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Immigration Change Gives Legal Status to Undocumented Relatives of US Military

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Photo Credit: Fox News Immigration reform may be stalled in Congress, but a new Obama administration policy is extending legal status and military benefits to thousands of illegal immigrants who are the spouses, parents and children of American military members.

Supporters say the policy — which applies to active-duty military, reservists and veterans — is long overdue.

“Those veterans and those men and women who serve in the National Guard certainly deserve the peace of mind that their family members will not be deported,” immigration attorney Faye Kolly said.

But critics say the policy is tantamount to backdoor amnesty.

“A whole class of aliens with no right to be in the United States are suddenly going to be allowed to live and work here on the basis of their relationship with military and veterans,” said Dan Cadman, with the Center for Immigration Studies.

Read more this story HERE.

What Gutting the U.S. Military Means

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Photo Credit: JTF GuantanamoWhen I was growing up in a Midwestern farming village, several World War I, World War II, and Korean War vets lived there. As a teenager, I worked for some of those men. I was struck by their opinions about military strength. They unanimously supported a strong military and rued America’s military weakness before December 7th, 1941.

Years later I visited the National World War II Museum in New Orleans. The museum’s first exhibit shows the relative size of America’s military and those of Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan prior to Pearl Harbor. That exhibit consists of plastic figurines intended to depict the size of the three nations’ armed forces.

The exhibit’s message is simple: relative to the armed forces of either Nazi Germany or Imperial Japan — let alone both — the U.S. military’s size was incredibly tiny. Viewing that exhibit, one wonders how America won against such odds, even allowing for the fact that we had allies.

The disparity between America’s military preparedness prior to Pearl Harbor and that of Hitler’s Germany or Hirohito’s Japan was not limited to numbers. Thanks largely to Congress’ niggardly funding of our military during the 1920s and 1930s, there were qualitative weaknesses of our tanks, naval torpedoes, and warplanes. Sadly, public opinion during those decades buttressed Congress’ stinginess vis-à-vis the military.

No one should underestimate U.S. military personnel’s valor. American soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen were as good as or better than those they met on the ground, on the sea, or in the air.

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Food Stamp Use Among Troops Skyrockets During Obama Admin

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Photo Credit: Daily Caller Food stamp redemption at military grocery stores, or commissaries, has nearly doubled since the beginning of the “Great Recession,” topping out at $103.6 million in fiscal 2013, from $31.1 million in 2008.

While the amount of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, or food stamps, have soared over the past five years, the rate of increase has slowed, according to data from the Defense Commissary Agency and published by CNN Money Monday.

From FY 2009 to FY 2010 the level of spending jumped from $52.9 million to $72.8 million; from FY 2010 to FY 2011 the amount of SNAP benefits redeemed increased from $72.8 million to $87.8 million; from FY 2011 to FY 2012 it increased from $87.8 million to $98.8 million; and from FY 2012 to FY 2013 from $98.8 million to $103.6 million.

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‘Iron Man’ Suits for U.S. Military Inching Closer to Reality? (+video)

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Photo Credit: Fox News Could U.S. soldiers soon become real-life “Iron Men?”

The military is reportedly working on a high-tech tactical assault light operations suit, or TALUS, that would employ a form of armor that can shift from a liquid state to a rock-hard solid shield in milliseconds. This would make soldiers impervious to gunfire.

Read more from this story HERE.

House GOP Leaders Propose Linking Debt Limit to Military Pensions

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Photo Credit: APRepublican leaders in the U.S. House of Representatives will seek to make a 13-month extension of the federal debt limit conditional on the repeal of a planned cut in military pension benefits, lawmakers said on Monday.

Republicans were gauging support for the plan in anticipation of a Wednesday House vote that would extend the U.S. Treasury’s authority to borrow through March 2015. The Treasury has said a cash crunch could start after Feb. 27, when it expects to exhaust any remaining borrowing capacity.

The proposal from U.S. House Speaker John Boehner came after weeks of internal party struggle. It is not the “clean” debt limit increase sought by President Barack Obama, but falls far short of past Republican demands for deep spending cuts that have provoked political standoffs and a partial government shutdown last October that rattled financial markets.

But passage of the House leadership plan will likely need Democratic support after a number of Republican lawmakers expressed skepticism about the cost of the proposal.

Members of both parties have shown support for canceling the 1 percent reduction in cost-of-living increases for non-disabled military retirees of working age that was approved only in December. Earlier on Monday, the U.S. Senate voted 94-0 to advance a similar measure past a procedural hurdle.

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A Super Bowl Commercial Guaranteed to Bring You Chills

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On January 8, Army 1st Lt. Chuck Nadd left his eight-month mission in Afghanistan to come home. He knew he’d be greeted by his girlfriend. But he didn’t know his hometown — and Budweiser cameras — were waiting for him, too.

Thanks to careful coordination with girlfriend Shannon Cantwell, Lt. Nadd thought he was flying to Florida to speak at the VFW. Hidden cameras caught the airport homecoming between Cantwell and Lt. Nadd and followed the couple to the site where an old-fashioned ticker-tape parade awaited.

Viewers get a front-row seat to the surprise parade sponsored by the VFW and Budweiser in the Army officer’s hometown of Winter Park, FL, with marching bands, antique vehicles, the VFW motorcycle club, and the Budweiser Clydesdales.

