• Make the program more inclusive of mental health injuries; • Reauthorize the Lifespan Respite Care Act and expand essential respite options for caregivers;
• Give Veterans the opportunity to transfer GI Bill benefi ts to a dependent, to help unemployed or underemployed spouses of injured Veterans prepare to become the pri- mary income-earner for the family;
• Make caregivers who work in the federal government eli- gible for fl exible work schedules; and
• Provide assistance with childcare, fi nancial advice and legal counseling, which are all top, and currently unmet, needs. AFSA thanks Senators Patty Murray and Susan Collins
and Representative Jim Langevin for their long-standing eff ort to support the millions of military and Veteran caregiv- ers across America. We look forward to working with them to advance this legislation.
WHOLE FORCE PROTECTIONS RESTORING FAIRNESS TO MOBILIZED GUARD AND RESERVE COMPONENT SERVICE MEMBERS
In early March Representatives Steven Palazzo (R-MS), Tim Walz (D-MN), Trent Franks (R-AZ) and Carol Shea- Porter (D-NH) introduced H.R. 1384, a comprehensive, bipartisan bill to provide fairness to certain mobilized Guard
and Reserve Component service members by extending to them eligibility for certain benefi ts available to Active Duty forces that deploy to carry out equivalent duties. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Al Franken (D-MN) introduced the Senate companion bill, S.667. Congress approved the 12303b mobilization authority in the 2012 NDAA to allow DoD to deploy Reserve forces for preplanned missions in support of combatant commanders. Since that time, it has created benefi t disparity among the various components. If passed, this AFSA-endorsed legislation would provide the following benefi ts to Guard and Reserve service members mobilized under the 12304b authority (same as those cur-
rently off ered to active forces): • Pre-mobilization and post-mobilization access to TRICARE;
• Reduction in age for eligibility of retired pay for National Guard and Reserve soldiers called to active duty;
• TRICARE coverage for dependents of service members before and after mobilization;
• Access to Post-9/11 GI Bill Benefi ts; • Accumulation of high-tempo deployment allowance for
• Protection of eligibility for training and rehabilitation services interrupted by deployments; and
service; thus preventing National Guard soldiers from being sent on rapid, successive deployments;
• No reduction in federal pay for federal employees mobi- lized under 12304b.
MINUTEMAN III LAUNCHES FROM VANDENBERG
An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches during an operational test at 12:03 a.m., PDT, April 26, from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Ian Dudley)
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www.hqafsa.org
EYE ON WASHINGTON
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