Military News Updates: 4/29/10

Top Military news headlines today include the story of one Navy Pilot’s last act to save 3 of his crew members lives and details about the new grant program for homeless veterans and their families.

U.S. Labor Department announces grant program for homeless vets and vets with families

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training Service has announced a $5 million grant competition to provide job training, counseling and placement services (including job readiness, and literacy and skills training) to expedite the reintegration of homeless female veterans and veterans with families into the labor force.

Iran Sanctions in a Muddle; Ahmadinejad Comes to UN (update)

UNITED NATIONS – The timetable for adopting sanctions against Iran has been thrown into a muddle, running into a major nuclear non-proliferation conference – and the arrival of Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in New York on Monday, the same day as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

New PAC Pushes Combat Vets for Congress

There was a time after World War II when more than 90 percent of those in Congress had served in combat before they served in Washington.

Today, only about 90 members of Congress are veterans, and few of them have ever been under fire, says Joseph R. John, a retired Navy captain on a mission to change that with the 2010 elections by helping to elect or re-elect to Congress at least 40 combat vets.

Major Shares His PTSD Story

FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. – Ryan Kranc was traveling with the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment near Ramadi, Iraq, on July 23, 2003, when his convoy was hit with an improvised explosive device.

Kranc, now an Army major, survived. His commander, his friend, Capt. Josh T. Byers, did not.

U.S. officials: Multiple insurgencies overwhelming Pakistan

U.S. officials say Pakistan is a “nation under siege” and faces a “herculean” task in dealing with multiple insurgencies — but better co-operation between Washington and Islamabad is reaping dividends.

‘Landmark’ cancer vaccine gets FDA approval

A vaccine treatment for prostate cancer has become the first therapy of its kind to win approval for use in U.S. patients.

Navy Pilot’s Last Act: Saving 3 Crew Mates

The plane had blown an engine over the northern Arabian Sea, and the lead pilot, Lt. Miroslav “Steven” Zilberman, had to make lightning-quick decisions.

Ackerman Bill Seeks To Aid Vets Blocked From Appeals Process And Denied Benefits

Legislation has been introduced by Congress member Gary Ackerman to fix a broken appeals process that is denying more than 200 war veterans the chance to appeal for their benefits after missing “a rigid and arbitrary deadline” set by the U.S.?Court of Appeals for Veterans’ Claims, known as the Veterans Court.

Life in a Taliban Prison

This place was a cannery, for many years pumping out thousands and thousands of cans of fruit every day. But for one year, during Taliban control of Kandahar, it was something very different. This cavernous, and now eerie storage area became a prison, hell for a 1,000 men.