Check out Lt. Nadd’s reaction when he sees his mom around 0:42. She secretly flew in from Alabama and was waiting to close out the surprise at the end of the parade.

The homecoming provided so much great footage that Budweiser extended the 30-second ad to 60 seconds during the editing process. Budweiser released the spot, titled “A Hero’s Welcome,” exclusively to active and retired military Thursday.

The Super Bowl Sunday premiere will launch a year-long digital campaign by Budweiser to encourage their consumers to honor the military. Lt. Nadd, a 2011 West Point graduate, was honored to help kick it off.

“I think it’s a neat opportunity for America to think about the folks coming home and everything folks have given up to get to this point,” Lt. Nadd said. “So many have given so much more than me. They’re the real heroes. … Those with two, three, four, or more deployments, those seriously injured, and those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our amazing Republic — those are the real heroes.”

In February 2013, Lt. Nadd graduated from flight school in Fort Rucker, AL, where he trained to become a Black Hawk helicopter pilot. He’s been deployed in Afghanistan since.

Budweiser also produced a five-minute web documentary on Lt. Nadd that highlights his background, family, friends, and the campaign details. You can watch it below.

Cantwell works for Alabama Senator Richard Shelby as a legislative correspondent and deputy press secretary. She said she nominated Lt. Nadd in hopes it would inspire communities across America to salute the men and women in uniform who daily give themselves to defend freedom.

“Both Chuck and I feel so blessed to have this opportunity,” Cantwell said.

This article appeared originally at Heritage.com and is re-published in full with the Heritage Foundation’s permission.

Alaska Soldiers Train With Unmanned Aircraft

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Photo Credit: Dan Joling, Associated PressThe Army is flying a new bird over south central Alaska — and the pilots sit in the back of a Humvee.

Paratroopers with the 425 Brigade Special Troops Battalion on Thursday trained with a RQ7 Shadow unmanned aircraft system. The remotely operated aircraft are designed to provide reconnaissance for troops without putting observers in danger.

The unmanned aircraft provide near real-time video and information from infrared sensors. Operators can’t distinguish individual faces, said Sgt. Brandon Byers, but they can detect heat signatures and vehicle tracks.

“They’re able to distinguish the features and different marks on the ground,” he said.

Byers oversees the maintenance section. Besides the usual repairs, the unit launches the unmanned aircraft from pneumatic catapult launchers mounted on trailers.

Read more from this story HERE.

Pentagon to Relax Rules On Personal Religious Wear — Including Beards, Turbans

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Photo Credit: Brett Flashnick / AP file

Photo Credit: Brett Flashnick / AP file

The Pentagon on Wednesday is expected to announce widespread changes to rules governing religious items and religion-based physical attributes that service members can maintain while in uniform — including beards, some religious tattoos, and turbans.

NBC News obtained an early draft of the new Department of Defense instruction which states that the military will make every effort to accommodate “individual expressions of sincerely held beliefs” (conscience, moral principles, or religious beliefs) of service members.

It goes on to say that unless doing so could have an adverse impact on military readiness, unit cohesion, good order and discipline, health and safety, or any other military requirement, commanders can grant service members special permission to display their religious articles while in uniform.

Requests for religious accommodation can be denied when the “needs of mission accomplishment outweigh the needs of the service member,” the directive will explain.

Read more from this story HERE.

One Percent Pay Raise Latest Pinch for Troops, Veterans Struggling to Pay Bills

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Photo Credit: Fox News

Photo Credit: Fox News

President Obama on Monday signed an executive order giving military personnel and civilian federal workers a 1 percent pay raise, the first raise for civilians in four years. But for military families, it was another hit.

Military members had been receiving an annual pay increase of 1.8 percent, and ther order comes as more benefit cuts loom on the horizon for military families due to tightening budgets.

For active-duty troops and veterans, making financial ends meet has gotten increasingly difficult in the past four years, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a non-profit think tank, which estimates nearly 340,000 veterans receive public money for housing and 900,000 veterans live on food stamps.

A further 5,000 active-duty troops are currently receiving SNAP, or food stamp assistance. Most are junior troops with large families, according to the Pentagon, which points out that those on active duty who need this help represent .01 percent of the 44 million Americans who qualify for food stamps.

For Pvt. Heather Kready, who served with an Army medical support team, explaining to her kids why they have so little money is difficult.

Read more from this story HERE.

U.S. War Readiness in Jeopardy as Pilots Flee (+video)

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Photo Credit: WND As if to dramatically illustrate repeated claims top generals have made to WND of a purge of senior officers and a degradation of military readiness under President Obama’s leadership, stunning testimony at a recent Senate committee hearing shows America may soon be unable to fight and win a war.

The Air Force is having problems retaining its pilots, even though they are being offered big bonuses to remain, senators learned at the Nov. 7 Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.

The problem appears to be partly from sequestration, which has imposed budget limitations on pilots’ ability to get in both the requisite flying time and the training needed to fly the next generation of aircraft, according to Air Force Secretary Eric Fanning.

He expressed grave concern about the trend toward budget cutbacks.

Likewise, at a recent Defense One Summit in Washington, Fanning warned that “we’re going to have flying hour issues for the foreseeable future,” a reference to the reality that pilots must fly a certain number of hours to maintain their ratings on various aircraft.

Read more from this story HERE.