VFA News Analysis: June 23, 2008

The latest wave in female suicide bombers killed 15 and wounded more than 40 on Sunday in Baquba, Iraq. Meanwhile, the decisive front in the battle over the U.S. role in Iraq is shaping up in Washington.

The continued demands on the military in the Middle East has lead to degraded language proficiency elsewhere in the world for the U.S. military.

More on video game technology in the fight against post-traumatic stress disorder.

Free summer camp for the children of those deployed – to help ease the strains.  ”Kids are serving also.” The stresses of deployment on the entire family are heavy — prompting the military to take a survey to find our “what the needs are for service members and their families.”

The head of the Department of Veterans Affairs vowed that care for women vets will improve — after a number of findings showing that the department lags in caring properly for women who have served, compared with men.

A bill in the New York State legislature would expand coverage for those who suffer post-traumatic stress disorder — but it is still languishing in a committee rather than being advanced toward a full vote. Meanwhile, in Kansas, a new law will soon go into effect preventing one divorced parent from using the other parent’s military deployment to gain child custody advantages.

The Army “tests” a new deployment plan.

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