Rao bulletin 15 June 2016 html edition this bulletin contains the following articles
Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., introduced a bill to overhaul VHA
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Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., introduced a bill to overhaul VHA The proposal in many ways mirrors a “strawman report” issued by seven members of the Commission on Care, a panel created by the 2014 Veterans Access, Choice and Accountability Act to suggest a new path forward for VHA. The full commission is holding its final meeting this week before it issues its recommendations at the end of the month. While the authors of the strawman report say they were simply seeking to align the VA with the needs and desires of veterans, most veterans service organizations -- such as the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars -- oppose the proposals. Garry Augustine, executive director of the group Disabled Veterans of America, told Government Executive in April that a focus on private care would rob future veterans of the all-inclusive assistance he received upon returning from Vietnam, ranging from vocational training to educational assistance to rehabilitation. “If I was just given a card and told to go get this taken care of, I would’ve been lost,” Augustine said. He also suggested the proposals would lead to a deficiency of hospitals and clinicians equipped and trained to deal with issues specific to veterans. “Some of these injuries don’t show up in the private sector that often,” he said. Augustine added that he does not philosophically oppose augmenting integrated care, but cautioned that the providers must become familiar with the intricacies of receiving government reimbursements before accepting veteran patients. Concerned Veterans for America, a conservative-aligned group controversial for its ties to Republican mega-donors Charles and David Koch, threw its support behind the measure. CVA’s Vice President for Political and Legislative Action Dan Caldwell said the bill would “give every veteran eligible for VA care the ability to choose where he or she receives care.” “The reality of the VA’s failure is undeniable,” Caldwell said. “The department is not structured to provide timely, sustainable care to veterans, and is in desperate need of ‘system-wide’ reform. The Caring for Our Heroes in the 21st Century Act will reverse the tide of inefficiency and failure at the VA while offering veterans the health care choice they deserve.” He said he expects dissension from the “usual chorus” of special interests and “entrenched bureaucrats” but called on Congress to “do the right thing” and support the bill. John Cooper, a CVA spokesman, said the bill would enable veterans to use the same facilities and see the same doctors, “with the only difference being how those clinics and doctors are managed.” Congress would continue its oversight and funding responsibility for the newly created government corporation. The reforms are unlikely to receive President Obama’s support or a veto-proof majority, making the chances for passage of McMorris Rogers’ bill dim. Obama told The Colorado Springs Gazette earlier in June he would not support any move toward VHA privatization. "The notion of dismantling the VA system would be a mistake," Obama said, touting the progress he said his administration has made in improving the department since the waitlist scandal was unearthed in 2014. Nevertheless, that the third-ranking House member in the Republican Party would throw her weight behind the transition shows the political winds may be blowing in that direction. [Source: GovExec.com | Eric Katz | June 7, 2016 ++] ********************************* Vet Bills Submitted to 114th Congress ► 160601 thru 160615 Refer to this Bulletin’s “House & Senate Veteran Legislation” attachment for a listing of Congressional bills of interest to the veteran community introduced in the 114th Congress. The list contains the bill’s number and name, what it is intended to do, it’s sponsor, any related bills, and the committees it has been assigned to. Support of these bills through cosponsorship by other legislators is critical if they are ever going to move through the legislative process for a floor vote to become law. A good indication of that likelihood is the number of cosponsors who have signed onto the bill. Any number of members may cosponsor a bill in the House or Senate. At https://beta.congress.gov you can review a copy of each bill’s content, determine its current status, the committee it has been assigned to, and if your legislator is a sponsor or cosponsor of it by entering the bill number in the site’s search engine. To determine what bills, amendments your representative/senator has sponsored, cosponsored, or dropped sponsorship on go to: https://beta.congress.gov/search?q=%7B%22source%22%3A%5B%22legislation%22%5D%7D, Select the ‘Sponsor’ tab, and click on your congress person’s name. You can also go to http://thomas.loc.gov/home/thomas.php. Grassroots lobbying is the most effective way to let your Congressional representatives know your wants and dislikes. If you are not sure who is your Congressman go to https://beta.congress.gov/members. Members of Congress are receptive and open to suggestions from their constituents. The key to increasing cosponsorship support on veteran related bills and subsequent passage into law is letting legislators know of veteran’s feelings on issues. You can reach their Washington office via the Capital Operator direct at (866) 272-6622, (800) 828-0498, or (866) 340-9281 to express your views. Otherwise, you can locate their phone number, mailing address, or email/website to communicate with a message or letter of your own making at either:
FOLLOWING ARE THE 11 VETERAN RELATED BILLS INTRODUCED IN THE HOUSE SINCE THE LAST BULLETIN WAS PUBLISHED
FOLLOWING ARE THE 9 VETERAN RELATED BILLS INTRODUCED IN THE SENATE SINCE THE LAST BULLETIN WAS PUBLISHED
[Source: https://beta.congress.gov & http: //www.govtrack.us/congress/bills June 14, 2016 ++] * Military * 
Secret Awards ► Classified Missions Almost One in Five Citations for two Navy Crosses and more than 100 Silver Star medals awarded secretly to Navy SEALs and a Marine for “extraordinary heroism” in the last 15 years reflect the fierce battles that have been fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to records obtained by USA TODAY. The Navy decorated the Marine for saving the lives of civilians in Benghazi in September 2012. Several SEALs earned theirs for intense combat in Ramadi, others for rescuing hostages in Afghanistan. The Navy also honored the deadly efficiency of the “American Sniper,” the late SEAL Chris Kyle. 
