President Barack Obama today signed the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act, which increases active-duty and reserve pay by 1.6 percent and governs Defense Department activities, from procurement to military personnel policy.

Several provisions in this year’s act will potentially affect active-duty and retired service members and their families.

Section 347 requires DOD to finance an independent assessment of overseas troop basing, advising retention, closure, realignment or establishment of U.S. military facilities outside the United States “in light of potential fiscal constraints on [DOD] and emerging national security requirements in coming years.”

Section 402 reduces authorized Army minimum end strength from 562,000 to 547,000. The other services’ authorized minimum strengths are unchanged, with 325,700 for the Navy, 202,100 for the Marine Corps and 332,800 for the Air Force.

Section 512 of the act creates a new member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, which currently includes the Army and Air Force chiefs of staff, the chief of naval operations and the Marine Corps commandant. The new member will be the chief of the National Guard Bureau, who will have responsibility for “addressing matters involving non-federalized National Guard forces in support of homeland defense and civil support missions.”

Section 526 extends voluntary separation pay and benefits authority, formerly set to expire Dec. 31, to the end of 2018. Section 530 converts the high-deployment allowance from mandatory to authorized. The allowance currently pays $100 a day, in addition to all other pay and allowances, to a deployed service member who has been deployed 401 days or more out of the preceding 730 days.

Section 701 limits annual Tricare enrollment fee increases for retirees and their family members to an amount equal to the percentage by which retired pay increases that year.

Section 702 sets mental health assessment requirements for service members deployed for contingency operations. The act calls for a series of assessments: one within 120 days before deployment; another during the period between 90 days after a deployment begins and 180 days after it ends; a third within a year after the deployment ends; and a fourth between 18 months and 30 months of redeployment.

The act states assessments are intended to “identify post-traumatic stress disorder, suicidal tendencies, and other behavioral health conditions … in order to determine which such members are in need of additional care and treatment for such health conditions.”

Assessments are not required for service members “not subjected or exposed to operational risk factors during deployment in the contingency operation concerned,” the act states.

Section 954 affirms that DOD “has the capability, and upon direction by the president may conduct offensive operations in cyberspace to defend our nation, allies and interests,” subject to the law of armed conflict and the War Powers Resolution.

Signing the bill into law today, President Barack Obama acknowledging “serious reservations” about parts of the act, particularly provisions that regulate the detention, interrogation, and prosecution of suspected terrorists.

“I have signed the act chiefly because it authorizes funding for the defense of the United States and its interests abroad, crucial services for service members and their families and vital national security programs that must be renewed,” Obama said in a statement released today.

The act also contains critical initiatives to control spiraling health-care costs within the Defense Department, develop counterterrorism initiatives abroad, build the security capacity of key partners, modernize the force and boost the efficiency and effectiveness of military operations worldwide, he noted.

Veterans of the Persian Gulf War with undiagnosed illnesses have an additional five years to qualify for benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“Not all the wounds of war are fully understood,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “When there is uncertainty about the connection between a medical problem and military service, veterans are entitled to the benefit of the doubt.”

A recent change in VA regulations affects veterans of the conflict in Southwest Asia. Many have attributed a range of undiagnosed or poorly understood medical problems to their military services. Chemical weapons, environmental hazards and vaccinations are among the possible causes.

For VA benefit purposes, Gulf War Veterans are defined as those who served on active duty in the Southwest Asia theater of military operations any time during the first Gulf War starting Aug. 2, 1990, through the Iraq War and subsequent reduced operations in Iraq. Military operations include Desert Shield, Desert Storm, Iraqi Freedom, and New Dawn.

At issue is the eligibility of veterans to claim VA disability compensation based upon those undiagnosed illnesses, and the ability of survivors to qualify for VA’s Dependency and Indemnity Compensation.

Under long-standing VA rules, any undiagnosed illnesses used to establish eligibility for VA benefits must become apparent by Dec. 31, 2011. The new change pushes the date back to Dec. 31, 2016.

Picked this story up from a UK Website.

