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MT Congress Pentagon
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[l] at 9/14/24 9:00am
Nearly $6 billion in U.S. funding for aid to Ukraine will expire at the end of the month unless Congress acts to extend the Pentagon’s authority to send weapons from its stockpile to Kyiv, according to U.S. officials.U.S. officials said the Biden administration has asked Congress to include the funding authority in any continuing resolution lawmakers may manage to pass before the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30 in order to fund the federal government and prevent a shutdown. Officials said they hope to have the authority extended for another year.They also said the Defense Department is looking into other options if that effort fails.US to send $125 million in new military aid to Ukraine, officials sayThe officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the funding talks, did not provide details on the options. But they said about $5.8 billion in presidential drawdown authority, or PDA, will expire. Another $100 million in PDA does not expire at the end of the month, the officials said. The PDA allows the Pentagon to take weapons off the shelves and send them quickly to Ukraine.They said there is a little more than $4 billion available in longer-term funding through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative that will not expire at the end of the month. That money, which expires Sept. 30, 2025, is used to pay for weapons contracts that would not be delivered for a year or more.Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Thursday that as the Defense Department comptroller provides options to senior defense and military service leaders, they will look at ways they can tap the PDA and USAI funding.He said it could be important to Ukraine as it prepares for the winter fight.“One of the areas that we could do work with them on … is air defense capabilities and the ability to defend their critical infrastructure,” Brown told reporters traveling with him to meetings in Europe. “It’s very important to Ukraine on how they defend their national infrastructure, but also set their defenses for the winter so they can slow down any type of Russian advance during the winter months.”Earlier Thursday at the Pentagon, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the press secretary, noted that the PDA gives the Pentagon the ability to spend money from its budget to send military aid to Ukraine. Funding in the $61 billion supplemental bill for Ukraine passed in April can reimburse the department for the weapons it sends.“Right now, we’re continuing to work with Congress to see about getting those authorities extended to enable us to continue to do drawdown packages,” said Ryder. “In the meantime, you’re going to continue to see drawdown packages. But we’ll have much more to provide on that in the near future."The U.S. has routinely announced new drawdown packages — often two to three a month.Failure by lawmakers to act on the PDA funding could once again deliver a serious setback in Ukraine’s battle against Russia, just five months after a bitterly divided Congress finally overcame a long and devastating gridlock and approved new Ukraine funding.Delays in passing that $61 billion for Ukraine earlier this year triggered dire battlefield conditions as Ukrainian forces ran low on munitions and Russian forces were able to make gains. Officials have blamed the monthslong deadlocked Congress for Russia's ability to take more territory.Since funding began again, U.S. weapons have flowed into Ukraine, bolstering the forces and aiding Kyiv’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region. Ukraine’s forces stormed across the border five weeks ago and put Russian territory under foreign occupation for the first time since World War II.

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[l] at 9/12/24 12:36pm
Republican Vice Presidential candidate J.D. Vance in an interview Wednesday said he would “consider” plans to privatize parts of the Department of Veterans Affairs and push for more private-health care options for patients in the system if elected this fall.In an appearance on the Shawn Ryan Show podcast released Wednesday, the Ohio senator (who is former President Donald Trump’s running mate) also said he would fire or cut thousands of federal civilian jobs, including many within VA.“Probably 90% to 95% of the people at the VA are fantastic human beings, but then you’ve got a small slice of the VA [who are] bad apples that makes it really hard for everybody else to do their job,” he said.“This is why veterans spend three hours on the phone trying to get an appointment. This is why you have people commit suicide, because they’re waiting 28 days to get an appointment with the doctor. It’s a small sliver of the VA, but you can fire those people, right? Give the people who are doing their job a raise. Fire the people who aren’t doing their jobs.”What does privatization of VA really mean?Both Ryan and Vance are veterans. Vance said he has used VA hospitals for his own health care in the past, but understands frustration with the system and would listen to proposals for privatizing parts of the department.“I think that there are areas where the VA actually works very well,” he said. “So I would not say, ‘get rid of the whole thing.’ But I would say, ‘give people more choice.’ I think you’ll save money in the process.”The issue of cutting back VA services and shifting those funds to private-sector doctors and businesses has been a point of contention in the veterans community in recent years, especially since then-President Donald Trump signed legislation designed to make it easier for veterans to have medical appointments outside of VA paid for with taxpayer dollars.Democratic critics — and some veterans advocates — have charged that continuing to expand such policies would lead to dismantling VA funding and programming in favor of private-sector profits, a charge that Republican lawmakers have angrily refuted.“I love being lectured and gaslit by Democratic members on this panel … about how we’re trying to privatize the VA,” Rep. Ei Crane, R-Ariz., said during a House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing on the VA budget on Tuesday. “That is absolutely not what we are trying to do.”The VA budget has grown significantly in recent years. In fiscal 2001, the entire VA budget amounted to $48 billion in spending. Ten years ago, that total was $153.9 billion. The request for fiscal 2025 from the department is nearly $330 billion.VA officials said roughly 40% of all veterans health care appointments in fiscal 2023 were handled by doctors outside the department’s health care system, and that the number of veterans using Community Care options has risen by 45% since fiscal 2019.But Vance said during the podcast that too many veterans are still forced to drive hours to receive VA health care instead of being given private-sector options.“Why force a veteran to drive two and a half hours to a VA facility when he can get cheaper care right in his backyard?” he said. “So I do think that we ought to open up choice and optionality for veterans.”Trump has not spoken specifically on VA privatization in recent campaign appearances, but has spoken about expanding veterans access to care options.Democratic opponents in recent weeks have attacked plans in the conservative Project 2025 blueprint calling for “cost savings” in VA disability payments, to include “revising disability rating awards for future claimants.” Trump has denied any authorship or connection to the project.

[Category: Veterans] [Link to media]

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[l] at 9/11/24 9:44am
Congressional leaders have a deal in place to patch a nearly $3 billion shortfall on Department of Veterans Affairs funding that risks endangering benefits payments as soon as next month, but veterans advocates said they are reluctant to celebrate until the final details are worked out.“When we see votes that are yes and then the dollars are actually sent to the [Treasury Department], then that will relieve our sense of urgency,” said Pat Murray, legislative director for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. “A proposed solution is not enough, we need an actual solution.”VA officials have warned that because of increased medical care and benefits applications in recent months, the department’s budget is roughly $2.9 billion short for this fiscal year and about $12 billion short in projected fiscal 2025 needs.The funds for next year likely will be negotiated as part of a broader federal budget package to be completed sometime this fall.But VA leaders on Tuesday testified before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee that without a solution to the other funding gap by Sept. 20, some benefits checks to veterans and dependents could be delayed in October.Vets’ benefits checks could be delayed without a VA funding fix soonAt a rally outside the VFW offices on Wednesday morning, dozens of veterans advocates warned those late checks could be disastrous for veterans.“This financial crisis will affect disability compensation, caregiver compensation, community care payouts, everything,” said Julia Mathis, legislative director for the American Legion. “Every day that we get closer to September 20 is another 24 hours of uncertainty for thousands of veterans whose financial lives depend on this.”Lawmakers on the House committee indicated Tuesday that they were working behind the scenes to help solve the problem, while at the same time expressing concerns that VA officials did not detect the funding shortfall sooner.Congressional sources on Wednesday confirmed House leaders will move forward with a measure introduced by Rep. Mike Garcia, R-Calif., which would cover the budget gap for VA operations this month. A vote is expected on the legislation early next week.That would give the Senate just a day or two to advance the legislation ahead of the Sept. 20 deadline. If a senator objects to the quick passage, it could push the final passage past that date or derail the whole measure.Advocates say they plan to spend the next week lobbying lawmakers to make sure that doesn’t occur.“The VA needs more money,” said Brian Kelly, president of the Military Officers Association of America. “It doesn’t matter who you want to point the finger at for that, the fact is that our veterans need their benefits paid out.”“Any interruption in the VA’s ability to pay veterans may have devastating consequences on this community and may erode trust and confidence in the institutions who have pledged to support and care for those who have served.”Lawmakers must also negotiate a separate extension for the full federal budget by Sept. 30 or risk a partial government shutdown. That potential funding lapse would have limited impact on VA services, however, because Congress regularly approves much of the department’s budget a year in advance.

