VFW’s congressional charter was signed in 1936, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt when the military consisted only of men. The VFW is asking members of the House and Senate to support passage of legislation that will update its congressional charted. H.R. 5441 and S. 2782 will make two small, but significant changes in the wording of the charter- replacing the word “men” with “veterans” and the word “widows” with “surviving spouses”.
VFW National Commander John W. Stroud said, “We’re changing it because being an eligible veteran is what’s important to our great organization, not one’s gender, and changing widows to surviving spouses is more representative of today’s military as of Dec. 1, 2014.”
Senate Clears Cola:
In September, the Senate passed S. 2258, the Veteran’s Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2014. The bill provides an increase in veterans’ disability compensation and DIC for surviving spouses and children. The increase is tied to the social security and CPI index which has yet to be determined, but any increase will be effective Dec. 1. The bill now awaits final action in the House.
Know where your candidates stand on veterans issues:
You only have a matter of days until midterm elections. It is critical for veterans to know where their members of Congress and candidates stand on our issues. Are they willing to invest in fully funding VA health care? Let them know we are a nation still at war and the cost of war doesn’t end when the bullets stop flying.
Credentialing effort helps troops enter private sector:
A change to Title 10 is helping transitioning service members acquire civilian credentials for technical professions, so they can move more quickly into the private sector. The change gives the Defense Department the authority to let separating service members have job-skills training programs, internships or apprenticeships as part of their duty assignments. It’s not only for career fields the service members are in, but for any kind of training. Several programs now are leveraging that new authority. There are many military career fields where, with just a little bit of gap training, someone can step right into a civilian job, such as allied trade specialist, truck drives, medical, supply, automotive mechanics, aircraft mechanics, information technology and manufacturing.
The VA announced that enrolled veterans may begin receiving flu shots and other vaccinations recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at Walgreens. The program will help expend veterans access to vaccines just in time for flu season. The vaccines are subject to availability, and the program’s funding.
Contact VFW Post 516 Commander Bob Fullam at 516-694-5539 or vfwbob516@aol.com.
