Some of the 'Services' and 'Programs we have available
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180 W. Idaho Ave, Ontario, Oregon 97914
541-889-1978
The Chairman of Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida, Ronald Verini, writes two articles every month for publication in a Regional Newspaper, this article "NONSENSE AND YOUR HEALTH" will be published MAY 21, 2023. Here is a part of Mr. Verini's article, and you can read the full article by clicking the red bar below.
Nonsense and Your Health
May 21st, 2023 Veterans Column By Ronald Verini
In this crazy world there are times that you need to lighten up to experience and be in the wonderful mindset of nonsense. If you have had the help of the Vet Center or Boise VA and then hit a road block you are now one of us that understands that the gibberish and babble that comes from the constant rhetoric of our government officials, elected or not, that profess that they are the only party or individuals that can help our needs in and after we have served. Amazing that year after year we have heard the same crap out of their mouths and we still elect the same people or others that say the right words but end up with them in lock step with us still jumping through hoops.
Have you thought about taking time for yourself? You are the most important person that I know that can help, especially with the irrational results of the legislature of today. We got some help, in the form of the PACT ACT. This was a bill that was 50 years too late for some of us but is here now to help others. Nice but certainly not enough to relieve the pain of some of us with PTSD or TBI or even a challenge of getting an appointment with a doctor or counselor.
Nonsense is why I am writing this column today and the action that some of us need to take to keep our sanity and improve our health. I have used this form of babble to help me relax and to prevent my head from exploding off my shoulders. Some might even say that this column today is a form of nonsense, and it is. I also know that each of us who have not received that care promised at the VA has to take the bull by the horns and do whatever it takes to keep our sanity and, for me it is to take time for myself or/and engage in some type of tomfoolery that, will, in the end, keep me focused on the mission of getting help for those of us that are still struggling to get the help needed.
You are reading this today and might take a few moments of deep breaths to calm yourself down, that would be good. Think about the good that you have done, even if it was years ago. Know that the feeling of frustration and the thoughts that the VA or other persons have not done right is not the end but the beginning of a process that might secure the help you need. All the bills that have opened up care that you might have not been able to get. Veterans Choice and the VA MISSION Act are a couple that come to mind like the PACT Act are all new ways of getting the care we need.
I don’t know if I mentioned it before but a son of a veteran called me at Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida a while back and was seeking help and I recommended a source that I thought would help. He went to the source and was told that his father did not qualify. That did not deter the son so he researched it himself and, come to find out his father qualified for the care he needed. The son took that information back to the source I gave him and now the father is in the process of applying for the help needed and my source now has the information to help his father and others that will come after. A win-win for everyone because of the perseverance of not taking “NO” for the answer when you feel it is the wrong answer.
. TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE PLEASE CLICK THE RED BAR BELOW
MAY 2023
The Food Pantry at Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida has really expanded and grown over the last few years. There has been such an increase of our Veteran and Military Families needing help to handle the increasing problems of 'food insecurity'. We do have a 'modest' pantry open every Monday and Thursday from 9:00am to 4:00pm. Give a call to 541-889-1978 to let us know you are coming to pick up Food Box. Please let us know how many in your family and about when your coming.
Also, if you are interested in volunteering to help our veterans and the Food Pantry please give us a call or come on in and see what we are doing...
MAY 2023
"Decoration Day" redirects here. For other uses, see Decoration Day (disambiguation) and Memorial Day (disambiguation).Memorial Day
The gravestones at Arlington National Cemeteryare decorated with U.S. flags during Memorial Day weekend of 2008.Official nameMemorial DayObserved byAmericansTypeFederalObservancesU.S. military personnel who died in serviceDateLast Monday in May2023 dateMay 29 FrequencyAnnualFirst timeMay 30, 1868
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day[1]) is a federal holiday in the United States for honoring and mourning the U.S. military personnel who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.[2] It is observed on the last Monday of May. From 1868 to 1970, it was observed on May 30.[3]
Many people visit cemeteries and memorials on Memorial Day to honor and mourn those who died while serving in the U.S. military. Many volunteers place American flags on the graves of military personnel in national cemeteries. Memorial Day is also considered the unofficial beginning of summer in the United States.[4]
The first national observance of Memorial Day occurred on May 30, 1868.[5] Then known as Decoration Day, the holiday was proclaimed by Commander in Chief John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic to honor the Union soldiers who had died in the Civil War.[6] This national observance was preceded by many local ones between the end of the Civil War and Logan's declaration. Many cities and people have claimed to be the first to observe it. However, in 2022, the National Cemetery Administration, a division of the Department of Veterans Affairs, credited Mary Ann Williams with originating the "idea of strewing the graves of Civil War soldiers—Union and Confederate" with flowers.[7]
Official recognition as a holiday spread among the states, beginning with New York in 1873.[8] By 1890, every Union state had adopted it. The world wars turned it into a day of remembrance for all members of the U.S. military who fought and died in service. In 1971, Congress standardized the holiday as "Memorial Day" and changed its observance to the last Monday in May.