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[l] at 9/11/24 7:37am
Vice President Kamala Harris defended her administration’s decision to withdraw U.S. troops from Afghanistan while former President Donald Trump accused current military strategy of leading the country towards “World War III” in Tuesday night’s presidential debate in Philadelphia.In a 90-minute showdown, which mostly focused on economic and social issues, the two front-runners for president spent several minutes sparring over defense policy issues, including American military support for Ukraine and the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan.The latter topic has been a mainstay of Trump’s Republican presidential campaign in recent weeks. During the debate, he falsely claimed that President Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw all U.S. troops from the country in 2021 left behind $85 billion “of brand new beautiful military equipment” — the U.S. military spent about $83 billion total on the Afghanistan Security Forces Fund from 2001 to 2021 — and asserted that he would have handled the departure better than Biden.“We would have been out faster than them, but we wouldn’t have lost the soldiers,” he said, referring to the 13 U.S. troops killed in a terrorist attack at Hamid Karzai International Airport in the final days of the American presence in Afghanistan. “They blew it.”Lawmakers demand Army sanction Trump over Arlington Cemetery visitHarris, the Democratic nominee for commander in chief, said despite the tumult of the final weeks of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, she agreed with Biden’s decision to withdraw from the country.“Four presidents said they would, and Joe Biden did,” she said. “And as a result, America’s taxpayers are not paying the $300 million a day we were paying for that endless war.”She also blamed Trump for the chaos surrounding the U.S. military’s exit, saying he negotiated “one of the weakest deals you can imagine” with Taliban leaders before leaving office, which left the Afghan government marginalized and weak.Trump countered by claiming that Biden’s decision to leave Afghanistan inspired Russian officials to escalate their war in Ukraine, “because they saw how incompetent she and her boss are.”When asked directly if he wants Ukraine to win its war against Russia, Trump responded, “I want the war to stop. … I think it’s in the U.S.’ best interest to get this war finished and just get it done.”Harris called that a sign of weakness in the face of foreign threats.“If Donald Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now,” she said. “And understand what that would mean. Putin’s agenda is not just about Ukraine. European allies and our NATO allies are so thankful that [he is] no longer president and that we understand the importance of the greatest military alliance the world has ever known, which is NATO.”Trump said that if he returns to the White House, he will end the fighting in Ukraine “before even becoming president,” and accused Biden and Harris of leading America towards greater danger through their support of the Ukrainian military.“We’re going to end up in a third World War,” he said. “And it will be a war like no other because of nuclear weapons, the power of weaponry.”Harris countered by saying the former president is “consistently weak and wrong on national security.” On several occasions, she also claimed to have spoken to U.S. military leaders who called Trump “a disgrace,” though she did not offer specific names.Veterans and veterans issues were not mentioned during the debate, the only face-to-face meeting between the two major party nominees before the November election.

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[l] at 9/10/24 2:32pm
Iran has sent close-range ballistic missiles to Russia, which could start using them to attack Ukraine “within weeks,” Pentagon officials said Tuesday.The missiles can reach a maximum of 75 miles and allow Russia to maintain its stocks of more valuable, and more menacing, long-range fires, according to Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder.While Russia hasn’t yet used them, Ryder said dozens of its military personnel have trained inside Iran on the missile system — known as the Fath 360. Ryder wouldn’t specify how many Russia has received, but the U.S. Treasury Department said that Moscow signed a contract late last year for “hundreds” of missiles, with the first such batch now arriving.“This is a deeply concerning development,” Ryder said during a Tuesday briefing.Since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine two years ago, Russia has relied on its partners — in almost all cases other U.S. adversaries — to refill its stocks. Iran has been a particularly avid supplier, shipping one-way attack drones, missiles and other lethal aid to Russia throughout the war.In return, Russia is sharing other information with Iran, including on nuclear and space technology, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday.“This is a two-way street,” said Blinken, who is traveling to Kyiv to meet with members of the Ukrainian government.Last week, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin gathered a group of countries that regularly meet to support Ukraine’s self-defense. There, as in past meetings, the officials discussed how to supply Kyiv with enough air defense missiles and batteries. Russia has routinely battered Ukrainian military and civilian targets during the war, and in recent weeks launched its two largest salvos to date.In response, Ukraine has asked repeatedly that the U.S. lift limits on how far inside Russia it can fire its own long-range weapons provided by the U.S. The White House so far has declined to do so, in part out out of concern that looser rules could escalate the war and in part because the long-range ATACMS missiles are scarce.“I don’t believe one specific capability will be decisive,” Austin said after the meeting last week, arguing also that Russia had already moved almost all of its threatening aircraft out of range.

[Category: / Pentagon & Congress]

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[l] at 9/10/24 1:24pm
A trio of House Democrats on Tuesday called on Army officials to formally admonish former President Donald Trump for his campaign staff’s actions at Arlington National Cemetery last month in order to “avoid future abuse of this sacred site and its employees.”The lawmakers — Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, Washington Rep. Adam Smith and California Rep. Mark Takano — also demanded the military leaders release all findings from Trump’s visit to the gravesite, saying that their public response thus far has been disappointing.“While we are sympathetic to the challenges the Army faces in addressing and holding accountable a former president and his campaign staff, failure to properly investigate this egregious incident in a timely manner and hold violators accountable undermines the integrity and honor of Arlington National Cemetery and erodes the longstanding rules, tradition, and norms requiring nonpartisanship in the U.S. military,” they said in a joint statement.Raskin serves as the ranking member on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. Smith is the ranking member on the armed services committee, and Takano the ranking member on the veterans’ affairs committee.Army blasts Trump trip to Arlington cemetery for violating decorumThe statement from the prominent Democrats came just a few hours before Trump’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris and less than two weeks after Army leaders issued their own announcement calling the matter “closed.”Trump visited the military cemetery on Aug. 26 as part of an event commemorating the anniversary of the deaths of 13 U.S. servicemembers in a terrorist bombing at the Hamid Karzai International Airport in the final days of the American military mission in Afghanistan.The Republican nominee for president took part in a wreath laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, then visited Section 60 of the cemetery, where many troops killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are buried.Shots of Trump smiling and giving a thumbs-up sign alongside service members’ tombstones were later used in campaign spots. In addition, Army officials said, an employee who attempted to stop campaign workers from filming in the area “was abruptly pushed aside” by a Trump campaign staffer.That individual — who has not been publicly identified — opted not to press charges. Army officials called the incident upsetting, since Trump was warned that “federal laws, Army regulations and DOD policies … clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds.” But they also said they would not pursue any further reprimands or punishments.The three Democrats called that a mistake.“As with any alleged assault, this incident should be investigated by the appropriate law enforcement authorities and should be subject to an independent charging decision,” they said in their statement. “We urge the Army to cooperate fully with the charging authority, including providing any information they have on the alleged incident to that authority.”Trump campaign officials have denied any wrongdoing in the incident, and have released several statements from families of fallen troops involved in the visit who praised the former president for his kindness and attention to their struggles.Trump campaign officials initially promised to release video proving that they followed all appropriate cemetery rules, but have thus far declined to provide any such proof.Officials from the Harris campaign have seized on the controversy as the latest breach of decorum by Trump, calling his actions disrespectful to other troops buried there. .