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To the troops they are a somber reminder of those who did not make it home, but for their superiors the ‘Killed in Action’ bracelets have been little more than ‘unauthorised jewelry’ – and have to be removed.

Marines have reacted with fury to orders that they remove their memorial wristbands with names of fallen colleagues etched onto them.

Now the commandant of the Marine Corps is changing the rule that bans troops from wearing bracelets commemorating friends killed in action.

Marines were upset after being told by superiors that memorial bracelets like this worn to honor fallen soldiers are unauthorized jewelry and should be removed

Marine Corps spokesman Capt. Gregory Wolf says that Marine Gen. James Amos will announce that Marines can wear the KIA bracelets, usually thin rubber or metal bands bearing the names of the fallen.

Until now the soldiers have been told that the pieces of metal breach the dress code and that they must be taken off.

In letters to soldiers’ magazine Marine Corps Times they revealed that signs of have been put up  telling them to take them off – but they refused, risking punishment or withdrawal or privileges.

The ban is despite the fact that even President Barack Obama wears one on his arm in tribute to a dead soldier.

One soldier wrote: ‘They will have to pry it off my cold dead wrist to take it away from me. Don’t let them take yours away’.

The row relates to KIA bracelets, which are worn around the wrist and contain the name of the person who has been killed, the date it happened and a tribute.

Obama, here in 2008, has worn a KIA bracelet given to him by Tracy Jopek. Her son, Sgt. Ryan David Jopek, 20, was killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb on August 2 2006. The bracelet includes the caption: ‘All gave some, He gave all’.

The Marine Corps rules did not specifically address them meaning that in some barracks senior officers have been telling their troops to take them off.

Complicating matters is that the rules allow a few exceptions such as a ring, necklaces, simple earrings for women and a watch.

Cpl. Jack Lipoff, a rifleman with 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines in at Camp Lejeune, refuses to remove his bracelet

Among those who have refused to take off their bracelets is Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Sergio Sanchez, who is assigned to the naval hospital at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, California.

He had been asked to take off his bracelet which was a tribute to his friend Cpl. Mark Goyet, who was killed in Afghanistan in June.

Six other marines have also continued to wear theirs, even though it is a breach of the rules.

Corp. Sanchez said: ‘One of the sergeants in my company said it wasn’t authorised and asked me to take it off.

‘I kind of got upset and said something – stuff that I should not have said – but afterwards, I still did not take it off.

‘If they make me take it off, I’ll probably just get it tattooed on my wrist. That is how adamant I am about making sure my buddy’s honor will live in my heart, my spirit and my mind – forever.’

Another who has continued to wear his bracelet despite being told not to is Cpl. Jack Lipoff, a rifleman with 3rd Battalion, 6th Marines in At Camp Lejeune, N.C.

He said the ban was introduced after they returned in August last year from a gruelling seven month rough deployment to Afghanistan.

He said: ‘It wasn’t harshly enforced … but it was still something that you couldn’t wear.

‘A lot of people were pretty offended by that since we had just lost some guys. We took a lot of casualties.

One solider, not pictured, wrote, ‘They will have to pry it off my cold dead wrist to take it away from me. Don’t let them take yours away’

‘It is probably one of the most pivotal things ever to happen in your life – going to combat – and not everyone came back from it. And you won’t forget them.

‘You want other people to understand they mean a lot to you. A huge part of being a Marine is also remembering people who don’t survive combat.’

The wristband worn by Mr Obama was given to him by Tracy Jopek of Merrill, Wis., during his run for President.

Engraved into the metal is the name of her son, Sgt. Ryan David Jopek, the date the 20-year-old was killed in Iraq by a roadside bomb – August 2 2006 – and the caption: ‘All gave some, He gave all’.

A spokesman for Sgt. Maj. Mike Barrett, the Army’s top non-commissioned officer said that following the uproar he was looking into the issue of KIA bracelets.

