Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Subj: WOW.....A POWERFULL LETTER...!!!!!!!!!

 

PLEASE EXCUSE THE LANGUAGE.

ONE HELL OF A LETTER!  Read This And Get Educated!

(He leaves no doubt how he feels....rather refreshing really)

rticle-2560261-1B86F08F00000578-792_634x757.jpg (634×757)

              by George Roof, Chief Master Sergeant, USAF (Retired)

                           Interesting Google Search on His Name

http://www.truthorfiction. com/george-roof-presidents- ive-known/

Because I am a “lifer” in the military, I’ve seen the impact of a president more than many of you can imagine.  I enlisted with LBJ and saw just what a Democrat cluster-flock was all about.  I went to Vietnam and saw how we were constantly and incessantly bombarded with micromanagement from Washington that got thousands of military people killed. I sometimes wonder if I’ll get to heaven, but if I go to hell, I’m sure I’ll still be a few hundred floors above that bastard Robert McNamara , LB Johnson, John Kerry, Jane Fonda, and yes, even the “hero” John McCain.

After Johnson “abdicated” rather than having his ass waxed, I lived through Nixon who was hawkish but allowed the generals (and there WERE a few real generals back then versus now) run the show.  Nixon was so out of touch that he never knew North Vietnam was about to surrender when the Paris Accord was presented.
Only God could help us after Gerald Ford was beaten by Jimmy 'Peanuts' Carter who’d been funded by Saudi money.  The military was turned into Section 8 and even the Whitehouse suffered the austerity.
Then the light began to shine and Ronald Reagan swept into the fray.  He not only loved the country and the military, they loved him back.  Esprit d’corps was off the scale during his presidency. The Liberals were slowly turning into socialists, however, and about this time all the draft dodgers of the 1960’s who’d been given amnesty by Jimmy 'Peanuts' were turning out college graduates with degrees in socialism.

Bush 1 was an enigma from the CIA and though he never did much either way, he NEVER DID MUCH EITHER WAY.
Welcome to Bill Clinton.  Clinton spent most of his two terms wagging the dog and creating the 'Oral' Office, sending a bomber to blow up Quaddafi’s tent and killing a goat or two, while allowing the UN to set up the infamous Black Hawk Down situation.  He made history by becoming only the second president to be impeached.

I actually felt sorry for Bush 2.  He was doomed to infamy from the start.  He thought most of America was still the rah rah patriots of WWII when they were 'simply socialists' waiting to feed him to the sharks.
Then there came the Manchurian Candidate Obama with a faked (OK Democrats, let’s say “of questionable origin” to assuage your PC brains) birth certificate, who’d gotten a free ride through college under a foreign student exemption, and whose college records and complete life history had been 'sealed.'  (We know more about Thomas Jefferson’s bastard children than we do about Obama, Michelle , OR their two faked kids.) From his inaugural address, he slandered America and within days had begun to encourage dissection of the races as well as slandering police who “acted stupidly.” That was mild to the crap that would come in doubling the national debt from what had been built by ALL THE PREVIOUS PRESIDENTS COMBINED, feeding us bullshit about how Muslims built this country, and nationalizing American industries.  Fueled by George Soros’ money and using the Air Force fleet as his personal charters, he appointed malcontents and traitors into positions of authority. He trashed the Constitution by installing “czars” (interesting he chose a title like that) to bypass Congressional authority.  By that time, Congress was completely corrupt on both sides of the aisle.  No one had balls to impeach this charlatan Obama.

Mysteriously, the lone outspoken conservative Supreme Court Justice Scalia suddenly dies in his sleep at an Obama pal’s hunting lodge and the Supreme Court is evenly splitFinally, Congress shows some balls and rejects Obama’s Supreme Court Justice nomination.  The Libertards aren’t worried because the fix is in. Soros 'has paid' demonstrators to cause turmoil at 'all the Republican gatherings.'  Obama concedes that illegal aliens should vote as they won’t be prosecuted, and Soros-manufactured voting machines are caught switching votes in certain precincts.  Hillary has cheated her way to the nomination and her lies are completely ignored by the brainwashed minions of sycophants who follow her.