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[l] at 9/10/24 11:41am
Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville is blocking the quick promotion of the top military aide to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin over concerns that he and other senior staff did not immediately notify President Joe Biden when Austin was hospitalized with complications from cancer treatment earlier this year.Biden in July nominated Lt. Gen. Ronald Clark to become commander of U.S. Army forces in the Pacific. But Clark has faced criticism from Republicans over his role as one of Austin’s top aides when the defense secretary was in the hospital in January and did not tell Biden or other U.S. leaders.Republicans said the fact that Biden was kept in the dark about Austin not being in command for days could have meant confusion or delays in military action, even though decision-making authorities had been transferred to the deputy defense secretary.Tuberville’s hold comes a year after he came under intense criticism from colleagues in both parties for holding up hundreds of military promotions over a Pentagon abortion policy. The Senate finally approved 425 military promotions and nominations in November after Tuberville relented.Republican colleagues said they agreed with Tuberville on the abortion policy but openly pressured him to drop the holds, voicing concern about military readiness and the toll it was taking on service members and their families who had nothing to do with the regulations.A spokeswoman for Tuberville, Hannah Eddins, said Tuesday that the senator has concerns about Clark’s role during Austin’s hospitalization, including that he did not inform Biden. She said that Tuberville is waiting on a report from the Pentagon’s inspector general that will review the matter.“As a senior commissioned officer, Lt. Gen. Clark’s oath requires him to notify POTUS when the chain of command is compromised,” Eddins said, using an acronym for the president of the United States.Majority Democrats could still bring Clark’s nomination up for a vote, but Tuberville’s hold likely delays his confirmation because several days of floor time would be needed to confirm him. The nomination will expire with the end of the congressional session and the next president would have to renominate Clark or someone else to the post if he is not confirmed by early January.Pentagon spokesperson James Adams said that Tuberville’s new hold, which was first reported by The Washington Post, “undermines our military readiness.”“Lt. Gen. Clark is highly qualified and was nominated for this critical position because of his experience and strategic expertise,” Adams said in a statement. “We urge the Senate to confirm all of our qualified nominees.”Austin has come under bipartisan criticism for initially keeping Biden in the dark about his health issues and hospitalization. Austin was admitted to intensive care for complications from prostate cancer surgery on Jan. 1, but the White House was not told until Jan. 4. Austin’s senior staff were notified on Jan. 2.The defense secretary later said he takes full responsibility and had apologized to Biden. Still, Austin insisted that there were no gaps in control of the department or the nation’s security because “at all times, either I or the deputy secretary was in a position to conduct the duties of my office.”An earlier Pentagon review of the matter blamed privacy restrictions and staff hesitancy for the secrecy, and called for improved procedures, which have been made.The White House also laid out a new set of guidelines to ensure it will be informed any time a Cabinet head can’t carry out their job. The new guidelines include a half-dozen instructions for Cabinet agencies to follow when there is a “delegation of authority,” or when secretaries temporarily transfer their authority to a deputy when unreachable due to medical issues, travel or other reasons.

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[l] at 9/9/24 2:01pm
A final decision by Congress on extra pay boosts for junior enlisted troops in 2025 isn’t likely to come until after the November elections, a key Senate lawmaker said Monday.Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Jack Reed, D-R.I., said during a press call that his staff is working on a final compromise version of the annual defense authorization bill with House officials, but a final version isn’t expected to be finished before Congress breaks for its pre-election recess in early October.“We’re moving ahead, but my sense is that since we only have seven weeks left before the election, we’ll use that time to work with the House and come back after the election to quickly and effectively move the legislation,” Reed said. “I think there is a consensus to move it as soon as we can after that.”The authorization bill — which sets hundreds of Defense Department policies each year and is viewed as must-pass legislation annually — this year includes extra money for junior enlisted troops in both its House and Senate versions.Junior enlisted pay bump to cost as much as two new aircraft carriersCurrently, some young enlisted service members can make as little as $24,000 in basic pay, although that total does not include other compensation such as housing allowances and free health care.Reed’s committee in June approved language promising a 4.5% pay raise for all service members in 2025, with an extra 1% boost for troops ranked E-3 and below.For troops ranked E-2 with less than two years of service, the pay boosts will bring their annual base salary to almost $29,000, about $1,500 more than this year.But the House-passed draft of the authorization bill is even more generous. Under that plan, troops ranked E-4 and below would see pay raises up to 19.5%, bringing nearly every service members’ base salary above $30,000 a year. All other troops would see a 4.5% pay raise.White House officials have said they oppose the idea, indicating the plan “would lead to pay compression in some parts of the enlisted military basic pay table” and should be delayed until a full review of military compensation rules is completed next year.If Congress were to approve the authorization bill with an additional pay raise for junior enlisted troops, lawmakers would also need to pass appropriations legislation to pay for it. The House’s pay raise plan would cost more than $24 billion over the next five years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.But House appropriators have already signaled they support such a move and included the money in their draft of the defense budget bill. The Senate has not approved a formal draft of the authorization or appropriations bill yet.The issue is likely to be settled sometime around Thanksgiving, just a few weeks before the 2025 military pay raise is set to go into effect.The White House, House and Senate have all signaled support for an across-the-board pay raise of at least 4.5% for all service members starting next January. If approved, that would be the third consecutive year of increases of more than 4% for troops and their families.

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[l] at 9/9/24 10:51am
Veterans Affairs leaders have agreed to delay rule changes on specialty ambulance reimbursements until 2029, a win for advocates who warned that new policies could severely impact emergency services for veterans living in rural areas.Before Friday’s announcement, the new rules were set to go into effect next February. Industry officials and department planners have sparred for years over the change, which would in many cases reduce the amount VA pays to air ambulance firms after those companies transport patients.In a joint statement, Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., and ranking member Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., praised the VA decision. Both lawmakers have worked to stop the rule change, arguing that any plan that could hurt those ambulance services should be reconsidered.“Emergency air and ground transportation services in Montana and rural America can be the difference between life and death,” Tester said. “VA’s rushed roll-out of its rate change for these services could have been the final straw for providers serving rural America, and I’m glad to see VA answering our call to fix this issue.”DOD misspent more than $100 million on ambulance rides, audit revealsLast fall, during a speech at the National Press Club, VA Secretary Denis McDonough pushed back on accusations that the rule change was a money-saving move. He insisted that federal regulations require ambulance providers to have a contract with the department or receive reimbursements at a rate set by Medicare, often lower than what they currently charge.A 2018 report from the VA Inspector General found that of 227,000 specialty medical transportation invoices over a 15-month period, about 20% were not properly authorized. Investigators estimated that the department awards more than $20 million in improper payments annually.But industry representatives have pushed back on that assertion, pointing to the unique costs and challenges associated with moving critically ill or injured patients in rural areas.In a statement, Ben Clayton, chief executive officer of Life Flight Network, said the delay will “allow time for us to work together on a permanent solution while ensuring veterans maintain access to these critical, life-saving emergency services.”Congress had already intervened to delay the reimbursement rule changes last year, including language in a budget bill last year to push back the implementation timeline from early 2024 to 2025. Now lawmakers will have several more years to negotiate a compromise between the emergency response firms and VA administrators.

