WASHINGTON, Aug. 7, 2013 - Hundreds of thousands of Defense Department civilian employees who have had to take a weekly unpaid day off from work since July 8 are getting some relief, as the total number of furlough days has been reduced from 11 to six, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced. Here is the complete text of the secretary’s announcement: When I announced … [Read more...]
Archives for August 2013
TRICARE Moves Forward With Prime Service Area Reductions
FALLS CHURCH, Va., Aug. 7, 2013 – The Defense Department will reduce the number of TRICARE Prime service areas in the United States beginning Oct. 1, affecting about 171,000 retirees and their family members. Those beneficiaries, who mostly reside more than 40 miles from a military clinic or hospital, received a letter earlier this year explaining their options. They will … [Read more...]
VA Reaches Out to Veterans about the Health Care Law
WASHINGTON (Aug. 6, 2013) - The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched an awareness campaign and a new website, www.va.gov/aca, to let Veterans know what the Affordable Care Act means for them and their families. Veterans receiving health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs will see no change in their benefits or out-of-pocket costs when portions of the … [Read more...]
‘Long-Lived Power’ Could Extend Life for Battlefield Sensors
ADELPHI, Md. (Aug. 6, 2013) -- "Long-Lived Power" sounds like it could be an energy revolution, a revolutionary of sorts within the family of far-reaching energy solutions for the battlefield -- because it uses radioisotopes. It is a power source that supports low power for years -- 100 microwatts of average power -- according to its developers. Scientists at the U.S. Army … [Read more...]
Winnefeld: Budget Uncertainty Deepens ‘Readiness Hole’
WASHINGTON, 08/06/2013 - Determining defense spending plans is a matter of balancing ways, means and ends; with budget “means” uncertain for years now, the “ways” of maintaining a strategy-based, dominant military force must not be closed off, Navy Adm. James A. Winnefeld Jr., vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a House panel. Testifying … [Read more...]