But a shocking thing happened on the way to the forum.
Middle America had had enough and although the pollsters and the pipers tried to convince middle America not even to bother to vote, they were fed up with the denizens of the swamp.  It was time. Florida was designated a “swing” state ignoring that all those old retirees living in St. Petersburg, and the fed up Cuban Americans of Miami weren’t interested in their platform.  Ohio and Pennsylvania , where coal production was blacklisted and where Obama had ridiculed them for “clinging to their Bibles and their guns,” lay awaiting this supposed “landslide” Hillary vote,.... and creamed it.
The Socialist world of the Democratic Party disintegrated.  An American who expressed unbridled love of country and respect for police, firemen, and military steamrolled across the heartland and the liberals realized their scheme was trashed. A CONSTITUTIONALIST would be nominated to the Supreme Court and if the old hag Ginsburg who’d claimed to retire if Trump were elected would actually retire and leave, the Supreme Court would have a massive majority of CONSTITUTIONALISTS for the next 40-50 years.
Now, the same party who’d ridiculed Trump on his comments about the election being rigged, started screaming that the election 'was' rigged.  They even advocated having the election repeated.  They created mobs that burned and pillaged, stopped traffic, threatened murder, battery and rape of Trump supporters, and became the anarchists that the socialist dream thrives upon.  They run like castrated pigs for safe zones and use diaper pins as their national symbol.
This is exactly what happens when political correctness takes over and participation trophies are awarded to everyone
.  They can’t conceive how disgusting and subservient they have become.  Donald Trump may NOT be the best person for the job, but he’s such a welcome respite from the candy-assed whimps who’ve been running the swamp that it’s refreshing to see.  At the very least, Donald Trump derailed the Socialist train and bought us precious time.  If he only does half of what he’s promised, we’ll still be legions ahead of where Obama has dragged us.  Already countries who held us in contempt are lining up to be found in the favor of America.  Donald Trump has done more in his short time in the public eye...he prevented Hillary Clinton from becoming president!
So for you liberal lurkers and you half-assed fence-sitters, Tough Shit!  You had your big hurrah and now your party is over.  For you staunch Republicans in office, don’t gloat so much yourselves.  You’ve been put on notice by the American people that we’re fed up with ALL YOU BASTARDS and if you don’t start putting America first, you do so at your own peril.  You might want to buy a copy of George McGovern’s autobiography and see how shocking and humbling it can be for a professional politician to have to try to find legitimate work once he falls from grace. 

This election was pure, unadulterated AMERICAN.  Hillary got beaten and AMERICA WON THE ELECTION. You can claim he’s not “your president” all you want, but unless you 'forfeit' your American citizenship, ......

YES, HE IS YOUR PRESIDENT!!!!

Go cry a river some place they need water.

SEND THIS EMAIL TO OTHER AMERICANS YOU KNOW...

'In God We Trust'  Will be on every e-mail I send out from now on because, I don't want to lose our right to say it!.

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

S. 1094 Passes Senate & House

 The U.S. Senate and House of Representatives passed the Department of Veterans Affairs Accountability and Whistleblower Protection Act of 2017 (S.1094) last week.

This piece of legislation would create a new streamlined and efficient process to remove, demote or suspend any VA employee for poor performance or misconduct with a concrete shortened timeline, while still protecting employees' due process rights, and would provide them with the right to appeal the action. It would also provide expanded protections for whistleblowers and would specifically bar VA from using this removal authority if the employee has an open whistleblower complaint/case with the Office of Special Counsel.

The next step is the President's signature, which should happen in the next few days.

Lou

Veterans Online Military Exchange Shopping - Info for Members

Tina Sansouci (chelsa51@gmail.com);

NEIL C. JOHNSON (neil.see.johnson@gmail.com)

Veterans: Register for Online Exchange Shopping

All honorably discharged veterans interested in shopping online at the military exchanges can begin their verification process immediately, exchange officials said, and some may be able to shop prior to the program's full launch.

Some veterans who register at Vet Verify.org will be invited to be beta testers, with the ability to shop online earlier than the planned Nov. 11 launch date.Officials said the sooner veterans register on the site, the better your chances of being chosen as a beta tester.
The exchange websites offer tax-free shopping, as well as discounted pricing. Actual online pricing can be seen only by those who are authorized to shop at the AAFES, Coast Guard Exchange, Marine Corps Exchange and the Navy Exchange.

VetVerify.org uses information from the Defense Department's Defense Manpower Data Center to verify a veteran's status; you will receive notification of your acceptance as online shoppers or, if your records are incomplete, will receive guidance on the steps you can take to update those records. 

Doing this process ahead of time will allow you to start shopping Nov. 11, or earlier if you are among the "beta testers" chosen to try out the system in advance of the launch.

