Vet groups slam panel’s call to eliminate VA hospitals

Some of the nation’s top veterans groups are pushing back against major cost-cutting recommendations made by a commission established by Congress to evaluate the Department of Veterans Health Administration. The blue ribbon panel has proposed drastically reducing the size of the VHA by closing its health facilities and transferring the care of the nation’s millions of military veterans to the private sector.

But in a letter sent to the chair of the Commission on Care, leaders of eight of the country’s most prominent veterans’ advocacy organizations blasted the proposal, according to Mother Jones magazine.

“We are greatly alarmed by the content of (the proposal) that was developed and drafted outside the open Commission process by seven of the Commission's fifteen members — without the input or even knowledge of the other Commissioners,” they wrote in a letter signed by senior leaders of the Disabled American Veterans, the American Legion, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, the Vietnam Veterans of America, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the Paralyzed Veterans of America, AMVETS, and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

The plan — known as the “Strawman Document” — was floated in March by seven members of the 15-member Commission on Care, an oversight group that was established by Congress in 2014 in the wake of the national scandal surrounding the lengthy wait times for healthcare at VA facilities. The commission is charged with evaluating veterans’ access to health care and with offering proposals for how the Veterans Health Administration should be organized over the next 20 years.

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Iran’s near-term plans to launch a larger, more capable rocket into space has one Air Force official concerned that the vehicle could be used as a missile against the United States or its allies, according to National Defense magazine.

“The concerning part to me is that the rocket that they use, that launch satellite, could … (have) a dual-use purpose,” said Lt. Gen. Jay Raymond, Air Force deputy chief of staff for operations. “The ability to put a satellite into orbit is the same capability ... as a harmful missile,” he told reporters at a Washington, D.C., breakfast March 24.

Between 2009 and 2015, Iran successfully placed four satellites into orbit using a small rocket called the Safir. The Safir is based on the Shahab-3 medium-range ballistic missile. The rocket that the country plans to use in the upcoming launch is the Simorgh, a more powerful and capable rocket that could put larger satellites into orbit.

The Iranians displayed a mock-up for the two-stage Simorgh for the first time in February 2010.

“Iran’s government has announced the maiden launch of the Simorgh several times since 2010, most recently in a window ending on March 10, 2016, but it has not yet happened,” said Greg Thielmann, a senior fellow at the Arms Control Association, a non-profit located in Washington, D.C.

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The Pentagon does not have a clear chain of command for responding to a massive cyber attack on domestic targets in the United States, according to the federal government’s principal watchdog, Military Times is reporting.

While some Defense Department documents say that U.S. Northern Command would have primary responsibility for supporting civilian agencies in such an event, other documents suggest U.S. Cyber Command should be leading that effort, the Government Accountability Office found, according to a new report published Monday.

In the event of an attack on the nation’s electrical grid or financial system, for instance, the Defense Department would be expected to back up the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Yet, the Pentagon has no clear rules in place for how that might play out.

“This absence has caused uncertainty about who in DoD would respond to support civil authorities in a cyber incident, and how they would coordinate and conduct such a response,” according to the GAO report. “The designation of cyber roles and responsibilities in DoD guidance is inconsistent."

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The first operational “overseas” F-35 Joint Strike Fighter squadrons will be assigned to Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, the U.S. Air Force announced on Monday.

“Alaska combines a strategically important location with a world-class training environment,” Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James said in a statement.

Basing the stealthy fifth-generation fighter jets at the location “will allow the Air Force the capability of using the Joint Pacific Alaska Range Complex for large force exercises using a multitude of ranges and maneuver areas in Alaska,” she added.

The location offers “the largest airspace in the Air Force” — some 65,000 square miles — and will ensure realistic combat training for the Defense Department, she said.

Eielson will be getting two squadrons of the F-35A Lightning IIs. The base already has an F-16 Fighting Falcon squadron operated by the 354th Fighter Wing.

Combined with the existing F-22 Raptors flown by the 3rd Wing at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, the F-35s will double the number of fifth-generation fighter aircraft assigned to the Pacific theater, according to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh.

This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 11:59 AM with the headline "Vet groups slam panel’s call to eliminate VA hospitals."