Author: Michael

When a veteran passed away in 2023 from heart disease, their family asked the Department of Veterans Affairs for service-connected benefits they believed their death triggered. 
An automated system at the VA reviewed the request and two days later approved payments totaling $22,692.
But the system was wrong, an Inspector General report found in April, and not for the first time. 
In all, the VA system approved “at least” $2.7 million in incorrect payments between September 2023 and August 2024, the VA Inspector General found in a new report.

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Veterans with a disability rating might have seen the news that a new bill in the Senate would increase their disability payments. While it’s certainly good news (and necessary legislation), it’s just how the business of keeping disability payments in line with inflation is done.
On May 11, 2026, Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran introduced S.4487 – Veterans’ Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment Act of 2026. The bill would do exactly what its name implies: adjust benefits to match inflation and maintain purchasing power for veterans with service-connected disabilities.

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…the best we can do, really…

Ethan Gossrow over at Naval News did a detailed look at the carrier portion of the 30-year shipbuilding plan that gives some texture for those who, like myself, are concerned about the slow approach to bringing new carriers online.
Even though today is no different from any other day over the last half decade, there are those who will continue to try to explain why the USN’s CVNs are “obsolete” and not worth the investment.

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In 1857, unrest surrounding elections in Washington, D.C., was so out of control that President James Buchanan called in the Marine Corps.
As Marines faced off against the so-called Plug Uglies—violent rioters hired to intimidate voters and seize polling places—the Commandant of the Corps, Archibald Henderson, walked the streets. Henderson was not in uniform, but his mere presence meant he was a target.
Related: Remembering 250 years of Marine Corps Commandants
It wasn’t long before the Plug Uglies fired at Henderson.

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