This new benefit, which would increase the online shopping base by an estimated 13 million veterans, applies only to shopping online at the military exchanges, not at the physical buildings on military installations. Until now, online military exchange shopping was available only to active-duty, reserve and Guard members, retirees, 100 percent disabled veterans and their dependent family members, and certain others.

Go to https://www.vetverify.org/ to start the registration process.

Lou

Sunday, June 18, 2017

INTERVIEWS

 

Yesterday, 6:42 PM

UNDISCLOSED RECIPIENT (chelsa51@gmail.com)

This message was sent with high importance.

Just found out some of the original message didn’t come through for some people.  Hope this goes through this time.

 

Subject: INTERVIEWS

All,

Vegas PBS is interested in doing interviews with your memberships for anyone who served during the Vietnam era. You didn’t have to serve in Vietnam as every story is important. We would also like any family member or survivors you may be in contact with as we would like to afford them the opportunity to tell their story. The Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 17 has graciously offered up their location to do the interviews. Right now, we have 1 date set with them to have our field team do the interviews. We are set for the 19th of June. The interviews will be edited down to 1 minute spots and will air during “The Vietnam War” documentary that will air in September.

Please coordinate those members who would like to come down and be interviewed. They should bring any memorabilia or photos with them to the interview as we will photograph them for inclusion in the piece. If you have people that need to interviewed either here at the station or in their homes, just let me know and I will coordinate that. Please forward any other organizations POC we can reach out to for this project.

Vegas PBS thanks you for your service and your continued support to our Veterans!

Regards,

Jim Knudsen

Veteran Services Coordinator, Workforce Training & Economic Development

Command Master Chief U.S. Navy (Ret)

“Wrong does not cease to be wrong because the majority share in it.”   Leo Tolstoy, A Confession

veterans_icon06132016_150-01

3050 E Flamingo Rd.

Las Vegas, NV 89121

Toll Free: 855-857-8411

T: (702) 799-1010 ext. 5446

C: 808-356-9012

F: (702) 799-0032

E: jknudsen@VegasPBS.org
W: VegasPBS.org

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using television and other technology to advance education and the arts.

Contributions are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

Friday, June 16, 2017

China Post #1] Bill Anton's Final PCS [1 Attachment] LR

 

I was honored to have known LTC Bill Anton.  While on active duty, I was detailed to find an active Army unit to test and evaluate some new electronic warfare gear.  This Soldier, then a unit commander stepped forward and did an outstanding job that eventually sold the Army on the concept and equipment.   It was a valuable asset during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm.  I was fortunate to meet met this Soldier in person in Las Vegas while working on a Veteran support activity that brought up talk of our military experiences.  I discovered that this was the same officer that volunteered his unit for that difficult task supporting U.S. Special Forces in the field with untested equipment.   It was with great pleasure that our Military Intelligence Corps Association  presented our award for significant contributions to Military Intelligence, the Knowlton Award, named after one of the first U.S. intelligence officers in the Army during the Revolutionary War.

I also worked with LTC Anton on several veteran-related projects.  One in particular, was the Stolen Valor Act that was sponsored by a Nevada elected official and passed into law.   What few Veterans relaize is that many Veteran Service Organization improvements resulted in scores of Veterans finally receiving their Veterans Administration disability ratings after many years of waiting.

I believe that his long term impact locally will be on the improvements he made to the Veteran Service Organizations he belonged to.  He mentored others to take his place and they serve our Veteran community today and will for many years.  That in itself is a pretty good legacy for a Soldier and Veteran.  As many say today, "Rangers Lead The Way."

Lou

[Attachment(s) from JRL-NV@cox.Net included below]

Bill Anton died today, 15 June 2017 . 

He has been a member of China Post 1 for 35 years and he will be sadly missed.

Bill has worked in many different organizations always taking care of the troops. He was in the Army from 1970-1990 retiring at the rank of LTC.    When I retired and moved to Las Vegas area, he reached out to me and pulled me into the local DAV chapter. It was a good way for me to meet people after moving. He was smart about integrating people into groups. When I was the National VP for Military Intelligence Corps Association, he gave me a lot of critical advise on what to watch for and how to improve organizations. He is a Knowlton Winner in the Military Intelligence Corps Association.

Bill loved his time in the Rangers and experiences in both Vietnam and Korea. He was inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame in 2009. Information below includes his Biography for the Ranger HOF and other articles. He worked all levels of leadership from the bottom to working directly for a 4 star General CINC US Force Korea. He had some stories. He has some great times.

Below you will find information from the web about China Post 1 Bill Anton.