Two other days celebrate those who have served or are serving in the U.S. military: Armed Forces Day (which is earlier in May), an unofficial U.S. holiday for honoring those currently serving in the armed forces, and Veterans Day (on November 11), which honors all those who have served in the United States Armed Forces.[9]
Feb. 2023 U.S.Veterans Magazine
This year you may consider utilizing your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits to pursue higher education. As is standard, the bill has changed its coverage to match the average cost of undergraduate education.
Here are the rates for the 2022-2023 school year.
The Basics
The Post-9/11 GI Bill program is comprised of multiple payments. All payments and maximum amounts listed below apply to individuals eligible for the full benefit (100% eligibility tier). The payment and maximum amounts listed will be prorated based on your eligibility percentage if you are not eligible for the full benefit. Other benefits, such as the Yellow Ribbon Program, may help you to cover costs that the Post-9/11 GI Bill does not cover.
Public School
Students attending a public school in their resident state may be eligible to receive full coverage for tuition and fee payments. This rate is not guaranteed for all students and is the maximum amount you can receive. You may also be eligible to receive a monthly housing allowance, funding for books and supplies and a one-time rural benefit.
If you are attending a public institute of higher learning (IHL) as a non-resident student or a private IHL that is more expensive than the annual cap, you may be eligible for extra payment under the Yellow Ribbon Program. You may also qualify for in-state tuition rates if you live in the state where the school is located, regardless of your formal state of residence.
Private, Foreign and Non-College Degree-Granting Institutions
For these learning institutions, coverage will not exceed $26,381.37 per academic year. Students wanting to attend these universities may also qualify for the housing, books and supplies funding and the one-time rural benefit.
Apprenticeships and On-the-Job Training
Funding is also available for those working in an apprenticeship or on-the-job training. The rates are as follows:
You may also be eligible to receive a stipend for books and supplies.
Vocational Flight Schools
The actual net costs are not to exceed $15,075.05 per academic year.
The cap applies to all classes and/or enrollments that begin during that academic year, regardless of the academic year in which the courses or enrollments are completed.
Correspondence Schools
The actual net costs are not to exceed $12,831.78 per academic year.
National Testing Programs/Licensing For more information on your specific coverage, visit benefits.va.gov/GIBILL.
Sources: benefits.va.gov, military.com
January 2023 by Jim Absher Military.com
Everyone knows about the federal benefits available to veterans, but did you know many states also offer great benefits to their veterans? State benefits range from free college and employment resources to free hunting and fishing licenses. Most states also offer tax breaks for their veterans and specialized license plates, and some states even provide their veterans with cash bonuses just for serving in the military.
We have compiled a handy summary of the benefits each state and territory offers. Each summary page also has a link directly to the specific State Department of Veterans Affairs, so be sure to check it out. There may be a benefit available to you or your family that you didn't know about!. To choose your State click on the Red Bar below
AUGUST 2022, By Jim Absher, Military.com
There are potentially hundreds of VA benefits and military benefits available to active duty members, veterans, and their dependents. We know it can be confusing to know exactly what you may be eligible for.
You may have heard from a friend of a friend that her cousin got a free car from the VA, or you may be fed up with trying to navigate all the confusing websites trying to figure out what is real, or you may just be looking for information to help out a family member.
Whatever your situation is, we have compiled an extensive list of all the real and true benefits available for veterans and their families. These benefits can include free medical care, discounted hotel rooms, free hunting and fishing licenses, medical care, job training and more. Check our list of benefits available to you below:
Benefits for the spouse of a veteran
Benefits for the spouse of a disabled veteran
Benefits for the spouse of a retiree
Medically retired veteran benefits
Military benefits are always changing. Keep up with everything from pay to health care by subscribing to Military.com, and get access to up-to-date pay charts and more with all latest benefits delivered straight to your inbox.
