U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs CWV - News Update

Sheila Procella joined the Air Force in 1974 to “see the Earth,” she said.  She enlisted at the tail end of the Vietnam War, shortly after graduating from high school. [From The Dallas Morning News]

A female Marine lieutenant quietly crossed one of the last remaining hurdles for women in the service Monday, celebrating graduation of the famously difficult infantry officer course in a private ceremony reserved for family members.  The officer, who asked not to be identified, is the first woman in the Marine Corps to earn the 0302 infantry officer military occupational specialty. [From Military.com]

Another glass ceiling in our nation’s military was smashed today when a female second lieutenant became the first woman to graduate from the Marine Corps Infantry Officers Course.  Because the infantry is the beating heart of the Corps and the most revered and influential group within the tribe, the significance of her achievement cannot be overstated. [From The San Diego Union-Tribune]

The first female Marine?  Not what you may think.  Yes, women served as parachute riggers and welders, and eventually became drill sergeants and pilots. [From The Washington Post]

The first female Marine to complete the Corps’ famously grueling Infantry Officer Course graduated Monday and will soon take responsibility for a platoon as the service’s first-ever female infantry officer, the Marines announced.  The lieutenant completed the third phase of the 13-week training program last week at the Marines’ desert training center at Twentynine Palms in California and graduated Monday alongside 87 men at Marine Corps Base Quantico in Virginia, the Marines said. [From Stars and Stripes]

Don’t let Carol Olszanecki’s diminutive stature fool you.  The 69-year-old Kingston woman is a giant among Veterans, known both locally and nationally as a fighter who will go the extra mile to help Veterans in need. [From Daily Freeman News]

My office is starting to see a number of female Veterans and the reason being is the fastest growing segment of our military is women.  There is a project that 18 percent of enlisted personnel over the next few years will be female. [From NJ.com]

Delta passenger captures the heart-wrenching moment a sailor’s body is removed from an aircraft and met by her weeping family after she died on duty. [From Daily Mail]

Army Spc. Breyonnha Chester, a resident of Philadelphia, serves as a motor transport operator with the Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s Detachment 1, 1067th Transportation Company, 213th Regional Support Group here.  Motor transport operators are primarily responsible for supervising or operating wheeled vehicles to transport personnel and cargo. [From U.S. Department of Defense]

Army Sgt. Brittany Wildman from Woodstock, Ohio, joined the Army to protect her family and to safeguard her country’s way of life.  However, she quickly learned that a desk job was not her style. [From U.S. Department of Defense]

Service members wearing olive-green helmets marked with black numbers and letters lined up on steps here at the Airborne School as they waited their turn to practice their parachute landing falls.  In the crowd, one Army Reserve Officer Training Corps cadet wore a helmet with the letter and numbers C30 printed on it. [From U.S. Department of Defense]

Marines and sailors with the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit and the Navy’s Expeditionary Strike Group 7 crowd this amphibious assault ship’s gym at all hours of the day and night.  Still, some faces in the gym are more common than the rest. [From U.S. Department of Defense]

With a full basketball scholarship to the University of the Pacific in California, the future looked bright for Army Staff Sgt. Jennifer Kirim.  But during one fateful game in 2010, Kirim suffered a knee injury that tore her anterior cruciate ligament, requiring reconstructive surgery and leaving her dreams shattered. [From U.S. Department of Defense]

Air Force Senior Airman Lanimarie Baclian, an Airmen Against Drunk Driving volunteer, is always happy to answer her phone.  “I’ve been a volunteer driver since February,” said Baclian, an intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance target development analyst with the 614th Air Operations Center here. [From U.S. Department of Defense]

Nine World War II Veterans from north central Wisconsin flew to Washington, D.C. Monday as part of the 29th Never Forgotten Honor Flight.  While they all have stories to tell, one truly stood out as the only female Veteran on the trip. [From WSAW-TV]

Before they called her general, they called her “Ramba” in Puerto Rico – the female version of Rambo.  The nickname began in 1987, when Irene Miller was an ROTC cadet. [From U.S. Army]

For Veterans enrolled in the VA Health Care System, getting a flu shot at Walgreens or Duane Reade is easy. [From Walgreens]

O’Dea was born to fly.  Growing up in the Iowa countryside with a father who was a World War II pilot and a mother who was a WWII Supply Corps Officer, anything seemed possible. [From Medium]

Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Veteran Geneva Fields Ford.  Geneva served in World War II from 1942 to 1945. [From VAntage Point]

We honor her service.