Almost one in five of the military’s most prestigious honors in all the services have been awarded privately since America went to war in 2001 because the missions were classified. The Medal of Honor is the highest commendation, followed by service crosses and the Silver Star. In February, the Pentagon announced plans to review more than 1,000 of the nation’s top awards bestowed since 9/11 to determine if they should be upgraded. The secret Navy Crosses and Silver Stars are among those under review, along with a similar number issued for the Army’s classified commando missions "Awards and medals have a sacred role in military culture," said Brad Carson, the Pentagon's former civilian chief for personnel who advocated for the review. "They are a small ribbon symbolizing enormous sacrifice. It is important that we recognize service members for their heroism. And after 15 years of war, it is appropriate to review awards to make sure we applied the criteria correctly and uniformly. That's especially true when so many missions were necessarily classified and awards given quietly. That's why we pushed this review. It is about keeping faith with the troops." The citations that accompanied the two Navy Cross and 112 Silver Star medals begin as form letters under letterhead from the Secretary of the Navy. The Pentagon withheld names to protect the service member and his family, and deletes details that could affect national security. “The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the NAVY CROSS or SILVER STAR to…” The rank of the SEAL or Marine follows but the names are redacted in the documents. For those killed in action, the President “takes pride” in awarding the medal. Next, in less than a page, come astounding feats of bravery, selflessness and will. Two Navy Crosses, second only to the Medal of Honor, are among the Navy documents. The first, on Aug. 9, 2009, a Navy SEAL, his name blacked out like others in the report, was leading a small unit when their base came “under an intense coordinated attack” in Afghanistan. A sniper wounded the unit’s medic, and the SEAL braved direct gunfire to drag the man to safety. At the same time, a rocket-propelled grenade smashed through the wall of the unit’s arsenal, sparking a major fire. “With a catastrophic explosion imminent,” the SEAL evacuated the base. He then ran repeatedly into the arsenal to haul out crates of explosives to uncover the “smoldering and undetonated warhead, which he removed with his bare hands.” He left the compound, making several trips to dump explosives in a nearby river, all the while being shot at. “His repeated heroic actions and decisive leadership, under fire, saved the lives of United States soldiers and several Afghan elders and prevented the sole hardened structure in the village from being breached,” the citation reads. Missing from the citations is any mention of SEAL Team 6 and its mission into Pakistan that killed Osama bin Laden in 2011. President Obama did provide the commandos with the Presidential Unit Citation, the highest honor for a military unit. The Navy did not rule out the possibility that individual medals were awarded. “Due to the sensitivity surrounding the composition and conduct of the raid, and concern for the personal security of the service members involved, at this time the department cannot comment on any individual recognition,” said Navy Lt. Jackie Pau, a Navy spokeswoman. Benghazi. The most tersely worded citation accompanied the only other Navy Cross, awarded to a Marine gunnery sergeant. His heroism on the night of Sept. 11, 2012, came amid the chaos and controversy that surrounds the attack in Benghazi, Libya, that killed Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans. A House committee continues to investigate the attack, the U.S. response and the role of Hillary Clinton, then the Secretary of State and now the likely Democratic nominee for president. It’s possible, through the citation and congressional reports on Benghazi, to sketch out his actions that night. The citation refers to his actions “in support of Overseas Contingency Operations in Sept. 2012” but does not say where. The Navy has acknowledged that it did award a Navy Cross to the Marine for his actions that night. A House intelligence committee report on Benghazi refers to a two-person detachment of military personnel and other security personnel who flew from Tripoli that night to rescue Americans. They arrived at the besieged compound, and within 11 minutes were under attack by mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms fire. The attack killed two and severely wounded two others. The Marine helped treat the wounded, repel attackers and organize the evacuation. His “valorous actions, dedication to duty and willingness to place himself in harm’s way for the protection of others was critical to the success of saving numerous United States civilian lives,” the citation says. 
A man walks through the rubble of the U.S. consular in Benghazi Ramadi. In 2006, U.S. troops and al-Qaeda terrorists scratched and clawed in brutal street-by-street fighting in in western Iraq. "It was pretty intense urban combat," Army Lt. Gen. Sean MacFarland recalled in an interview. He commanded a brigade in Ramadi as colonel at the time and now leads the coalition fighting the Islamic States. "What the SEALs were doing in particular for us was sniper, counter-sniper operations. That was a pretty critical element of our ability to establish, first of all, our combat outposts in the city, and disrupt the enemy counterattacks against them." The SEALs, MacFarland said, would venture deep behind enemy lines, setting up "hide sites" where small teams would await inevitable attacks on the outposts. Setting up a hide site was relatively simple, he said. Getting out, once discovered, often by children sent as scouts, could be deadly. On 29 SEP an insurgent threw a grenade on the roof where Michael Monsoor and two fellow SEALs had set up to protect another unit. Monsoor, who had a clear exit, chose instead to leap on the grenade, sacrificing his life for those of his colleagues, according to the citation for the Medal of Honor awarded to him posthumously. The lieutenant, who fought through “heavy enemy fire” to retrieve Monsoor and his wounded SEALs, was awarded a Silver Star in secret for the mission. In all, from spring to fall in 2006, SEALs earned at least 14 Silver Stars. Monsoor earned one of those as well, according to his Medal of Honor citation. On May 9, he “exposed himself to heavy enemy fire” to help rescue another SEAL who had been shot in the leg, according to the citation. Monsoor kept firing at insurgents while he and another SEAL dragged their wounded comrade to safety. They loaded him on a Humvee and returned to the fight. 
