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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 "HELP ON THE HOMEFRONT" will be published MARCH 12, 2023. Here is a part of Mr. Verini's article, and you can read the full article by clicking the red bar below.
Help on the Homefront
March 12th, 2023 Veterans Column by Ronald Verini
When was the last time you reached out a hand to a family member of a military member deployed? If you are like most civilians, you probably have never even thought about who is in the military, let alone if one of your neighbors is related to a military member deployed. I think that, just like many of our members of Congress, if it doesn’t affect them personally or if the public is not watching what they do they turn a blind eye to the needs of military family members or even the veteran or military member. I do want to mention to our community at this point in the article, that we have had some real acts of kindness and generosity by some that have stepped up to help our military, and National Guard families. Also help for some of the veterans that have found themselves in need and a few that are on our streets without shelter. Some in our community have been a great support to many of our military and veterans in need. I certainly appreciate the ones that have made the effort to reach out and help.
I write this today because a family came in the other day and needed much more than we were able to help. It would have stretched us to the limit financially and prevented us from helping others in need. So, we had to send them to numerous other agencies to get help. I felt good that we had a list of others that could pick up the slack and they eventually got the help they needed but had to jump through many hoops to get it done. The veteran had PTSD and the wife was frustrated and the children were a little stressed, so it also had an effect on me and I wondered why more in our community did not step up and help so that is why this column got written the way it did. Trust me, we have been blessed with the help that has come to us from our neighbors and friends in the community through the year and especially the Holidays.
A lot of good caring folks that help tremendously and the need is so big that I am asking for you to step up and join in the challenge of helping to support the men and women and their families that have given much to keep us free and safe.
Think about the unique issues that military families face. Mission assignments changing at any time. Families separated from deployed member while he/she might be fighting and the possibility of being killed or killing someone else in battle. Housing issues due to families being uprooted and kids going to different schools. Or how about each branch of service having all its rules to follow and the complexity of trying to follow the rules of each community that they happen to be in. So, with all this going on the need for child care, taking care of the home, transportation and fixing toilets, broken pipes or cutting lawns or anything else that a regular family goes through without the issues of military life up front and center. . TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE PLEASE CLICK THE RED BAR BELOW
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Print this Page Share by EmailWashington, January 10, 2023 | Kathleen McCarthySubcommittees: Full CommitteeToday, Rep. Mike Bost (R-Ill.), the 117th Congress Ranking Member of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, released the following statement after he was confirmed by the Republican conference to serve as the 15th Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs for the 118th Congress.
“It is a deep honor to be selected by my colleagues to lead the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs for the 118th Congress. We’ve made great progress for veterans and their families over the past few years to put them first and renew trust in the Department. As Chairman, I plan to build on the bipartisan successes of those who came before me. In order to do that, we need to hold the Biden administration accountable and restore regular order. This will help us bring VA into the 21st century with commonsense legislation and oversight for the next generation of warfighters, without leaving behind today’s veterans,” said Chairman Bost. “Growing up in a military family and then enlisting in the Marine Corps myself, the mission of our Committee has always been personal for me. Serving as Chairman is a responsibility I do not take lightly, and I promise I will not let my veteran community down. Let’s get to work.”
Chairman Bost’s first action is requesting key oversight documents from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), read the letter he sent to VA Secretary McDonough this morning here...
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
MARCH 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...
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
March 2023 by Tara Copp, AP MilitaryTimes
Editor’s note: This story has been updated to correct that Col. Jim Seward is not retired and is the director of the commission.
Two former Iraq and Afghanistan War-era defense secretaries are recommending that the government consider new ways to ensure that military service is taken into account when courts prosecute former service members.
The Veterans Justice Commission, led by onetime Pentagon chiefs Chuck Hagel and Leon Panetta, offered that guidance after reports that a concerning number of veterans have been convicted of crimes since leaving military service.
The commission was tasked with examining the extent to which veterans are getting in trouble with the law, whether they are receiving appropriate transitional assistance when they no longer are in the armed services and how they are treated once they enter the criminal justice system.
Both Hagel and Panetta led the Defense Department during the Iraq War, which marks its 20th anniversary this month, and the Afghanistan War, which ended abruptly in 2021 when U.S. forces withdrew from Kabul.
Hagel, a Vietnam veteran, said many of the stressors his generation faced are similar to those for this new generation of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, except that the United States had never been in a 20-year long conflict and there were unprecedented demands that the multiple, prolonged deployments put on the relatively small pool of people who serve.
While most veterans transition into civilian life without incident, the commission found that as many as 1 in 3 of the nation’s 19 million military veterans have reported being arrested at least once in their lifetime, and that about 181,500 veterans are incarcerated and make up about 8 percent of the state prison population and 5 percent of the federal prison population.
For comparison, less than 1 percent of all U.S. adults volunteer to serve, according to the Pew Research Center.