A female infantry officer will make history next week when she becomes the first woman to graduate from the Marine Corps’ grueling 84-day Infantry Officer Course, Marine Corps Times has confirmed.  The Washington Post first reported on Thursday that the woman, a lieutenant, had completed the final phase of the course:  A three-week field exercise at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms in California. [From Marine Corps Times]

The wonderful people over at Got Your 6 emailed me one day asking if I wanted to do a round table podcast talking about the Forever GI Bill.  I was in right away.  The Harry W. Colmery Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2017 AKA the Forever GI Bill works to improve education benefits for Veterans, their dependents, and their survivors. [From VAntage Poinot]

After Her Service (AHS) is a program for Post-9/11 women veterans aimed at supporting their personal and professional success.  AHS combines a skill-building retreat with 6 months of individual coaching focused on setting and attaining life and career goals.  Apply now! [From Military Support Programs and Networks]

In a historic first, the Marine Corps plans to assign a female officer to the infantry following her anticipated graduation from its grueling training program, service officials said Thursday.  The woman is a lieutenant. [From The Washington Post]

Like most Veteran’s Administration hospitals and clinics around the country, the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee sees a majority of male patients.  Women make up just a little over 15 percent of current active and reserve military members across all services and about 10 percent of the total US veteran population. [From WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio]

VA health care is as good or in some cases better than that offered by the private sector on key measures including wait times, according to a study commissioned by the American Legion.  The report, issued Tuesday and titled “A System Worth Saving,” concludes that the Department of Veterans Affairs health care system “continues to perform as well as, and often better than, the rest of the U.S. health-care system on key quality measures,“ including patient safety, satisfaction and care coordination. [From Military.com]

Today’s #VeteranOfTheDay is Army Vetaran Dorothy Walters Cutts.  Dorothy served during World War II and the Korean from 1942 to 1952. [From VAntage Point]

We honor her service.

The massive Vietnam War documentary by Ken Burns and Lynn Novick, which begins airing this weekend, draws from a rich body of literature about that cataclysm.  From gripping novels to era-defining films, there is a great deal to consume about the men who served in Vietnam. [From The Washington Post]

On Sept. 18, as part of our Suicide Prevention Month campaign, VA hosted a Twitter chat in partnership with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Team Rubicon, and Team RWB. [From VAntage Point]

There has been plenty of discussion over Donald Trump’s contributions to various Veterans organizations and causes, and whether he actually cares about them for realz.  For us, we couldn’t give two hoots about him, because there are many other people across the US who are walking the talk and doing important work for Veterans every day. [From Girl Talk HQ]

Five years after miraculously surviving a helicopter crash in Afghanistan, becoming a renowned athlete, gracing the cover of ESPN magazine, and drumming up support for her fellow wounded warriors, Marine Corps veteran Kirstie Ennis got a personal boost Sept. 16, when she was given the keys to a custom-built home in Glenwood Springs, Colorado. [From Task & Purpose]

Every Veteran suicide is a tragic outcome.  Regardless of the numbers or rates, one Veteran suicide is too many.

Inside a nondescript industrial warehouse outside Downtown Los Angeles, nestled among a sea of other nondescript warehouses, Army Veteran Steven Passmore is hard at work.  His hair is pulled back with a thin, stretchy headband, and beads of sweat drip down his temples as he shuttles between temperature-controlled rooms. [From Leafly]