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[l] at 9/9/24 9:30am
House Republicans on Sunday issued a scathing report on their investigation into the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan, blaming the disastrous end of America’s longest war on President Joe Biden’s administration and minimizing the role of former President Donald Trump, who had signed the withdrawal deal with the Taliban.The partisan review lays out the final months of military and civilian failures, following Trump’s February 2020 withdrawal deal, that allowed America’s fundamentalist Taliban enemy to sweep through and conquer all of the country even before the last U.S. officials flew out on Aug. 30, 2021. The chaotic exit left behind many American citizens, Afghan battlefield allies, women activists and others at risk from the Taliban.But House Republicans' report breaks little new ground as the withdrawal has been exhaustively litigated through several independent reviews. Previous investigations and analyses have pointed to a systemic failure spanning the last four presidential administrations and concluded that Biden and Trump share the heaviest blame.Three years after Abbey Gate, Air Force nurse receives Bronze StarTexas Republican Rep. Michael McCaul, who led the investigation as chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the GOP review reveals that the Biden administration “had the information and opportunity to take necessary steps to plan for the inevitable collapse of the Afghan government, so we could safely evacuate U.S. personnel, American citizens, green card holders, and our brave Afghan allies.”“At each step of the way, however, the administration picked optics over security,” he said in a statement.McCaul earlier in the day denied that the timing of the report's release ahead of the presidential election was political, or that Republicans ignored Trump's mistakes in the U.S. withdrawal.A White House spokesperson, Sharon Yang, said the Republican report was based on “cherry-picked facts, inaccurate characterizations, and preexisting biases.”“Because of the bad deal former President Trump cut with the Taliban to get out of Afghanistan by May of 2021, President Biden inherited an untenable position,” either ramp up the U.S. war against a strengthened Taliban, or end it, Yang said in a statement.House Democrats in a statement said the report by their Republican colleagues ignored facts about Trump's role.Here are the names of the 13 U.S. service members killed in Afghanistan attackThe more than 18-month investigation by Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee zeroed in on the months leading up to the removal of U.S. troops, saying that Biden and his administration undermined high-ranking officials and ignored warnings as the Taliban seized key cities far faster than most U.S. officials had expected or prepared for.“I called their advance ‘the Red Blob,’” retired Col. Seth Krummrich said of the Taliban, telling the committee that at the special operations’ central command where he was chief of staff, ”we tracked the Taliban advance daily, looking like a red blob gobbling up terrain.”“I don’t think we ever thought — you know, nobody ever talked about, ‘Well, what’s going to happen when the Taliban come over the wall?’” Carol Perez, the State Department’s acting undersecretary for management at the time of the withdrawal, said of what House Republicans said was minimal State Department planning before abandoning the embassy in mid-August 2021 when the Taliban swept into Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital.The withdrawal ended a nearly two-decade occupation by U.S. and allied forces begun to rout out the al-Qaida militants responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The Taliban had allowed al-Qaida’s leader, Osama bin Laden, to shelter in Afghanistan. Committee staffers noted reports since the U.S. withdrawal of the group rebuilding in Afghanistan, such as a U.N. report of up to eight al-Qaida training camps there.The Taliban overthrew an Afghan government and military that the U.S. had spent nearly 20 years and trillions of dollars building in hopes of keeping the country from again becoming a base for anti-Western extremists.A 2023 report by the U.S. government watchdog for the U.S. in Afghanistan singles out Trump’s February 2020 deal with the Taliban agreeing to withdraw all American forces and military contractors by the spring of the next year, and both Trump’s and Biden’s determination to keep pulling out U.S. forces despite the Taliban breaking key commitments in the withdrawal deal.House Republicans’ more than 350-page document is the product of hours of testimony — including with retired Army Gen. Mark Milley, former Joint Chiefs chairman, and retired Marine Corps. Gen. Frank McKenzie, former commander of U.S. Central Command, and others who were senior officials at the time — seven public hearings and round-tables, as well as more than 20,000 pages of State Department documents reviewed by the committees.With Biden no longer running for reelection, Trump and his GOP allies have tried to elevate the withdrawal as a campaign issue against Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now Trump's Democratic opponent in the presidential race.The report by House Republican cites Harris’ overall responsibility as an adviser to Biden, but doesn’t point to specific counsel or action by Harris that contributed to the many failures.Some highlights of the report:Decision to withdrawRepublicans point to testimony and records that claim the Biden administration’s reliance on input from military and civilian leaders on the ground in Afghanistan in the months before the withdrawal was “severely limited,” with most of the decision-making taking place by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan without consultation with key stakeholders.Yang, the White House spokesperson, denied that, saying the administration had sought input from officials in Kabul and others across the U.S. government.The report says Biden proceeded with the withdrawal even though the Taliban was failing to keep some of its agreements under the deal, including breaking its promise to enter talks with the then-U.S.-backed Afghan government.Former State Department spokesperson Ned Price testified to the committee that adherence to the Doha Agreement was “immaterial” to Biden’s decision to withdraw, according to the report.Earlier reviews have said Trump also carried out his early steps of the withdrawal deal, cutting the U.S. troop presence from about 13,000 to an eventual 2,500 despite early Taliban noncompliance with some parts of the deal, and despite the Taliban escalating attacks on Afghan forces.The House report faults a longtime U.S. diplomat for Afghanistan, former Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, not Trump, for Trump administration actions in its negotiations with the Taliban. The new report says that Trump was following recommendations of American military leaders in making sharp cuts in U.S. troop numbers in Afghanistan after the signing.‘We were still in planning’ when Kabul fellThe report also goes into the vulnerability of U.S. embassy staff in Kabul as the Biden administration planned its exit. Republicans claim there was a “dogmatic insistence” by the Biden administration to maintain a large diplomatic footprint despite concerns about the lack of security afforded to personnel once U.S. forces left.McKenzie, who was one of the two U.S. generals who oversaw the evacuation, told lawmakers that the administration’s insistence at keeping the embassy open and fully operational was the “fatal flaw that created what happened in August,” according to the report.The committee report claims that State Department officials went as far as watering down or “even completely rewriting reports” from heads of diplomatic security and the Department of Defense that had warned of the threats to U.S. personnel as the withdrawal date got closer.“We were still in planning” when Kabul fell, Perez, the senior U.S. diplomat, testified to the committee.Associated Press writer Rebecca Santana contributed to this report.

