February 25, 2008 by admin.

Veterans Affairs aims to update and centralize IT systems
By Bob Brewin bbrewin@govexec.com February 21, 2008
The Veterans Affairs Department is centralizing information technology systems, management and processes with one primary goal in mind, according to VA’s top enterprise infrastructure engineering official: to ensure that veterans anywhere in the country get the same level of care.
Charlie De Sanno, executive director of VA’s Office of Enterprise Infrastructure Engineering, said that until two years ago, the department’s approach to IT was decentralized, in which an individual hospital’s level of service depended on how much it invested in information systems.
Some facilities invest more in IT than others in VA’s network of 1,400 hospitals, clinics and nursing homes, De Sanno said in McLean, Va., on Wednesday, after speaking at the annual Federal Networks conference, sponsored by Telestrategies and Suss Consulting. Central IT management will ensure that veterans have the same experience whether they go to a VA hospital in Brooklyn or Boston, he said.
A key part of the project is to pull computing operations out of 126 local sites serving the Veterans Health Administration and consolidate them into four regional data processing centers. But that effort hit a hurdle in August 2007, when an outage knocked out vital information systems at VA hospitals and clinics operated in Alaska, northern California, Los Angeles, Hawaii, Guam, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, west Texas, American Samoa, the Philippines and Washington state.
The outage resulted from a tweak in the systems at the Sacramento data center that mismatched the speed of servers with the speed of a telecommunications switch, De Sanno said, adding that it was human, not technological, error. Dr. Ben Davoren, director of clinical informatics at the San Francisco VA Medical Center, called the outage “the most significant technological threat to patient safety VA has ever had.”
The IT staff came away from that outage with a couple of valuable lessons learned, De Sanno said. First, VA needs to tightly control and supervise change and configuration management, he said, as well as diversify computer resources.
The Sacramento data center supported 17 hospitals and their outlying clinics. In the future, fewer hospitals will be supported by beefed-up regional server farms, De Sanno said. The plan includes two- and three-server clusters that will support six hospitals and provide redundancy. Supporting fewer hospitals from a server cluster will make it easier to restart the system in case of a failure, De Sanno said.
VA also is in the process of transforming its award-winning but aging Veterans Health Information Systems Technology and Architecture (VistA) electronic health record system, Robert Howard, VA assistant secretary for information and technology, said at the conference.
He said VistA, which is based on programming language developed in the 1960s, needs to be updated to function in a Web-based world to serve highly mobile clinicians and patients. As VA works to improve VistA, he vowed, “we will not break it.” The transition will be a slow process, De Sanno said, with some core databases in use a decade from now.
Another challenge the department faces this year is switching its nationwide networks from the Sprint FTS 20001 contract to the General Services Administration’s new Networx contract, held by AT&T Government Solutions, Verizon Business Services and Qwest Government Services, David Cheplicik, executive director of VA’s Office of eEnterprise Telecommunications, said at the conference. He expects VA to award its Networx contracts by April.

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February 11, 2008 by admin.

IRS is providing for taxpayer year 2007 - Free File

Military Members can use Free File for Income Tax

If their adjusted gross income was $54,000 or less in 2007, you can use Free File to prepare and e-file your taxes online.

http://www.irs.gov/efile/article/0,,id=118986,00.html

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February 11, 2008 by admin.

Coalition Forces Disrupt Terrorists in Central, Northern Iraq

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Feb. 7, 2008 – Coalition forces killed six terrorists, detained 28 terrorism suspects and discovered three weapons caches during operations over the past two days disrupting al Qaeda networks operating in central and northern Iraq.

In operations today:

– Coalition forces targeted associates of a senior al Qaeda foreign-terrorist facilitator during two coordinated operations in Mosul. The terrorist leader reportedly leads a group of foreign terrorists and suicide bombers responsible for an attack that resulted in the death of five coalition soldiers Jan. 28. Reports led coalition forces to an area where one of the suspects was believed to be operating. Forces killed one terrorist and destroyed a vehicle to prevent its further use for terrorist operations. In the eastern portion of the city, coalition forces detained six suspected terrorists for their alleged association with the terrorist leader.

