Ms. Sally Wiley sits as a Commissioner on the Veterans Services Commission, the appointed body that oversees the Nevada Office of Veterans Services. This last week, she conducted an interview with several Carson Valley papers to discuss the upcoming events offered by this agency, as well as her roll in supporting our mission.  

Sally Wiley is on a new mission.

As an appointee to the Nevada Office of Veterans Services Commission, the Gardnerville resident

is working to raise awareness of veterans — especially women — of benefits available to them.

Read the whole thing here.  

More great coverage of the Veterans Writing Project.  There is still time to register, but it is running out.  Go here for more details.

From a Federal VA Press Release:

DOD has extended the deadline for eligible Veterans and service members and their beneficiaries to apply for Retroactive Stop Loss Special Pay (RSLSP) to December 18. VA has worked with DOD for the past year to let Veterans know about this program to compensate military members whose service was involuntarily extended under Stop Loss between Sept. 11, 2001, and Sept. 30, 2009. Eligible members or their beneficiaries are required to submit a claim to their respective military service in order to receive the benefit of $500 for each full or partial month served in a Stop Loss status. When RSLSP began on Oct. 21, 2009, the services estimated 145,000 service members, veterans and beneficiaries were eligible. A majority of those eligible have separated from the military and DOD is asking VA’s help in notifying them of the program’s new deadline. To apply, or for more information on RSLSP, including submission requirements and service-specific links, Veterans should be directed to http://www.defense.gov/stoploss.

Michael Daugherty, the Staff Attorney to the Department of Veterans Affairs, has announced a warning to all veterans.  Information below:

An organization called Veterans Affairs Services (VAS) is providing benefit and general information on VA and gathering personal information on veterans.  This organization is not affiliated with VA in any way.

VAS may be gaining access to military personnel through their close resemblance to the VA name and seal.  Our Legal Counsel has requested that we coordinate with DoD to inform military installations, particularly mobilization sites, of this group and their lack of affiliation or endorsement by VA to provide any services.

In addition, GC requests that if you have any examples of VAS acts that violate chapter 59 of Title 38 United States Code, such as VAS employees assisting veterans in the preparation and presentation of claims for benefits, please pass any additional information to Mr.Daugherty at the address below.

This is reminiscent of so many other scams and alleged scams out there, like the funding drive for the veterans and active military radio program several years ago.  In case they are still out there trying to make money off of veterans, you can read about the alleged case involving Rick Senninger and Trip Bellard here.  A previous scam alert posting here.

Earlier this month I posted this piece from the Washington Post about some of the difficulties that veterans were having while transitioning to becoming students. Around this time in 2008 I participated in a panel that discussed very similar issues at Truckee Meadows Community College.  This Washington Post article is one of the first signs to pop up on a national level that this was going to be a difficult question in the future.  Today, ABC News is reporting that a student has been disciplined for an apparently well-crafted essay on killing, which he was encouraged to publish in the school’s newspaper.  Following publication, he was expelled from the school.  Now, given the tragedies that have happened on college campuses over the recent years, it is understandable why a college would feel compelled to protect itself from the future actions of a student that writes about the addictive nature of killing.  It is also understandable that this veteran would want to explore his experiences in writing, and even to share them.  This situation seems to just be representative of what is happening, and what will probably continue to happen as veterans return from combat, and as they learn how to reintegrate into civilian life.