March 2023 - U.S.Veterans Magazine
I've always known that I wanted to be a reporter. I started watching the news around 10th grade, and I was a big fan of WNBC. I learned that you could make so much of an impact on people’s lives as a reporter, and that really motivated me.
So, as soon as I got to college, I declared my major as broadcast journalism. While I was still in undergrad, 9/11 happened. As a native New Yorker, I wanted to do something for my country; I wanted to be a part of something bigger, and I was drawn to the military.
I initially planned to join the Marines, but I ran into an Army recruiter before my decision was final, and they were able to offer me a schedule that worked better for pursuing my education and military service at the same time. I started as an enlisted soldier; then, after completing basic training and receiving my master’s degree in mass communication and media studies, I was commissioned and became a public affairs officer. I started out as a private; now, I’m a major in the Army Reserve.
I moved my way up the ranks while moving around the country: in South Carolina, I worked as an assignment editor for WIS-TV; in Kansas, as a television news reporter for WIBW-TV; in Missouri, as an anchor for KMBC; in Washington, D.C., as a multi-platform reporter for ABC.
During that time, I remained in the Reserve, reporting to units that corresponded with each new location, participating in training exercises and taking military courses. In 2008, while I was in Kansas, I deployed to Baghdad for the first time for a year, serving as a historical ambassador at Camp Slayer in Victory Base Complex...
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...
Feb. 2023 by Konstantin Toropin, Military.com
When Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy James Honea took office last September, he promised to focus on the needs of sailors and their families.
Sailors immediately voiced skepticism online.
"The man has been a Master Chief longer than I've been in the Navy, and joined the Navy before I was born," one person wrote on the service's Reddit page. "This man has no idea what issues his junior enlisted face."
Others comments were more colorful and in keeping with the Navy's tradition of rough-talking sailors.
But Honea, the service's top enlisted leader, and his small team of chief petty officers have taken to using the same online forums that pilloried his early comments to reach out to sailors and offer fixes.
When one sailor posted images of a moldy and cockroach-infested barracks room in mid-January, the team from Honea's office reached out to the sailor to offer help and said thatHonea had "contacted leadership to discuss this situation," adding that "he was very disappointed with what was depicted."
They've worked on the backlogs of discharge documents -- an issue that has been plaguing sailors for months -- among other problems that have been looming over service chatrooms for years.
Honea and his staff, in interviews with Military.com earlier this month, said they are keen on delivering a message: They are here to listen and help when they can.
"I don't want to walk out of there and they go, 'Ah, that guy just flaps his.... . Email us, we'll help you solve these problems," Honea said. "I didn't want them to think that our words were platitudes."
During an interview ostensibly about Honea's efforts for sailors, he let his staff -- most of whom are seasoned master chief and senior chief petty officers -- do the majority of the talking while he stood in the back, leaning on his desk next to a table littered with challenge coins.
Nary a soul has been stationed at a military base or made it through four years of college without stumbling one drunk Saturday night into the 24-hour greasy spoon chain known lovingly as “Waffle House.”
With more than 2,000 locations across 25 states, it’s safe to say that the humble breakfast haunt is really more of an empire than a mom-and-pop shop. But it wasn’t always that way. The first Waffle House was actually opened by two veteran neighbors in the small town of Avondale Estates, Two World War II veterans opened the first Waffle House in 1955. (Sarah Sicard/Waffle House via Canva)
Georgia, in 1955. “Tom Forkner joined the military and served in military intelligence and security based out of Oak Ridge, TN,” according to Njeri Boss, Waffle House’s vice president of public relations.
Drafted into the Army in 1941, he covertly worked to transport valuable products from a “Tennessee facility to Los Alamos,” according to the Atomic Heritage Foundation. He eventually was sent to work on the infamous Manhattan Project, where he served until heading home and taking his place with his family’s real estate business.
His eventual partner, Joe Rogers Sr., enlisted with the Army Air Corps at age 16...
"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 & Thursday from 9:00am to 4:00pm.
call 541-889-1978 to come pick up a FOOD BOX
Here are some Pics from All Branches of the Military Service
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 2022
This is a National Directory for resources that you as a Veteran, Military, Family member, Caregiver might need to assist you and help you with your needs.
https://nrd.gov/Homeless-Assistance
https://nrd.gov/Education-Training
https://nrd.gov/Family-Caregiver-Support
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.
NEED HELP!!!! PLEASE!!! The Covid-19 pandemic has left many local Veterans and their families in need. If you are fortunate to not need your stimulus money or part of it, please think about donating it to Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida. As a non-profit your donation would be tax deductible. Please call me, Thank You.....
Ron Verini - Chairman 541-709-8373
We thank all the Supporters, Businesses and Friends for giving their time and resources in helping and caring for our Veterans, Military and First Responders and their Families.
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Our phone is 541-889-1978, and we are located in Ontario, Oregon at 180 W. Idaho Ave.