Related Topics: Veteran Benefits Family and Spouse Military Retirement
Jorge Otero-Barreto was born in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, in April 1937, to Eloy Otero-Bruno and Crispina Barreto-Torres. He attended primary and secondary school in Vega Baja and was subsequently enrolled in college for three years. Against his mother’s wishes, however, he decided in 1959 to forego his initial goal of attending medical school and instead enlisted in the U.S. Army.
Otero-Barreto completed basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and Jump School at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Notably, he was the first Puerto Rican to attend and graduate from the Army Air Assault School. The year after his graduation, Otero-Barreto married his wife, with whom he later had four children.
Over the next 10 years, Otero-Barreto completed five tours as well as 200 missions in Vietnam. During that time, he served in the 82nd Airborne Division, the 101st Airborne Division, the 25th Infantry and the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. For his service, he earned 38 decorations, which included three Silver Stars, five Air Medals, four Army Commendation Medals, five Purple Hearts, and five Bronze Star Medals with Valor. With these awards, he has been called “the most decorated soldier of the Vietnam War” and “the most decorated Puerto Rican Veteran.”
Despite being injured on five separate occasions while in Vietnam, he “always returned to the battlefield.” He also held his soldiers to a high standard. “He was somebody I immediately trusted,” one of his platoon leaders said. “He was… an extremely professional noncommissioned officer [and] was very mature. He was extremely conscientious.”
Otero-Barreto has also received praise back home, where he is recognized with a song describing him as the “real Rambo,” in reference to the “Rambo” movies. Upon his initial return, however, he encountered protests and struggled with post-traumatic stress, spending 15 days in a hospital. Despite this, he completed his bachelor’s degree and began providing boxing lessons and mentoring students.
We honor his service...
April 2023 by Melissa Chan, NBC News
The Veterans Crisis Line is fielding a record number of cries for help, the Department of Veterans Affairs said, amid increased mental health concerns for post-9/11 veterans and service members.
The suicide hotline received more than 88,000 calls, texts and chats in March — the highest amount of monthly contacts it has ever had, according to new federal data obtained by NBC News.
Last month’s figure is nearly 28% higher than the busiest of any month in the first 10 months of the pandemic and 15% higher than August 2021, when calls surged after Kabul fell to the Taliban.
“We’re on the front end of a mental health tsunami,” said Scott Mann, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who served three tours in Afghanistan.
The number of annual contacts increased 15% from about 775,000 in 2020 to nearly 896,000 in 2022, VA statistics show. There were about 74,000 total contacts in March 2022, nearly 67,000 in March 2021, and roughly 67,500 in March 2020, according to the data.
In a statement, the VA said there is "no particular data that can be pointed to in order to fully explain the increases" but that a combination of factors, including outreach campaigns and the launch of the crisis line’s new 988 phone number, most likely led more people to use the hotline.
"People who are food insecure are making choices on how to spend their last $20 or $50. Usually food is the flexible component, so they apply it to rent."
Photo-elicitation is a research method that combines detailed interviews with photographs taken by study participants. Researchers use it to gain a better understanding of complex topics. Often, the act of taking photographs—in response to questions from the researcher—can summon emotional responses in study participants. It can also help both participants and researchers gain insight into participants’ behaviors.
Dr. Nipa Kamdar is a researcher at the VA Center for Innovations in Quality, Effectiveness and Safety (iQUeSt) in Houston. Her focus is food insecurity in Veterans. In October 2021, Kamdar published a commentary, in Public Health Nursing, on her use of photo-elicitation to study food insecurity in low-income, post 9/11 Veterans.
![[This is a picture of what was] in my fridge when I first started the project. You see [there's] hardly anything in there? And see how small the fridge is?](https://www.research.va.gov/images/research-currents/feb22/mini-fridge-sm.jpg)
"[This is a picture of what was] in my fridge when I first started the project. You see [there's] hardly anything in there? And see how small the fridge is?" (Photo taken by Veteran study participant.)
