A lively, informative bi-monthly newsletter, filled with up-to-the-minute developments regarding military matters and legislative issues
which may affect you and your peers in the military community.
Welcome to ARMED FORCES TOP ENLISTED ASSOCIATION
The Armed Forces Top Enlisted Association (AFTEA) is an alliance of senior Non-commissioned Officers who
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NEWS
Learn more about issues important to senior non-commissioned officers -- feature articles and
reports on legislation, current military affairs, and military retirement benefits, including SBP, retired pay, and health
care…
The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2015 is the comprehensive legislation to authorize the budget authority of the Department of Defense and national security programs. The NDAA was a mixed bag for military people.
The Navy will increase its ranks over the next five years while the Army, Air Force and Marine Corps shrink. At the same time, recent world events have changed the equation for Army and Air Force leaders weighing their own end-strength calculations, leading them to slow down or reverse planned force cuts.
In a potential blow to DoD's constant quest for more dollars, a key player is signaling support for leaving all spending caps as-is. As defense insiders and their allies on Capitol Hill looked toward the new GOP-controlled Congress, many eagerly predicted Republicans will quickly pass a budget resolution that boosts a $535 billion cap on Pentagon spending for 2016.
The House passed, by a vote of 412-0, the “Hire More Heroes Act,” which would encourage employers to hire military veterans by exempting “veterans who have health insurance through the Defense or Veterans Affairs departments from ObamaCare's employer mandate.” President Obama has said he will veto this legislation.
U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal’s first legislative priority is to help prevent suicide among veterans. He is pushing a bill that would increase access to mental health care and outreach efforts targeting veterans. The Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention for American Veterans Act was introduced in Congress in last year but failed to win passage. It is named for a decorated Marine veteran who suffered from post-traumatic stress and committed suicide in 2011 at the age of 28.
