The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is hosting a ribbon-cutting ceremony and public tours Friday to celebrate the opening of the VA’s new Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Lewiston.
The clinic at 1630 23rd Ave. officially opened for patient care in mid-April, and VA Medical Center spokesman Jake Shaw says it’s expected to serve about 3,000 veterans in the first year of operation.
Jake Shaw, VA Medical Center Spokesman, comments:
The 6,800-square-foot clinic will be dedicated at 2:30 p.m. Friday afternoon, with several dignitaries on hand, including Idaho Sen. Larry Craig.
More audio…
Attendees are encouraged to carpool to the ceremony due to parking limitations. Parking overflow will be available in the southwest corner of the Lewiston Center Mall’s parking lot behind Gottschalks, and a shuttle van will be available for transportation from the mall parking lot to the ceremony.
Veterans who wish to enroll for care with the VA clinic in Lewiston or the VA Medical Center in Walla Walla may call 1-888-687-8863, ext. 22704.
About 30 Idaho Army National Guard soldiers are expected to return home to Boise’s Gowen Field Friday night after spending nearly a year in Kuwait.
The soldiers in Company A of the 1-168 Aviation Battalion were supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, providing command, control, and communication support to the U.S. Army.
Since 2001, more than 3,000 of Idaho’s citizen soldiers and airmen have deployed overseas to Operation Enduring Freedom, which supports military operations in Afghanistan, and to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Currently there are about 113 Idaho soldiers and airmen deployed to those operations and others around the world.
About 250 soldiers from the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division are returning to Fort Lewis from a 15-month deployment in Iraq.
The Army says the soldiers in Thursday’s homecoming are the first of the “main body” flights as 4,000 soldiers return to the base. An advance party of about 110 returned on May 3. The remaining soldiers from the brigade will return over the next three weeks.
A Fort Lewis spokeswoman says 37 soldiers from the 4-2 Stryker brigade were lost in Iraq or from Iraq injuries.
Members and equipment of the Royal Singapore Air Force are scheduled to begin arriving at Mountain Home Air Force Base this fall.
Under a 5- to 20-year contract, nearly 180 active duty Singapore personnel and their families will head to the southern Idaho base in October, and up to 20 new F-15SG fighter jets will arrive next April. The arrival will also require about 128 U.S. personnel to repair planes and beef up other facilities.
Singapore, an island nation of 4.5 million and one of Asia’s shipping and private banking capitals, is a close ally of the United States and a staunch supporter of the war on terror.
The state of Washington is participating in a national training exercise aimed at coordinating local, state and federal agencies in the event of terrorism or a natural disaster. In a scenario conducted Mondayh through Fort Lewis, agencies must adapt to a chemical plant explosion near the Alaskan Way Viaduct in Seattle that kills first responders. The National Level Exercise began last Thursday and concludes next week. Two other scenarios include a deadly tanker crash in Whatcom County and a toxic release at the Umatilla Chemical Depot in northeast Oregon. Officials with the Washington State Emergency Management Division say the state has activated its emergency operations center as part of the exercise. Participants include the National Guard, FEMA, and Homeland Security.
(AP)
Boeing has started assembly in Renton of the first P-8A Poseidon for the Navy, an anti-submarine plane that will replace older propeller-driven P-3 Orions.
The new jet uses the body of a 737 commercial jet, modified to deploy buoys to track subs and with a door in the bottom to launch torpedoes. It can also carry guided bombs and anti-ship missiles.
Also called the Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft, or MMA, the plane will be packed with high-technology tracking and communications equipment.
The first flight is scheduled for next year.
The Navy plans to purchase 108 of the Poseidons and put the first squadron into operation in 2013.
Washington Democratic U.S. Senator Patty Murray is calling for the resignation of Dr. Ira Katz, chief mental health official for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Murray says her stance regarding Dr. Katz is a response to e-mails from a lawsuit showing that the VA deliberately withheld crucial information on the rising number of veteran suicides. Murray, a senior member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, believes Katz acted irresponsibly and should leave the job. (AP)
Idaho Senator Mike Crapo is pushing for improved education benefits for U.S. National Guard and military reserve members through the Reserve Educational Assistance Program Enhancement Act of 2008. Crapo believes the changes proposed to REAP will improve the educational options to all citizen soldiers.
US Senator Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) comments
Crapo says as members of America’s Guard and Reserve are called upon more and more to defend the nation’s security in the war on terror, a better education benefit needs to be implemented to reflect their contributions.
Crapo continues
Crapo worked with Arkansas Democratic Senator Blanche Lincoln last year to improve other inequities in education under the GI Bill. Those changes were reflected in the Fiscal Year 2008 Defense Authorization Act that passed Congress. Along with Idaho Senator Crapo, other co-sponsors of the measure include Senators from Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Maryland, Colorado and Oregon.