The article discussed the results of an earlier study by Kamdar and colleagues that used photo-elicitation to better understand food insecurity in a group of post 9/11 Veterans with children. The researchers found that food insecurity in Veterans is highly intertwined with physical and mental health, military culture, and lack of basic resources like housing or transportation.
![We have the G.I. Bill, the Hazelwood Act, and the 'Voca Rehab' [Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment], but right now, I'm just using the G.I. Bill. It's the money from the G.I. Bill that helps us pay bills and stuff.](https://www.research.va.gov/images/research-currents/feb22/GI-bill-sm.jpg)
"We have the G.I. Bill, the Hazelwood Act, and the 'Voca Rehab' [Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment], but right now, I'm just using the G.I. Bill. It's the money from the G.I. Bill that helps us pay bills and stuff." (Photo taken by Veteran study participant.)
Food insecurity is defined as a limited ability to access food, largely due to financial considerations. In the U.S. population, about 10% of adults experience food insecurity, according to a 2020 report by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Veterans have about the same rate of food insecurity as the general population, but differ in their level of food insecurity, according to a 2021 study that looked at working-age Veterans with children. Veterans often experience a greater severity of food insecurity, Kamdar notes. "That severe level means they are cutting down on what they eat, or they are skipping meals."
Those Veterans and Families in the Ontario, Oregon area can reach out to our Food Pantry every Monday through Thursday from 9:30am to 3:30pm.
call 541-889-1978 to come pick up a FOOD BOX.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE FOR US AND OUR GREAT NATION !!!
Janurary 2023, Norah O'Donnell & Alacia Hastey, CBS News
Andrew Myatt was willing to give his life for his country serving in the Army. After 9/11 he was deployed to Iraq, where he performed dangerous missions like searching for improvised explosive devices to disarm and destroy.
But the 24-year Army veteran never thought the greatest risk to his health would show up years later.
Myatt has a rare form of leukemia, which doctors say was most likely caused by exposure to toxins during his deployments. The toxins were from burn pits, which were the main way troops disposed of garbage, often using jet fuel to ignite flames.
"The last thing you're thinking about is, you know that the smoke I walk by or the solvents I put in my vehicle is going to kill me," Myatt said.
He applied for health coverage three times through the Department of Veterans Affairs and was denied each time. For years, that's been the reality of veterans who couldn't prove to the VA that their health conditions were linked to burn pit exposure.
In August, President Biden signed the PACT Act, expanding VA healthcare eligibility for veterans who had toxic exposures during the Vietnam War, Gulf War and post-9/11 wars. The PACT Act takes the burden of proof off veterans, automatically linking asthma, some cancers and other illnesses to burn pit exposure.
An estimated four million veterans who were deployed in the last 30 years were exposed to burn pits, according to VA Secretary Denis McDonough, who is urging veterans who may have been affected to file claims with the department.
Nearly 260,000 claims have been filed and 66,000 benefits issued since the legislation was signed into law, the VA told CBS News. At least 1.4 million veterans have been screened for toxic exposure.
"We've got a long way to go and we won't rest here in this building until we've reached every one of those vets, made sure they know what they qualify for, we get them signed up and we get that process going," McDonough said...
April 2023, Stars and Stripes, by Robert Wysong
AFN Munich studio, Germany, Feb. 23, 1947: Ralph Moffatt, the disc jockey spinning records on AFN Munich’s “Midnight in Munich” show, is surrounded by the records he plays. Moffett would play the tunes in alphabetical order, so one day listeners hear all numbers beginning with S, the next day those with T, and so on, but he admitted he has trouble fitting all the requests into the two-hour, 30-records show. Before being drafted, Moffett spun records for the Minneapolis-St. Paul stations.
April 2022
For all too many veterans, returning from military service means coping with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. But there are things you can do to start feeling better today.
Are you having a hard time readjusting to life out of the military? Are you always on edge, always on the verge of panicking or exploding, or, on the flip side, do you feel emotionally numb and disconnected from your loved ones? Do you believe that you’ll never feel normal again?
For all too many veterans, these are common experiences—lingering symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It’s hard living with untreated PTSD and, with long V.A. wait times, it’s easy to get discouraged. But you can feel better, and you can start today, even while you’re waiting for professional treatment. There are many things you can do to help yourself overcome PTSD and come out the other side even stronger than before.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sometimes known as shell shock or combat stress, occurs after you experience severe trauma or a life-threatening event. It’s normal for your mind and body to be in shock after such an event, but this normal response becomes PTSD when your nervous system gets “stuck.”
