July 23, 2019
Richard Sisk | Military.com
Google has expanded its support for transitioning service members, veterans and military spouses looking to make their mark in the fast-paced and demanding business startup community.
Google for Startups, launched by Google in 2011 as Google for Entrepreneurs, announced Tuesday that it is partnering with two small business-focused veteran nonprofits and shoring up its existing relationship with a third.
July 21, 2019
Peng Chen | VTDigger
In Valerie Pallotta’s eyes, her son, Josh, was always determined to do what he liked, including fighting for his country.
When Josh came home one day in 2009 and told her he was joining the Vermont National Guard, she asked if he realized he would be deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.
“He said ‘I know. That’s why I’m joining’,” Valerie said.
July 20, 2019
Patricia Kime | Military.com
A new report from the Defense Department is likely to revive debate over the prospect of using "means restriction" -- limiting access to firearms -- as a way to reduce the number of suicides among U.S. troops.
According to a DoD report on military suicides in 2017 released Wednesday, two-thirds of suicides among active-duty personnel that year were by firearm, a statistic consistent with the previous five years.
Of the 309 suicides among active-duty troops in 2017, firearms played a role in 202 deaths. Most were privately owned guns, not service weapons.
July 19, 2019
Apoorva Mittal | Military Times
When she left the military in 2005, Jodie M. Grenier went from being on a team of intelligence analysts reporting to then-Marine Corps Gen. Jim Mattis, with a top security clearance, to waiting tables.
“It was frustrating. I had a very purpose-driven job, and when I got out, I went to a community college and waited tables,” Grenier said.
July 17, 2019
Jasper Craven | NY Times
On a sunny October day in 2017, Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, held a meeting in the West Wing to promote an initiative that would pair shelter dogs needing homes with veterans wanting to act on the increasingly widespread notion that well-trained dogs can improve the lives of people suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental-health conditions.
July 16, 2019
Patricia Kime | Military.com
A law signed by President Donald Trump on June 25 to provide compensation to ill veterans who served on Navy ships in Vietnam also made several changes to Department of Veterans Affairs-backed home loans for all eligible veterans.
July 15, 2019
Derrick Rhayn | NPQ
Partnerships are often lauded by nonprofits and funders as a way of maximizing impact, increasing capacity, and making progress on pressing social issues. While some partnerships achieve true impact, many are often surface-level collaborations that never address real transformational change.
July 12, 2019
Nikki Wentling | Stars and Stripes
WASHINGTON — The Department of Veterans Affairs announced its health care facilities will soon be “smoke-free,” though a smoking ban set to take effect Oct. 1 does not apply to employees, the agency clarified Friday.
While veterans, visitors, volunteers, contractors and vendors will be prohibited from smoking on VA grounds, employees will keep their smoking privileges because of a memorandum of understanding between the VA and the American Federation of Government Employees, a federal union that represents VA workers.
July 12, 2019
Lee H | Healio
Among combat-exposed male veterans, trajectories for depression and anxiety decreased until age 60 years before increasing in later life, according to study results.
These findings, published in Psychology and Aging, suggest that combat exposure is a hidden variable for mental health in the aging population, according to the researchers.
July 11, 2019
Karen Jowers | Military Times
About 2.1 million service members are seeing a slight bump in their paycheck, as the monthly premiums for life insurance for themselves and their spouses have decreased, effective July 1.
For those with the maximum $400,000 coverage under the Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance, or SGLI, the premium has decreased by $4 a month, from $29 to $25. Most service members have the maximum coverage.