Navy SEAL Chris Kyle His fellow SEAL, Chris Kyle, no doubt fired fewer rounds. But the secret Silver Star citation that belongs to him shows that in Ramadi from April 24 to Aug. 27, 2006, “he personally accounted for 91 confirmed enemy fighters killed and dozens more probably killed or wounded.” "Chris Kyle, among them, racked up some pretty heavy-duty numbers there," MacFarland said. he citation refers to Ramadi as the “epicenter of al Qaeda and insurgent activity in Iraq,” and Kyle’s “heroic actions, professionalism and incredible sniper skills” in seizing key areas of the city. Over the summer of 2006, he was credited with saving the lives of U.S. and Iraqi troops with his rifle through “enemy rocket-propelled grenade and mortar teams eliminated, five enemy snipers with scoped weapons eliminated, and dozens of insurgent fighters destroyed.” Kyle was portrayed by actor Bradley Cooper in American Sniper, the 2014 movie based on his autobiography. Kyle was killed in 2013 by a veteran he had been mentoring at a shooting range in Texas. "I lost about 100 soldiers, marines and SEALs in a nine-month period and hundreds more wounded, close to 600," MacFarland said. Heroism had become so commonplace, he said, that he had grown numb to it over 15 months of fighting. "I would tell you one of my biggest regrets as a brigade commander is that I didn’t push harder for more valor citations for my marines and soldiers," he said. Hostage rescue. In February, President Obama awarded another SEAL, Senior Chief Petty Officer Edward Byers, the Medal of Honor for his acts of courage in shielding an American doctor from his Taliban captors while bullets zipped through the hideout. It was a rare public acknowledgement of SEALs' heroism, made even more unusual in that Byers belonged to SEAL Team 6, the legendary unit that killed bin Laden. The details of the night of Dec. 8, 2012, were sketched out in the citation for Byers: Taliban gunmen cut down the lead SEAL in the team that assaulted the compound, Petty Officer 1st Class Nicolas Checque, mortally wounding him. Byers followed Checque, tackled one of Dr. Dilip Joseph's captors and held another with his bare hands, allowing another SEAL to kill the militant. Byers then leaped atop Joseph to protect him from gunfire. At http://bcdownload.gannett.edgesuite.net/militarytimes-mobile/201602/479/44862801001_4777582260001_4777491703001.mp4 can be viewed the Senior Chief’s 8 minutes account of what transpired. "Given the nature of Ed’s service, there is a lot that we cannot say today," Obama said at the White House ceremony. "Many of the operational details of his mission remain classified. Many of his teammates cannot be mentioned." Their names remain secret, but the citations reveal that three teammates of Byers and Cheque received Silver Stars for their "bold initiative, undaunted courage, and complete dedication to duty."
[Source: USA TODAY | Tom Vanden Brook | May 16, 2016 ++] ********************************* Discharge & Examination Processing Update 01 ► ADSEP Policy Change To protect Sailors and Marines suffering with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), traumatic brain injury (TBI) or any other diagnosed mental health condition, Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus has made his department the first in the military to assure such conditions are considered before separating a service member. Previously a service member's misconduct took precedence over diagnosed mental health conditions when considering separation, which impacted the veteran's ability to receive benefits. Now, if it contributed to the misconduct, the medical condition will take precedence. Effective immediately, Sailors and Marines being processed for any type of involuntary administrative separation (ADSEP) who have a diagnosed mental health condition may be referred into the Disability Evaluation System. 
Secretary of the Navy (SECNAV) Ray Mabus 1 JUN signing of the Administrative Separation (ADSEP) policy Additionally, if the Sailor or Marine is being administratively processed under provisions that authorize a characterization of service of other than honorable, the case must be referred to the first general officer/flag officer in the chain of command for a final determination. Any service member previously separated under similar circumstances may also petition to have their discharge reviewed through either the discharge review board or Board for Correction of Naval Records (BCNR). "It is one of the great maxims of naval history that Sailors and Marines are the sea services' greatest advantage and most important asset. For more than a decade, we've asked a tremendous amount of our people and their families," Mabus said. "In turn, we have a responsibility to support their needs, whether they are serving the Navy and Marine Corps mission around the globe or transitioning from uniformed service to civilian life." Mabus signed the new policy into effect during a visit to the Steven A. Cohen Military Family Clinic at the NYU Langone Medical Center, a Cohen Veterans Network (CVN) clinic in New York. CVN describes its mission as striving "to improve the quality of life for veterans and their families, including Guard and Reserve, by working to strengthen mental health outcomes and complement existing support, with a particular focus on post-traumatic stress." "Keeping faith with veterans under all circumstances is our solemn vow," said Mabus. "It is vitally important to address those service members whose separation is a result of PTSD/TBI. Mabus later in the day formally announced the policy signing at an event hosted by the Veterans on Wall Street (VOWS) initiative. For more information on the Naval Discharge Review Board, visit www.secnav.navy.mil/mra/CORB/pages/ndrb/default.aspx. [Source: http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=94996 | June 1, 2016 ++] ********************************* BAH ► Senate Plan To Overhaul Troops’ Housing Stipends in NDAA Military advocates are baffled over a Senate plan to overhaul troops’ housing stipends, saying the change appears unneeded and potentially crippling to family finances. “We view Basic Allowance for Housing as an earned benefit, and we don’t agree with trying to reduce that benefit,” said Michael Barron, deputy director of government relations at the Military Officers Association of America. “This is not just frivolous money being spent by troops.” Included in the Senate Armed Services Committee’s draft of the annual defense authorization bill are plans to overhaul how BAH is paid out troops. Instead of flat fees based on rank and ZIP code, the new system would refund only what troops pay out in rent and utilities costs, stopping troops from pocketing leftover stipends if they find cheaper housing. The Defense Department opposes the idea, calling the housing stipends part of troops’ larger compensation package. But Senate officials say the change could save the department tens of millions while still providing adequate housing benefits for troops. Both Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) have amendments which would strip the BAH changes out of the measure when it reaches the Senate floor next week. Outside critics support that move. “If it isn’t broke, don’t try and fix it,” said Kelly Hruska, government relations director for the National Military Family Association. “The [Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission] looked at this issue last year, and they found the system wasn’t perfect, but it works.” 
