Veterans form WWII, Korean Wars view monuments built in their honor 

Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dave Loebsack today welcomed the Honor Flight of the Quad Cities to the National World War II Memorial on the National Mall in Washington.  Loebsack presented the members of the Honor Flight with copies of the Congressional Record statement he submitted in recognition of their service, as well as copy of the Our Flag booklet.  The Honor Flight of the Quad Cities brings both World War II and Korean War veterans to Washington to visit our nation's capital and Memorials built in their honor.

"I look forward to welcoming each Honor Flight to our nation's capital so they can see the memorials that were built in their honor.  Being able to welcome these veterans today was especially meaningful," said Loebsack.  "We cannot thank these veterans enough for their service to our nation.  I was honored to present them with a copy of the statement I made for the official Congressional Record to recognize their service."

The Honor Flights are all fully paid for, and the veterans are typically accompanied by volunteers who donate their time to ensure that the veterans have a safe trip. This group included 94 veterans. The Honor Flight left from the Quad Cities Airport this morning and will return tonight.

Loebsack is an avid supporter of our veterans. As a member of the House Armed Services Committee, he has worked to improve care and benefits for our servicemembers and veterans, including expanding Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits for the National Guard; expanding access to mental health care; helping our veterans find civilian jobs; and opening new Community Based Outpatient Clinics to improve access to VA services for Iowa veterans.  He also recently co-introduced bipartisan legislation to eliminate the waiting period for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits for servicemembers wounded in combat.

Thursday, May 16

WASHINGTON -- Senator Chuck Grassley is an original cosponsor of legislation introduced today to reform the military justice system and remove decisions about taking cases to special or general court martial out of the chain of command, giving discretion to military prosecutors except in uniquely military cases such as disobeying orders or going AWOL.

"This legislation responds to sexual violence inside the military and the fact that it's gone unaddressed both at risk to and hurting the reputation of the courageous and outstanding men and women who serve our nation in the armed forces," Grassley said.  "This reform would go a long way to seeing sexual assault crimes fully prosecuted in a timely way and in military courts."

The legislation - the Military Justice Improvement Act - is sponsored by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York.  An identical bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative Dan Benisheck of Michigan.

In addition to removing prosecution questions from the chain of command for certain crimes punishable by one year or more in confinement, the measure would:

• Codify Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel's proposed changes to the Uniform Code of Military Justice Article 60 so that the convening authority may not set aside a guilty finding or change a finding of guilty to a lesser included offense.  It also would alter Article 60 to require the convening authority to prepare a written justification for changes made to court martial sentences.
• Provide offices of the military chiefs of staff with authority and discretion to establish courts, empanel juries, and choose judges to hear cases.

The proposal does not amend Article 15, so commanding officers still would be able to order non-judicial punishment for offenses not directed to trial by the prosecutors.

In a report of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office released last week by the Department of Defense, an estimated 26,000 cases of sexual assault or unwanted sexual contact occurred in fiscal year 2012, a 37 percent increase from fiscal year 2011.  Overall rates of reporting dropped from 13.5 percent in 2011 to 9.8 percent in 2012.  In 2011, victims reported 3,192 out of 19,000 incidents.  Victims reported 3,374 out of 26,000 incidents.  The number of perpetrators convicted of committing a sexual assault increased from 191 in 2011 to 238 in 2012.  The conviction rate dropped from one percent in 2011 to 0.9 percent in 2012.

The report also said that of the 3,374 total reports in 2012, 2,558 reports were unrestricted, which means they were actionable.  Of the unrestricted reports, 27 percent were for rape, 35 percent were for abusive and wrongful sexual contact, and 28 percent were for aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault.  Remaining cases were for aggravated sexual contact, nonconsensual sodomy, indecent assault, and attempts to commit those offenses.  The report said that across the military services, 74 percent of females and 60 percent of males perceived one or more barriers to reporting sexual assault.  Of victims who reported a sexual assault, 62 percent indicated they perceived some form of professional, social, and/or administrative retaliation.

In introducing the Senate bill today, Gillibrand said that a separate report, released last month by the Department of Defense, found that more than one in five female service members reported experiencing unwanted sexual conduct while serving in the military.  The findings came from responses to the Health-Related Behaviors Survey of Active Duty Military Personnel for 2011.

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SPRINGFIELD, IL (05/15/2013)(readMedia)-- Approximately 20 Illinois Army National Guard Soldiers who served in Afghanistan will return to Illinois this week. The homecoming ceremony for the Bilateral Embedded Staff Team (BEST) A10 will be May 16 at 10:30 a.m. Camp Lincoln, 1301 N. MacArthur Blvd. in Springfield.