– Coalition forces captured an individual in Beiji who is allegedly an al Qaeda cell leader. The suspect reportedly leads and coordinates attacks on coalition forces in the region. He also is believed to be a close associate of the al Qaeda senior leader for the network, as well as a member of an anti-coalition forces group active in the region. Local citizens led the ground force to the individual, and he was detained along with one additional suspect.

– Coalition forces in Tikrit captured an alleged member of an al Qaeda media and propaganda cell with suspected ties to al Qaeda senior leadership. Coalition forces detained three suspected terrorists in addition to the wanted suspect.

– Iraqi and coalition security forces conducted an operation targeting special group criminal elements today in eastern Baghdad. Sixteen criminals were initially detained; one died later from wounds received during the operation. As ground forces approached the target house they came under attack by small-arms fire. Iraqi and coalition forces returned fire , mortally wounding one terrorist. A woman also suffered a minor injury and was treated on site by military medical personnel. The operation targeted members of a group believed to be responsible for multiple indirect-fire and explosively formed penetrator attacks against Iraqi and coalition forces, as well as the kidnapping and murder of Iraqi citizens.

In operations yesterday:

– Coalition forces conducted an operation in the Diyala River Valley targeting al Qaeda associates involved in weapons smuggling and attacks against coalition forces. Reports indicate that coalition success in degrading the networks in Baghdad has pushed groups of al Qaeda into the valley, where they are seeking safe haven. Forces confirmed the presence of enemy personnel in the target area and called for supporting aircraft to engage, killing five terrorists. As the ground force cleared the area, they discovered numerous weapons, including 12 machine guns and ammunition, multiple mortar tubes, two anti-aircraft weapons, and multiple rocket-propelled grenades. The weapons were safely destroyed, along with a vehicle in the target area, to prevent future use by terrorists.

– Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers came upon a weapons cache including 56 60 mm mortar rounds, 43 82 mm mortar rounds and 19 120 mm mortar rounds while patrolling Ghazaliyah. The soldiers apprehended a suspected terrorist in connection with the cache find. In addition, the soldiers discovered a second cache, consisting of two 105 mm artillery rounds, a 120 mm artillery round, eight 121 mm mortar rounds, four 81 mm mortar rounds, 71 60 mm mortar rounds and 66 rocket-propelled-grenade propellants.

– Coalition forces conducting a boat patrol south of Baghdad were engaged by small-arms fire. They returned fire and called supporting aircraft to engage. Following the engagement, ground forces arrived to assess the scene and discovered that the location where the small-arms fire originated was a local citizens’ checkpoint. The Iraqis had mistakenly fired on coalition forces, who followed proper self-defense measures in response to the threat, officials said. The building next to the checkpoint was struck by the supporting aircraft fire, killing an Iraqi civilian and damaging the building. “Coalition forces sincerely regret when any innocent civilian is killed during our operations, and the man’s family has our deepest condolences,” said Army Maj. Winfield Danielson, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman. “We only engage what we believe to be hostile threats and take every precaution to protect innocent civilians, specifically to minimize the chances of a tragedy like this.”

In operations earlier this week:

– Coalition forces working with intelligence from police in northern Iraq liberated two men locked inside a large storage container being used as a subterranean prison in the Al Jazeera desert near Samarra on Feb. 4. The hostages, both from Yethrib village near Balad, were taken from a gas station along with a fuel truck by men in black masks. The two men were malnourished and dehydrated, but showed no signs of torture. “The two individuals told us they were taken because their station didn’t pay al Qaeda extremists,” said Army 1st Lt. Todd Baldwin, of Company C, 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment. After receiving medical attention at Forward Operating Base Brassfield-Mora, near Samarra, the men said up to nine other people were held prisoner. The two men didn’t know what happened to the others, but mentioned five of them were from Sons of Iraq, a neighborhood watch group, in Beiji. “Iraqi police and Sons of Iraq were the driving forces in the rescue of the two men,” Baldwin said. “They provided the human intelligence for us to conduct the rescue operation.”

– Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers arrested a suspected criminal in the Jihad neighborhood of southern Baghdad on Feb. 4. The man is believed to be a former lieutenant colonel in the Iraqi army and is suspected of using money taken from contracts to finance weapons trafficking to destabilize the neighborhood. The suspect was taken to a coalition forces detention facility for further questioning.

– An Iraqi civilian provided information that enabled Iraqi and coalition forces to unearth a large cache 7 kilometers south of Ramadi on Feb. 4. The buried cache consisted of 120 23 mm rounds, three 82 mm mortar rounds, three antiaircraft weapons, 4,000 14.5 mm ammunition rounds, and 70 pounds of assorted propellant. An explosive ordnance disposal team destroyed the munitions at the site with a controlled detonation.

– Policemen from 1st Brigade, 7th Iraqi National Police Division, arrested a man believed to be an al Qaeda operative after he tried to pass through a traffic control checkpoint in Massafee on Feb. 3. The man, suspected of murder, placing improvised explosive devices and weapons trafficking, was taken to an Iraqi facility for further questioning.

– Multinational Division Baghdad soldiers captured two suspected al Qaeda cell members in two separate raids in Doura on Feb. 3. During the first raid, soldiers knocked on the door of a home believed to be a terrorist sniper and arrested a man matching the extremist’s name and description. The man is accused of setting up false checkpoints to kidnap Shiite and Christian Iraqis in the Arab Jabour region of the city. Later, soldiers arrested a man accused of murder, forcibly displacing families and placing bombs in the Doura area. Both alleged extremists were taken to a coalition forces detention facility for further questioning.

(Compiled from Multinational Force Iraq and Multinational Corps Iraq news releases.)

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February 4, 2008 by admin.

VA urged to use advanced technology to cut backlog of benefit claims

By Bob Brewin bbrewin@govexec.com January 30, 2008 Advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence could help the Veterans Affairs Department reduce a backlog of disability claims that has spiked past 1 million, according to computer experts and veterans advocates.

The Veterans Benefits Administration, which processes the claims, has a backlog of 650,000 pending claims and another 147,000 that are under appeal and working their way through a process that “is paper intensive, complex to understand, difficult to manage and takes years to learn,” Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y., chairman of the Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Disability and Memorial Affairs, said at a Jan. 29 hearing of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.

Training an employee to rate VBA claims can take two to three years and many leave within five years, Hall said. Experienced raters can adjudicate only about three claims a day, spending two to three hours on each claim. He said the VA should consider the use of artificial intelligence technologies, such as automated decision-support tools that can determine disability payments, which would speed up claims processing.

Computer experts who testified at the hearing said technology exists today that can automate the claims process and eliminate the backlog.

“If we can develop computer software such as TurboTax, which guides taxpayers as they fill out complex tax forms online, and which then provides them with instant, computer-based application of complex tax regulations to calculate to the penny the taxes they owe, then I see no reason why we cannot develop similar software to automate online filing of VA benefits claims and to automate a substantial fraction of the processing of these claims,” said Tom Mitchell, chairman of the Machine Learning Department at the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh.

Mitchell said the VBA needs to emulate health insurers such as Highmark Inc., a Pittsburgh-based company that uses computers to process 90 percent of its claims. The computer system automatically determines payments, Mitchell said, “because it contains a large collection of rules, each one specifying the payment to be made in some very specific case, defined by the details of the patient’s policy, treatment and history. The complex policy for determining what payment is due under which condition is encoded in these rules inside the computer.”

While the type of claims processed by Highmark are not identical to the kinds of claims processed by the VBA, Mitchell said they are similar enough to “conclude online processing will be of considerable value to the VA.”

Mitchell said other AI techniques that could work for VBA include case-based reasoning systems, which tap into a database of historical data to compare past cases with a current case, and machine learning and data-mining, which could discover patterns in a current claim that indicate more information is needed to process the claim.