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[l] at 9/8/24 6:00pm
Congress’ return to Capitol Hill from summer break means once again starting the countdown to another potential partial government shutdown, this one just a few weeks before voters head to the polls.Lawmakers have until Sept. 30 to agree upon a short-term extension of federal spending or risk shutting down dozens of government agencies, including nonessential tasks within the Defense Department. House and Senate leaders have already begun discussions on possible legislative vehicles to prevent such a stoppage.But House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., has said he wants to include in any spending bill provisions to require proof of citizenship to register to vote, a move some Democratic leaders have already labeled an unneeded distraction that could derail negotiations.Regardless, the Defense Department is unlikely to start the new fiscal year Oct. 1 with a congressionally approved budget, a practice that has frustrated planners but become commonplace in recent years. Since 2011, lawmakers have finalized the military appropriations bill on time only once, in fiscal 2019.Tuesday, Sept. 10 House Veterans' Affairs — 10:15 a.m. — 360 Cannon VA leadership Department officials will testify on the VA budget shortfall and other management issues. House Foreign Affairs — 2 p.m. — 2172 Rayburn Abducted American Children State Department officials will testify on efforts to aid American children abducted abroad. House Veterans' Affairs — 3 p.m. — 360 Cannon Mental Health Support VA officials will testify on support services available to separating servicemembers. Senate Homeland Security — 3:30 p.m. — 342 Dirksen Russian Military Use of U.S. Tech Technology firms will testify about availability of U.S. products to Russian military units and the implications of that use. Wednesday, Sept. 11 House Veterans' Affairs — 10 a.m. — 360 Cannon Pending Legislation The subcommittee on health will consider several pending bills. House Foreign Affairs — 10 a.m. — 2172 Rayburn Africa State Department officials will testify on great power competition in Africa and U.S. strategy there. Senate Foreign Relations — 10 a.m. — 419 Dirksen Nominations The committee will consider several pending nominations, including Julie Smith to be under secretary of state for political affairs. House Foreign Affairs — 2 p.m. — 2172 Rayburn Chinese Influence in Europe Outside experts will testify on Chinese influence in Europe. Thursday, Sept. 12 Senate Armed Services — 10 a.m. — 216 Hart Nominations The committee will consider the nominations of Lt. Gen. Steven Nordhaus to be head of the National Guard Bureau and Vice Adm. Alvin Holsey to be head of U.S. Southern Command.

[Category: / Pentagon & Congress] [Link to media]

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[l] at 9/6/24 7:17am
When lawmakers return to Capitol Hill next week, they’ll have just three weeks to agree upon a short-term budget extension to keep federal operations open this fall and prevent a partial government shutdown.But that might not even be their biggest fiscal challenge.That’s because Department of Veterans Affairs officials have warned that if their own fiscal shortfall isn’t addressed by Sept. 20, tens of millions of dollars in veterans benefits could be disrupted starting in October, a potential disaster for families dependent on that support.Administrators need about $2.9 billion approved for fiscal 2024 operations and about $12 billion more for fiscal 2025 accounts because of a surge in benefits payouts in recent months.Expect a $833B defense budget for FY25, but not on time, lawmaker saysLeaders have warned that without a solution in the next few days, “compensation and pension benefit payments and readjustment benefit payments scheduled for delivery in October are at risk of being delayed.”Department officials have been working with lawmakers on Capitol Hill for the last two months trying to find a solution to the problem, but so far have not arrived at a solution. Meanwhile, congressional Republicans have blasted VA leaders for poor management and planning, which they said has led to a fiscal crisis for veterans.That fight is expected to be highlighted on Sept. 10, when the House Veterans Affairs Committee hosts a hearing on concerns with VA management. The budget shortfall is expected to be among multiple complaints from Republican members, alongside accusations of poor communication and insufficient oversight.“This represents by far the largest budget shortfall the department has experienced under any administration,” committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., wrote in a letter to VA Secretary Denis McDonough in July.“Not only have your chief financial officers thrown out the dollar amounts requested for many key accounts, they have abandoned many of the estimates and projections that underpinned their budget. This is not just fiscal mismanagement; it is strategic whiplash.”VA officials say the problem stems not from mismanagement but from historically high levels of benefits payouts by the department.Through the first 10 months of fiscal 2024, staffers had granted disability compensation benefits to more than 1.1 million veterans and survivors, a new record. Nearly 413,000 veterans newly enrolled in VA health care services over the previous 12 months, up 27% from the same time frame a year earlier.“Due in large part to the historic PACT Act, VA is delivering more care and more benefits to more veterans than ever before,” VA press secretary Terrence Hayes said in a statement. “These results are life-changing for veterans, their families, caregivers, and survivors, and VA will continue to push to make sure that they get the care and benefits they deserve.”A bipartisan group of lawmakers has introduced legislation in the Senate to address the funding shortfall, but its prospects in the House are still unclear.For their part, advocates worry the political fight may overshadow the need for an immediate fix. In an open letter last week, American Legion officials urged its members to petition Congress to find a solution “protecting the benefits that so many of our brothers and sisters depend on.”The same day as the veterans hearing, lawmakers are expected to begin debate on plans for a full federal budget extension past Oct.1. If a solution to the VA funding shortfall is rolled into that package, it may not be passed until after the Sept. 20 deadline, potentially creating processing issues for veterans benefits checks.

[Category: Veterans] [Link to media]

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[l] at 9/5/24 12:42pm
Top U.S. military leaders will be in Germany to discuss Ukraine’s wartime needs as Russia has conducted one of its deadliest airstrikes in the conflict and Ukraine presses its offensive in Russia’s Kursk region.Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will host a meeting Friday at Ramstein Air Force Base of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, made up of military leaders from more than 50 nations that have regularly provided funding and weapon systems to bolster Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.US to send $125 million in new military aid to Ukraine, officials sayThe group's priorities include bolstering Ukraine’s air defenses and “energizing of the defense industrial bases” of allies to ensure long-term support for Kyiv, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, said in a statement Thursday.“As Secretary Austin has said, Ukraine matters to U.S. and international security,” the statement said.Ukraine’s allies face renewed calls from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for additional air defenses and loosened restrictions on how far into Russia Ukraine can fire American-provided munitions. He has long pushed allies to go further to support Ukraine’s effort to fend off Russia.The meeting comes after Russia used two ballistic missiles to target a military academy and nearby hospital this week in Ukraine, killing more than 50 people and wounding over 270 others, in one of the deadliest strikes of the war.“Air defense systems and missiles are needed in Ukraine, not in a warehouse somewhere,” Zelenskyy said on his Telegram channel this week. “Long-range strikes that can protect us from Russian terror are needed now."So far, the Biden administration has kept relatively strict control over how the missiles it provides Ukraine can be used. Ukraine can defensively fire at Russian targets along the border, but the U.S. prohibits their use deeper into Russia, out of concern that such a strike would further escalate the war.There has been no change in the policy on Ukraine’s use of U.S.-supplied weapons, Ryder told reporters Tuesday.That the group of military leaders from Ukraine’s allies has continued to meet and agree to send weapons is extraordinary, however. Global pressure on weapons stockpiles has increased and contributors such as the U.S. face competing demands for that aid to bolster security in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.Since 2022, the member nations together have provided about $106 billion in security assistance to Ukraine. The U.S. has provided more than $56 billion of that total.The group's meeting also comes as Zelenskyy has signaled a major reshuffling of his cabinet-level leaders. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, one of Ukraine’s most recognizable faces on the international stage, resigned Wednesday before the expected reorganization.Ukraine also has made a fundamental shift in its tactics in the war, seizing Russian territory in the Kursk region during an offensive that began a few weeks ago. Ukraine's military is trying to maintain control of that land, while Russian President Vladimir Putin pushes his forces deeper into eastern Ukraine. Both sides are prepared for difficult fighting during the winter.Both sides have become entrenched over the two previous winters, and Ukrainians have endured brutal conditions without electricity or heat as Russia has targeted its power grid.

