Disney looking to hire veterans
March 15th, 2012 | Blogs Entertainment Industry Navy Veterans Video | Posted by Blair Tomlinson
The Walt Disney Company is looking to hire 1,000 veterans over the next three years. Company President and CEO Bob Iger announced the company wide initiative called “Heroes Work Here” on Tuesday, March 13th.
There is much more to the new program than just hiring vets. Disney will hold career fairs, offer training and volunteer opportunities.
And don’t think you have to head to Orlando just to work at Disney. The company owns ESPN and ABC. Here is a full list of the companies in the Disney family.
Want to make your dreams come true? Check out the Disney Careers website.
Deal avoids prosecution for former sailor who threatened suicide with homemade gun
February 28th, 2012 | Navy Suicide Veterans Veterans Affairs Veterans Treatment Court Virginia Tech | Posted by Bill McMichael
A welcome compromise was reached Monday in federal court in Roanoke, Va., when prosecutors agreed that a Navy veteran of the Persian Gulf War who called a suicide hotline last year and threatened to kill himself with a homemade gun would not be prosecuted if he completes mandatory counseling.
The Washington Post story points out three elements of the case that have angered many, particularly veterans’ groups. First, what was the government doing prosecuting a veteran, Sean Duvall, who was reaching out for help — especially at a time when the government is at the same time urging combat veterans of all stripes, but especially those of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, to seek help for post-traumatic stress disorder?
Second, the lead prosecutor, Timothy Heaphy, was the son-in-law of Veterans Affairs chief Eric Shinseki, who, as reporter Christian Davenport writes, is “an advocate for helping troubled veterans rather than punishing them.”
Most troubling, perhaps, is that the government went after Duvall, who was homeless, jobless and despondent over his father’s death, although he’d called a VA suicide hotline that he presumed was confidential.
Another government prosecutor explained Monday that authorities were concerned that Duvall, armed with the homemade handgun, had made the call from the campus of Virginia Tech, site of the 2007 shootings that left 33 dead and where he’d once worked part-time as a cook. He also has a criminal history, although it doesn’t include any charges of assault.
Heaphy, however, apparently had a change of heart after media reports on the case generated a highly negative response.
Under the agreement, Sean Duvall will be admitted to a state Veterans Treatment Court. The concept, akin to drug treatment courts, offers vets with war-related mental health conditions counseling and treatment alternatives in the context of a highly disciplined environment. Typically, charges are dismissed upon successful completion of the program. VTCs have caught on nationwide, and the Virginia VTC is the state’s first. Duvall’s case will be the first felony referred to that court.
It’s the sense that Duvall’s confidentiality was violated that seems to have drawn the most angry responses to the government’s response — even though it may have been the responding police officer’s report, not the hotline call itself, that resulted in the weapons charge.
One commenter under the Post story, “bluewhinge”, wrote, “It wasn’t the call to the hotline that was the problem, it was admitting that he had a weapon and was on the grounds of a university. But yeah, it was handled pretty stupidly. Imagine what it’s going to be like when we start adding discharged Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans in, with the unemployment rate for vets already higher than the average. They’re bringing them home, but there aren’t any jobs for them.”
Thoughts? Should Duvall have been charged?
Navy officer and Doritos inventor dies
September 29th, 2011 | Historical Navy Veterans World War II | Posted by Sam Fellman
Arch West, 97-year-old former naval officer who invented Doritos, died on Sept. 20. // theimpulsivebuy via Flickr
The idea for Doritos tortilla chips, which brought about a sea change in snacking and became a top seller for Frito-Lay, came from the mind of former Navy man Arch West, who died of natural causes on Sept. 20. He was 97. West joined the Navy in 1943 and served as a gunnery officer onboard destroyer escort Holt in the Pacific during World War II, according to The Dallas Morning News.
A chance encounter on a family vacation inspired West to mass-market tortilla chips, according to The Washington Post:
“He was on a family vacation in Southern California in 1964 when he first bought a grease-smeared bag of toasted tortillas at a roadside shack.
As marketing vice president at Frito-Lay, Mr. West immediately sensed he had stumbled upon a snacking phenomenon.
When he returned to work, Mr. West pitched his idea: a crispy, triangle-shaped corn chip that would complement the company’s lighter Lay’s potato chip and the thicker, curly Frito.”
The Washington Post also published a photo of West from his Navy days.
Doritos are now the chips of choice for millions around the world. They come in 21 flavors, from old stand-bys like Cool Ranch and Nacho Cheese to more extreme offerings like Blazin’ Jalapeno and All Nighter Cheeseburger. Global sales of Doritos were nearly $5 billion in 2010, a Frito-Lay spokeswoman told the Post.
Family members plan on tossing Doritos chips at his Oct. 1 burial so that West can face the ages with his addictive creation on-hand.
Scammer of Navy vets convicted
June 23rd, 2011 | Fraud Investigation Navy Veterans | Posted by Bill McMichael
A woman pleaded guilty in Ohio Wednesday of scamming millions of dollars from Navy veterans, the Roanoke Times reports.
Blanca Contreras, associated with an alleged booster group calling itself the U.S. Navy Veterans Association, pleaded guilty in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas to corruption, theft and money laundering. She faces 25 years in jail.
Still at large is her alleged partner, Bobby Thompson, who Ohio authorities say used a false identity to raise millions, supposedly on behalf of Navy veterans.
Virginia officials say the “group” — its only presence in the state was a mail drop — raised more than $2 million in Virginia alone. Virginia and other states have launched their own criminal investigations, although Virginia’s attorney general has a conflict of interest to be resolved: Thompson donated $55,500 to the election campaign of Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli two years ago.
See the full story here.