The BEST A10 Soldiers were mobilized in August 2012. They trained for a brief time at Camp Atterbury, Ind., before deploying to Poland for approximately two months to train with the Polish Land Forces 12th Mechanized Brigade. The unique mission allowed Illinois Army National Guard Soldiers to train and deploy side-by-side with their Polish counterparts. Following the training, the Soldiers deployed to Afghanistan for seven months. Soldiers are from various parts of Illinois and were selected for the mission based on their training and skills.

The team was part of Task Force White Eagle XII, which included more than 2,500 Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines from the U.S. and Poland. The task force was assigned two missions in preparation for the drawdown of coalition forces in 2014. The primary mission was to develop the Afghan Soldiers and Afghan law enforcement personnel to provide their citizens with civil and national security. Secondly, the combined U.S./Polish Task Force was tasked with transporting 10 years of war material out of their assigned area of responsibility as a key component of the eventual drawdown.

Task Force White Eagle/BEST A10 completed more than 1,600 tactical operations that ranged from clearing the roads of improvised explosive devices (IED) and humanitarian aid to neutralizing high-profile insurgent leadership. These operations resulted in finding and clearing 34 IEDs and 21 former Soviet high-explosive munitions. The Soldiers of the task force uncovered 35 insurgent weapons cache's that housed over a ton of various caliber weapon ammunition, 30 semi/automatic weapons and more than 45,000 pounds of homemade explosives. Task Force White Eagle was engaged in more than 300 firefights and five IED strikes. The combined efforts of the Polish Soldiers and Illinois Guardsmen yielded the capture of more than 80 insurgents, which included more than one dozen high-profile insurgent leaders.

Task Force White Eagle also transferred one base and one combat outpost to the Afghan government. The Afghan Ministry of Higher Education is in the process of making one of the former coalition bases into the new home of Ghazni University.

"The transfer of these facilities demonstrates the Afghan's increasing capability to protect their civilians and communities, sustain law enforcement and combat operations, and maintain critical local and regional infrastructure," said BEST A10 Commander Col. Michael Zerbonia of Chatham.

SPRINGFIELD, IL (05/14/2013)(readMedia)-- The Illinois Army National Guard is among the nation's leaders taking advantage of a U. S. Military Academy at West Point program that sets aside 85 appointments to the academy for enlisted Army National Guard or Army Reserve Soldiers.

At least five Illinois National Guard Soldiers have secured seats at West Point, with a sixth Soldier, Pfc. Jacob Weiss of Sherman, receiving a Congressional appointment to the academy. This currently ties the Illinois Army National Guard with the Georgia Army National Guard for the most appointments to West Point this year, said Lt. Col. Mark Alessia, of Sherman, the Recruiting and Retention Commander for the Illinois Army National Guard.

"We look at this as a short-term loss, but a long-term gain," Alessia said. "It is a loss because the Illinois National Guard is giving up outstanding enlisted Soldiers to the academy and the active Army, but it is a gain because these same individuals will represent the National Guard, throughout their military career."

Other West Point graduates may learn about the Illinois Army National Guard through these officers as well.

The program, dubbed "Operation Opportunity," recognizes "outstanding junior enlisted Soldiers who demonstrate the ideals and values of the Corps of Cadets - Duty, Honor, and Country," according to Lt. Col. Mark A. Boettcher, the Chief of the Army National Guard's Strength Maintenance Division.

To be eligible for the program, a Soldier must be a U.S. citizen, at least 17 years old, no older than 22 years old on July 1, 2014, unmarried, and have no legal obligation to support a dependent. The Soldier must also be a high school graduate or pass the General Educational Development test, be eligible for re-enlistment, have completed basic combat training and be recommended by his or her company commander. The student must have SAT scores of 500 or higher or ACT scores of 20 or higher.

West Point is among the nation's top institutions producing more Rhodes Scholars than any other college or university in the country except Harvard, Princeton and Yale. It has produced more winners of the Hertz Fellowship than all other schools except Stanford and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. But unlike those other prestigious institutions, the U.S. Army pays for all tuition, room, board, books, uniforms, medical and dental care, training costs and pay for its West Point cadets. A West Point education is valued at more than $300,000.

Operation Opportunity is particularly valuable because it exponentially increases a Soldier's chances of acceptance to West Point. Each year, West Point receives some 12,000 applications. Only about 1,200 are accepted, including those 85 slots set aside for National Guard or Reserve Soldiers. Soldiers meeting the eligibility requirements may start the initial application by going online at www.usma.edu/applynow.