A community salutes 1st Lt. Ashley White Stumpf, who died in Afghanistan

Published: Tuesday, November 01, 2011, 7:32 AM     Updated: Tuesday, November 01, 2011, 7:45 AM

 By Brian Albrecht 
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EnlargeChuck Crow, The Plain DealerThe coffin of Army 1st Lt. Ashley White Stumpf is carried out of St. Joseph Catholic Church with her mother, Deborah White (red dress), and Ashley’s husband Army Capt. Jason Stumpf (in back right, red cap), in RandolphTownship, Ohio on Oct. 31, 2011.Funeral for 1st Lt. Ashley White Stumpf gallery (11 photos)

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MOGADORE, Ohio — They brought covered dishes and cookies with Halloween-orange frosting. It’s how the folks in this rural corner of Portage County say goodbye. 

Monday, they also lined both sides of the street in front of St. Joseph Catholic Church in Randolph Township, waving small American flags; hands covering hearts or mashing tear-crumpled tissues, old veterans giving a trembling salute as the hearse bearing Army 1st Lt. Ashley White Stumpfrolled by. (See earlier version of story.) 

Apron-clad women of the St. Joseph funeral luncheon committee hurried out of the kitchen at the Knights of Columbus hall where a post-funeral fete was set, to catch a glimpse as the procession came to the same church where Stumpf had just gotten married last May.

The fallen soldier was one of their own, and “we take care of each other,” said Joanne Krantz, committee chairperson. This was the group’s first military funeral. She hoped it would be their last.

Stumpf, 24, a native of Alliance, was killed Oct. 22 by an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan where she was serving as a member of a cultural support team working with a Joint Special Operations Task Force. The 2009 graduate of Kent State University was one of 135 women of the 6,230 U.S. troops who have died during the war in Afghanistan or Iraq.

A statement issued by the familysaid, in part, that Stumpf “died doing what she loved and knowing she was making a difference in the lives of countless Afghani women and children.

“Our family is overflowing with pride. Pride at the person Ashley was. Pride at the endeavors she chose to pursue, and pride in the service she gave to our country.”

Her military role was frequently cited during the church service.

“She was not just accepted by the Rangers she worked with, but loved, admired and respected,” said Col. Mark O’Donnell, deputy commander of the 75th Ranger Regiment, a unit Stumpf served with on her first combat tour.

After citing Winston Churchill’s quote that “never have so many owed so much to so few,” O’Donnell noted, “Ashley was frequently the only female on the objective. Think about the great courage that took.”

View full sizeAPFirst Lt. Ashley White Stumpf.

The officer in charge of her unit cited Stumpf’s “rare combination of courage, compassion and commitment to each mission.”

Yet there was another side of the soldier that was also commended by family and friends.

One childhood friend recalled Stumpf’s advice on everything from makeup to grilled cheese sandwiches, citing Stumpf’s “unselfish attitude and passion for life that inspired everyone who knew her.

“In the short amount of time that God gave her, she was able to touch thousands of people,” she added.

Stumpf’s brother, Josh White, said his sister “took great pride in the sacrifice that she and her husband Jason [an Army captain] made to help make this world a safe place.”

Dear Friends, As I write to you at this very moment, there are still more than 100,000 American troops in Afghanistan. Another 100,000+ are deployed in foreign countries and on ships at sea — an American ”911 Force” ready to respond at a moment’s notice to terrorist attacks, hostile enemy aggression or natural disasters. We must not forget our courageous heroes.  200,000-plus brave service men and women are away from their families, away from home and in continual danger. THEY ASK FOR NOTHING. BUT THEY DESERVE OUR THANKS. Operation Gratitude sends up to 150,000 care packages per year to those deployed in harm’s way, to their children left behind and to wounded warriors recovering in transition units. Each care package is priceless in its impact, but costs $15 to send. We need your help. With the rush of the holidays it’s easy to forget that our Military’s sacrifices continue. Let them know you remember. Let them know you care. Please send a donation and give an American Hero a hug from home for the Holidays. Read how your efforts are making a difference in “Letters From the Troops” on our website, and then…                                                     Let them know you remember. It only takes a moment to make a difference that will last a lifetime.  Thank you for your generous support this holiday season!

