WASHINGTON – Unemployed veterans ages 35 to 60 can apply for up to 12 months of paid training through a new program sponsored by the Departments of Labor and Veterans Affairs.

The population the Veterans Retraining Assistance Program will serve is particularly in need, Curtis L. Coy, the VA’s deputy undersecretary for economic opportunity, said in an email interview. Of about 900,000 U.S. veterans who are unemployed, nearly two-thirds are between 35 and 60 years old, according to the Labor Department.

“The program was created to provide assistance to unemployed veterans … who are not covered by any of our education programs and need training or [an] education boost for today’s high-demand occupations,” Coy said.

“They may have had entitlement to education benefits at one time, but have either used them or the time frame to use them has passed,” he added. “This generous new benefit geared toward this specific cohort of veterans provides them the opportunity to ‘jump start’ a new career that they may not have otherwise been able to afford.”

The program, which began today, provides 12 months of training assistance equal to the monthly full-time payment rate under the Montgomery GI Bill-Active Duty program, which currently pays $1,473 per month.

Participants must be enrolled in a community college or technical school program approved for VA benefits. The program must lead to an associate degree, non-college degree or certificate.

To qualify, a veteran also must:

– Be unemployed on the day of application;

– Have a discharge that is not dishonorable;

– Not be eligible for any other VA education benefit program, such as the Post-9/11 GI Bill or Montgomery GI Bill;

– Not receive VA compensation for being unemployable;

– Not be enrolled in a federal or state job training program; and

– Pursue a program that leads to employment in one of 210 occupations the Labor Department designates as high-demand.

The list of occupations, available on the VA website, includes jobs in construction, machine operation, transportation, preschool education, health care and many other fields.

The program will fund up to 45,000 participants between July 1 and Sept. 30, and an additional 54,000 participants from Oct. 1, 2012 through March 31, 2014. Labor officials said the department will offer employment assistance to every veteran who completes the program.

“The overall aim of VRAP is to help veterans attain personal and economic success,” Coy said.

The retraining program is funded under the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011. The law expanded education and training for veterans, strengthened the Transition Assistance Program for service members returning to civilian life, and provides tax credits for employers who hire unemployed or disabled veterans.

Eligible veterans may call 800-827-1000 to learn more about the program, or visit the websites listed below. Applicants will receive a letter in the mail letting them know if they are eligible to participate, Coy said.

Related Sites:

Veterans Retraining Assistance Program <http://gibill.va.gov/benefits/other_programs/vrap.html>

Veterans On-Line Application <https://www.ebenefits.va.gov/ebenefits-portal/ebenefits.portal?_nfpb=true&_portlet.async=false&_pageLabel=ebenefits_myeb_vonapp1>

Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 www.benefits.va.gov/vow

When Capt. Adam Smith* started getting body aches and a high temperature earlier this year he thought he was experiencing the start of a cold. When the symptoms got worse, he went to his doctor, who assured him it was nothing more than flu-like symptoms. He was sent home with a recommendation to rest.

Smith started experiencing night sweats that made it impossible for him to sleep, he started throwing up and his temperature skyrocketed to 104 degrees.

After a trip to the emergency room, his doctors discovered a bacterial infection that kept him in the hospital for a few days. Smith was sent home with medication and he started feeling better, but the feeling was temporary.

A month later he started the process of separating from the Army after four years of service and filled out the necessary paperwork, received a physical and had blood taken.

That’s when he got a call from Irwin Army Community Hospital’s Public Health Department asking him to come in for a meeting.

“Capt. Bazan called me up and said ‘we need to talk’ and I had a pretty good idea what she was about to tell me,” he said.

During their first meeting, his fears were confirmed when he found out he had tested positive for HIV.

“My immediate response was denial, I actually thought I was going to die, and I went off post to get another HIV rapid response test. When it came back positive, I knew I had to face it,” he said.

The news was easier to handle, Smith said, because he knew he had friends he could talk to and a good support network.

“It’s easier to deal with because I have friends who are also HIV-positive,” Smith said, adding his friends talked to him about the process of understanding his test results and explained to him that many HIV-positive people live long, healthy lives .

 “It’s not something people want, but it’s not a death sentence, and being educated makes it easier to understand and deal with,” he said.

Capt. Samantha Bazan, an Army public health nurse at IACH, worked with Smith to determine the most likely sources of exposure to HIV and to indentify previous partners that he may have exposed.

“We work with the patient to identify risk factors for exposure to HIV and obtain a list of partners within a certain time frame and facilitate contact with those people so that they can be tested,” she said.

