How sequestration affects you as a military family.

A little TRUTH FINDING because so many facts have been tossed at people and if you don’t know it isn’t true or a person who you think would be telling the truth (like a community leader, and it doesn’t have to be a political, it could be a person in the media business)….because in this political day and age it ISN’T the PRESIDENT who cuts budgets. The truth is budget cuts aren’t decided by the president, they’re decided by Congress. Unless lawmakers agree on a deficit reduction plan, across-the-board budget cuts will automatically go into effect starting Jan. 2. The cuts amount to about $1.2 trillion over 10 years and would hit defense and domestic spending equally.

The President will focus on military issues this week. He is going to Ft. Bliss TX on Fri Aug 31. I am going to tell you, the military is completely different from being a civilian if you are just coming into it without any prior knowledge it’s kinda scary. It is scary now to think about, and while I am not for budget cuts, I think we can dedicate some issues more wisely and allocate funds and move them around, or consolidate agencies, the idea of budget cuts in the military is scary and it affects my family and I.  Myself like several other military spouses fell that most civilians don’t really recognize we are still fighting a war somewhere because it’s not in their everyday lives.

This focus of his visit is the health of the force. He’s going to be meeting with several Gold Star families and he will also be meeting with some of the soldiers who work in behavioral health fields.

Two important pieces of legislation for military you need to know

This week of Aug 6 2012, President Obama signed legislation that takes two important steps to help fulfill our nation’s obligations to our veterans and their families. I’m so glad that Congress passed this bill and I hope that more Congressmen and Congresswomen can continue to do more good bipartisan work in protecting our veterans.

 

First, the new law offers extended care to a group of service-members who were based at Camp Lejeune with their families during a period when contaminated water caused major medical issues for a number of individuals. (I would like to thank the NC delegation for helping get this issues especially Congressman Brad Miller)

Marines and their families who lived on Camp Lejeune between 1957 and 1987 drank, bathed in, and cooked with water contaminated by various volatile organic compounds (VOCs), including Trichloroethylene (TCE) and Tetrachloroethylene (PCE), benzene, and vinyl chloride. Many have become ill with diseases that have been linked to the chemicals in the water. In certain cases the contamination was as high as 280 times the safe level based on Safe Drinking Water Act regulations.

Among those standing with the President at today’s bill signing were Jerry Ensminger, a Marine Corps veteran who has been an advocate for affected families, and Mike Partain, who was born at Camp Lejuene and later developed male breast cancer. The bill the President signed was named after Janey Ensminger, the Master Sargeant’s daughter who passed away from leukemia at age nine.

Second, the law prohibits protests at military funerals in the two hours immediately prior to and following a military funeral — a measure, the President said, that will ensure that our service-members get laid to rest with “the utmost honor and respect.” (YES IT IS ABOUT TIME someone stopped the church from harassing family and friends of the fallen military member)

President Obama upheld this bill as an example of the type of issue on which Republicans and Democrats can find common ground, and he pushed lawmakers to take action on other measures to aid veterans — including his proposal for a Veterans Jobs Corps.

READ the PRESIDENT’s Remarks at Signing of the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012

Labor Day GIVEAWAY!

So I know you all love FREEBIES and GIVEAWAYS…I love doing it at Army Tanker’s Wife

SO I have teamed up with Folds of Honor and they provided me with this opportunity to GIVE AWAY 3 sets of these AWESOME Pinnacle Gold golf balls that feature the Folds of Honor logo. So (3) THREE Lucky readers can win these special set of two golf balls with the Logo for your spouse or yourself! Want to read more about my blog post check it out here.

Sept 3-Sept 23rd, at the end I will tally up the totals and see who wins and if there is a tie, I will use random.org to break the tie!!! SO GET TO entering!!

  

Want to find courses where you can play this weekend check out www.PatriotGolfDay.com.

How to Enter:

(Do any or all of these entries. )

(Please leave a separate comment for each entry so I can track them!)

Follow Army Tanker’s Wife through Google Friend Connect or Networked Blogs and leave me a comment on this page that you have done this! (at the very top of the page click follow)
 

Like Army Tankers Wife on Facebook  and Folds of Honor Facebook page.
 

 (1 RT per day) Follow @criscavalier on Twitter & Tweet Let’s win these #golfballs from http://www.armytankerswife.com and @criscavalier #happylaborday #foldsofhonor 

Here are some pictures from the KICK OFF this past Thursday with Fox and Friends and former President George Bush!!! What a cool thing to support! Yeah!!!

·

    Wounded warrior Major Ed Pulido, Folds of Honor Founder Major Dan Rooney, President George W. Bush and FOX & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade kick off Patriot Golf Day Weekend at Dallas National Golf Club, Sept. 1, 2011.  Visit PatriotGolfDay.com for more information. Photo by Grant Miller

 

    President George W. Bush tees off to officially begin Patriot Golf Day Weekend. For the second year, President Bush is serving as the honorary chairman for the nationwide promotion that raises funds for Folds of Honor, which provides educational scholarships and other assistance for the spouses and children of fallen and disabled service members.

This Patriot Golf Day, we hope you put Pinnacle in play and join the mission to ensure the families of servicemen and women who have given life and limb serving our country receive the educational opportunities they deserve by visiting www.foldsofhonor.org. You can also learn more about Pinnacle’s efforts to support Folds of Honor by liking their new Facebook page.