Your nervous system has two automatic or reflexive ways of responding to stressful events:
Mobilization, or fight-or-flight, occurs when you need to defend yourself or survive the danger of a combat situation. Your heart pounds faster, your blood pressure rises, and your muscles tighten, increasing your strength and reaction speed. Once the danger has passed, your nervous system calms your body, lowering your heart rate and blood pressure, and winding back down to its normal balance.
Immobilization occurs when you’ve experienced too much stress in a situation and even though the danger has passed, you find yourself “stuck.” Your nervous system is unable to return to its normal state of balance and you’re unable to move on from the event. This is PTSD.
Recovering from PTSD involves transitioning out of the mental and emotional war zone you’re still living in and helping your nervous system become “unstuck.”
April 2023
Bold, black and blazing fast: The North American X-15 was a plane unlike any other. And although it first flew over 60 years ago, it is still the quickest manned aircraft ever to fly.
Shaped more like a bullet than a conventional airplane, the rocket-powered X-15 completed 199 test flights over nine years, starting in 1959. It could reach the edge of space and then glide back down to Earth, capturing data that informed the design and engineering of later American spacecraft, including NASA's space shuttles.
The plane was flown by an elite team of just 12 pilots, including Neil Armstrong, who would go on to lead the moon landing in 1969.
"One of the X-15 pilots, Bill Dana, once told me that it was the big ticket -- the aircraft to fly," said Christian Gelzer, chief historian at NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center, in a phone interview. "It gave you the greatest speed, the greatest excitement, the greatest terror. We haven't built anything since that flies within the atmosphere like the X-15."...
August 2022, by Sarah Sicard, Observation Post
One of the best pieces of advice, for people in careers both in and out of service, is to learn to deal with things or take the bad in stride.
But the military, famed for its ability to turn a phrase or ruin anything with an absurd acronym, came up with its own colloquialism for making the best of any situation: “Embrace the suck.”
Though it’s impossible to trace back the phrase definitively to its first user, it became popularized in 2003 by Marines in Iraq.
Retired U.S. Army Reserve Col. Austin Bay authored a book in the mid-2000s called “Embrace the Suck,” in which he explains the meaning of the phrase.
“The Operation Iraqi Freedom phrase ‘embrace the suck’ is both an implied order and wise advice couched as a vulgar quip,” Bay wrote.
He likens the slang phrase back to legendary military strategist Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz and his views on “friction.”
“Clausewitz went to war when he was 12 years old,” Bay wrote. “Over the last few decades, critics have argued that his treatise ‘On War’ is a bit dated in terms of theory. However, everyone with military experience agrees that Clausewitz understood ‘the suck.’ He called it ‘friction.’”
For Clausewitz, it’s this “friction, or what is so termed here, which makes that which appears easy in war difficult in reality.”
Troops, in their resilience, in effect, mitigate the chasm of difference between training or planning and the often harsh realities they face on the ground. And they do it with aplomb, because they must.
February 2022 by Sarah Sicard, Observation Post
One of my most unpopular opinions is that IPA beers taste a whole lot like pine needles. But when troops fought in both the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, a piney beer was the only thing standing between the Army and a slow painful death by scurvy.
Spruce Beer, made from plentiful spruce trees found in North America, was the only solution to solving soldiers’ scurvy woes.
The disease, most commonly associated with rum-soaked pirates who don’t have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, is caused by vitamin C deficiency and can lead to anemia, oozing sores, tooth loss, and delayed healing processes for injuries — which, if you were a soldier during America’s early conflicts, could most certainly kill you.
An early version of the ale, which doesn’t contain alcohol, was drunk by Vikings, who brewed their beer from Norway spruce shoots, according to the second edition of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America.
Later versions can be traced to New France, now Canada, in the 1700s. Explorer Jacques Cartier and his men reportedly fell victim to scurvy until the Huron taught them to use tree bark to brew teas and concoctions that would keep them healthy. In that same century, Swedish-Finnish botanist Pehr Kalm observed how locals there avoided the scurvy that so affected early settlers, and found that they had employed a beer brewed from spruce branches, a military heritage research site found.
