Defense Communities 360 Headlines

The number of military veterans going to college has taken off since 2009 when education benefits under the Post-9/11 GI Bill first became available. In 2012, 945,052 veterans used their GI Bill education benefits, up from 564,487 in 2009, according to the Veterans Affairs Department. Traditional colleges and universities have not been the biggest beneficiaries, though, as enrollment by veterans at for-profit private universities surpassed four-year public institutions in the 2009-2010 school year …

At next month’s Defense Communities National Summit in Washington, ADC members will be asked to vote on a proposed change to the bylaws that would expand the association’s board of directors from 12 to 14 members (not counting the immediate past president). The change is intended to ensure that all segments of ADC’s diverse membership are adequately represented in the leadership of the association. Members also will vote on extending new terms to five incumbent board members during the annual membership meeting …

The city of Alameda could take possession of a large chunk of the former Naval Air Station Alameda in a matter of weeks, following a vote this week by the City Council to approve the transfer of 509 acres of land and 870 acres of submerged property at the site on San Francisco Bay. The transfer would be the first of four from the Navy at what is now called Alameda Point under a no-cost economic development conveyance …

The military services have installed a total of 130 megawatts of solar photovoltaic energy systems at U.S. installations, and have plans to complete 1.1 gigawatts of new photovoltaic capacity by 2017, according to a new report from the Solar Energy Industries Association. Each of the services is aiming to acquire 1 gigawatt of renewable energy by 2025, a response to rising energy costs, potential energy supply disruptions and the need for more secure and clean energy generation and distribution …

The draft spending allocations for fiscal 2014 released last week by the House Appropriations Committee protect spending on defense, military construction-veterans affairs and homeland security at the expense of domestic programs. The allocations provide a total of $625 billion in FY 2014 for those three national security funding measures, representing a cut of only $4 billion — or less than one percent — from the current enacted level …

The Navy has purchased an easement from the Washington Department of Natural Resources to limit development in the waterways surrounding Naval Base Kitsap in northwest Washington. The agreement will preclude near-shore commercial or industrial construction along the areas of the Hood Canal and neighboring waterways managed by DNR where the Navy operates, according to a press release. “[The partnership] will enhance environmental conservation along a portion of the Hood Canal and prevent encroachment into Navy operating ranges that are so vital to our mission and our national security,” said Capt. Peter Dawson, commanding officer of Naval Base Kitsap. “This partnership will also provide new protections for sensitive marine ecosystems, safeguard public access and support the jobs that depend on the Navy’s continued presence in the region,” said Commissioner of Public Lands Peter Goldmark.

“It is literally lights out at our military bases,” Rep. Mike Turner said Thursday from the House floor in an effort to dramatize the impact of sequestration. Turner brought a photo of employees standing in a darkened hallway at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where the lights had been turned off in an effort to save money. In an interview earlier this month, the commander of the 88th Air Base Wing outlined the cuts Wright-Pat is being forced to take to address a 40 percent reduction — more than $30 million — in its budget …

In a first for the Pentagon, Fort Bliss officials on Thursday turned on the Texas post’s microgrid, a system designed to efficiently harness renewable energy while reducing the installation’s vulnerability to outages to the power grid. The microgrid will decentralize how power is sent across the installation, ensuring that a major power outage doesn’t affect critical operations. It was designed by Lockheed Martin as part of a test effort funded by DOD’s Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program …

The two spending bills that fund the Pentagon in fiscal 2014 would be shielded from the dramatic cuts that would be imposed on domestic agencies under the draft allocations for appropriations bills released Thursday by the House Appropriations Committee. The committee would allocate $512.5 billion for defense spending next year, representing a moderate cut from the $526.6 billion request submitted last month by the White House …

ADC has formed a strategic partnership with Walmart to support the effort by the nation’s largest retailer to provide jobs to military veterans entering the civilian workforce after serving their country. The partnership is intended to build on Walmart’s recent pledge to offer a job to any honorably discharged veteran in the year after he or she leaves active duty, a commitment the company projects will result in hiring and training more than 100,000 veterans over the next five years …