Speaking at AFA’s Air & Space Conference on Sept. 24, the head of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, Rep. Bob Filner (D-Calif.), pointed out that next to DOD, Veterans Affairs is the second largest bureaucracy in the Administration. And, unfortunately, he said, to many people, VA means “Veterans Adversary” instead of “Veterans Advocate.” Filner talked of the many Vietnam veterans who have struggled for decades to work claims stemming from exposure to Agent Orange and those who suffer from homelessness and alcoholism, noting that some 58,000 Vietnam vets have committed suicide. All of which provides a lesson, declared Filner, for how not to treat the veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
Promotions to the Space Force’s second highest enlisted grade, senior master sergeant, have surged to the highest level in the young service’s history, bolstering the senior NCO corps as officials plan to aggressively expand the force and especially the enlisted corps.