The VBA could automate its processes by developing a document naming system for paper documents, which are then electronically scanned into a database to make it easier to retrieve, said Ronald Miller, professor of biomedical informatics at Vanderbilt University..

VBA repeatedly loses paper records submitted by claimants. Robin Cleveland, wife of retired Marine Gunnery Sgt. Tai Cleveland, told the hearing that since November 2005, she has submitted multiple copies of Tai’s medical record and was told that the VBA could not find the records and she needed to resubmit them. She said her husband, a paraplegic after injuries incurred in August 2003 during a hand-to-hand training exercise in Kuwait, only started to receive benefit payments this month after Congress intervened.

Dr. Marjie Shahani, senior vice president of operations at QTC Medical Services, which conducts medical examinations on veterans and active duty personnel seeking VBA compensation, said her company has developed an application called the Evidence Organizer, which creates an electronic file for a claim, which can include multiple medical conditions and is accessible at the click of a mouse. Shahani said the organizer cuts the time to rate an individual claim from 3.5 hours to 2.2 hours. The time savings should allow a VBA ratings specialist to review 711 claims compared with the 533 a specialist processes today, he said.

The VBA already has begun to develop technologies to increase the number of claims that specialists can process, said Kim Graves, director of business process integration for the VBA. The agency has a comprehensive strategy to develop the Paperless Delivery of Veterans Benefits initiative, which will employ a variety of enhanced technologies to support end-to-end claims processing, Graves said. In addition to imaging and computable data, it will also incorporate enhanced electronic workflow capabilities, enterprise content and correspondence management services.

Graves said VBA also is considering the use of business-rules-engine software for workflow management, which could improve processors’ decision-making.

Stephen Warren, principal deputy assistant secretary for the VA Office of Information and Technology, said the department is preparing a statement of work to engage the services of a lead systems integrator to develop strategy and business requirements for Paperless Delivery of Veterans Benefits, though he did not provide a timeline.

Gary Christopherson, who served as chief information officer for the Veterans Health Administration in 2000 and principal deputy assistant secretary for Health Affairs in the Defense Department, said “using artificial intelligence or electronic decision support tools is nothing new.” Government and corporations routinely use those tools, and VBA claims processing is no more difficult than any other application of AI, he said.

Christopherson also called for a radical policy change in how VBA provides benefits. He said that it should presume that a veteran has a valid claim and is entitled to benefits for a period of a year until it completes the processing of that claim, with payment starting in 30 days of the date the claim is filed.

“Today, there is a failure to understand and appreciate the veteran’s plight,” Christopherson said. “Today’s claims processing behavior is more like a castle under siege rather than a home providing compassion, warmth, help and sustenance. That attitude and approach needs to change to a pro-active system, which welcomes veterans seeking help based on ‘the duty to assist.’ “

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February 4, 2008 by admin.

Grassley secures commitment from IRS nominee

to consider veterans from Iraq, Afghanistan for vacant jobs at agency

            WASHINGTON — Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member of the Committee on Finance, won assurances today from the nominee for IRS Commissioner to try to hire 1,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans for agency positions during the upcoming fiscal year.

            “It’s important for the federal government to do everything it can to help returning service men and women, including many who are disabled, find employment.  In turn, veterans offer a talented and dedicated work force,” Grassley said.  “These are extraordinary young men and women, and our country is honored by their service.  The IRS is facing a skilled worker shortage, and it seems obvious that the agency could benefit from veterans’ experience, energy and ‘can do’ attitude.”

              It’s anticipated that the IRS will lose a significant number of experienced personnel and skilled staff to retirement over the next few years.  Grassley said it makes sense for the agency to actively pursue this kind of opportunity “to help veterans and improve taxpayer services.”

            Grassley said he would pursue any legislative changes needed to assist a hire-veterans effort by the IRS, though he also said he’s confident that the tax-collection agency already has authority to undertake this kind of an initiative.

            Grassley presented his proposal and received a willing response from the IRS nominee, Douglas Schulman, during a Finance Committee nomination hearing this morning.  Grassley said he looks forward to receiving feedback on how the incoming commissioner would conduct outreach, job classifications and reclassifications, notification and work with veterans’ organizations and the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense.