Michael Little, director of legislative affairs for the Association of the United States Navy, said the Senate plan still has too many unanswered questions, such as how utilities costs will be calculated into the new housing stipend and how exactly the change will impact family finances. “We should be trying to find ways to keep men and women interested in the military,” he said. “But by putting restraints on them and taking away pay and benefits, we are making the military a place where morale is low and retention is even lower. “Our government should want to find a way to make the military a career decision for more Americans. Cutting benefits will not do that.” House lawmakers did not include the change in their draft legislation. If the proposal passes the Senate, a conference committee with lawmakers from both chambers will have to work out a compromise in coming months. [Source: Military Times | Leo Shane | June 5, 2016 ++] ********************************* USAF Drones ► Everyday Part of the War Machine When U.S. drones obliterated a car carrying Taliban leader Mullah Akhtar Mansour last month, it was the kind of targeted killing that unmanned aircraft are best known for. But 15 years after a drone first fired missiles in combat, the U.S. military's drone program has expanded far beyond specific strikes to become an everyday part of the war machine. Now, from control booths in the United States and bases around the Middle East, Afghanistan and parts of Africa, drone crews are flying surveillance missions and providing close air support for troops on the ground. "In the wars we fight, this is the future," said drone pilot Lieutenant Shaw, as he stood in a hangar at the Air Force's drone base in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. Crews spoke to Reuters on condition that only their first names and rank be used to identify them. The increased use of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in a wide range of battle applications comes as the United States looks to reduce the number of soldiers fighting abroad. The U.S. military declined to provide statistics breaking down drone activity into types of missions, but dozens of interviews with people working in the secretive programs show UAVs have become an integral tool on the battlefield. That is likely to raise further objections from critics who say drones often miss their intended targets, can only partly relay what is happening on the ground and encourage warfare with impunity waged by people at computer screens far from danger. 
U.S. airmen prepare a U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper drone as it leaves on a mission at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan March 9, 2016. In Afghanistan, the United States has around 9,800 troops left and plans to cut the level to 5,500 by early 2017. At its peak a few years ago, the U.S. military had around 100,000 soldiers there, yet the dramatic decrease does not mean the conflict is winding down. In fact, the Taliban insurgency is as potent now as at any time since 2001. As part of its expanding program, the Air Force aims to double the number of drone squadrons over the next five years. Even some proponents, like retired Lieutenant Colonel T. Mark McCurley, a former Air Force drone pilot, say over reliance on remote killing and electronic intelligence has hurt efforts on the ground. "Too often, remotely piloted aircraft are being used as a tool to wantonly kill individuals, rather than as one of many tools to capture and shut down whole terrorist networks," he said. Central to the shift toward remote operations is Afghanistan, where weak local forces, a dwindling troop presence and rugged terrain have made it something of a testing ground. Drones there log up to eight times as many flight hours as the few remaining manned fighter aircraft. They also release more weapons than conventional aircraft, Reuters reported in April. For the first time, the top Air Force general in the country was trained as a drone pilot before he deployed, a move he said reflected the importance of unmanned aircraft in the broader military mission. "Our airmen are flying persistent intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and strike missions all across Afghanistan," Major General Jeff Taliaferro told Reuters in Kabul, referring to the drone program. "They're performing everything from counterterrorism to base defense, and really it's a capability a lot of our missions have come to rely on." The latest generation of drones carries more and bigger weapons and an expanding payload of hi-tech sensors designed to handle a wider range of missions for the conventional military. The number of hours flown by the Air Force's newest attack drone, the MQ-9 Reaper, more than doubled globally between 2010 and 2015, to nearly as many hours as F-16 fighter jets, according to statistics from the Air Force Safety Center. In a plan announced late last year, the Air Force proposed roughly $3 billion in funding to expand its attack drone force further, adding 75 of the latest Reaper aircraft. It already fields at least 93 Reapers and 150 of the older MQ-1 Predators, both built by General Atomics, as well as 33 much larger Global Hawk surveillance UAVs, manufactured by Northrop Grumman. The U.S. Army also operates a fleet of roughly 130 MQ-1C Gray Eagle unmanned aircraft, an upgraded version of the Predator, and all military services have thousands of smaller, mostly unarmed surveillance drones. One challenge for the U.S. military is recruiting enough staff to operate a growing fleet and expanding range of roles. As many as 3,500 new personnel may be added to a workforce of roughly 1,700 pilots and sensor operators in a bid to expand the program and relieve stress and overwork, according to proposals released by the Air Force's Air Combat Command. While Afghan missions are flown via satellite link by pilots at bases in the United States, aircraft take off and land under the control of crews deployed to the airfields in Afghanistan. As a steady procession of Reapers rolled down the runways and into the bright Afghan sky, operators at Kandahar described life in one of the fastest-changing sectors of the military. "My old job was going away, while this field is rapidly expanding," said Captain Bryan, a pilot who used to fly KC-135 refueling aircraft. Kandahar's role as a drone center in Afghanistan brings the drone full circle. Fifteen years ago, a U.S. drone made history over Kandahar when it fired the first weapon deployed by unmanned aircraft in combat, during a failed attempt to kill then-Taliban leader Mullah Omar in the first days of the U.S.