An agreement signed Oct. 31 by DOD and VA officials establishes “federal recovery coordinators” to assist seriously wounded troops and their families in securing medical and non-medical services and benefits over a life-time, according to a Pentagon release. Creation of such a force was one of the key recommendations from the President’s Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors. VA plans to produce the first group of 10 coordinators, hiring them by Dec. 1 and getting them trained in time to be dispersed to military treatment facilities in January. Initially they are to be placed at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Medical Center in the Capitol region and at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio and the Naval Medical Center Balboa in San Diego.
The 301st Fighter Wing in Fort Worth, Texas, became the first standalone Reserve unit in the Air Force to get its own F-35s, welcoming the first fighter Nov. 5.