Bill was always Army Strong!
Jim Lint

https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-anton-b6a35824/

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Biography from Ranger Hall of Fame:

LTC (Ret) William T. Anton, Ed. D.

Dr. William T. Anton was born in Chicago, Illinois on 7 July 1948 to LTC (Ret.) & Mrs. Andrew Anton. Upon completion of High School, Ranger Anton accepted an ROTC scholarship to the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Ranger Anton played football for the Cornhuskers. Due to an injury sustained playing football, Ranger Anton ceased to play for the team so that he may continue his role as cadet. In ’69-‘70, Ranger Anton was selected as National Commander of Pershing Rifles, and promoted to Cadet Major General. He was the highest ranking ROTC Cadet in the United States with over 20,000 cadets in his command, with 17 Regiments.

Ranger Anton, a Distinguished Military Graduate (DMG), entered active duty into the United States Army in February 1970 as a Regular Army 2nd Lt. and completed I.O.B.C. From this point, Ranger Anton successfully completed and graduated from the U.S. Army Airborne School and the U.S. Army Ranger School with Ranger Class 14-70.

Ranger Anton was a Patrol Platoon Leader in Co. O (Arctic Ranger) 75th Inf. (Airborne) and made the historic first tactical parachute jump on the Polar Ice Cap. Ranger Anton served with Co. H (Ranger) 75th Inf. (Airborne), the most decorated combat Ranger Unit in Vietnam, serving as Company Commander and Executive Officer. Ranger Anton was decorated for valor while serving in this unit. Ranger Anton retired from Active Duty in November, 1990 after serving 20 years on Active Duty in the United States Army.

Ranger Anton holds a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Education from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln, a Master’s Degree in Education from North Carolina State University, Raleigh, and a Doctorate in Education from the George Washington University, Washington, D.C.

Ranger Anton serves as the unit Director for Co. H (Ranger) 75th Inf. (Airborne), 1st Cavalry Division, 75th Ranger Regiment Association. His Masonic activities are numerous, including Past Master of Solomon Lodge No. 822 and a Past Senior Grand Warden within the American Canadian Grand Lodge. Ranger Anton is also a Coroneted 33rd Degree; Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite member. Ranger Anton is also a Life Member in MENSA, the high I.Q. society. Additionally, he is a Life Member of the Combat Infantryman’s Association, Disabled American Veterans, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion, 75th Ranger Regiment Association, U.S. Army Ranger Association, 82d Airborne Division Association, and Special Forces Association.

Ranger Anton is a 100% Disabled Veteran. Ranger Anton is currently the Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Department (State) Adjutant in Nevada – this equates to the Chief Executive Officer of the organization. He is also in line to be the President of the Commanders and Adjutants Association at the DAV National level.

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By Keith RogersLAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL

December 20, 2012 - 2:21 pm

In keeping with the low-key nature of military intelligence, a small contingent of Army Special Forces and Marine Force Reconnaissance veterans with Veterans Affairs officials gathered Thursday to present Army Ranger Hall of Fame soldier Bill Anton with the prestigious Knowlton Award.

The award by the Military Intelligence Corps recognized Anton, a retired lieutenant colonel from North Las Vegas, for his “high standards of integrity, moral character, professional competency and selflessness” in leading his electronic warfare company to develop a key intelligence-gathering tool in 1979. The battle-tested, shock-resistant system continued to gather vital intelligence more than a decade later during Operation Desert Storm.

“I’ve been blessed with great troops. They did all the work. Just give them the freedom to be creative,” Anton said in accepting the award and medal from retired Command Sgt. Maj. Louis Rothenstein of the Military Intelligence Corps.

Because of the still-classified details about the system, Anton could only say that it “collects voice and data on what the bad guys are doing.”

“We did a side-by-side test with the new stuff against the old stuff,” and the newer, more compact system made from modified, off-the-shelf technology components proved more effective and reliable on the battlefield.

Anton commanded the 358th Electronic Warfare Company of the 82nd Airborne Division’s 313th Military Intelligence Battalion. In 2009, he became the first Nevadan inducted in the United States Army Ranger Hall of Fame for his service in the Vietnam War.

The Knowlton Award is named for Lt. Col. Thomas Knowlton, a Revolutionary War hero from the Connecticut Militia who fought in the Battle of Bunker Hill. He was later killed on Sept. 16, 1776, during a skirmish with British forces while leading a scout team in New York known as Knowlton’s Rangers.