Because many people infected with STDs have no signs or symptoms, those at risk need to get tested to find out if they are infected, Bazan said.

HIV is spread from person to person through contact with blood, breast milk, semen or vaginal fluids. You cannot contract HIV through casual contact, sharing utensils or sitting close to someone infected with HIV. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than 19 million new cases of STDs are reported each year in the United States. Half of those infected occur among people ages 15 to 24.

The CDC, recommends HIV screening for everyone ages 13 to 64, regardless of risk factors.  Women in particular under the age of 24 should be screened annually for Chlamydia and gonorrhea.  Men who have sex with other men should have an annual syphilis, Chlamydia, gonorrhea and HIV screening.

The worst part about being HIV-positive is the stigma surrounding the word, Smith said.

“Most people automatically think the worst when they hear it,” he said.

Breaking the news to his new boyfriend wasn’t as difficult because he is also HIV-positive.

Smith hasn’t told many other people but doesn’t think it would affect his working relationships at his job if he did.

“I don’t think people would treat me different at work because our job is to focus on the mission,” he said.

The Army generally does not release Soldiers from duty for being HIV-positive.

“As long as the service member remains healthy, they can remain in the Army with HIV,” Bazan said.

STD education is often breezed through during safety days and trainers often leave out HIV, Smith said, suggesting that re-evaluating the education process may benefit more people.

“Evolving the education process could help others by providing them with the knowledge they need to remain safe,” he said.

In the United States, men who have sex with other men are at the greatest risk for contracting HIV.  However, many men who do not consider themselves gay have female partners, but still have sex with other men on the side.

“If a man is married to a woman, but he is gay, it poses a risk to the other men he sleeps with, as well as his wife, who is probably unaware of his extramarital affairs,” he said.

Another risk factor not commonly thought of is two HIV-positive people in a relationship together carrying different variations of the virus, Bazan said.

There are different types of HIV and different genotypes or variations of the same type that can be contracted even if a person is already positive, she said.

“If both partners have HIV, and don’t use protection, there is still a risk of them contracting a different variation of the virus,” she said, adding it can make treatment more difficult.

Smith is much more careful now, knowing full well the consequences of not taking the proper precautions.

“I look at people now and think how reckless they are being and see how much I’ve changed,” he said.

For more information, visit www.cdc.gov or your local Public Health Department. For testing of HIV and other STDs, visit your medical provider.  To find STD testing locations off post, visit www.findSTDtest.org.  

*Name has been changed to protect Soldier’s identity.

Rear Adm. C. Forrest Faison III, commander of Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD) (left), presents a plaque to Josephine Cormier during the 40 year anniversary of the Speech and Hearing Clinic celebration in the Otolaryngology department for her drive and initiative in getting the clinic started in 1972. Cormier was a member of the Naval Reserve Auxiliary, a group of Navy Reserve spouses working to improve the San Diego military community even before the clinic was funded by the Navy's Bureau of Medicine and Surgery in 1975. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Chad A. Bascom/Released)

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Jessica Tounzen,
Naval Medical Center San Diego Public Affairs -

SAN DIEGO – Years of hard work and dedication culminated in a major
milestone for Naval Medical Center San Diego’s (NMCSD) Speech and Hearing
Clinic, which celebrated 40 years of patient care May 4.

    The Speech and Hearing Clinic was established in 1972 after a need
arose for a local clinic to treat the speech and hearing needs of the San
Diego area’s growing community of active-duty military personnel and their
families, according to Carole Roth, clinic provider, researcher, and
division head. At the time, there were only two facilities available to the
military, one in Bethesda, Md., and another in Oakland, Calif. Rather than
continue the Navy’s policy of relocating patients and their families for
treatment, a Certified Speech Pathologist employed at San Diego State
University (SDSU) sought a better solution.

    Josephine Cormier had been the clinic director at SDSU’s Speech and
Hearing Clinic from 1962 to 1964. She frequently made arrangements to
transport military personnel and families for speech care, a great effort
especially for the more severely ill patients. Cormier was a member of the
Naval Reserve Auxiliary, a group of Navy Reserve spouses working to improve
the San Diego military community from the inside out. After much lobbying
for support, Cormier and her group were able to set up practice in NMCSD’s
Otolaryngology Clinic Feb. 9, 1972. The newly-established Speech and Hearing
Clinic offered limited hours and had a long waiting list, but it existed
nonetheless.