-led operation that ousted the hardline Islamists from power. On its way back to base, the drone fired its second missile at Kandahar airfield, then suspected of being occupied by Taliban and al Qaeda fighters. At the height of the NATO coalition mission, Kandahar, which is also a civilian airport, hosted a range of military aircraft including F-16 fighter jets and C-130 cargo planes. Now, the only attack aircraft deployed here are about two dozen drones. Squeezed into sand-colored shipping containers just off the tarmac, pilots and sensor operators flip through checklists amid an array of monitors, touch screens, radio consoles and a secret chat system with which they talk to pilots in the United States. At the beginning of the year, the squadron at Kandahar began flying new, extended-range Reapers, usually carrying four Hellfire missiles, one 500 lb GBU-12 bomb and an external fuel tank under the wings. That load has allowed the aircraft to be used for more than just hunting individuals, including close air support for troops fighting on the ground. Almost 8,000 miles away, pilots sitting at another sun-bleached desert base, this time in the United States, are among the crews that take over a few minutes after takeoff and guide the aircraft during the mission. Sitting in dark, air-conditioned booths at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada, pilots and sensor operators work closely with large teams of intelligence analysts who sift streams of real-time data transmitted by the drones on the other side of the planet. While air strikes often grab the headlines, the vast majority of missions in Afghanistan involve hours of mind-numbing surveillance and intelligence gathering, crews say. The most revolutionary aspect of unmanned aircraft, crews add, is the combination of weapons and surveillance capabilities, which often provide more information than analysts can process. At Creech, crews handle nearly half of all the Air Force's 60 global drone flights on any given day. "For us it's anything but a video game," said Captain Tim, a pilot based at Creech, addressing one of the main criticisms leveled at the drone program. "From here you're having an impact on the battlefield." [Source: Reuters | Andahar, Afghanistan/Creech Air Force Base, Nevada | Josh Smith | June 7, 2016 ++] ********************************* USAF Strategy ► Air Superiority 2030 Flight Plan The U.S. Air Force has just released its latest official strategy for controlling the sky for the next 15 years. And for the first time in generations, the “air-superiority” plan doesn’t necessarily include a new fighter jet. That’s right—the world’s leading air force, the operator of the world’s biggest and most sophisticated fleet of fighter planes, isn’t currently planning on developing a major new fighter. The Air Force may be getting the F-35—its current fighter. But it probably won’t get an F-36 any time soon. And that’s a real shame for fans of thunderous air shows and Hollywood blockbusters. The Air Force has a plan to replace its traditional fighters, but it involves technology that’s not as impressive at a public event or on the silver screen. 
The U.S. Air Force May Have Just Built Its Last Fighter Jet Instead of deploying squadrons of supersonic, manned jets to directly battle enemy planes with missiles and guns—the traditional approach to air superiority—in 2030 the Air Force will wage aerial warfare with a “family of capabilities,” according to the “Air Superiority 2030 Flight Plan” strategy document which is available for review at http://www.af.mil/Portals/1/documents/airpower/Air%20Superiority%202030%20Flight%20Plan.pdf. These capabilities could include hackers who can target an enemy’s aerial command-and-control systems, electronic jammers to blind rival planes’ sensors, and new B-21 stealth bombers that can, in theory, destroy enemy aircraft on the ground before they can even take off. The closest thing to a new fighter jet that the strategy document mentions is a so-called penetrating counterair system, or PCA, that can fight or sneak its way into enemy air space to find, and ultimately help destroy, other planes. That’s what today’s F-15 and F-22 fighters do—and what the F-35 might do, once it finally overcomes vexing technical problems and becomes combat-ready. But with Russian- and Chinese-made air defenses steadily growing more sophisticated, the U.S. Air Force isn’t assuming that existing or future fighters will be able to keep up for very long. “Advanced air and surface threats are spreading to other countries around the world,” the strategy notes. In other words, more and more countries are getting fighters, radars, and surface-to-air missiles that can reliably shoot down American planes. In the direst scenario, Air Force fighters simply won’t survive over enemy territory long enough to make any difference during a major war. In that case, the penetrating counterair system, or PCA, might not be a fighter jet as we currently understand it. Instead, it could be a radar-evading drone whose main job is to slip undetected into enemy air space and use sophisticated sensors to detect enemy planes—and then pass that targeting data via satellite back to other U.S. forces. “A node in the network,” is how the strategy document describes the penetrating system’s main job. The Air Force could start work on the penetrating counterair system in 2017, according to the new air-superiority plan. The document proposes that this possible stealth drone could team up with an “arsenal plane”—an old bomber or transport plane modified to carry potentially hundreds of long-range missiles. Flying safely inside friendly territory, the arsenal plane could lob huge numbers of munitions over a long distance to overwhelm enemy defense and wipe out aircraft on the ground and in the air—all without a single American pilot risking his or her life on the aerial front line. Not coincidentally, the Pentagon announced early this year that its Rapid Capabilities Office, a secretive research-and-development organization based in Virginia, had begun work on an arsenal plane, possibly a modified B-52 bomber. The drone-arsenal-plane combo could prove devastatingly effective. But it’s also a kind of bandaid on a self-inflicted technological wound. The Air Force needs upgraded older planes because its new planes are late and over-budget—and, as a result, dangerously close to being obsolete despite still having that new-car smell. Besides being progressively outclassed by fast-improving enemy defenses, America’s fighters have proved increasingly expensive and difficult to develop, buy, and maintain. A single new F-35, currently the Air Force’s only in-production fighters, costs no less than $150 million—tens of millions of dollars more than the older planes it’s replacing. In development since the late 1990s, the F-35—which bakes pricey new sensors and computers into a complex airframe—could finally become operational with the Air Force in late 2016. Budget woes and problems with the