Veterans Affairs officials told lawmakers Tuesday that the special call center VA established following the May 3 theft of information on some 26.5 million veterans and another 2.2 million active and reserve personnel is costing about $200,000 a day to operate. The tally so far is around $7 million. And, the letters the VA has sent out to some 17.5 million veterans has cost about $7 million—$1 million for printing and $6 million for postage. So, the VA has spent, so far, some $14 million out of the $25 million that Congress authorized it to reprogram to help cover this fiasco. Now, the VA is working to get a contract to provide a year’s worth of free credit monitoring for all its victims. VA officials told Stars & Stripes that the contracting effort would take through July.
Dozens of fighter jets gathered at Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida last week to kick off one of the service’s biggest air combat exercises despite the government shutdown. More than 50 aircraft and 500 personnel are participating in Checkered Flag 26-1.