Contact reporter Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308.

https://www.reviewjournal.com/news/military/army-ranger-hall-of-fame-soldier-honored/

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Sec. Robert McDonald shows DAV Department of Nevada Commander Bill Anton his 75th Ranger Regiment Association membership card. Bill Anton just so happens to be the President of the association. (VA Photo / Reynaldo Leal)

From <http://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/15045/va-secretary-mcdonald-delivers-keynote-speech-during-disabled-american-veterans-conference/>

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U.S. Army 1st Lt. Bill Anton is shown in this 1971 photograph in Vietnam.

  2009 /RHOF Biography_07-7-09.pdf

2009/Anton/RHOF Induction Speech_5 August 2009.pdf

 

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Monday, June 12, 2017

PICTURE WORTH A TRILLION DOLLARS

image00111

House Minority Leader pictured standing, far right, speaks while
colleagues play solitaire Monday night as the House convened to vote
on a new budget. (AP)

The guy sitting in the row in front of these two....he's on Facebook,
and the guy behind Hennessy is checking out the baseball scores.

These are the folks that couldn't get the budget out by Oct. 1,  and
are about to control your health care, cap and  trade, and the  list
goes on and on.
Should  we buy them larger screen computers - or  -
a ticket  home, permanently?
This  is one of their 3-DAY WORK WEEKS that we all pay for
(salary is about $179,000 per year).

KEEP THIS GOING!
DON'T LET IT STOP WITH YOU!

Friday, June 9, 2017

Northern Nevada Veterans Home Ground Breaking Site Map

Northern Nevada Veterans Home Ground Breaking Site Map
Near the Intersection of Kietzke Lane and Galletti Way
Sparks, Nevada
(An Old Baseball Field)
clip_image002
July 17th, 2017 at 10:00 AM.
Arrive early for best parking and seating
 
 
STATE OF THE VA FACT SHEET
May 31, 2017
1) Access to Care
• Same Day Services for primary care and mental health initiated at all of our 168 medical centers.
• Over 22% of our patients are seen on the same day.
• 16% of primary care clinics are over 100% capacity
• 10% of community based clinics do not offer same-day services, by the end of the year 100% of them will offer same-day services
• Posted wait time data for clinical appointments for all to see. • No other health system in America does this.
2) Paying Providers
• Community Care, especially the Choice Program, increased access to care for millions of veterans.
• Today we have 500,000 community providers in the network, and that number continues to grow.
• Committed to working with the private sector to ensure more claims are submitted electronically to allow faster adjudication and payment. • As of April 2017, only 65% of community care claims are submitted electronically.
• It takes the VA more than 30 days to process 20% of payments for clean claims – affecting over 25,000 providers across the country.
3) Community Care
• Addressed how Choice is accessed and is committed to streamlining and improving how Veterans can access and utilize it by increasing the number of available facilities.
• Due to existing rules and policies, only three DOD facilities are currently a part of our Choice Program. Veterans who need care in the community should be able to use any DOD facility, as long as it offers the care they need.
4) Quality of Care
• Shared both our star ratings and comparisons between VA medical centers and local community hospital
• Identified 14 medical centers with 1 Star Ratings, meaning they are below the community standard of care.
• We are deploying teams and implementing performance plans at each of these centers.
• Through the new choice plan, we will work to offer Veterans access to the best care in their community.
5) Disability Claims and Appeals Backlog
• Currently have over 90,000 disability claims that are taking more than 125 days to process. Our goal is to cut this time by 50% over the next two years.
• Initiated the Decision Ready Claims process to move toward a paperless process for claims and shorten the disability and appeals backlog process.
• Working to make more information available to the Veteran concerning the status of their disability claim appeal.

6) Improving IT Infrastructure
• Through budgeting and modernization initiatives, addressing the current IT infrastructure to improve and make key decisions regarding the update of the VA IT infrastructure by July of this year.
• Working to modernize the IT system by considering commercial, cloud-based solutions wherever possible
• Taking immediate steps to deal with out of date inventory systems, which made it difficult to ensure doctors and nurses had the proper supplies and equipment needed to care for Veterans.