Please Help Feed A Veteran! Just $10 will pay for five meals.

When our Veterans Winter Shelter opened yesterday morning it was 37 degrees.  There were already about 100 homeless vets waiting to get in.  They were served a hot breakfast.

We will feed them 3 hot meals a day, but we need your help.  We have the money to provide 2 meals/day.  $10 buys 5 meals.

Most nights we will be at our capacity of 150 male veterans and stay there until we close April 6, 2012.

Watch this short video on YouTube from early yesterday morning.

For more information go to our Website

DONATE ONLINE
.
Thank you and Happy Holidays.

Phil Landis
President/CEO
Veterans Village of San Diego
Non-profit EIN 95-3649525

The Marine Corps has ended its controversial ban on bracelets honoring U.S. troops killed in combat.

Until Tuesday, bracelets honoring U.S. troops killed in combat were considered unauthorized jewelry according to Marine Corps uniform orders.

Commandant Gen. Jim Amos announced Tuesday that Marines in uniform are now authorized to wear so-called killed-in-action bracelets recognizing friends who’ve fallen in combat or died from wounds sustained on the battlefield. The policy is effective immediately.

Marines frustrated by ban on memorial bracelets
Additional guidance detailing “standardization and uniformity” will be sent to Marines by the end of the week, the Marine Corps said in a statement.
“We are acknowledging the close, personal nature of our 10 years at war and the strong bonds of fidelity that Marines have for one another, especially for those fellow Marines who we have lost,” Amos said in a statement.
Marine Corps Times first reported last week that commanders had begun cracking down on Marines who wear the bracelets, which until now were considered unauthorized jewelry under the service’s stringent uniform regulations. However, enforcement was spotty and the uproar from Marines of all ranks was extremely vocal.
The commandant was swayed, in part, after a recommendation was made to him last week during a meeting of the service’s senior general officers, Marine officials said in the statement. A visit Monday to the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., apparently sealed the deal.
There, Amos and his top enlisted adviser, Sgt. Maj. Mike Barrett, welcomed home members of 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines, from a seven-month deployment to Afghanistan’s northern Helmand province. The infantry unit saw intense combat in the Upper Gereshk Valley and Nahr-e Saraj district, areas just south of volatile Sangin district. Five members of the battalion died as a result of the violence there.
While at Twentynine Palms, the commandant observed several Marines wearing KIA bracelets, said a Marine official who asked not to be named because he is not authorized to discuss the visit. Amos inquired about their significance and received positive feedback, the official said.
KIA bracelets worn by Marines vary in design. Some are made of rubber, but most are metal.
They’re nearly identical to bracelets commemorating prisoners of war and troops missing in action. POW/MIA bracelets have been authorized under the Marine Corps’ uniform regulations dating to the Vietnam War. More than 82,000 U.S. troops are still unaccounted for going back to World War II.
Unlike past conflicts, wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have not produced the same numbers of POW and MIA cases. Today, there are just two U.S. troops listed as missing or captured in action in Afghanistan or Iraq: Army Staff Sgt. Ahmed K. Altaie and Army Sgt. Bowe R. Bergdahl.
Marines are still authorized to wear POW/MIA bracelets, Marine officials said.

This is why we do this. We get to send big checks to fantastic non profit organizations that are doing great things for our Heroes and their families. Some of these organization are small, volunteer run and doing really amazing things. The money we’re able to send them has genuinely dramatic effect on the work they are able to do.

These groups are supporting and helping the families left behind. They’re helping with the effects of combat wounds and PTSD. They’re sending our troops in the field great packages that tell them we’re thinking about them all the time. They are offering support to mothers who have lost their son’s and daughters in battle.

We can’t say enough about all these wonderful people and the great works we’re doing. We’re so proud to be able to support their work with every single HeroBracelet shipped. Thank you for supporting this project, and in turn, for supporting all our Military and the families they leave behind.

HeroBracelets.org

“HAPPY 4th! Love ya!

