Veterans working as wildland firefighters monitor a prescribed fire at Monocacy National Battlefield, in Frederick, Md. The Veterans Fire Corps is actively seeking to hire veterans for careers in wildland firefighting and natural resource management. (National Park Service)
The Veterans Fire Corps, which operates in partnership with federal and state agencies, is actively seeking veterans, 35 and under, for training and careers in wildland firefighting and natural resource management.
The VFC crew will operate from Sept. 7 to Dec. 17, with members earning $900 weekly during the program, according to the corps. Lodging is provided.
“This crew will typically be stationed at New River Gorge National Park in West Virginia but can also be deployed to other National Park Service sites within the Northeast region,” the Department of Veterans said in an announcement about the recruitment and hiring of veterans.
To qualify, veterans must be able to provide a DD-214 or NGB-22 form, meet the age requirements and pass a timed physical endurance test.
“The work is tough and dirty but is purpose-driven, which I believe is very attractive to veterans. There’s also the excitement and adrenaline rush that pushed us toward the military,” said Lew Sovocool, a former VFC leader.
Crew members train for and participate in prescribed burns and wildland firefighting. The crew also may assist with trail maintenance, invasive species removal and habitat management.
They typically work outdoors regardless of weather conditions for 10 hours at a stretch, according to the announcement.
The Justice Department has reached a settlement with Broadway Electric and Cornerstone Contracting, as well as their leaders, over allegations that they coordinated a scheme to “exploit federal contracting programs set aside for small businesses” owned by disabled veterans.
The contractors face fines totaling more than $21 million following an investigation of their business practices to obtain federal and military contracts that they did not qualify for, according to the Justice Department.
From April 2017 through May 2025, the defendants were awarded several federal set-aside contracts by using other small businesses as fronts, or “pass-through entities,” the Justice Department said.
The Justice Department investigated Broadway Electric, Cornerstone Contracting and their top executives under the False Claims Act, a federal whistleblower law that allows private citizens to sue individuals or companies that defraud the government.
The defendants agreed to a settlement with the Justice Department after two whistleblowers — an Air Force veteran and the leader of a small business owned by a service-disabled veteran — filed a lawsuit, the Justice Department said.
“When large contractors fraudulently control small business entities to capture contracts they are not entitled to, they divert critical defense resources away from their intended purpose, undermine the competitive process and betray the veterans these programs exist to serve,” said Jason Sargenski, a special agent with the inspector general’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service, Southeast Field Office, at the Defense Department.
Several leaders in New York are urging state Attorney General Letitia James to investigate the apparent assault of a Gulf War veteran at a state-run veterans home that was recorded on a camera, the Peekskill Herald reported.
A hidden camera placed in the room of Albert O’Toole at the New York State Veterans Home in Montrose showed an aide punching him in the neck, striking him with a broom and yanking food from his tray, the newspaper reported.
Angela Sangro, his wife, said that O’Toole has Alzheimer’s disease and was placed in the nursing home in December.
O’Toole, 60, had previously suffered a traumatic brain injury from an explosion during military service.
Sangro said she placed a hidden camera in her husband’s room after she began noticing bruises and wounds.
The nursing home has since fired the aide who was responsible for the incident, the Peekskill Herald reported.
“As soon as we became aware of this incident, the staff member was immediately put on leave, terminated after a review of the incident, and is facing criminal charges,” according to the New York State Department of Health.
Rep. Zach Nunn, R.-Iowa, a combat veteran and colonel in the Air Force Reserve, is leading a bill to provide grants to groups researching and identifying unclaimed and abandoned remains of veterans so they can have proper burials. (Screenshot)
Two House lawmakers have introduced a bill to fund groups researching thousands of unclaimed and abandoned remains of veterans, so they can be identified and have proper burials.
Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa, a combat veteran and colonel in the Air Force Reserve, and Rep. Don Davis, D-N.C., an Air Force veteran, are leading the Unclaimed Veterans’ Legacy Act.
The bill authorizes nonprofits to receive assistance from the Veterans Legacy Grant Program at the Department of Veterans Affairs, the lawmakers said Thursday at a House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee hearing.
The grants would also cover costs to provide burials with full military honors, the lawmakers said.
The VA in 2023 reported that the remains of than 20,000 veterans went unclaimed nationwide.
Nunn told the story of a Union soldier in the Civil War whose remains were not claimed when he died in 1929. The soldier was finally laid to rest in 2024 after the nonprofit Final Salute confirmed his identity, located family members and provided a funeral with military honors.
“After serving two decades in uniform, I take the promise to leave no one behind personally,” Nunn said. “Too many veterans pass away with no family to claim them and no fellow service member left to stand watch.”
A 27-acre facility called Liberty Dogs is scheduled to open this fall in Nevada with a mission to pair trained service dogs with veterans who have post-traumatic stress disorder. A service dog is shown in this 2017 photo. (Defense Department)
A 27-acre facility called Liberty Dogs is scheduled to open this fall with a mission to pair trained service dogs with veterans who have post-traumatic stress disorder.
Established by the Dave & Cheryl Duffield Foundation, the facility will be based in Reno, Nev., and welcome veterans for two weeks of training and bonding with their future service dogs.
“The entire experience is fully funded, including the service dog, training, travel, lodging and ongoing support, removing one of the biggest barriers many veterans face in accessing a service dog,” according to Liberty Dogs.
The newly developed facility has training areas, canine kennels and onsite accommodations for veterans taking part in the program.
The campus also includes a veterinary clinic and breeding facilities to support the program’s growth.
Liberty Dogs is reaching out to potential volunteers who would like to help raise and foster puppies before they enter training. Many of the dogs are Golden Retrievers and Labrador Retrievers.
The program was announced in 2024, with a goal to train 200 dogs a year once the program is fully complete and running.
