Veterans! Here’s your Top 10 News stories of the day compiled from the latest sources

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1.   Holly Petraeus offers Alaska military members financial advice .  Holly Petraeus visits military installations across the country, giving financial and scam-protection advice to servicemembers including avoidance of predatory loans, scams and other bad deals targeting young military families. Part of her advice: Do as I say and not as I did.
 
2.   Israel unlikely to warn US in advance of attack on Iran.  Israel is unlikely to provide much if any advance notice to the United States if it attacks Iran’s nuclear facilities, Middle East experts say.
 
3.   Resistance to reforms seen dampening military vote.  Absentee ballot requests from military members and spouses are alarmingly low this election year, a voter advocacy group contends, and blames the Pentagon for foot-dragging on absentee voter reforms that were enacted after the last presidential election.
 
4.   Three active servicemembers head to London Paralympic Games.  In addition to Army Sgt. 1st Class Josh Olson (shooting), Marine Cpl. Rene Renteria (soccer) and Navy Lt. Brad Snyder (swimming), 17 retired servicemembers will also represent the U.S. military during the games, which run Aug. 29 to Sept. 9.
 
5.   Experts doubt budget cuts would hurt military training.  For months, lawmakers and military leaders have issued dire predictions about what might happen if Congress doesn’t stop the $500 billion in automatic defense spending cuts set to start in January.
 
6.   Navy council to focus on problems with Littoral Combat ships.  The Navy has long downplayed problems with the ships, which have been called crucial to a leaner future force, even as initial testing has suggested the ships would not survive combat. The program has also faced delays, cost overruns and structural deficiencies.
 
7.   Allen blames some insider attacks on stress of Ramadan fasting.  Some recent attacks by uniformed Afghan forces against NATO troops may have been triggered by stress, hunger and dehydration associated with Ramadan fasting that this year fell in the middle of harsh summer weather and the heavy fighting season, the top U.S. military officer in Afghanistan said Thursday.

8.   Interagency agreement offers convenience to veterans’ prescription refills. Char-Koosta News  Nearly 250,000 patients served by the Indian Health Service (IHS) have utilized a prescription service available through an interagency agreement between IHS and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. “Federal partners such as IHS are …

9.   Veterans Affairs tackles homelessness among vets in Pacific Islands.  Saipan Tribune
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has made “great” progress the last few years in addressing homelessness among veterans-one of the areas that the federal agency is focused on as part of its efforts to bring about a “more effective” system in …
 
10.               First Lady Announces New Hiring Push For Vets.  AP First Lady Michelle Obama “chose a naval station in the electoral battleground of Florida to announce Wednesday that 2,000 businesses around the country have hired or trained more than 125,000 military veterans and spouses in the past year, exceeding a White House goal of 100,000 by the end of next year.” The First Lady “also told a crowd of Navy personnel and their spouses at this Jacksonville base that the same companies have committed to hire or train an additional 250,000 veterans and military spouses by 2014.” In addition, Mrs. Obama “said that she is repeatedly hearing from companies that some of their best employees are military veterans or their spouses, so the Joining Forces effort isn’t just the right thing to do, it’s helping companies do better.”

Have You Heard?

Air Force Veteran Receives Overdue Recognition

On August 22, Air Force Veteran James O’Neal received the POW Medal at Fort Logan National Cemetery. On Nov. 4, 1979, he was taken hostage along with 65 other Americans at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, Iran.
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