Spruce beer was used during the French and Indian War to give the British an edge. During the war, British Gen. James Murray wrote in a general order that spruce beer be made a ration requirement.
This practice continued into the American Revolution, where the Continental Army was ordered to drink up to a quart of its own funky spruce beer each day.
Ah, super glue — the greatest-of-all-time fast-acting adhesive for all of your stuck-together needs.
Chances are, you have a tube of this in that kitchen drawer, you know, the one with all the takeout menus, rubber bands and random keys to who knows what doors (you should probably clean that out by the way), because it’s an undeniable necessity.
But before it occupied space in our junk drawers, and our hearts, it was accidentally developed for the U.S. military.
Too sticky for Army weapons
In 1942, companies across the country were looking to support the war effort, including the Eastman Kodak Company. One if its inventors, Dr. Harry Wesley Coover, accidentally created a new compound while attempting to make clear plastic gun sights for Allied soldiers.
The compound, cyanoacrylate, was incredibly durable but way too sticky to use. (Imagine getting Krazy Glue anywhere near your eye. No thanks!) So Coover and his team abandoned the substance, not wanting to get stuck, literally or figuratively, on it.
Over a decade later, Coover, who would become known as “Mr. Super Glue,” rediscovered the adhesive compound while researching heat-resistant polymers for jet canopies. Cyanoacrylate adhesives required no heat or pressure to stick items together and hold them permanently. Thus, in 1956, the patent for “Alcohol-Catalyzed Cyanoacrylate Adhesive Compositions/Superglue” was born. How’s that for a name?
Feb. 2023 by Sarah Sicard MilitaryTimes
The Navy may have the most complicated rank structure when it comes to its ratings system, but there is another, much more uncouth method for establishing hierarchy among sailors: Filthy coffee mugs.
It is a commonly-held truth in the seafaring service that one can tell a higher-up from a newbie based on the amount of sludge that lives in the bottom of one’s coffee cup.
So, in the interest of salt, here are some professional tips, from Navy veterans, to get an optimally seasoned mug.
1. Always drink black coffee. Milk or creamer curdles and introduces bacteria into the mix. Sour lactose creates a hostile environment — not ideal for going years without washing your mug.
2. Drink the whole cup of coffee. Don’t leave even a drop behind. You want to season the mug with a faint film, not swigging day-old coffee every morning.
3. For extra flavoring, take the leftover coffee grounds from the filter and let them rest in the cup for a few days before dumping it out. Treat your mug like a cast iron skillet.
4. If you need to, rinse it lightly with just a little water. This is only to be done in cases where the buildup is starting to become untenable.
5. Don’t wash the mug with the soap. Ever. You might be tempted every now and again to give it a good soak. Don’t. You will lose all the flavoring, respect from your near-peers and any chance at an honorable discharge from the U.S. Navy.
April 2021 by Blake Stilwell, Military.com
These days, service members need to be wary of the multitude of online for-profit schools out to get a piece of their coveted Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits. Depending on which “academic institution” is looking to sign them up, the term “Results May Vary” doesn’t come close to describing some of the “schools” out there.
But there are better choices for service members with non-traditional schedules who are looking for a good distance education to prepare them for life after the military. National University was founded by a veteran with similar issues and is today the second-largest nonprofit online school in America.
David Chigos’ transition to civilian life had been rough. As a retiring naval officer in 1967, he tried to enroll in night classes at San Diego State University. The only problem, he said, was that San Diego State didn’t offer night classes, so he was faced with the choice of going to school or working during the day. He knew there were veterans and civilians like him trying to balance both tasks.
In 1971, Chigos was working as a management development specialist for the General Dynamics corporation. The academic system in the U.S. kept many executives from pursuing higher education. So he did what any veteran might consider doing: fixing the problem by creating a college for the “real world” at a fraction of the cost.
“From the trunk of my car,” he founded National University, completely upending the idea of how academic programs were formed, he said. Chigos created academic programs with a no-frills look at the world. National University would offer classes that would lead to education and employment. His first class numbered 27 students....
January 2021 By Harm Venhuizen. MilitaryTimes
When separating from the military, it’s not uncommon for servicemembers to discover gaps between their resume and the civilian job they want.
Worries about putting food on the table can make going back to school, getting on-the-job training, or taking an internship seem like costly ways of filling that gap. Luckily, there’s a way servicemembers can gain the experience required by civilian jobs while still on the military’s payroll.