            Grassley has a long record of working to improve services provided by the IRS.  He worked to establish the IRS Restructuring Commission and win passage of IRS overhaul legislation ten years ago.  He previously co-authored numerous taxpayer bills of rights, and he has conducted active oversight of the agency from his leadership position on the tax policy committee in the United States Senate.

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February 1, 2008 by admin.

JEWISH WAR VETERANS OF THE U.S.A.
1811 R Street NW Washington, DC 20009
(202) 265-6280 / (202) 234-5662

NEWS RELEASE

Contact: Norman Rosenshein, National Commander
Robert M. Zweiman, International Liaison Officer
Cheryl Waldman, National Public Relations Coordinator
Email: nrosenshein@jwv.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America Increases
Outreach to Persian Gulf and Global War on Terrorism (PG/GWOT)
Military Active Duty and Reserve Component Members

The Jewish War Veterans of the USA is the oldest active veterans
association in the United States, founded by Civil War Veterans in
1896. The JWV is continuing its long tradition of dedication to
those programs that support the needs of our active duty, reserve
component members, and veteran’s communities. The JWV represents a
proud tradition of patriotism and service to America and is known as
the “Patriotic Voice of American Jewry. ”

As National Commander of the Jewish War Veterans, I am also proud to
announce the formation of the Persian Gulf and Global War on
Terrorism Outreach Committee at the National Level under the
chairmanship of Colonel Nelson L. Mellitz, USAFR, Ret. This
committee has two major goals: 1) assist the GWOT veterans and their
families while they are deployed and 2) aid the Persian Gulf and
GWOT veterans and their families at home. Both of these goals are
consistent with the mission that has motivated the JWV since its
founding in 1896.

Since the start of the GWOT on September 11, 2001, the JWV has been
extremely active in supporting all United States military and their
families by:

a) Giving special care and attention to the families of active
duty service persons both at home and overseas,
b) Sending care and holiday packages to troops in harm’s
way, “Support Our Servicemen and Women Overseas,”
c) Recommending and encouraging congressional representatives
to pass authorization and appropriation laws in support of increased
benefits for GWOT and all veterans,
d) Working with the Coalition of Veterans Organizations to
increase veteran’s benefits,
e) Providing “Service Officers” as Ombudsmen with the Veterans
Affairs and military hospitals and centers throughout the country,
f) Contributing funding and volunteers to readiness support
centers at military posts, bases, and stations,
g) Greeting deploying and returning troops from the GWOT,
h) Providing employment networking opportunities,
i) and much, much, more.

Our returning military and families of active duty, National Guard,
and reserve component members face a myriad of difficult transition
issues upon their return to United States based military jobs or to
civilian life. Even if our service members are fortunate enough to
avoid the severe physical injuries faced by so many, they return to
careers and marriages that have been severely impacted by their
service and face problems with
non-physical wounds, such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

As the original founders of the JWV, members of the Union Army,
joined with veterans of the Spanish-American War to form a larger
organization that continued to welcome veterans of WWI and all
succeeding conflicts, we in the Jewish War Veterans will join with
the newest veterans of the Persian Gulf and Global War on
Terrorism. In this way, the JWV continues “The Mission: The
Veteran.” We will increase our efforts to reach out to these newest
veterans and continue the unbroken chain of Jewish military serving
Jewish military (L’Dor V’Dor) that goes back to 1896 and will
continue through the 21st century.

Point of contact is Colonel Nelson L. Mellitz, Committee Chairperson
through the Jewish War Veterans of America, National Headquarters,
JWV@JWV.org or telephone:
202-265-6280 or your local JWV Post to participate, ask for
assistance, provide suggestions or join the JWV.

JWV National Headquarters
Attn: Colonel Nelson L. Mellitz, USAFR, Ret.
PG/GWOT Outreach Committee
1811 R Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009

http://www.jwv.org

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February 1, 2008 by admin.

http://jobsearch.usajobs.gov/veteranscenter/

This is a great link with many valuable resources.

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