NewsBytes March 25, 2022
In this issue:
New MCPON
SVAC Hearing on VA Caregivers Program
DoD Starts Suicide Prevention Study Group
New Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy
Chief of Naval Operations, Admiral Mike Gilday, has selected Fleet Master Chief James Honea to become the 16th MCPON. Honea, who currently serves as the Fleet Master Chief for U.S. Pacific Fleet, will take on the new job Sept. 8, 2022. He enlisted in the Navy in 1987 and advanced through the ranks as a boatswain’s mate. Honea will replace MCPON Russell Smith, who took on the job in August 2018.
Honea served as the Command Master Chief at Naval Support Activity South Potomac as well as Command Master Chief, U.S. Naval Forces Korea, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command, U.S. Fifth Fleet. His personal awards include the Legion of Merit Medal, Meritorious Service Medal (five awards), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (three awards), and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal (four awards) as well as numerous unit, and campaign awards. He’s a graduate of the U.S. Air Force Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Academy, Command Master Chief Course and Senior Enlisted JPME Keystone Course from the National Defense University.
SVAC Holds Oversight Hearing on VA Caregivers Program
The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee (SVAC) held an oversight hearing on the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Caregiver Program. Legislation was approved in the last Congress (116th) to expand the VA’s Program of Comprehensive Assistance for Family Caregivers to veterans of all eras — successfully including language in the bipartisan VA MISSION Act that was signed into law in June 2018 (P.L.115-182, S.2372). Since the law’s implementation, the SVAC has continuously raised concerns and called on Department of Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough last year to reconsider the Department’s tightened eligibility and delayed roll-out of the Caregivers Program. Only 20 percent of new applicants have been accepted and as many as 6,700 current caregivers would become ineligible. In response, the VA announced a pause and “reassessment” of the caregiver support program. The FRA’s concern about the tightened eligibility was noted in the statement provided to the SVAC and the House Veterans Affairs Committee earlier.
DoD Starts Military Suicide Prevention Study Group
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin announced the establishment of the Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee (SPRIRC), which will address and prevent suicide in the military, pursuant to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022. The SPRIRC will review relevant suicide prevention and response activities, as well as the immediate actions underway that were directed by the secretary on addressing sexual assault and recommendations of the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military, to ensure SPRIRC recommendations are synchronized with current prevention activities and capabilities.
The Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness will issue a memorandum identifying the members of the SPRIRC, the timeline for installation visits, and the SPRIRC charter that will outline the approach to the Department’s comprehensive and collective efforts within 60 days of the memorandum. The SPRIRC will start working no later than May 14, 2022 and will begin installation visits no later than August 1, 2022. By Dec. 20, 2022, the SPRIRC will send an initial report to Secretary Austin for review — in advance of sending a report of findings and recommendations to Congress by Feb. 18, 2023.
NewsBytes is FRA's weekly legislative update. If you received this through a forward and would like to subscribe, please e-mail us and include your name and contact information in the body of e-mail. If you are a member of FRA or LA FRA, please include your member number.
Follow FRA on Twitter (https://twitter.com/FRAHQ); Follow FRA on Instagram (www.instagram.com/fra_hq) and "like" FRA on Facebook (use the shortcut of www.fra.org/fb)