engine and software have delayed the plane’s introduction by no less than 10 years. In order to have any hope of hanging on to the very idea of a fighter jet in 2030 and beyond, the Air Force must rethink its approach to developing planes. The service “must reject thinking focused on ‘next-generation’ platforms,” the air-superiority plan advises. “Such focus often creates a desire to push technology limits within the confines of a formal program… Pushing those limits in a formal program increases risk to unacceptable levels, resulting in cost growth and schedule slips.” Instead, the strategy documents recommend that the Air Force separate airplane-development from the invention of new electronics. The military could develop new weapons, sensors, and communications technologies like commercial firms devise consumer products—quickly and incrementally updating a piece of equipment in order to minimize delays and keep down costs. The Air Force could then add this rapidly-improving new gear to a basic airframe whose own development could proceed at a much slower pace. Instead of buying more than 1,700 identical F-35s over a period of 30 years—that’s the Air Force’s current plan—the flying branch could acquire a slightly-improved new plane model every year. Same fuselage, wings, and engines. New electronics and weapons. Just like Apple releases a new, slightly better version of the iPhone every year or so, the Air Force could get a small batch of new jets on an annual basis, each batch possessing that year’s best tech. An incremental approach to buying jets could help prolong the fighter’s usefulness in the Air Force’s arsenal. But even that won’t solve the fundamental problem America’s air arm faces at it looks ahead 15 years. Rivals have caught up to U.S. air power, and could soon make it impossible for American fighter jets—and their pilots—to survive over enemy terrain. For that reason, the Air Force is far more likely to simply replace fighters with drones. True, air shows and movies could get a lot more boring. But the fighter’s demise could keep U.S. pilots from throwing away their lives on aerial suicide missions. [Source: The Daily Beast | David Axe | June 6, 2016 ++] ********************************* Sea Wasp ► Mine Hunting Underwater Robot Most of the machines developed to help navies hunt the stealthy underwater predators called mines require a big crew and a ship or helicopter, which is why the U.S. military is excited about a two-person underwater robot that weighs less than 200 pounds. The Saab Waterborne Anti-IED Security Platform, or SEA WASP, is a small remote-operated drone outfitted with an electric arm, sonar, and radar to collect information on where it is and what’s around it. A mine-hunting drone may not sound that advanced compared to space planes and autonomous swarming vessels, but it actually represents a real technological feat. The WASP weighs just 90 kilos, light enough to be carried to by two people. It’s hard to get a machine that light to stay in one place to probe for mines against underwater currents. 
The US military has been looking for an underwater bomb disposal robot for years. It finally has one “One of the reasons we selected Saab,” said Ed Bundy, who works for the of Pentagon’s Combating Terrorism Technical Support Office, or CTTSO. “They were the only company that actually told us this was a really hard problem.” The Navy’s explosive ordnance disposal, or EOD, community is particularly interested, said Bundy. “Low visibility is a problem wherever the Navy EOD guys work,” he said at the Navy League’s Sea Air Space conference. SAAB began marketing the machine just after Christmas and so far has sold three to various government bodies in the United States but has seen “huge interest worldwide” according to Bert Johansson, Saab’s director of unmanned underwater vehicle systems. Mines are a devilishly hard problem to solve. A 2002 study from the University of California, Berkeley, found that just a few mines could be an enormous problem for the United States, potentially bringing shipping to a halt and costing tens of billions in lost revenue. And of the 19 U.S. warships heavily damaged or sunk by enemies since World War II, 15 were the victims of mines. [Source: Defense One | Patrick Tucker | May 17, 2016 ++] ********************************* Dover Port Mortuary ► Among the Dead: My Years in the Port Mortuary The quiet pace of working at Dover Port Mortuary ended for John Harper when hijackers crashed a Boeing 757 passenger jet into the Pentagon on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001. Memories of the moments that followed remain vivid for Harper, who was an Air Force dental technician. The rush of helicopters. Black body bags stacked everywhere. The stench of death. “We didn’t go into combat,” Harper said. “Combat came to us.” Since that day, the remains of those killed at the Pentagon and nearly 7,000 killed in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere around the globe have arrived at Dover Air Force Base, Del., to be identified and turned over to their families. Harper, now 54 and living in Haines City, said it was an honor reuniting the fallen with their families, but it came at a high cost.   
Those who work in the morgue endure the unseen wounds of war, Harper said. Posttraumatic stress disorder. Hypervigilance, a debilitating state of constant alert. In some cases, heavy drinking and marital discord. For Harper, Memorial Day is far more than time off, grilled food, beach balls and price-slashing. “Memorial Day is a very sacred, sacred time,” he said. Harper worked at Dover from 2001 until the end of 2002, when he was transferred to South Korea. He came back in 2004 and stayed through the end of 2005. Harper didn’t work on every body that came in. But during his time at the mortuary, about 1,900 troops came to Dover for identification and autopsies, according to Pentagon records. The pressure to get things right and handle each body with dignity, he said, was compounded by the nature of the work. He and his team used digital X-ray equipment to record the dental structures of the deceased, which would be used by forensics experts to match dental records taken of everyone in the service. Sometimes the bodies were intact. Often they weren’t. “They would come in terribly beaten up,” he said. “Or burned. Or fragmented. Or squished. Bad stuff.” Seeing his fellow troops like that took its toll, Harper said, adding that while never diagnosed, he has suffered from the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. “Probably there were times when I was drinking too much,” Harper said. “A lot of times, I was exhausted. Not from the drinking, but if we had a big contingency, like after 9/11 when it was 12, 14 hours a day for three weeks in a row.” Harper’s colleagues suffered, too.
