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Task & Purpose
Between military readiness, ongoing problems with the Department of Veterans Affairs and the growing threats to national security, President-elect Donald Trump will have to address a number of issues impacting the military and veterans upon taking the oath of office. He has already promised to end the automatic budget cuts known as sequestration, improve the United States' cybersecurity capabilities, and fix wait times for veterans seeking care at the VA. However, we wanted to know what the people who make up the military and veterans communities see as the most important issues the next president will need to address. We posed this question before the election and now present 30 responses in no particular order. Here's what they said.
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Veterans Association of America wants to know...
Do you think President-elect Trump will help the needs of our military veterans??
- Yes, I believe he will.
- No, I really think it'll be worse.
- I'm not really sure what he's going to do.
- I believe we should wait and give him a chance to clarify himself.
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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Task & Purpose
A first-of-its-kind program now in place in Connecticut will help veterans who have post-traumatic stress disorder appeal their "bad paper" discharges and connect them with people who can help them through that process. The program is a collaborative effort between the Connecticut Department of Veterans Affairs, Vietnam Veterans of America and the Veterans Legal Services Clinic at Yale Law School to actively seek out Connecticut veterans with service-connected PTSD and less-than-honorable discharges, and notify them of new opportunities to upgrade their discharge status.
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Task & Purpose
The number of veterans serving in Congress is set to increase in 2017. There's no question that the military molds ordinary citizens into incredible leaders, and it appears the rest of the country has begun to recognize that, too. At least 27 post-9/11 veterans won congressional races on Nov. 8, while the current Congress includes 26 veterans.
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Four month average turn around with the VA’s Pension with Aid and Attendance
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Military Times
Veteran-owned small businesses have always been a pillar of America's economy, but they are in a generational decline.
More than 1.1 million veteran business owners are over the age of 65, and in 2014, only 4.5 percent of Post-9/11 veterans started a business, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. When considering that nearly half of World War II veterans and 40 percent of Korean War veterans started businesses, the differences are stark.
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Military.com
When the California National Guard desperately needed interpreters to accompany troops headed to Iraq and Afghanistan, it promised enlistment bonuses of up to $20,000 each to dozens of Arabic, Dari and Pashto speakers. The Pentagon's need for crucial language skills on the battlefield was so great that some interpreters were put in uniform even though they were too old or had health problems that might have disqualified them from military service. That relaxing of the rules has come back to haunt them.
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Military Times
Defense officials expect to make a decision on expanding military exchange online shopping benefits to all honorably discharged veterans by mid-December, according to a source familiar with discussions. If that happens, officials could notify Congress of the decision and, if there aren't objections within 30 days, it could be final before the new administration takes over in January. That also could put exchange officials on track to launch the benefit, if approved, by Veterans Day 2017.
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Military Times
The number of veterans in Congress will increase slightly next year, but the number of veterans working as congressional staff has remained alarmingly low in recent years, according to new findings from one advocacy group.
Officials from HillVets — a bipartisan networking group of Capitol Hill staffers with military experience — are pushing every lawmaker to add at least one veteran to their policy staff in coming months, noting that less than 1 percent of those key posts are held by veterans today.
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By Bob Kowalski
 When they're doing their job well, you shouldn't notice them. Recently, though, game officials are barely visible because they're in short supply. High school sporting events across the country are suffering from a dwindling corps of game officials across nearly all sports and seasons. In some areas, subvarsity schedules are being shortened or canceled. In many places, varsity games are spread to other nights in order to allow for enough officials.
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People Politics
Recently, the duo hosted their final event for their Joining Forces initiative for military families. Obama promised that she and Biden will continue working on the initiative "for the rest of our lives" and said she's hopeful the next administration will continue their efforts. "Because this issue has nothing to do with whether you are a Democrat, a Republican or an independent," she said. "It's about supporting our American heroes. And it's about standing up for who we are as a nation."
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The Huffington Post
For many, this Veterans Day comes with a little extra heaviness. Just days ago, our country elected a new president who has insulted decorated war veterans and suggested that post-traumatic stress disorder is a sign of weakness. Unfortunately, PTSD myths and stereotypes like this are all too common. An estimated 8 million Americans — and up to 31 percent of Vietnam War veterans and 20 percent of Iraq veterans — suffer from PTSD, and rates of the disorder in the U.S. are now higher than ever. But still, the disorder is poorly understood, stigmatized and often misrepresented, and the negative connotations surrounding PTSD are a major part of what keeps many veterans from seeking help. Increasing understanding around the disorder can only help more veterans to seek help and get better treatment.
In honor of Veterans Day, here are five things vets wish others knew about PTSD.
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