    The next step in the clinic’s infancy was securing funding, the
biggest challenge the Auxiliary members had yet to face. The spouses
accepted donations, held bake sales, fashion shows, luncheons, and received
support from their spouses’ active duty  units. At the time, family members
of these Navy Reservists were not able to take advantage of the clinic’s
services until the service members received retirement benefits at the age
of 60. In spite of that, the Auxiliary’s members continued their mission to
provide hearing and speech care to those who most needed it, a testament to
their selfless commitment to their cause of helping active duty service members and their families.
Finally, in 1975, three years after the clinic’s establishment, the
Auxiliary learned they would receive funding from the Navy’s Bureau of
Medicine and Surgery, bringing an end to the Auxiliary’s exhausting
month-to-month financial support.

    Today, NMCSD’s Speech and Hearing Clinic averages 300 visits
monthly, providing a variety of services, including pediatric and adult
evaluations and treatment of disorders such as stuttering, aphasia (language
disorder resulting from a stroke or brain tumor), craniofacial and cleft
palate, head and neck cancer, neurodegenerative disorders including
amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson’s
Disease, as well as treating a large number of post-combat active duty
service members suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI) and cognitive
communication disorders.

    Advances in medicine and technology have also allowed the clinic
staff to perform complex procedures such as the fitting of talking tracks
for patients who have had a tracheostoma (an opening into the trachea made
during a tracheostomy), and the fitting of voice prostheses. It is now also
possible for the Speech and Hearing Clinic to more effectively diagnose
complex communication and swallowing problems earlier, resulting in more
effective interventions and better patient outcomes, reinforcing NMCSD’s
commitment to the highest quality patient care.

    Roth cites a variety of contributors to the clinic’s success, “A
team approach in patient care, resulting in more comprehensive management,
and commitment to patient care by including patient, family, physicians and
clinicians. Our leadership has consistently provided tremendous support as
well.”

    Forty years after the clinic’s inception, its staff still continue
to look to the future and search for ways to improve treatment for the
patients they have dedicated themselves to for four decades.

“Clinical Video Telehealth,” as it is called, can be used to make diagnoses,
perform check-ups, as well as manage and provide care, potentially connecting
veterans with a VA specialist or practitioner thousands of miles away, according
to the VA’s Office of Telehealth website.

The technology, being used to provide immediate access to care for veterans who
may not have services in their community or whose travel is limited by their
ailments, can also be used to make arrangements for face-to-face services or to
discuss postsurgery recovery.

“Eliminating the copayment for this service will remove an unnecessary financial
burden for veterans,” Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki said in the
release. “We will continue to do everything we can to ensure that veterans have
access to the first-class care they have earned with their service to our
Nation.”

Those who use the technology most include those with traumatic brain injuries,
spinal cord injuries, mental health issues, diabetes and heart issues, the
release stated.

For more information, see http://telehealth.va.gov/.

SAN DIEGO – Navy Medicine West Command Master Chief Yenhung Duberek speaks with Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class Jeffrey Simons before the Military Sealift Command hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) prepares to leave its homeport for a four and-a-half month deployment in support of the U.S. Pacific Fleet humanitarian and civic assistance mission, known as Pacific Partnership 2012. Nearly 500 medical and support staff from NMW, which is comprised of 10 Military Treatment Facilities across the Western Pacific, deployed aboard the Mercy. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Anastasia Puscian/Released)

“It comes as no surprise that our very own teammates are blazing a trail for all of Department of Defense medicine,” statedCol(Dr.) Brian P. Hayes, 60th Medical Group commander. “With as many as 70 percent of medical diagnoses relying directly on lab results, our laboratory scientists are vital members of the DGMC healthcare team.  I am very proud of our SAFMLS award winners, and I salute all of our laboratory professionals!”

The DGMC award winners are:

TRI-SERVICE SENIOR LABORATORY OFFICER OF THE YEAR

Maj. Jeannette Watterson, 60th Diagnostics & Therapeutics Squadron

TRI-SERVICE JUNIOR LABORATORY OFFICER OF THE YEAR

Capt. Sherry Glenn, 60th Diagnostics & Therapeutics Squadron

OUTSTANDING RESERVE/GUARD LABORATORIAN

Master Sgt. Sarah F. Torres, 349th Aerospace Medicine Squadron (and 60th

Medical Group Clinical Investigation Facility)

ENLISTED WRITER AWARD

Staff Sgt. Richard M. Salazar II, 60th Medical Group Clinical Investigation Facility

SSgt Salazar’s award was for his original article entitled, “Inattentional Blindness and Multitasking.”

With roots as far back as 1958, SAFMLS was officially established in 1971 as a non-profit professional society of military and civilian medical scientists, technologists, technicians, managers and physicians serving Department of Defense facilities.

