Weekly newsletter of the Fleet Reserve Association

February 23 2018

In this issue:
Judge Rules Burn Pitt Causes Lung Disease
New Retention DoD Policy Announced 
Committee Chairman Wants Pentagon Audit Results
Veterans Cards Available Again
Happy Birthday U.S. Coast Guard Reserve

           
Judge Rules Burn Pitt Smoke Causes Lung Disorder
A judge in the U.S. Department of Labor's Office for Workers' Compensation Programs ruled vapors from open-air burn pits are connected to lung disease.  The ruling could allow Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) benefits for the tens of thousands of service members who signed onto the VA's Burn Pit Registry over the course of the conflicts in the Middle East. These burn pits—where trash, abandoned hardware, and other waste was burned—occurred throughout U.S. military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan. Those downwind from the pits believe they were exposed to chemicals released during the burning of toxic items.

In October 2016, a group of 700 veterans and family members wrote an open letter to then-President Barack Obama to record their grievances.

"We write because these veterans are seriously ill, dying or have passed away, and more must be done," the letter read. "Many of us went to war able to run marathons, but now our health has deteriorated so much that we cannot hold down steady jobs. ... We are misdiagnosed. We are not getting the medical care we urgently need. We need you to act in this, your final year in office."

In January, former Vice President Joe Biden voiced the belief that his son's fatal brain cancer may have been caused by exposure to burn pits while serving in Iraq and Kosovo.

New Retention Policy Announced at DoD
The Department of Defense (DoD) recently announced policy changes pertaining to retention of non-deployable active duty personnel.  The new policy, based on recommendations of the Military Personnel Working Group, requires military members who have been non-deployable for 12 continuous months be processed for separation through administrative procedures or referred into the Disability Evaluation System (DES). The policy objective is to reduce the number of non-deployable active duty personnel, thereby improve military readiness. DoD reported there are 286,000 service members who are medically non-deployable at any one time. Each of the services has until October 1, 2018, to start implementing the policy.  

Senate Committee Chairman Wants Pentagon Audit Results
The long awaited audit of the Department of Defense (DoD) has started and the Senate Budget Committee Chairman  Mike Enzi (Wyo.) dispatched a letter to Defense Secretary (SecDef) Jim Mattis demanding details from the Pentagon about how exactly it plans to use results from its first-ever audit when completed. The Chairman requested a line-by-line breakdown, as well as a timeline, of how the Pentagon plans to spend its $900 million to complete and comply with the audit. The budget chairman warned that if the Pentagon cannot earn taxpayers' trust, "it will be incredibly difficult" to meet its request for a 3 to 5 percent growth in defense spending next year. Congress has already agreed and enacted the "Bipartisan Budget Act" (H.R.1892-P.L.-115-123) that permits Defense spending increases well above the caps enacted in 2011 for FY2018 and FY2019. 

Senator Enzi requested details about of how the Pentagon would achieve a "clean" audit despite the "many more painful findings" that are likely to be uncovered. The Chairman's letter stated, "It is important for Congress to better understand how DoD is translating audit findings into changes in its business practices..."

The House Armed Services Committee also recently held an oversight hearing to ascertain the progress and status of the ongoing audit. Getting DoD to conduct an audit has been a challenge. Congress passed legislation in 1990 for all federal government agencies to conduct an audit.  In 2010 the NDAA included a mandate for the Pentagon to complete an audit by September 2017. 

Since 1997, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has been required to audit the federal government's consolidated financial statements, but the agency has repeatedly said Pentagon reviews are not based on accurate data. In 2010, it was determined that the nearly $6 billion spent to improve the agency's financial information was unsuccessful. The GAO could not predict when the DoD would be able to provide these financial statements. 

Veteran Cards Now Available Again
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently started accepting applications again for the VA issued Veterans Identification Card (VIC). The ID card, authorized by Congress in 2015, is free of charge and will provide proof of military service in lieu of a having to carry a DD-214. The process originally commenced this past November but had to be stopped due to the overwhelming number of applications that caused the website to crash. The VA halted the application process in order to rectify the issues on the website. The system is available once again, and veterans who wish to apply for a VIC can click here and sign in or create an account. 

Veterans who apply for a card should receive it within 60 days. Veterans can check the status of their cards by clicking here. 

Happy Birthday U.S. Coast Guard Reserve
This week (February 19) the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve celebrated its 77th birthday. The Coast Guard Reserve began with the passage of the Coast Guard Reserve and Auxiliary Act of February 19, 1941. Coast Guard reservist normally train two days a month and may perform up to 15 days of Active Duty for training a year. The Coast Guard Reserve has about 8,000 men and women in service, most of them directly integrated with regular Coast Guard units. The Reserve has been a flexible, responsive and cost-effective workforce that has maintained its primary purpose of providing surge capacity for Coast Guard mission.