Vice President Dick Cheney on Dec. 20 administered the oath of office for the new head of Veterans Affairs, James Peake, a combat veteran of the Vietnam War and former Army Surgeon General. President Bush stood at his side during the ceremony. Peake, who graduated from West Point in 1966 and retired from the Army in 2004 as a lieutenant general, is a thoracic surgeon.
The Air Force is renaming its traditional aviation bonus program in 2024 and continuing a new, experimental second program, ordered by Congress, aimed at getting aviators to extend their commitment sooner and for longer. While the programs can’t be doubled-up, aviators may be able to move from one to the…