SAFMLS is organized exclusively for education and career development of laboratory scientists in the clinical and military research communities, and the annual conference typically draws over 700 attendees and 200 industry representatives. The primary objective is maintaining and enhancing high professional standards through improved laboratory policies and technological advancement.

Today, SAFMLS is 500 members strong, with membership open to qualified military (active, reserve, and retired), Public Health Service and Veteran’s Administration personnel, and affiliated civilian scientists concerned with the support of health care via laboratory research and evaluation. SAFMLS next conference is scheduled for March 25-28, 2013in St. Louis, MO.For more info, visit http://www.safmls.org/

SAN DIEGO - U.S. Naval Hospital Yokosuka Executive Officer, Capt. Jacqueline Rychnovsky receives the University of San Diego (USD) Hughes Medallion for career achievement from USD School of Nursing Dean, Sally B. Hardin during an Alumni Honors gala. The gala recognized nine outstanding graduates, in the areas of contributions to humanitarian causes, service to USD, and career and athletic achievement. USD has recognized more than 150 distinguished alumni since the inception of the Alumni Honors program more than 17 years ago. (USD photo by Lauren Radack/Released)

The House Armed Services subcommittee on military personnel has declined to give the Obama administration new authority it sought to phase in higher TRICARE fees on military retirees over the next four years and to peg future TRICARE fee hikes to medical inflation nationwide.

But in marking up its version of the fiscal 2013 defense authorization bill, the subcommittee did not adopt language, as it has in the past years, that would block any TRICARE fee increases.

It also did not include language, as it has previously, that would prohibit the Department of Defense from using existing authority to raise co-payments on prescription drugs for dependents and retirees who use neighborhood pharmacies or the TRICARE mail order pharmacy program.

The Pentagon – Another sign that the issue of higher TRICARE fees is not settled for this year comes from Sen. Lindsey Graham, S.C., ranking Republican on the Senate military personnel subcommittee. A day before the House panel marked up its portion of its defense bill, and stayed silent on raising medical out-of-pocket costs for retirees, Graham predicted a compromise on health fee hikes between the two chambers by Sept. 30.

“Between now and the end of the fiscal year, I hope we can convince the House to accept some adjustments in premiums for TRICARE, because it’s just unsustainable right now,” Graham told me in a phone interview.
House Republicans oppose the Defense Department’s “balanced” approach for slicing $487 billion from defense budgets over the next decade, a figure agreed to in the Budget Control Act enacted last year.

About 10 percent of those cuts must occur to personnel accounts, defense leaders argue, primarily by raising out-of-pockets costs on military retirees through higher enrollment fees, deductibles and co-payments. Without higher fees, national security is at greater risk, they contend.

“If Congress rejects all of the modest changes we’ve proposed in TRICARE fees and co-pays for retirees, than almost $13 billion in savings over the next five years will have to be found in other areas such as readiness, or we could be forced to further reduce our troop strength,” Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told Pentagon reporters this month.

But Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, said in a speech last week that the panel will “seek to eliminate the military health care fees proposed by the administration.”
Ignoring that retirees are targeted for most of the fee hikes, McKeon added: “Our forces on the front lines shouldn’t have to worry about caring for their families’ health back home.”

The House subcommittee not only ignored administration plans to raise TRICARE fees, it also proposed new benefits – 180 days of TRICARE Standard and TRICARE dental coverage to members of the drilling reserve who are involuntarily separated during the force drawdown now underway.
It expressed “the sense of Congress” that military members and their families make extraordinary sacrifices over their careers, which should be viewed as a “significant pre-paid premium for their health care” in retirement. This, of course, would serve as a caution against any straight-line comparison of military benefits to what civilian workers receive.

Graham, however, was blunt in arguing that retirees must be required to pay higher fees to make their TRICARE benefit “sustainable” and to ensure that weapon modernization and force structure aren’t cut more deeply than planned.
“TRICARE premiums have to be adjusted,” Graham said. “There have been no meaningful premium adjustments since 1995. And when the [TRICARE] program was first introduced, beneficiaries were providing 24 percent of the cost. Now they are down to 10. That’s unsustainable.”

Graham was asked if he was sympathetic to the view that imposing an annual enrollment fee on elderly beneficiaries using TRICARE for Life would break faith with a generation promised free lifetime military health care.

“I don’t believe anybody was promised free lifetime medical care. That’s a popular myth,” Graham said. “I think we have an obligation to the retired force to be generous and to be compassionate to help recruiting and retention. But, you know, there was never any contract with anybody that, for the rest of your life, you will get free medical care. That’s not part of the deal and was never part of the deal.”