Veterans and active-duty military personnel with service-connected amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, are now presumed medically eligible for grants up to almost $68,000 to adapt their homes, the Department of Veterans Affairs recently announced.

The change affects recipients of VA's specially adapted housing grants, which help pay the costs for building, buying or adapting a home, up to $67,555.

Veterans and soldiers with service-connected ALS will be medically eligible for the maximum grant. The grant covers home construction or modification to meet individual housing needs; or to buy adapted homes or pay down associated mortgages.

VA estimates this change will save approximately 12 months in the overall process of a Specially Adapted Housing grant.

See the VA housing grants webpage for more details.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: VA offers $68K housing update grant for soldiers, veterans with ALS

A 7th Special Operations Squadron reunion is May 15-18 at Ramada Plaza Beach Resort in Fort Walton Beach.

Attendees will include 7th Air Commando Squadron/7th Special Operations Squadron members, all years, and all Combat Talon units.

Contact Max Friedauer, 243-1343, or Max@7thsos.org for more details.

See the reunion schedule>>

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: 7th Special Operations Squadron hosts all-units reunion in May

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait — As temperatures rise in the Middle East, soldiers are now training with water.

But no one is cooling down, as chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear, or CBRN, training are priorities for the 204th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.

Soldiers of 2nd Special Troops Battalion, 2nd ABCT certified “Roughrider” soldiers last month in the areas of operational decontamination and chemical gear.

“The main focus is to bring some type of positive informational awareness about CBRN to the units,” said Staff Sgt. Joshua Thorton, a Crestview native, an instructor and the battalion's noncommissioned officer-in-charge. “Being the CBRN representative for company and battalion level, you have to make training relevant and you have to make people aware of the type of threats that are out there.”

Soldiers received two days' training to ensure they could conduct organized decontamination if the primary team is unavailable.

Most soldiers who participated in the training haven’t touched CBRN equipment since basic training.

But they sure learned something during last month's refresher.

“I think they took away what their priorities are in the event we come under some type of chemical contamination,” Thornton said. “They took away what their duties and responsibilities are, as far as setting up and running an operational decon lane."

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Crestview instructor: Troops prepared in case of chemical contamination

Concerned Veterans for America's Vets on the Hill 2014 initiative brought public officials face to face with VA reform advocates.

Clay Carver, of Baker, was among those who visited April 1-3 in Washington, D.C. for 200 targeted meetings with congressional members and staff.

The Capitol Hill push is the next step in CVA’s VA Accountability Project, an initiative launched in February to build the case for reform and greater accountability at VA.

"Poor management and a dysfunctional bureaucratic culture at the department have resulted in a massive backlog of veterans’ benefits claims, long waits for services and a rash of preventable illnesses and deaths at VA facilities," a CVA spokesperson said.

In recent weeks, the organization has also hosted several “National Days of Action,” calling on hundreds of volunteers to make thousands of phone calls and write letters urging Congress members to co-sponsor the VA Management Accountability Act of 2014.

In addition to VA accountability, the teams will emphasize the need for spending reform at the Department of Defense, addressing weaknesses in the military voting system and restraining national debt.

Carver is a U.S. Army and Navy veteran who served on the USS Kitty Hawk and the USS John F. Kennedy. He served four combat tours in Afghanistan and numerous deployments in the South American countries of Colombia and Ecuador.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Baker man among VA reform advocates on Capitol Hill

Air Force Reserve Airman Angelica M. Beatty and Airman Kenneth M. Sargent graduated from basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio- Lackland, San Antonio, Texas.

The airmen completed an eight-week program that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core values, physical fitness and basic warfare principles and skills.

Airmen who complete basic training earn four credits toward an associate in applied science degree through the Community College of the Air Force.

Beatty graduated in 2009 from Choctawhatchee High School in Fort Walton Beach.

Her mother, Tuwanna Duarte, and brother, Michael Duarte, live in Fort Walton Beach. Her aunt and uncle are Adneise and Clarence Bell of Crestview.

Sargent, whose parents are Craig Sargent of Crestview and Tina Hall of Goldsboro, N.C., is a 2013 Crestview High School graduate.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: Beatty, Sargent complete Air Force basic training