearly half the time, and those delays may have harmed four patients, according to a recent report. The Department of Veterans Affairs Inspector General's Office inspected the VA Montana Healthcare System at Fort Harrison in Helena at the request of U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines.
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The Associated Press via The Washington Times
Some have been engineers or contract managers who have lost focus and no longer think they can succeed. Another wins jobs easily, but had a pattern of quitting after a few weeks.
The local Homeless Veteran Reintegration Program meets Allen County in Indiana homeless military vets where they are at in life and works to build them back up to succeeding in the workforce.
"We deal with people who even their families have given up on them," said David Wilson, regional program director for Volunteers of America in northern Indiana.
HVRP is an outreach program of the Volunteers of America ministry
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Four month average turn around with the VA’s Pension with Aid and Attendance
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Military Times
When Lance Calloway got out of the Marine Corps in 2015, he planned to enroll in graduate school and find a job that would combine the business management skills he'd learned in college with his four years of experience in an artillery unit.
"I was thinking it was going to be very easy to slip back into the civilian workforce, and there'd be plenty of jobs waiting for me and people would want to snatch me up," said Calloway, 30. So while he studied for the entrance exam and waited to hear back from hiring managers about potential job opportunities, he took a job working for tips as an Outback Steakhouse bartender. He didn't expect to be there for a year and a half, eventually feeling like he'd lost all purpose.
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By Denise A. Valenti
 Many veterans are suffering from mental disorders, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). And an estimated 20 veterans commit suicide each day in the U.S. Research is definitely needed to explore all avenues of treatment and prevention to better improve the quality of the lives for our veterans. After years of delays, the first participants have enrolled in a research study investigating marijuana use and PTSD.
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USA Today
Sitting in a college math class, a former Marine waits patiently to get back his test. The professor addresses the class as the corrected exams are distributed.
"If you didn't do well on this test, you should just quit now and join the Marines," the professor says, not realizing this comment is offensive to the student Marine sitting right there in the room.
This is just one of many stories that Zach DuBord, assistant director of student veteran services at Binghamton University, has heard from student veterans. Military veterans face steep challenges when trying to reintegrate themselves in school after service, ranging from lacking the structure of the military to being older than their classmates.
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Military Times
There's good news for those who prefer to wait until the last minute to file their federal taxes: You have three extra days this year.
Federal income tax returns are due April 18. April 15 falls on a Saturday, and Emancipation Day is on April 17, a legal holiday for the District of Columbia.
But if even if you're an early bird, don't expect to get that refund money as fast as you have in previous years. A federal law that took effect this year requires the Internal Revenue Service to hold any refunds until Feb. 15 for taxpayers who claimed certain credits — the Earned Income Tax Credit or an Additional Child Tax Credit.
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Los Angeles Daily News
Preparing to enter the fields of battle, U.S. veterans gathered outside a Paramount Ranch home to Hollywood gunslingers. Only instead of spin-cocking their Winchesters, they drew firehoses as they trained to fight wildfires across the West.
"I think it's an awesome opportunity," said John Patrick, a 38-year-old former Marine from Roseville, California, who was part of the first U.S. invasion force in Iraq in 2003. "It's an opportunity to give back to the community."
He was one of around 50 military veterans and first responders from across California to engage in wildland firefighter training at the historic Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills.
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Military Times
A group of veterans is calling for first lady Melania Trump to weigh in on the unfolding military nude photo sharing scandal, saying it's connected to her stated platform of fighting cyberbullying.
"We are waiting for our first lady to support our women in uniform against continued harassment and cyberbullying," said Navy veteran Trina McDonald, a member of the group Common Defense, which has been critical of President Donald Trump.
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The New York Times
Some of Massachusetts's top politicians said that they would not attend the St. Patrick's Day Parade in South Boston after organizers told a group of gay and transgender military veterans that they would not be allowed to march on March 19 after two years of L.G.B.T. inclusion in the event.
The Governor, Charlie Baker, and the Mayor of Boston, Martin J. Walsh, both announced their decision to skip the parade over its decision to bar the group, OutVets. In a statement, the mayor had encouraged the public to do the same.
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