7) Capital Assets
• Our buildings and facilities are increasingly falling into disrepair.
• Facility Condition Assessments have identified critical infrastructure deficiencies of more than $18 billion that require remediation, including structural seismic, electrical distribution and mechanical systems such as heating and ventilation.
• On average VA buildings are nearly 60 years old, with only half built since 1920.
• 449 buildings from the Revolutionary and Civil wars - of these 96 are vacant.
• 591 buildings built in the World War 1 era of which 141 are vacant.
• More than 400 vacant buildings and 735 underutilized facilities that are costing tax payers $25 million a year.
8) Construction
• 11 Major Construction Projects totaling $1.4 billion were on hold because VA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were working through differing processes and interpretation of appropriations rules.
• Congressional approval of a jointly proposed way forward will allow these projects to move ahead
• Major Construction and Minor Construction Programs have large unobligated balances.
• Carried over into FY 2017 - $971 million in minor construction and $2.6 billion in major construction.
9) Accountability
• Under current law, VA must wait at least one month to hold an employee accountable for misconduct or poor performance
. • Currently have around 1,500 disciplinary actions pending, meaning we are paying people who need to be fired, demoted, or suspended without pay for violating our core values.
• Through legislation and Executive Orders, accountability at the VA took steps forward • Will push for changes in existing legislation to ensure employees are held accountable across the VA.
• President signed Executive Order creating an Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection reporting directly to Secretary.
10) Administration and Bureaucracy at VA
• Will establish a fully functioning Manpower Management Office by December of this year – a critical first step in establishing a Position Management system. • Directed that VA Central Office remain under a hiring freeze as we consolidate program offices, implement shared services, and reduce our overhead by at least 10%.
• Pursuing legislation to expand graduate medical education training opportunities to help with staffing shortages.
• Retaining and recruiting of healthcare providers and prosthetics representatives is difficult due to low salaries. • The 2016 median salary for Biomedical Engineers is $85,620. The National VA average for Biomedical Engineers was $65,677, nearly 25% below the private sector ($20k difference).
• For Mechanical Engineers, that discrepancy is $15k or 18% below the national average ($84,190 vs. $68,800).
• Reducing burdensome regulations that do not make sense and launching new tools that make it easier for Veterans to engage with VA
• Looking for simpler ways for Veterans to interact with the VA online with easier-to-use modern websites with clear explanations and single log-on.
• Improved the www.Vets.gov website to enhance Veterans services and access.
• Adopted the American Cancer Society mammogram guidelines
• Restructuring our caregiver regulations to get services to Veterans and their caregivers who need them most.
11)Waste, Fraud, and Abuse
• Prevented $27 million in fraudulent payments and identified potential duplicate payments of $24 million in FY16. • Announced Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Prevention advisory committee to be established in July.
12) Addressing Veteran Suicide

• Authorized emergency mental health services for those that were other than honorably discharged – a population of service-members who are at the highest risk of suicide.
• Launching a new initiative this summer – Getting to Zero – to help us end Veteran suicide. This is my top clinical priority.







































































Volunteers Needed

image

Volunteers Needed For Cashman Gun Show


If you have never volunteered for a fund raising event before, this is a chance to get to
know your fellow VVA members and see some of the weapons, ammo, reloading and
weapon accessories that will be for sale. We normally have two (2) members from
Chapter 1076 and our host, Chapter 17, provides two members per time slot. If we are
heavy with volunteers at the booth, you can wander and approach possible members
throughout the show. Remember, we are pro Vietnam-Era Veterans also. The years
included are on some of our pamphlets and our main banner. Have a good time and
please respond in a timely manner.


Saturday, June 10th:
* 0900 - 1200:
* 1200 - 1500:
* 1500 - 1700:
* All day:
Sunday, June 11th:
* 0900 - 1100:
* 1100 - 1300:
* 1300 - 1600:
* All day:


Directions: 850 South Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89101
South Las Vegas Blvd and Washington Ave
Return all time selections and/or inquiries to Neil Johnson at email address
neil_see_johnson@yahoo.com or Fred Hagenbeek at fbeek@aol.com or
Fred at 702-339-1968

 

 

image

VVA #1076 Fund-raiser


Where: Galleria at Sunset
1300 West Sunset Road
Henderson, Nevada 89014


When: Saturday, June 10, 2017
10:00 am to 2:00 pm
2:00 pm to 6:00pm
Sunday, June 11, 2017
11:00 am to 3:00 pm
3:00 pm to 6:00 pm


Need: 2/3 volunteers per 4/3 hour shifts.
Directions: Enter Mall parking lot off Sunset and proceed to mall
entrance next to Red Robin Restaurant on the Southside
of the mall. This entrance puts you on the second level,
proceed towards the J.C.Penny store where we will
be set up on the breezeway.


Please E-mail Jack Constantine at scoutjack@gmail.com
to confirm your availability.


If you have never volunteered for a fund raising event before,
this is a chance to get to know your fellow VVA Chapter members.

