Sorted by date Results 26 - 46 of 46
Joint Base Elmendorf Richardson Alaska announced it would be losing the 4th Brigade Combat Team (Airborne) of the 25th Infantry Division due to an Army wide 40,000 troop reduction. The loss of 2,600 troops and the accompanying civilian positions will be a blow to the local economy and the U.S. Arctic Defense Force. The Alaskan Congressional delegation promised to fight the move in the face of the growing threat from the People’s Republic of China, Russia and North Korea. “Alaska based ass...
Unless you have been living in a cave in the Tri-border area of Pakistan, you realize the State of Alaska is facing a serious budget crisis. The Governor chaired a fiscal sustainability conference in Fairbanks earlier this year to address the state’s finanace and cost saving options. One of the many suggestions was to have the Department of Health and Social Services contract for a feasibility study to determine if out-sourcing or privatizing the management of the Pioneer Homes system was cost effective. DHSS is considering issuing a c...
It’s an alarming and disturbing fact but older veterans have a higher suicide rate than the general public, including returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. In fact, veterans over 50 years of age have a 70 percent higher suicide rate than the non-veteran general population. According to Tom Berger, executive director of the Vietnam Veterans of America national health council and a Vietnam Navy Veteran, “You know, ‘We’re just old guys, and we’re going to die, so why pay much attention...
I just discovered something upsetting. I'm getting older by the day. Odds are I won't forever be the active, self-reliant person I am now. Yes, it's true, and I must accept the fact one day I will need someone at least checking in on me daily. So then, what's an old soldier to do when that day comes when they no longer can fully function alone? You don't enjoy removing the beautiful snow from your 300-meter driveway as much as you once did, or cutting the grass in your yard is no longer on your...
Those of you (including this retired Army pilot) who have witnessed an aircraft accident first hand know the litany of emotional phases that one experiences. At first you deny the accident happened. “I know that crew and they are the best. They’re just lost, will fix the radio and call the center or the tower.” Next you become angry, saying , “Why did this crash have to happen? Someone could have prevented this from happening. Who is that person? Let’s find out.” The third stage of grief is a...
Former Phoenix VA Healthcare Director Sharon Helman, who was earlier ousted by the administration after the public outcry over the deaths of veterans on a waiting list, has had her $57,000 bonus upheld. An administrative judge ruled Helman’s dismissal was due to taking trips and gifts and not the result of her stellar work at the Phoenix VA. The judge ruled therefore she was entitled to her well earned $57,000 bonus in addition to her $170,000 (never in question) base salary. Factor in her f...
For veterans, seeing temporary politicians take a knife to the military budget is nothing new. For some elected officials, low hanging fruit like retirement pay and TRICARE health care insurance is an easy choice since it directly affects so few voters. For those of us who began their military career with a “Greeting from Uncle Sam” letter from the draft board, we assumed we had a contract with the federal government. That contract was that if we spend 20 years in the military, we would be rew...
The Alaskan-Canadian Highway, known now as the Alcan, was one of the highest priority projects in the Second World War after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. The strategic value of a highway from the contiguous 48 states to Alaska had been debated for years. The "save the money crowd" said the cost to build the land link was too high for a territory with 75,000 natives and pioneers living in log cabins who hunted, mined, trapped and fished for a living. A coastal route had...
With the New Year upon us, many of us will make resolutions to change something in our life for the better. The old standbys are lose weight, join a gym, stop smoking, and call your friends and family more. These promises to yourself as well as so many other well intended plans made on New Year’s Day are forgotten by March (I’m being generous here). So let’s strive to make a resolution that may save your life and develop a good practice for the whole year. Let’s take some baby steps toward...
This month I am foregoing my monthly Veteran Healthcare Report to allow the following story to run. The article is the sole opinion of the author and does not constitute an endorsement by the Senior Voice. Self inspection record raises questions about 176th Medical Group By LINDA DUNEGAN, Lt. Col., AKANG, MSC, PhD, Ret. What is the mission of the Alaska Air National Guard? They are citizen airmen / militia. They defend and protect Alaskans from the enemies both foreign and domestic. Alaska’s 1...
Fall in Alaska is that short period of time between summer fun and six months of cold snowy weather that lasts until after you file your taxes. As the leaves turn bright colors and fall from the trees, you remember it's time to winterize everything, pull out the blue tarps and have the sled tuned up. But the most important ritual for the fall should include a trip to the VA influenza clinic and see the Alaska VA Flu Coordinator, Marylou. The Alaska VA could not have made this annual visit any...
