Found below are a few news items that caught my attention this past week. I am hopeful that the titles and short commentary will encourage our readers to click on the embedded links to read more on subjects that may be of interest to them.

Drop me an email at [email protected] if you believe that there are other subjects that are newsworthy.

U.S. Military Now Operating in Yemen
For the first time, the Pentagon on Friday acknowledged publicly that the U.S. military is operating on the ground in Yemen. Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said that a small number of American military personnel are in Yemen “providing limited support” to the Yemeni government and Arab coalition battling al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).  Read more . . .

U.S. Army Captain Takes President Obama to Court
A 28-year-old Army officer on Wednesday sued President Obama over the legality of the war against the Islamic State, setting up a test of Mr. Obama’s disputed claim that he needs no new legal authority from Congress to order the military to wage that deepening mission. The plaintiff, Capt. Nathan Michael Smith, an intelligence officer stationed in Kuwait, voiced strong support for fighting the Islamic State but, citing his “conscience” and his vow to uphold the Constitution, he said he believed that the mission lacked proper authorization from Congress.  Read more . . .

Rolling Stone Magazine Asserts Military Pys-Ops Against U.S. Senators
The U.S. Army illegally ordered a team of soldiers specializing in “psychological operations” to manipulate visiting American senators into providing more troops and funding for the war, Rolling Stone has learned – and when an officer tried to stop the operation, he was railroaded by military investigators.  Read more . . .

US Army Provides Behavioral Health Consultants
Behavioral health care within the Army has historically been provided through several relatively separate service delivery systems. Primary care managers (PCMs) in Military Treatment Facilities (MTFs), have provided the majority of behavioral health treatment. However, for a variety of reasons, they were often limited to prescribing medications and/or referring patients to the civilian network. A smaller proportion of individuals with behavioral health problems were treated in military specialty behavioral health clinics. Limited access at many of our behavioral health clinics resulted in a significant number of family member enrollees receiving specialty behavioral health treatment through the private sector.  Read more . . .

Unemployment for Veterans Improves in April
A better comparison is the nonveteran unemployment rate, which is similarly not seasonally adjusted. That rate was 4.5 percent in April, higher than the post-9/11 vet unemployment rate. That is a relative rarity, but it is far from the most noteworthy aspect of the unemployment picture for the newest generation of veterans.   Read more . . .

Oldest WWII Veteran Dies at Age of 110
Frank Levingston, who was born in Louisiana, traveled to Washington, D.C., in December to take part in a wreath-laying ceremony at the World War II Memorial to mark the attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. Levingston, who turned 110 in November, served as an Army private in Italy during World War II. He enlisted in 1942, a little under a year after the Pearl Harbor attack in Hawaii, which killed 2,400 service members and forced the United States into the war.  Read more . . .

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