Thursday, June 8, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

May 31, 2017

Secretary Shulkin Delivers His First ‘State of the VA’ Address

WASHINGTON — Secretary of Veterans Affairs Dr. David J. Shulkin delivered his first “State of the VA” address today, highlighting the

activity and direction of the agency since his appointment in February. In his address, Secretary Shulkin stated that he wanted to update Veterans on the progress the agency is making while also acknowledging the shortcomings that the VA has identified and will address in the upcoming months.

“As a physician, I tend to look at things in terms of the way I was trained — assess, diagnose and then aggressively treat the patient,”

Secretary Shulkin said. “Though we are taking immediate and decisive steps, we are still in critical condition and require intensive care.”

The address covered a wide spectrum of issues within the VA, including Access to Care; Community Care and Choice; Accountability; and the quality of care provided to Veterans. Secretary Shulkin identified multiple priorities, such as reducing backlogs and getting more Veterans access to mental health care and suicide prevention programs.

Addressing improvements in accountability and VA administration, Secretary Shulkin stated that while he was able to initiate the Executive Order establishing the Accountability and Whistleblower Protection signed by President Trump, “further legislation is needed and needed now.”

The goal, the Secretary said, is to “turn the VA into the organization Veterans and their families deserve, and one that America can take pride in.”

A fact sheet highlighting some of the elements of Secretary Shulkin’s address as well as the text of his address can be found at:

http://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/StateofVA_FactSheet_5-31-2017.pdf

###

STATE OF THE VA FACT SHEET
May 31, 2017


1) Access to Care

• Same Day Services for primary care and mental health initiated at all of our 168 medical centers.
• Over 22% of our patients are seen on the same day.
• 16% of primary care clinics are over 100% capacity
• 10% of community based clinics do not offer same-day services, by the end of the year 100% of them will offer same-day services
• Posted wait time data for clinical appointments for all to see.
• No other health system in America does this.

2) Paying Providers

• Community Care, especially the Choice Program, increased access to care for millions of veterans.
• Today we have 500,000 community providers in the network, and that number continues to grow.
• Committed to working with the private sector to ensure more claims are submitted electronically to allow faster adjudication and payment.
• As of April 2017, only 65% of community care claims are submitted electronically.
• It takes the VA more than 30 days to process 20% of payments for clean claims – affecting over 25,000 providers across the country.

3) Community Care

• Addressed how Choice is accessed and is committed to streamlining and improving how Veterans can access and utilize it by increasing the number of available facilities.
• Due to existing rules and policies, only three DOD facilities are currently a part of our Choice Program. Veterans who need care in the community should be able to use any DOD facility, as long as it offers the care they need.

4) Quality of Care

• Shared both our star ratings and comparisons between VA medical centers and local community hospital
• Identified 14 medical centers with 1 Star Ratings, meaning they are below the community standard of care.
• We are deploying teams and implementing performance plans at each of these centers.
• Through the new choice plan, we will work to offer Veterans access to the best care in their community.

5) Disability Claims and Appeals Backlog

• Currently have over 90,000 disability claims that are taking more than 125 days to process. Our goal is to cut this time by 50% over the next two years.
• Initiated the Decision Ready Claims process to move toward a paperless process for claims and shorten the disability and appeals backlog process.
• Working to make more information available to the Veteran concerning the status of their disability claim appeal.

6) Improving IT Infrastructure

• Through budgeting and modernization initiatives, addressing the current IT infrastructure to improve and make key decisions regarding the update of the VA IT infrastructure by July of this year.
• Working to modernize the IT system by considering commercial, cloud-based solutions wherever possible
• Taking immediate steps to deal with out of date inventory systems, which made it difficult to ensure doctors and nurses had the proper supplies and equipment needed to care for Veterans.

7) Capital Assets

• Our buildings and facilities are increasingly falling into disrepair.
• Facility Condition Assessments have identified critical infrastructure deficiencies of more than $18 billion that require remediation, including structural seismic, electrical distribution and mechanical systems such as heating and ventilation.
• On average VA buildings are nearly 60 years old, with only half built since 1920.
• 449 buildings from the Revolutionary and Civil wars - of these 96 are vacant.
• 591 buildings built in the World War 1 era of which 141 are vacant.
• More than 400 vacant buildings and 735 underutilized facilities that are costing tax payers $25 million a year.