The DoD SkillBridge Program lets active-duty personnel from all four branches spend the last 180 days of their military service interning at a civilian job with one of more than 500 industry partners.
Participants continue to receive military pay and benefits, whether they’re getting certified by Microsoft in cloud development, learning to weld, or taking advantage of any one of the hundreds of other opportunities available.
As part of the DoD’s requirements, all training programs offer a “high probability of post-service employment with the provider or other employers in a field related to the opportunity,” according to the SkillBridge website.
In his internship with the Global SOF Foundation, retired Navy commander Chuck Neu says he not only tripled the size of his professional network, but also discovered a talent for sales.
“Without that exposure to cold-call sales from doing SkillBridge with the Global SOF Foundation, I likely would have ended up on-base as a contractor or a government civilian, which is really not what I wanted to do,” Neu told Military Times....
For more on this story click the 'Red Bar' below.
August 2021 by Blake Stilwell, Military.com
SkillBridge is one of the most groundbreaking programs the U.S. military ever introduced to help transition service members into civilian life. It allows veterans looking to separate from the military to work in training opportunities, internships and apprenticeships during the last 180 days of their enlistment while still receiving full pay and benefits.
The only problem is that navigating SkillBridge to browse those opportunities is a notoriously difficult task. 50Strong was founded to help bridge the gap between the way the military works and the way the civilian world works, and it starts with an internship tool. Simply click here and scroll down to the middle of the page to start browsing.
0Strong was founded by Kandi Tillman, a former corporate executive whose resume boasts some pretty impressive names, like Oracle, Proctor & Gamble and Standard & Poor. It’s safe to say she knows something about getting a job in the civilian world. When she met her now-husband, Kevin Tillman, he was a veteran struggling to get what he calls "a regular job."
Kandi helped her husband with every aspect of his job search, from resume writing to employer referrals. Eventually, he landed a job at Lockheed Martin. The pair eventually founded 50Strong with the mission of smoothing out the process for any and all veterans.
Their idea is that military norms to which veterans are accustomed often do not make the jump into the ways civilian companies look for and hire talent. 50Strong has developed a twofold approach to facilitating the process of helping veterans understand the way their new world works.
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released in January an updated Department of Defense (DOD) list of locations outside of Vietnam where tactical herbicides were used, tested or stored by the United States military.
“This update was necessary to improve accuracy and communication of information,” said VA Secretary Robert Wilkie. “VA depends on DOD to provide information regarding in-service environmental exposure for disability claims based on exposure to herbicides outside of Vietnam."
DOD conducted a thorough review of research, reports and government publications in response to a November 2018 Government Accountability Office report.
“DOD will continue to be responsive to the needs of our interagency partners in all matters related to taking care of both current and former service members,” said Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper. “The updated list includes Agents Orange, Pink, Green, Purple, Blue and White and other chemicals and will be updated as verifiable information becomes available.”
Veterans who were exposed to Agent Orange or other herbicides during service may be eligible for a variety of VA benefits, including an Agent Orange Registry health exam, health care and disability compensation for diseases associated with exposure. Their dependents and survivors also may be eligible for benefits.
June 2022 by Sarah Sicard, Observation Post
Is there anything sweeter — literally or figuratively — than biting into the plastic-wrapped chemical compound of luxuriously spongey cake with vanilla cream that is a Twinkie?
Perhaps not. But the original Hostess delicacy was once something else entirely. The preservative-filled dessert that many once believed could withstand nuclear war got its start as a banana cream shortcake, until World War II changed everything.
In 1930, a baker named James Dewar began experimenting while serving as manager of Continental Baking Company’s Chicago area plant in River Forest, according to the Chicago Tribune. He wanted to prove that shortbread could serve a purpose outside strawberry shortcake.
“The economy was getting tight, and the company needed to come out with another low-priced item,” he told the paper. “We were already selling these little finger cakes during the strawberry season for shortcake, but the pans we baked them in sat idle except for that six-week season.”
While in St. Louis on a work trip, Dewar saw a billboard for “Twinkle Toe Shoes,” and thus found the name for his compact confections.
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Our phone is 541-889-1978, and we are located in Ontario, Oregon at 180 W. Idaho Ave.