By Chris Carroll
Published: February 2, 2012
WASHINGTON - Starting this month, the Defense Department will calculate imminent danger pay by the day rather than the month, a cost-cutting move the department estimated last year could save $30 million annually.
Up to now, servicemembers received a full month’s imminent danger pay – $225 – for spending even a single day in designated hazardous areas, which range from war zones such as Afghanistan to out-of-the-way spots like Montenegro.
By Megan McCloskey
Published: February 2, 2012
WASHINGTON — Angered at what they view as light punishment for servicemembers involved in hazing incidents, some members of Congress are calling for hearings to address a system that “does not work.”
“This is a call for justice,” Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., said at a press conference Thursday on Capitol Hill.
By Chris Carroll
Published: January 31, 2012
WASHINGTON – Gen. Peter Chiarelli retired Tuesday, stepping aside as Army vice chief of staff but insisting that in civilian life he’d continue working to improve care for what he called “the signature wounds of this war” – post-traumatic stress and traumatic brain injury.
Chiarelli, 61, who was honored in a ceremony at Joint Base Meyer-Henderson Hall, Va., led a task force to cut down the rising rate of soldier suicides and pushed to improve diagnosis and treatment for troops with invisible injuries.
By Leo Shane III
Published: January 31, 2012
WASHINGTON — Researchers at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments are surveying troops and their families to see which pay and benefits packages are too important to lose, and which ones could be trimmed to help save the military money.
The survey can be found at www.csbamilsurvey.org. The work comes just days before the Pentagon unveils its fiscal 2013 budget proposal, the first spending plan featuring billions in defense cuts designed to help rein in the federal deficit.
By Leo Shane III
Published: January 30, 2012
WASHINGTON — “Don’t ask, don’t tell” was repealed last September, but gay rights groups say they still face a series of fights to define equality in the military for years to come.
Late last week, Kansas Republican Rep. Tim Huelskamp introduced new legislation to “codify protections of religious liberty of chaplains and servicemembers” in the wake of the “don’t ask, don’t tell repeal.” The measure states that chaplains cannot be required to perform a same-sex marriage if they object to the union, and that military facilities cannot be used for any such ceremony.
By Chris Carroll
Published: January 27, 2012
WASHINGTON — Marine Gen. John F. Kelly has been nominated to become commander of U.S. Southern Command, which encompasses 31 countries in Central and South America.
If confirmed, Kelly, who currently serves at the Pentagon as Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s senior military assistant, would replace Air Force Gen. Douglas Fraser at SOUTHCOM, a command that deals with a range of security issues including drug trafficking, Marxist insurgencies and leftist regimes with ties to Iran and Russia. Panetta also nominated Kelly, a lieutenant general, to receive a promotion to the grade of general.
By Nathan A. Bailey
Published: January 27, 2012
As you hungrily tear into one of this year’s new Meals, Ready to Eat offerings, the Army hopes it’s the best field ration you’ve ever had.
Army food scientists at the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center in Massachusetts have spent ages developing, testing and producing the two new main dishes for 2012 — Asian pepper steak and Mexican chicken stew. There’s also an array of new side menu items including a fiber-fortified banana nut Ranger bar, jalapeno-cheese-filled crackers, au gratin potatoes, multigrain snack bread and sour fruit candy discs.
By Megan McCloskey
Published: January 26, 2012
WASHINGTON — As founder of the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors, Bonnie Carroll is best known for becoming a champion for bereaved military families after her husband was killed in a 1992 crash of an Army C-12 transport plane in Alaska.
But a new movie coming out next month has shifted the focus to one of the happiest times in her life: the whirlwind romance with the National Guard colonel she married.
The film, “Big Miracle,” premiered Wednesday night in Washington with hundreds of TAPS families in the audience. It tells the story of three whales who were trapped in the ice near Alaska in 1988 and the efforts to save them.
Carroll was working at the time as a staffer in the Reagan White House, coordinating with the Alaska National Guard. She spoke often with then-Col. Tom Carroll.
By Leo Shane III
Published: January 26, 2012
WASHINGTON – Gay rights groups are planning a national summit in May to tackle issues of equality and support services for same-sex couples in the military community.
Organizers said the May 14-15 event will include outreach to lawmakers and defense officials to push for fairer laws regarding the treatment of gay troops and their partners or spouses. Since “don’t ask, don’t tell” was repealed last fall, the rights groups have shifted their efforts to fighting for equal recognition by the Defense Department of same-sex couples, which would entitle non-military partners to base access, benefits and support services.
By Geoff Ziezulewicz
Published: January 25, 2012
Air Force Staff Sgt. Charles McDaniel was with his wife, LaQuita, at Italy’s Aviano Air Base hospital on Dec. 15, where she was waiting to give birth to baby Kingston.
Something on the heart monitor “slipped out of place,” McDaniel said, producing a rhythmic “beep beep.”