[Category: / Your Military] [Link to media]

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[l] at 9/4/24 9:42am
House Armed Services Committee Vice Chairman Rob Wittman is confident Congress will pass a short-term budget extension in the next few weeks and eventually finalize plans for $833 billion in defense spending for fiscal year 2025.But the Virginia Republican congressman acknowledged that the details of how lawmakers will get there is still a mystery.Wittman’s comments at the Defense News Conference on Wednesday came just 26 days before a potential partial government shutdown if House and Senate leaders cannot pass a budget extension by Oct. 1, the start of the new fiscal year.“I think we know we’re not going to get the seven remaining appropriations bills done between now and the end of the fiscal year,” he said. “In light of that, it looks like there’s going to be another continuing resolution that will come up next week, probably the middle of next week. The debate has been how long should that last.”More Defense News Conference coverageWith the presidential and congressional elections in 64 days, lawmakers have begun debating whether to extend the budget into mid-November or early 2025, after the new Congress is seated.Either way, defense planners likely won’t have their allotment of the federal budget until multiple months into the new fiscal year.Wittman called the short-term budget extensions necessary, but “the worst way for us to be able to manage the defense enterprise,” given the uncertainty surrounding when new programs and initiatives will be fully funded and can start.But he believes that Pentagon officials can count on the House-passed $833 billion target for total defense spending next fiscal year, whenever the federal budget is finally finalized.“With the Fiscal Responsibility Act, it actually appropriates to that, and I think that’s the number you’re actually going to have to live with,” he said. “And I think that the Pentagon should be able to do most of the things that it needs to do with that number.”White House officials have signaled they expect to request supplemental funding to deal with some outstanding defense fiscal needs. During a separate panel at the conference, Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said her service will need extra money to cover the rising cost of installations services.“Not only are our barracks and housing in need of investment, our power projection infrastructure is in need of investment as well,” she said. “It’s really hard to do that all inside the existing Army top line.”Both the House and Senate return to Capitol Hill work next week.

[Category: / Pentagon & Congress] [Link to media]

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[l] at 9/2/24 4:00am
It’s not just young veterans who face trouble finding good jobs. Labor Department officials have found a growing number of veterans who have held civilian posts for years asking for help with resume writing and networking to facilitate their next career step.“Oftentimes, when veterans first get out of the military, they’re landing in a job because that’s what they need to be economically sustainable,” James Rodriguez, assistant secretary for the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, said in an interview with Military Times ahead of Labor Day.“But after they’ve got some education and some additional training, now they want to get connected to different careers. … And sometimes you need someone to help you navigate through all of that noise, help you understand how to leverage your military training, all the professional development that you had and how to land one of these great-paying career opportunities.”That demand has been one of the revelations of the Labor Department’s Off-Base Transition Training Program, launched as a pilot in early 2022 to assist veterans, troops and their spouses in accessing job training assistance on issues like interviewing, professional outreach and resume writing.Young veterans more likely to get dangerous jobs than civilian peersNow in its third year, the program has expanded to 37 cities in 10 states, all targeted as areas with lower veteran employment rates than the national average. Through the first nine months of fiscal 2024, the program had 9,983 participants — up nearly 160% from the total for all of fiscal 2023.Of the nearly 18,000 enrollees, about 55% have been out of the ranks for more than 4 years and roughly 40% left the military more than 10 years ago.Program organizers have focused on ways to guide participants to in-demand jobs with higher pay and strong career advancement opportunities, appealing to both newly separated troops and veterans out for several years. That includes ways to target pitches to employers looking for those skills and connecting with local businesses looking for employees.“In Texas or New York, where they’re planning to build these giant factories to build microchips, we want the veterans to understand that those types of occupations are going to exist,” Rodriguez said. “So that’s a big part of what our employment navigators do.”Rodriguez, who served 21 years in the Marine Corps, said he’s also continuing his own pitch to business leaders about hiring veterans, both young and old.“It’s a consistent conversation we have to have,” he said. “Our veterans outperformed their nonveteran peers (in the civilian workforce). We contribute to the economy at a higher rate than our nonveteran peers. We stay at an organization longer than our nonveteran peers, if the right culture fit is there.“So those types of things are good for business, and that’s the message I constantly give to employers.”The next step, he said, is getting more veterans ready for those employers to hire. The program is on track to expand to 20 states by 2027, but department officials will need additional funding approved by Congress to continue the effort past the planned five-year pilot timeline.More information on the Off-Base Transition Training Program and other job help resources is available through the Labor Department’s website.

[Category: / Your Military] [Link to media]

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[l] at 8/29/24 10:19am
Army officials criticized former President Donald Trump’s campaign staff for violating decorum rules at Arlington National Cemetery and abusing a cemetery worker earlier this week, but no further actions will be pursued after the involved employee declined to press charges.The statement, from an unnamed Army spokesperson, contradicts denials from Trump’s re-election team that no physical altercation took place between his staff and cemetery workers during the former president’s visit to the memorial site on Monday.Trump and his team opted to go ahead with photos and videos with Gold Star family members, despite the objections of Arlington staff and after having been made aware of “federal laws, Army regulations and DOD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds,” the Army said.Federal law prohibits politicking at Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photography and video collection.“An Arlington National Cemetery employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside,” the statement said. “Consistent with the decorum expected at [Arlington National Cemetery], this employee acted with professionalism and avoided further disruption.”Trump campaign denies fighting with Arlington National Cemetery staffTrump visited the cemetery as part of a ceremony honoring the third anniversary of the deaths of 13 U.S. servicemembers during a suicide bombing at Hamid Karzai International Airport, during the chaotic final days of the American military presence in Afghanistan.The Republican Party nominee for president took part in a wreath laying ceremony at the cemetery, then visited Section 60 of the cemetery, where many troops killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are buried. Shots of Trump smiling and giving a thumbs-up sign alongside service members’ tombstones were later used in campaign spots.NPR reported on Tuesday that during the visit, a cemetery official tried to prevent Trump staffers from filming and photographing there, but the individual was verbally abused and shoved aside.The Army’s Office of Army Cemeteries oversees Arlington, and officials have declined to publicly identify the staffer, for fear of retaliation.On Wednesday, Trump campaign adviser Chris LaCivita released a statement insisting that “the president and his team conducted themselves with nothing but the utmost respect and dignity for all of our service members, especially our beloved children.”“For a despicable individual to physically prevent President Trump’s team from accompanying him to this solemn event is a disgrace and does not deserve to represent the hollowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery,” he said in a written statement provided to The Associated Press, misspelling the word “hallowed.” “Whoever this individual is, spreading these lies are dishonoring the men and women of our armed forces,” LaCivita added.Family members of some of the 13 service members killed in Afghanistan also released a statement supporting Trump and his actions at the cemetery.Army officials said the assault on the cemetery staffer was reported to police but “the employee subsequently decided not to press charges. Therefore, the Army considers this matter closed.”“This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked,” the Army statement said. “ANC is a national shrine to the honored dead of the Armed Forces, and its dedicated staff will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation’s fallen deserve.”