But the bodies have names. Army Spc. Corey Kowall was 20 when he was killed in Afghanistan on Sept. 20, 2009. The Humvee he had been riding in rolled over. His right arm was sliced off and his left leg was nearly severed, said his mother, who lives in Apollo Beach. There was also head trauma. Days after learning about her son’s death, Kelly Kowall went to Dover Air Force Base. She arrived for a dignified transfer — when a flag-draped metal case is taken off the airplane. But she wasn’t allowed to see her son’s body, or, as a safety precaution, to even touch the case. Kowall asked if the morgue would be able to make a positive ID on her son’s arm so it could be reattached for his burial. If not, it would have to be cremated separately. She also asked to have an open casket at her son’s funeral. Dover personnel couldn’t initially answer either question. She later learned that officials there, knowing how badly she wanted an open casket, assigned two morticians to the case. Three days before the body was due to be flown to Tennessee for burial, she was told that they had identified her son’s arm. They could reattach it for the service. “We were very grateful,” said Kowall, 58, who now runs My Warrior’s Place, a Ruskin-based retreat for service members, first-responders and their families. It was one thing to know that her son would come home intact, Kowall said. But she wanted to see his body just to make sure it was him. “You hope that there is some miracle and that they got the identification wrong,” she said. A few days after getting the call from Dover, she would get the chance to see for herself. “I knew my son had been through a lot of trauma,” she said. “I steeled myself for the worst.” It was pouring on the morning of Sept. 28, 2009, as people lined up along the roads of Smyrna, Tenn., to pay respects to a young soldier most of them never knew. Kowall and her ex-husband, C.J. Kowall, waited in the hangar for the airplane that was carrying Corey. “We didn’t know what we were going to see,” Kowall said. When the casket arrived, the funeral director called over the parents. Were they sure they wanted to look inside? “We both said yes,” Kowall said. And with that, she and her ex, a bassist who plays country music, held their breaths. The casket was opened. Corey Kowall was in his dress blues. His mother said he looked like he was sleeping. “I broke down and started crying,” Kowall said. “He looked better than I thought he was going to look. I was so grateful they had done such a good job.” 
John Harper remembers the last X-ray. It came in late 2005, when he examined a young woman killed in action. He doesn’t want to share the details of who she was or what happened, but Harper said she was his last one. “Here was this young kid who enlisted after the war started,” Harper said. “All she wanted to do is serve her country and she was going home in a box.” Harper said he is not sure why the woman had this effect. “I did the exam, got her taken care of and identified, then I went back to the locker room and just sat there until everyone else was gone and I cleared out my locker and left.” The pain has eased with the passage of time, Harper said. In July, he starts a doctoral program in organizational leadership at Southeastern University in Lakeland. “I might want to teach,” he said. But trying to explain what he and his team went through has been a challenge, Harper said. He and his co-workers didn’t dare to seek out the help from counselors and chaplains who were available at the Dover base to provide mental and spiritual help. “We didn’t want to admit we were having untoward thoughts or struggling in any way while on active duty,” he said. “There was a stigma of mental health in the military.” Harper didn’t even talk about his job with his wife, Mary, or his son, Jeremy, who was 12 on 9/11. “I thought I was hiding it well,” he said. “It’s hard to talk to anyone who doesn’t know firsthand what happened. I couldn’t expect my family to comfort me.” To honor the fallen and those who helped identify and prepare them for burial, Harper wrote Among the Dead: My Years in the Port Mortuary. The self-published book was released on Amazon this month. “I am hoping it will help somebody whose son or daughter was killed so they at least know we took care of them as well as we could,” he said. Harper said that writing the book, and reaching out to the men and women he worked with for their memories, was also cathartic. “It was very helpful, talking to them again and knowing I was having feelings similar to theirs,” said Harper, who now works as a drug abuse counselor in Lakeland. “I know how bad I feel. The families have to feel a thousand times worse than me.” About four or five months ago, Harper said, he gave his wife and son copies of his manuscript. Mary, the daughter of a battle-hardened Marine who fought in Korea and Vietnam, had an idea of her husband’s struggles, but not the grim details about why. Harper said his son, himself an Army veteran, is still processing what he read. Harper said he hopes the book will find an audience outside the military so that more people will understand the sacrifice that Memorial Day is supposed to commemorate. “A whole lot of people don’t really understand how important this day is,” Harper said. “We should all take time to reflect on it and be thankful for what we have.” [Source: Tampa Tribune | Howard Altman | May 30, 2016 ++] ********************************* NDAA 2017 Update 11 ► JLENS Survival Doubtful The four congressional committees that deal with the defense budget and spending have virtually nailed the coffin shut on the Army’s legendary runaway blimp program. While three of the committees left some spare change in the program, presumably to close it out, the Senate Appropriations Committee took the most severe route, zeroing out funding for the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS) in its fiscal 2017 spending bill approved 26 MAY. The prospects of JLENS' survival has looked grimmer as each panel preceding the Senate Appropriations Committee cut most of the program's funding in their respective bills. 