8) Construction

• 11 Major Construction Projects totaling $1.4 billion were on hold because VA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers were working through differing processes and interpretation of appropriations rules.
• Congressional approval of a jointly proposed way forward will allow these projects to move ahead
• Major Construction and Minor Construction Programs have large unobligated balances.
• Carried over into FY 2017 - $971 million in minor construction and $2.6 billion in major construction.

9) Accountability

• Under current law, VA must wait at least one month to hold an employee accountable for misconduct or poor performance.
• Currently have around 1,500 disciplinary actions pending, meaning we are paying people who need to be fired, demoted, or suspended without pay for violating our core values.
• Through legislation and Executive Orders, accountability at the VA took steps forward
• Will push for changes in existing legislation to ensure employees are held accountable across the VA.
• President signed Executive Order creating an Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection reporting directly to Secretary.

10) Administration and Bureaucracy at VA

• Will establish a fully functioning Manpower Management Office by December of this year – a critical first step in establishing a Position Management system.
• Directed that VA Central Office remain under a hiring freeze as we consolidate program offices, implement shared services, and reduce our overhead by at least 10%.
• Pursuing legislation to expand graduate medical education training opportunities to help with staffing shortages.
• Retaining and recruiting of healthcare providers and prosthetics representatives is difficult due to low salaries.
• The 2016 median salary for Biomedical Engineers is $85,620. The National VA average for Biomedical Engineers was $65,677, nearly 25% below the private sector ($20k difference).
• For Mechanical Engineers, that discrepancy is $15k or 18% below the national average ($84,190 vs. $68,800).
• Reducing burdensome regulations that do not make sense and launching new tools that make it easier for Veterans to engage with VA.
• Looking for simpler ways for Veterans to interact with the VA online with easier-to-use modern websites with clear explanations and single log-on.
• Improved the www.Vets.gov website to enhance Veterans services and access.
• Adopted the American Cancer Society mammogram guidelines
• Restructuring our caregiver regulations to get services to Veterans and their caregivers who need them most.

11)Waste, Fraud, and Abuse

• Prevented $27 million in fraudulent payments and identified potential duplicate payments of $24 million in FY16.
• Announced Fraud, Waste, and Abuse Prevention advisory committee to be established in July.

12) Addressing Veteran Suicide

• Authorized emergency mental health services for those that were other than honorably discharged – a population of service-members who are at the highest risk of suicide.
• Launching a new initiative this summer – Getting to Zero – to help us end Veteran suicide. This is my top clinical priority.

Tuesday, June 6, 2017

VVA #1076 Fund-raiser

 

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VVA #1076 Fund-raiser

 

Where: Galleria at Sunset

1300 West Sunset Road

Henderson, Nevada 89014

 

Directions: Enter Mall parking lot off Sunset and proceed to mall

entrance next to Red Robin Restaurant on the Southside

of the mall. This entrance puts you on the second level,

proceed towards the J.C.Penny store where we will

be set up on the breezeway

.

Need: 2/3 volunteers per 4/3 hour shifts.

 

When: Saturday, June 10, 2017

10:00 am to 2:00 pm

2:00 pm to 6:00pm

Sunday, June 11, 2017

11:00 am to 3:00 pm

3:00 pm to 6:00 pm

 

If you have never volunteered for a fund raising event before,

this is a chance to get to know your fellow VVA Chapter members.

Please E-mail Jack Constantine at scoutjack@gmail.com

to confirm your availability.

VVA #1076 Fund-raiser

 

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Volunteers Needed For Cashman Gun Show


If you have never volunteered for a fund raising event before, this is a chance to get to
know your fellow VVA members and see some of the weapons, ammo, reloading and
weapon accessories that will be for sale. We normally have two (2) members from
Chapter 1076 and our host, Chapter 17, provides two members per time slot. If we are
heavy with volunteers at the booth, you can wander and approach possible members
throughout the show. Remember, we are pro Vietnam-Era Veterans also. The years
included are on some of our pamphlets and our main banner. Have a good time and
please respond in a timely manner.


Saturday, June 10th:
* 0900 - 1200:
* 1200 - 1500:
* 1500 - 1700:
* All day:
Sunday, June 11th:
* 0900 - 1100:
* 1100 - 1300:
* 1300 - 1600:
* All day:


Directions: 850 South Las Vegas Blvd, Las Vegas, NV 89101
South Las Vegas Blvd and Washington Ave


Return all time selections and/or inquiries to Neil Johnson at email address
neil_see_johnson@yahoo.com or Fred Hagenbeek at fbeek@aol.com or
Fred at 702-339-1968