[Category: / Pentagon & Congress] [Link to media]

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[l] at 8/29/24 9:12am
Poor planning of the Veterans Affairs new $453 million online platform for education benefits has caused project costs to double and its completion date to be pushed back two years, according to a federal watchdog’s report released Wednesday.Officials from the VA Inspector General’s office blamed “poor contract planning, including the lack of information technology expertise, which led to unclear and unrealistic requirements … that caused delays and additional costs.” The report added that department leaders need to overhaul their oversight efforts to ensure the work gets finished without the final bill topping $1 billion.Republican lawmakers called the missteps another disappointment in a series of technology failures for the department in recent years.“This is wholly unacceptable,” said House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Mike Bost, R-Ill., in a letter sent to VA Secretary Denis McDonough shortly after the report’s release. “Due to failures of [VA] leadership … the American taxpayers are on the hook for nearly an additional half a billion dollars.”In response, VA planners acknowledged delays but pushed back on assertions that poor leadership has led to widespread failures in the modernization effort, noting that the new system is already providing benefits to students.“Significant progress has been achieved to date, improving the veteran experience and outcomes through increased claims processing automation that both streamlines timeliness and provides real-time claims status and information,” Under Secretary of Benefits Joshua Jacobs said in a statement to the inspector general.“Prior to the [new system], a veteran or beneficiary could expect their application for original benefits to take up to 28 days, and follow-on supplemental claims to take up to 14 days. [Those] are now being completed in approximately 10 days for original claims and 4 days for supplemental claims.”The GI Bill digital portal project — designed to provide students speedier eligibility decisions on their veterans education benefits — was launched in early 2021. The effort was originally slated to be fully operational by spring 2024, but that target date has now been pushed back to summer 2026.VA has said the original $453 million contract for the work has now been updated 25 times, to include development of new features, migration of existing student information to a new database and continued support of the system into the future. The new price tag for the project is $932 million.Inspector General officials said some of those changes came because “original contract requirements were unclear, which resulted in development and implementation delays.” They also said VA leaders “did not choose to follow best practices” on oversight and scheduling of the project, a charge that Jacobs denied.The report calls for stronger communication between VA and its vendors and clearer timelines for progress, recommendations department officials said are already underway.But Bost in his letter said those promises are not enough, given similar past cost and management problems with electronic health records modernization efforts and other technology system upgrade projects.Bost requested a full report on planned project improvements to be delivered to the committee by Sept. 8, and questioned whether any department officials will be disciplined or otherwise punished for the errors so far.“No one at VA seems willing to take responsibility for the constant upheaval and delays in this project,” he wrote.The full watchdog report is available on the VA Inspector General’s website.

[Category: Education & Transition] [Link to media]

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[l] at 8/28/24 3:00pm
President Joe Biden ordered the construction of a temporary pier to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza this year even as some at the U.S. Agency for International Development expressed concerns that the effort would be difficult to accomplish and undercut the effort to persuade Israel to open “more efficient” land crossings to get food into the territory, according to the agency’s internal watchdog.Biden announced plans to use the temporary pier in his State of the Union address in March to hasten the delivery of aid to the Palestinian territory besieged by war between Israel and Hamas.What did the US military’s Gaza aid pier actually accomplish?But the $230 million military-run project known as the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore system, or JLOTS, would only operate for about 20 days. Aid groups pulled out of the project by July, ending a mission plagued by repeated weather and security problems that limited how much food and other emergency supplies could get to starving Palestinians.“Multiple USAID staff expressed concerns that the focus on using JLOTS would detract from the Agency’s advocacy for opening land crossings, which were seen as more efficient and proven methods of transporting aid into Gaza,” the inspector general said in a report published Tuesday. “However, once the President issued the directive, the Agency’s focus was to use JLOTS as effectively as possible.”At the time Biden announced plans for the floating pier, the United Nations was reporting that virtually all of Gaza’s 2.3 million people were struggling to find food and more than a half-million were facing starvation.The Biden administration set a goal of the U.S. sea route and pier providing food to feed 1.5 million of Gaza's people for 90 days. It fell short, bringing in enough to feed about 450,000 people for a month before shutting down.High waves and bad weather repeatedly damaged the pier, and the U.N. World Food Program ended cooperation with the project after an Israeli rescue operation used an area nearby to whisk away hostages, raising concerns about whether its workers would be seen as neutral and independent in the conflict.Pentagon watchdog to review JLOTS system used for Gaza aid pierNational Security Council spokesman Sean Savett said the project “had a real impact” of getting food to hungry Palestinian civilians despite the obstacles.“The bottom line is that given how dire the humanitarian situation in Gaza is, the United States has left no stone unturned in our efforts to get more aid in, and the pier played a key role at a critical time in advancing that goal,” Savett said in a statement Tuesday.The Defense Department said the pier "achieved its goal of providing an additive means of delivering high volumes of humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza to help address the acute humanitarian crisis.”The U.S. military knew from the outset “there would be challenges as part of this in this complex emergency,” the department's statement added. Its inspector general also is conducting an evaluation.The USAID watchdog's report alleged that the United States had failed to honor commitments it had made with the World Food Program to get the U.N. agency to agree to take part in distributing supplies from the pier into Palestinian hands.The U.S. agreed to conditions set by the program, including that the pier would be placed in north Gaza, where the need for aid was greatest, and that a U.N. member nation would provide security for the pier. That step was meant to safeguard the program's neutrality among Gaza's warring parties, the watchdog report said.Instead, however, the Pentagon placed the pier in central Gaza. Food program staffers told the USAID watchdog that it was their understanding the U.S. military chose that location because it allowed better security for the pier and the military itself.Israel's military ultimately provided the security after the U.S. military was unable to find a neutral country willing to do the job, the watchdog report said.A U.S. official said the USAID staffer concerns about the project undercutting overall aid efforts were raised early in the process. USAID responded by adding enough staffing for the agency to address both the pier and the land routes simultaneously, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.USAID said in a statement that U.S. agencies worked together in planning the project and in consultation with the United Nations and humanitarian groups to “mitigate risks to all personnel, including humanitarian staff.”Inspectors general are meant to be watchdogs for the government and individual agencies, providing accountability and transparency on their operations.Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Tara Copp contributed to this report.