The House Armed Services Committee dealt the first blow, leaving only $2.5 million of the $45 million President Barack Obama requested in the 2017 defense budget in its version of the defense policy bill. The House version of the National Defense Authorization Act passed last week. Then the House Appropriations Committee followed suit, but with a less punishing punch, leaving $11 million in the JLENS account. The Senate Armed Services cut the program by $41 million citing a “change in program requirement” in its version of the policy bill. The full Senate has yet to pass the NDAA. The nearly unanimous lack of funding for the program spells death for JLENS, which comes as no surprise as congressional support for the blimp has tanked since the Raytheon-made tethered aerostat broke free from its mooring in Maryland and floated into Pennsylvania, dragging its tether and causing several power outages before it landed in a field and state troopers open fired on the blimp to speed up its deflation. The Army supports continuing the program and tried to get additional funding to keep the aerostat, capable of tracking swarming boats and vehicles as well as cruise missiles, floating above Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland. The service asked for $27.2 million in a reprogramming document to continue the JLENS system’s three-year operational exercise on track but was quickly shot down by the Senate Appropriations Committee. Congress cut most of JLENS’ funding in 2016 too. The lack of funding in 2016 means the Army has to store the system this year rather than continue its operational exercise meant to determine whether JLENS should be fielded and additional systems should be procured. The answer from Congress seems to be a resounding no. [Source: Defense News | Jen Judson | May 28, 2016 ++] ********************************* Navy Ink ► One of Fleet Week’s Best Tattoo Selections  
[Source: Military Times | Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory | May 31, 2016++] ********************************* Clinton Military Family Plan ► Policy Paper | 23-Point Agenda As commander-in-chief, Hillary Clinton says she will mandate more flexibility in service members’ family leave time, increase access to military child care, and encourage more consideration of families' preferences and needs in duty assignments, according to a policy paper released by her campaign 30 MAY. Her 23-point “Military Families Agenda” is unusual in its specificity about policies aimed at not just service members but their dependents, a topic that typically gets only passing mention at the national presidential campaign level. Clinton's campaign provided Military Times with an advance copy of the document. Clinton, the former secretary of State and frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, spells out in the document that supporting military families “helps our nation attract and retain the most talented service members” and is “vital to the strength of our military and the health of our nation.” Among her plans are:
The military family leave policies outlined in the report build off ideas proposed by Defense Secretary Ash Carter in recent years, many of which have sputtered in Congress. Clinton wants to make service career intermission programs permanent, allowing troops and their families to “take a knee” to care for ailing family members or explore additional education opportunities. The proposals also detail including “life-cycle and family considerations in permanent moves, by institutionalizing flexibility into the permanent moves system.” That policy could help dual-military couples looking to stay together, and potentially minimize the number of school changes for children of career troops. Other rule changes could come from a series of town hall meetings between senior White House leaders, Defense Department officials and family members. If elected, Clinton plans to hold the events at military bases nationwide early in her presidency. “This tour will include meetings with a diverse set of military families, including those with and without children, dual-military couples, and LGBT couples as well as coordination with state governors to incorporate key issues from National Guard service members and their families,” the paper states. The campaign is also promising to boost support for Defense Department schools, public schools with large numbers of military children, and veterans using the Post-9/11 GI Bill to attend college. Clinton has provided a 5½ page briefing at https://www.hillaryclinton.com/briefing/factsheets/2016/05/31/hillary-clintons-military-families-agenda on her campaign website focused on improving military families’ access to education, employment, childcare, and health care. The Clinton campaign also has separate fact sheet at https://www.hillaryclinton.com/briefing/factsheets/2015/11/11/supporting-our-veterans-troops-and-their-families that outlines her platform on veterans and the Veterans Affairs Department. [Source: USA TODAY | Oriana Pawlyk | May 14, 2016 ++] ********************************* Battle of Midway Update 01 ► Code Breakers Honored The more than 100 U.S. Navy intelligence code-breakers who played a key role in the World War II victory against Japan were honored in ceremonies at Pearl Harbor on 6 JUN, the 74th anniversary of the Battle of Midway. Sworn to secrecy, most of the code-breakers never received public recognition during their lifetime. “That honor was being denied them while they were doing their work here,” said Capt. Dale C. Rielage, director of intelligence and information at the Pacific Fleet. A commemoration was held before news cameras at Building 1, also known as Station HYPO, where the intelligence unit worked in secret in the basement, intercepting and interpreting Japanese communications during the war. The basement is now used mainly as a storage area. The Battle of Midway, June 4-6, 1942, is viewed by many historians as the key turning point in the war against Japan because the United States was able to cripple Japan’s carrier fleet and halt its expansion in the Pacific. The battle resulted in the destruction of four Japanese carriers and 256 aircraft and the deaths of more than 2,204 Japanese sailors and aviators. The U.S., by comparison, lost one carrier, 150 aircraft and 307 men, according to the Navy. “That broke the back of Japanese naval aviation,” said Brad Sekigawa, historian at the Naval Air Museum at Barbers Point. After the battle, he said, the Japanese lacked a sufficient number of experienced personnel to develop its naval fleet. Burl Burlingame, historian at the Pacific Aviation Museum, said the Battle of Midway showed that, contrary to some who felt naval destroyers were the primary weapons in battle in WWII, carriers and aircraft could also play a pivotal role. He said in the battle, U.S. dive bombers were able to penetrate the Japanese defenses. 
Before the battle got underway, the Pearl Harbor- based intelligence unit, led by Cmdr. Joseph J. Rochefort, knew Japan was mounting naval forces at a place called “AF” and suspected that AF was Midway but needed to confirm the location, Rielage said. Rochefort’s combat intelligence unit had the naval station at Midway send an unencrypted message noting that Midway’s desalinization unit wasn’t working. Days later the combat intelligence unit intercepted a Japanese message that mentioned the desalinization unit wasn’t working at AF, confirming that Japanese forces were mounting an attack at Midway. Rielage said through the 1940s and the early 1950s, not even the official naval historian was aware of the code-breakers’ role in the Battle of Midway. The Navy declassified some information about the code-breakers at Pearl Harbor in the 1970s as a film about the Battle of Midway was being produced, and declassified all the information in the 1980s. Rochefort, who died in 1976, was posthumously awarded a Distinguished Service Medal in 1985 and awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1986. [Source: The Honolulu Star-Advertise | Gary T. Kubota | June 7, 2016 ++] ********************************* ACTUV Update 02 ► Largest Unmanned Ship in the World Directory: wp-content -> uploads -> 2016 2016 -> 2017 afoCo Landmark Scholarship Program 2016 -> Instructions for the Preparation of Camera-Ready Contributions to the Conference Proceedings 2016 -> Step student Scholarships for Year 10-13 2016 -> The united church of canada 2016 -> Idan raichel biography – May 2016 Brief Producer, keyboardist, Lyricist, composer and Performer Idan Raichel 2016 -> An introduction to centre’s interventions expanding access to justice 2016 -> Sanchar Shakti 2016 -> Unit analysis should help here. We want number of bananas 2016 -> The Autobiography of Elder Joseph Bates 2016 -> The Great Heat and the Rhode Island Deep Water Bay Scallop (Argopecten irradians) Fishery 1875-1905 Download 0.91 Mb. Share with your friends:
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