Veteran News Center:
- New Got
Your Six - a campaign led by the entertainment industry
to help create a new conversation in America, one where veterans
and military families are perceived as both leaders and civic
assets.
- New Disabled
troops inspire Gary Sinise to give back - Lt. Dan
only appears in Forrest Gump for about 20 minutes -- an over the
top Army officer who sets out to win glory in Vietnam and ends
up losing his legs.
- A
Push To Help U.S. Veterans Fight Homelessness - "On
Venice Beach, the homeless are as much a fixture as are the skateboarders
and T-shirt vendors."
- New New
Programs help OEF/OIF veterans transition into civilian job market.
CTAP offers free classes to help veterans and separating
military members — as well as their spouses and children
— find employment. The three-hour long classes take place
twice a week for nearly two months.
- Make
the Connection - Are you willing to share your personal
experience concerning how you were able to overcame a challenge
many of your fellow Veterans might be facing? If so, you could
help thousands of your fellow Veterans and their loved ones by
participating.
Scam Alerts - Protect Your Benefits:
- Education Ripoffs:
- For-Profit
Institutions - According to the New York Times, Education
Management, named in a federal lawsuit enrolls about 150,000
students in 105 schools operating under four names: Art Institute,
Argosy University, Brown Mackie College and South University.
- Executive
Order to stop colleges that prey on veterans - "I
want you all to know that America does have your backs,"
Michelle Obama told the crowd. "And we are just getting
started. We are going to keep at this. We're going to keep
on working every day to serve all of you as well as you have
served this country."
- Employment Rippoffs:
- On-line
Job Scams - Veterans who use on-line job search web
sites, please be careful to avoid a type of job scam in which
you are asked to accept payment to your bank account. These
are known as payment-forwarding or payment-transfer scams.
- Work-at-Home
Scams - It sounds like an easy way to make money.
Veterans tricked by these ads have lost thousands of dollars,
not to mention time and energy.
Environmental Hazard Exposure:
- Dangerous
Exposure - OEF/OIF combat veterans may have been exposed
to a wide variety of environmental hazards during their service
in Afghanistan or Iraq. These exposures could lead to long-term
health problems. The VA offers a variety of benefits and services
to eligible OEF/OIF Veterans.
- Asbestos
Exposure - All veterans, particularly Navy vets, please
check with your local VA. More You may also wish to learn more
from these resources:
- Agent
Orange - Were you exposed to herbicides during military
service? Have you recently been diagnosed with ischemic heart
disease? You may qualify for VA benefits.
Health Care:
The
VA operates the largest health care system in the country. When
you become enrolled, you remain enrolled and can receive your care
at any VA location.
Mental Health:
- PTSD - If you are worried about PTSD episodes, please
consider the following:
- The Soldiers
Project - provides free (and totally confidential) psychological
services to military personnel who have served in Iraq or Afghanistan
and their loved ones.
- Suicide Giving a suicidal person the opportunity to
express his or her feelings can provide relief from loneliness
and pent-up negative feelings, and may prevent a suicide attempt.
Personal
Safety Assurance Worksheet
- Military Sexual Trauma and Sexual Assault occurs in
the context of war in areas under attack and among military troops.
"Military sexual trauma" or MST is the term used by
the VA to refer to experiences of sexual assault or repeated,
threatening acts of sexual harassment that occur during military
service. Victims can turn to these resources:
- Veterans with a history of MST :
- What can sexual assault do to a person? More
- All VA care for physical and mental health conditions related
to MST is free. (Service connection is not required.) More
- Every VA Medical Center has a designated MST Coordinator
who can help access MST services.
More
- DoD Safe Help line:
1 877 995 5247
Education and Training:
Are You Ready to go to College? Smart Start College Prep Program
(Offered through the Greater Los Angeles VA Healthcare System) covers
attention/concentration, memory, reasoning, organization and time
management, reading comprehension, academic writing, and test-taking
strategies. Quizzes and exams provide feedback to help Veterans
determine their readiness for college level coursework.
Masters in Health
Science - Even in a down economy. health care is a hot
area for jobs. It generally requires a degree and a post-graduate
course of study.
OEF/OIF Vets: Not sure about what's next in your life?
- The
Mission Continues
- challenges returning service members to utilize their tremendous
skills and leadership to continue serving our country at home.
- Team Rubicon
- unites the skills and experiences of military veterans
with medical professionals to rapidly deploy emergency response
teams into crisis situations.
Employment Leads:
- Job
lead web sites - PDF with live links to a number of employment-related
resources.
- The Job headquarters
- This useful site is devoted to providing information about submitting
job applications to an array of various companies.
- USA Jobs - delivers
a service by which Federal agencies meet their legal obligation
to provide public notice of Federal employment opportunities.
- The Veterans
Job Bank returns job opportunities based on search criteria
entered by the user. Jobs are drawn from various job boards that
have posted or specifically tagged jobs.
- The
Walt Disney Company offers its Veterans' Initiative, "Heroes
Work Here."
- U.S. Chamber
of Commerce - Plans to expand its efforts in 2012 through
job fairs in 400 communities, the establishment of a stand-alone
program for military spouses, and a sustained campaign to enlist
the commitments of hundreds of thousands of small businesses to
hire veterans and military spouses by the end of 2014.
- EDD
- Veteran Resources - California Employment Development Department
services include a veteran 24-hour priority hold on all job listings,
customized job search assistance, job fairs, employer recruitments,
and other events and resources.
- "Hiring
our Heroes" initiative
Self Employment Leads:
- Veterans
fight for better jobs - " ...So he decided to
do something about it by starting Storm Agents, a company
that offers veterans full-time jobs and franchise opportunities."
- The
SBA - Office of Veterans Business Development's mission is
to maximize the availability of small business programs for Veterans,
Service-Disabled Veterans, Reserve Component Members, and their
Dependents or Survivors.
Women Veteran Information:
Center for Women Veterans
- Mission: To monitor and coordinate the VA’s administration
of health care, benefits, and programs for women veterans.