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[l] at 8/28/24 11:00am
The American Legion’s top official on Tuesday sharply criticized both Vice President Kamala Harris and former president Donald Trump — the major party nominees to become the next president — for skipping the major veterans organizations’ conventions this summer, saying both candidates need to do more to prioritize veterans issues.“I know both of you have a tremendous campaigning schedule, and I know yours prevented you from actually gracing us with your presence [at this event],” Legion National Commander Daniel Seehafer said in a speech at the group’s convention in New Orleans on Aug. 27.“However, let’s have no conflict in getting together. We want to be the first called and the first seated at your presidential table, if elected, when you come together and discuss these life changing and life-saving issues that affect us, veterans and families.”The American Legion’s summer convention and other similar gatherings from groups like the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Disabled American Veterans typically draw tens of thousands of veterans from around the country to discuss major veterans policy and outreach issues.Suicide prevention campaign urges vets to ‘be the one’ who reaches outThe Legion’s is the last major one this cycle. AMVETS held their convention last week in North Carolina.The large veterans events have been a regular stop for presidential candidates and the sitting commander-in-chief for decades.Both Trump and then Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton addressed the Legion’s convention in 2016 ahead of their election showdown. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney appeared at the Legion event in 2012, while then-President Barack Obama spoke at the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention a few weeks earlier.Before President Joe Biden took office, every incumbent president had been to at least one of the major veterans conventions during his term in office, dating back to at least the administration of Harry S. Truman in the 1940s.However, when most of the conventions were moved online or dramatically scaled down during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic in America, both Trump and then-Democratic presidential candidate Biden were unable to attend the events. Since Biden was elected, he has sent video messages to the gatherings, but not appeared in person.Legion officials said they invited both Harris and Trump to resume the tradition, but were rebuffed. Trump initially agreed to speak at the event, but backed out in recent days.Trump did speak earlier this week to the National Guard Association of the United States conference in Detroit, where he mentioned issues including veterans homelessness and trust in Veterans Affairs operations.But Seehafer, whose organization boasts roughly 1.6 million members nationwide, said officials there hope for more attention and inclusion in either candidate’s future plans.“My friend, President Trump, if you truly want to make America great again, don’t ever forget to make our veterans great too,” he said. “For without great veterans, there’s no greatness in America.“And Vice President Harris, also my friend … we hear you talk about joy and democracy on your campaign trail, but you don’t forget who defended and who continues to defend that democracy. I think some people forget that freedom isn’t free.”The Legion convention runs through Thursday. Officials have already announced the 2025 convention will take place in Tampa, Florida, in late August of next year.

[Category: Veterans] [Link to media]

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[l] at 8/28/24 7:44am
Officials with former President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign are denying reports that they sparred with staff at Arlington National Cemetery during an event Monday, insisting they had permission for photo ops and meetings at the memorial site.The Republican presidential nominee visited the Virginia cemetery to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony and meet with family members of troops killed in the Afghanistan withdrawal in August 2021.He also posed for photos with those individuals in Section 60 of the cemetery, where many troops killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars are buried. Shots of Trump smiling and giving a thumbs-up sign alongside service members’ tombstones drew criticism from opponents who accused him of politicking at the hallowed site.NPR reported on Tuesday that during the visit, a cemetery official tried to prevent Trump staffers from filming and photographing in Section 60, but the individual was verbally abused and shoved aside.Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung wrote on social media that the NPR account was untrue and that “we were granted access to have a photographer there.”Republican staffers also posted a message from five family members of fallen troops who said they had given approval for photos to be taken with them and “we are deeply grateful to the [former] president for taking the time to honor our children and for standing alongside us in our grief.”pic.twitter.com/jlCSAV5png— Trump War Room (@TrumpWarRoom) August 28, 2024In a statement, Arlington National Cemetery confirmed that a report had been filed on the altercation, but offered no further details.“Federal law prohibits political campaign or election-related activities within Army National Military Cemeteries, to include photographers, content creators or any other persons attending for purposes, or in direct support of a partisan political candidate’s campaign,” the statement said. “Arlington National Cemetery reinforced and widely shared this law and its prohibitions with all participants.”Trump’s appearance at Arlington came on the three-year anniversary of the killing of 13 U.S. service members at Hamid Karzai International Airport, during the final days of the American military presence in Afghanistan. Republican officials and family members of the fallen troops have repeatedly criticized President Joe Biden for his decisions leading up to the suicide bombing that killed the service members as well as 170 Afghan civilians.Shortly after Trump’s visit to Arlington, family members joined Republican vice presidential nominee J.D. Vance on a media call accusing Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris — the Democratic nominee for president — of abandoning military families and Afghan civilians by too quickly pulling troops out of Afghanistan.Arlington National Cemetery isnt a place for campaign photo-ops. Its a sacred resting place for American patriots.But for Donald Trump, disrespecting military veterans is just par for the course. Its an absolute disgrace.Were not going back.https://t.co/MRgU95xx0u— Mikie Sherrill (@MikieSherrill) August 28, 2024The cemetery fight is the latest in a series of military controversies on the presidential campaign trail.Last week, Trump backtracked on comments he made during a New Jersey speech where he said the civilian Presidential Medal of Freedom is “better” than the military’s Medal of Honor, awarded for battlefield valor. The former president clarified that both medals are prestigious, but that the military award, which requires an individual’s life to be in danger, is “the ultimate” honor.GOP officials have spent the last several weeks attacking Harris’s running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, for a series of questions surrounding his 24 years in the National Guard. They have accused him of using the wrong rank in public speeches and leaving his unit ahead of a deployment to Iraq.Officials with the Harris campaign have denied those charges, and Walz spoke proudly of his military service during the Democratic National Convention last week.

[Category: / Pentagon & Congress] [Link to media]

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[l] at 8/27/24 9:57am
Veterans’ ability to thrive in civilian life after war may have more to do with societal support than their own lingering combat trauma, according to a study from the Swedish Defence Research Agency.In a 20-year study that tracked 2,275 Swedish service members who served as peacekeepers in Bosnia in the 1990s, study authors found no evidence of long-term barriers to veterans’ success in civilian jobs and no indication that time in a war zone permanently impairs those individuals’ ability to move on to future, non-combat jobs.“Even though the veterans did indeed experience an increased risk of unemployment in the two years immediately following their return from service, there is no indication that in the long run their attachment to the labour market was affected negatively by their service,” the study authors wrote.“If anything, the results suggest that the veterans, for longer follow-up times, are at lower risk of long-term unemployment.”Young veterans more likely to get dangerous jobs than civilian peersThe report acknowledges unresolved mental health conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder can produce “poor work-related outcomes” and that past U.S. studies have found significant long-term employment problems among American veterans who served in Vietnam.But the study authors say a greater emphasis in Swedish military planning on the “physical and mental well-being of those who have served in international peace missions” after war may have produced better results among its country’s veterans.Swedish personnel serving in international peacekeeping operations have not shown a higher risk of suicide compared to the general population, or shown a higher dependency on antidepressants than their civilian peers, researchers said.Employment problems have been tougher to gauge, partly because of various job market variabilities. Researchers said when they followed younger troops for two decades after their deployments to Bosnia and accounted for swings in the Swedish unemployment rate, they found some readjustment concerns in only the first two years.“From the third year after deployment, and up until the end of the follow-up period of 20 years, the veterans no longer demonstrate any increased risk of long-term unemployment,” they wrote.“The temporary increase in unemployment during the first few years after returning home most likely represents a period of prolonged job search in the labour market rather than an inability to work.”Whether the Swedish military can serve as a fair comparison for the U.S. military population remains unclear.In the 1990s, Sweden had roughly 88,000 service members in the ranks. At the height of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. military’s active-duty and reserve end strength was more than 2.2 million.The full study is available through the Scandinavian Journal of Military Studies and was republished in the Baltic Sentinel this week.

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