P.S. Half way through the deployment– can’t wait to see all of your faces”…..those were the final words from my son’s last letter home in 2006. Navy SEAL Marc Alan Lee was killed weeks later on Aug 2 as he made the choice 3 different times on his final day to expose himself to enemy fire to defend his teammates and the freedoms that we as Americans celebrate this weekend. He gave the gift of life to his buddies, and the gift of his buddies to me.

I write this as I prepare for the wedding in Texas this evening of one of my “adopted” boys, Marc’s Lieutenant who celebrates with the love of his life. If it wouldn’t have been for Marc and his heroic actions they wouldn’t have met. Long story for another time, Congratulations Leif and Jenna!

I am so blessed to be part of the Naval Special Warfare Family. The character of the men who serve as SEALs and go above and beyond is absolutely amazing! The courage and sacrifice that they make for the freedoms that we take for granted every day is overwhelming!!

It isn’t just the Navy SEALs who sacrifice and give exceptionally so that we as Americans can celebrate the great country that we live in and the Independence that brings us to the Bar-b-ques and fireworks on the 4th. As a Nation we must remember that Freedom isn’t free!

It is every American who has served from different wars, different nationalities and backgrounds who have fought, bled and many have died for those freedoms. It is our Air Force, Army, Navy and Marines whose character steps up setting aside their wants, desires and needs to defend your right to have yours.

It is every Mother whose son’s name is on a memorial wall somewhere across America. I stopped at the Alamo yesterday and held back the tears as I read each name on that wall knowing that another Mother, in a different century, shared the same grief and burden of losing a son as I have.

As I drove back to my hotel I passed Brook Army Medical Center and was drawn to stop and visit the wounded warriors there. I have visited Walter Reed, Bethesda and Balboa Medical Centers on numerous occasions when I was in DC or San Diego, but never had been in the San Antonio area to visit our wounded warriors there.

I prepared myself to enter each room sterilizing my hands and putting on the yellow surgical robes and gloves in the outer room before entering each warriors room. You never know the condition of the hero you will find laying in the bed when you enter the room and you try to prepare yourself mentally to hold back the emotions and shock of the devastation. As I walk in I try not to focus on the injuries but look into their eyes and communicate to them the love and appreciation for their sacrifice. Several of the wounded I visited were missing both legs from the hips down, others were severally burned. I give each one of them a thank you card and Marc’s hero card, chatting with them I challenge them, thank them and give them hope. These are America’s Mighty Warriors who have sacrificed greatly for our nation.

So as you celebrate this weekend our freedoms, our independence, the privilege we have to be Americans remember……remember American Exceptionalism…….remember our founding Fathers and the vision they had…..remember our troops who have fought for our freedoms….remember the cost of those freedoms……remember Freedom isn’t Free……remember as Marc said in his last letter home……”I find that being here makes me realize the great country we have and the obligation we have to keep it that way!”

Marc successfully completed his deployment and has been redeployed to Heaven, however we are still just halfway through our deployments here and we each have something to do to successfully complete our mission and keep our country free. I trust you are doing your part, we have an obligation to our fallen, our wounded warriors and their families.

God bless you..God bless our troops…God bless America! Happy 4th of July!

Debbie Lee

You can read Marc’s last letter at www.americasmightywarriors.org under the tab “Glory letter.

RI4GI’s is a nonprofit Rhode Island based organization dedicated to
supporting disabled and needy veterans in Rhode Island . The
organization is registered with the Town of West Warwick as a
nonprofit group. Our IRS EIN is 27-1957088.
http://ri4gis.blogspot.com/ .

On June 26, 2011 we are holding our second annual bike (motorcycle)
run. Proceeds from this event will be donated to Operation Stand Down
RI. http://www.osdri.com

Anything  the  Hero Bracelets could donate  will be much appreciated
and will assist our veterans in need tremendously.

If there are any questions regarding this request, I can be reached at
ri4gis@yahoo.com or at 401-529-4709.

Thank you in advance for considering this request.

Sincerely,
Frank Marabello
RI4GI’s Chairman