There could be a shortfall in funding for brain injury patients—of which there are quite a few coming out of Southwest Asia—at the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center, reports the Raleigh News & Observer. Current funding ran $14 million, but the Pentagon only asked for $7 million in its 2007 budget request. A Senate appropriations staffer told the newspaper that the Pentagon failed to “respond properly” when queried about the mismatch. The paper also notes that military officials say the number of brain injuries is higher in ongoing operations than in previous wars, primarily because troops now live through the many attacks by improvised explosive devices and suicide bombers because of better equipment.
Air Force Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost—a trailblazer and one of the first 10 women to reach a four-star rank across the U.S. military—retired and passed control of U.S. Transportation Command to Air Force Gen. Randall Reed on Oct. 4, finishing an eventful tenure at TRANSCOM.