Marines with, 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit conduct a nighttime boat operation exercise using Combat Rubber Raiding Craft as part of Amphibious intergration Training aboard the USS Green Bay, at sea, March 11, 2015. The Marines and Sailors are currently conducting their Spring Patrol of the Asia-Pacific region.
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by GySgt Ismael Pena/Released)Kawkawlin, Pinconning firefighters and US Coast Guard rescue a man from the Saginaw Bay after his snowmobile fell through the ice Monday, March 16, 2015, near Pinconning Park. (AP Photo/The Bay City Times, Yfat Yossifor)Army combat engineers clear debris from a simulated collapsed building site during Vigilant Guard in Georgetown, S.C., March 8, 2015. National Guard units worked with federal, state and local emergency management agencies and first responders to conduct the federally funded disaster-response drills. The engineers are assigned to 810th Engineer Company, Joint Task Force 781, Georgia National Guard.
U.S. Army National Guard photo by Capt. William Carraway 150315-N-NT265-793
EAST CHINA SEA (March 15, 2015) A Landing Craft Air Cushion assigned to Naval Beach Unit (NBU) 7 enters the well deck of the Whidbey Island-class amphibious dock landing ship USS Ashland (LSD 48). Ashland is part of the Bonhomme Richard Amphibious Ready Group and, along with the embarked 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit (31st MEu), is conducting a certification exercise. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Christian Senyk/Released)U.S. Army recruits clean their M16s in their company bay during white phase of basic combat training at Fort Jackson, S.C., March 15, 2015. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Ken Scar)Thunderbirds maintenance professionals sendoff the the Delta formation pilots for a practices show, Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., March 13, 2015. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Manuel J. Martinez, Released)Air National Guard emergency managers search for radioactive material during a Global Dragon training event at the Guardian Center of Georgia on March 15, 2015. During this day's training, airmen searched for material following a simulated aircraft crash in a deployed location. Students wore Mission Oriented Protective Posture (MOPP) 4 gear and used Geiger counters to search through an empty field for the lost material. Global Dragon provides a refresher course for Airmen, allowing them to put their skills to use to identify live chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear agents and materials. Air National Guard emergency management technicians from more than 20 individual units participated in Global Dragon. (New York Air National Guard / Staff Sgt. Christopher S. Muncy / released)Brett Parks, right, a participant in the Navy Safe Harbor-Wounded Warrior program, observes Redmond Ramos as he participates in Pacific Trials swimming practice on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, March 10, 2015.
U.S. Navy photo by Chief Petty Officer John M. Hageman
The Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase program aimed to help financially strapped veterans get lower interest rates and avoid eviction from their homes.
Officials are examining facilities across the military medical system, which could mean closing some facilities or downgrading some hospitals to clinics.
Plans to cut more than 80,000 staffers from VA offices would severely hurt benefits delivery, said Arizona Democrat Sen. Ruben Gallego, a Marine Corps vet.