Veterans exposed to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War – 9 January, 1962 through 7 May, 1975 – or near the Korean DMZ between 1 April, 1968 and 31 August, 1971, have been determined to have a presumptive service-connected disability for certain illnesses (see VA and VVA websites for full list) and are entitled to compensation as well as medical care. If you served in-country in Korea or Vietnam during these dates, you are eligible for compensation for many illness including Type ll dia...
For those of you not familiar with the Honor Flight program, it’s a national non-profit organization dedicated to providing World War ll and Korean War veterans an opportunity to travel to Washington DC to visit the nation’s capital and the various war memorials at no cost to the veteran. Sixty years after the end of World War ll, the country finally built a World War ll memorial after many of the “Greatest Generation” had passed away. We are losing World War ll veterans at the rate of one every 90 seconds. A seat on one of these all expense...
Important disclaimer: If you are a passenger in a moving vehicle and are reading this article to the driver, then stop reading out loud immediately. If this article is read in a public-radio-like monotonous voice, it could lead to drowsiness, possibly resulting in injury due to a car wreck. You have decided you need some benefit you have earned as a result of your military service. Sure, I know you were given your DD-214 upon separation and have it stored in the same place as your birth certificate, marriage license and deeds of trust like you...
Just when you thought the VA couldn’t be more offensive, we find out they are denying veterans with traumatic brain injuries and/or post traumatic stress disorders (TBI/PTSD) of their Second Amendment rights. Yes, you read this correctly, veterans asking for help to recover from service connected injuries are being deemed a danger to themselves and others and unable to handle their affairs by an unelected, appointed VA bureaucrat working for the very government agency founded to help them “re-integrate” back into peacetime civilian life. While...
As Senior Voice reported last month, the Veterans Health Administration has been caught in a cover-up of the mismanagement of our veterans’ waiting lists for some of their most critical medical screening services. This scandal now has spread to more than just the Phoenix VA Hospital, with more to come as the layers of the onion keep getting pealed back. The death toll of the gastrointestinal screening exam delays we reported last month now stands at over 100 with retired VA doctors lining up t...
It’s an alarming and disturbing fact but older veterans have a higher suicide rate than the general public, including returning Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. In fact, veterans over 50 years of age have a 70 percent higher suicide rate than the non-veteran general population. According to Tom Berger, executive director of the Vietnam Veterans of America national health council and a Vietnam Navy veteran, “You know, ‘We’re just old guys, and we’re going to die, so why pay much attention...
“I am shocked — shocked— to find that gambling is going on in here!” This much-paraphrased line of Claude Rains that he said to Humphrey Bogart in the great film Casablanca should be the tagline of this monthly article on Veteran’s healthcare. I am shocked – shocked – to find the federal government has promised more than they can deliver! Yes, I hope you were sitting down when you read that line but sadly for all veterans this is true. It was easy to promise to provide Veterans healthcare coverage for life when the money from taxpaying bab...
This is the second of a two-part series. Part one appeared in the February 2014 Senior Voice. Thanks to all the veterans who took the time to comment on last month’s column. This is your column and the Senior Voice will try to address any matters important to you. To recap Part One, many of our senior Alaska veterans were exposed to mesothelioma while serving our country and may just now be showing symptoms. Some veterans who have been diagnosed with lung cancer may in fact have this disease. This month’s follow-up addresses some avenues for...
Let me begin by thanking the readers who contacted the Senior Voice concerning last month’s article. I hope our senior veterans will find this month’s topic on mesothelioma in the 60-plus year old age group useful to themselves or a loved one. If you worked in areas of high exposure while on active duty for even one day, that brief exposure could lead to this deadly form of cancer in you and your family (via secondary exposure). This discussion will be in two parts. I will cover the disease, its causes, areas of service in the military most vul...
Beginning with the next issue of Senior Voice, I will contribute a monthly article on veteran health care in Alaska. As a current consumer of VA, Medicare and Tricare, I am in a unique position to report from the ground on the quality of care afforded our senior veterans. Over the course of this year, I will highlight new services, funding (or the lack of) and the delivery of long-earned veteran health care benefits in the hopes of empowering this large and deserving segment of our Alaskan senior family so they may enjoy the health care they...
