For a sense of what’s ahead for combat rations, check out offerings at one of the many sit-down chain restaurants that have sprung up like mushrooms around the country and outside many military bases.
Food scientists at the Natick Soldier Research, Development and Engineering Center near Boston look to Applebee’s, TGI Friday’s and other popular chain eateries for inspiration in their quest to provide warfighters the kind of food they’d seek out at home if they weren’t deployed, explained Jeremy Whitsitt, technology integration analyst for the center’s Department of Defense combat feeding directorate.

Non-Department of Defense personnel who require a DoD Common Access Card must be sponsored by a Contractor Verification System trusted agent under new rules being implemented DoD-wide.

The $50 billion military health system will plan for its future by slowing the growth rate of health care costs, strengthening partnerships and focusing on prevention, primary care and chronic disease management, the Defense Department’s top health official said this morning.
Dr. Jonathan Woodson, assistant secretary of Defense for Health Affairs and director of the TRICARE Management Activity, addressed some of the 3,000 attendees at the 2012 Military Health System Conference here.

The Defense Department and the Army said goodbye Jan. 31 to a general known for his leadership and his innovation, but who may be best remembered for his focus on advancing brain injury treatment and mental health care.
Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, were among hundreds who gathered Jan. 31 at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall’s Summerall Field to celebrate the career of Army Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, Army vice chief of staff, as he retired following 40 years of service.

The Army released the Army 2020 Generating Health and Discipline in the Force, Report 2012, referred to as the Army Gold Book, Jan. 19. The report serves as an update to the Army Red Book published in 2010.
The Gold Book summarizes the progress made in enhancing the health, discipline and readiness of the force. It represents the next phase in the Army’s ongoing campaign to counter the stress associated with more than a decade of war.
The Gold Book candidly addresses the challenges that Soldiers and families currently face, while providing a thorough assessment of what the Army has learned with respect to physical and behavioral health conditions, disciplinary problems, and the remaining gaps in Army policy. The report will serve as an invaluable resource for leaders, policy makers, commanders, and service providers, as they work together to address the unique and difficult challenges that lie ahead.

Nearly 4 million women give birth in the U.S. every year and almost a third of them will suffer pregnancy-related complications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Prenatal care not only helps ensure those complications are caught early and treated, but can help prevent premature births. To support proper prenatal care and help women deliver healthy babies, TriWest Healthcare Alliance is now offering a new resource for military families who are expecting: The Pregnancy and Parenting Portal.

A new Defense Department website is connecting military children — whether it’s across town or across the world — who are dealing with a loved one’s deployment.
The website, MilitaryKidsConnect.org, offers military children an online community where they can learn about deployments, recognize and share feelings, and develop coping skills.
Psychologists from the DoD’s National Center for Telehealth and Technology developed the site to build on military children’s strength and resilience, especially as they deal with the unique stressors of military life.

Among the many freedoms Soldiers fight to defend, the right to vote is one of the most fundamental and officials at the Human Resources Command want to help the entire Army family exercise that privilege.
The HRC, in partnership with the Federal Voting Assistance Program is working to make the voting process easy and accessible to Soldiers, their families and Department of the Army civilians.

The past 10 years of war assured many Soldiers an assignment or promotion with a high degree of certainty, said an official with the Department of the Army Promotions Branch. That’s no longer necessarily the case.
“It has always been in the Soldier’s best interest to ensure his or her personnel file is up to date. But as history tends to repeat itself and the Army scales back its force structure, having an accurate, updated and complete service record is now more important than ever,” said Gerald Mayer, chief of DA Promotions Branch.

All Soldiers planning to separate from the Army are now required to begin their transition process at least a year before leaving, according to a Department of the Army execution order signed Dec. 29.
The order is part of an effort by the Army to beef up transition assistance, and it places responsibility for the program squarely on the shoulders of commanders, said Walter Herd, director of the Army Transition Office at Human Resources Command.
“It really changed Army transition from a staff responsibility to a commander’s responsibility,” said Herd about the order.

With military budgets shrinking as threats grow in number and complexity, the Defense Department still must ensure the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps can defend national security in the coming decades.
“The Joint Operational Access Concept is an important first step,” a senior Pentagon officer told reporters Jan. 20.
Marine Corps Lt. Gen. George Flynn, the Joint Staff’s director of joint force development, said the concept — which Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey released last week — provides a framework for developing forces for future wars.

Recent news items about the use of Army medical evacuation, or medevac, helicopters in Afghanistan contain troubling information. The reporting suggests that putting red crosses on medevacs, and not arming them somehow, is putting injured Soldiers’ lives at risk. The facts do not support these assertions for several reasons.
First, there is no evidence, implied or proven, that the enemy deliberately targets medevac helicopters, but we know from hard experience that the enemy does try to shoot down any and all U.S. and coalition aircraft. Further, all helicopters in Afghanistan fly in pairs as a force protection matter. It’s the way we do business and to suggest that arming medevac aircraft would result in crews launching sooner is a dubious assertion.

The VA Eastern Kansas Health Care System was chosen to participate in the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Million Veteran Program. Veterans who would like to volunteer to participate in the program can come to the Dwight D. Eisenhower VA Medical Center, Main Hospital Building, room B-102, in Leavenworth.
The Million Veteran Program is a trailblazing VA effort to consolidate genetic, military exposure, health and lifestyle information together in one single database. The database will be used by authorized researchers with VA, other federal health agencies, and academic institutions within the United States in a secure manner to conduct health and wellness studies to determine which genetic variations are associated with particular health issues. By identifying gene-health connections, the program could consequentially advance disease screening, diagnosis and prognosis, and point the way toward more effective, personalized therapies.

The Army has suspended its migration to Joint Enterprise Email to comply with provisions in the fiscal year 2012 National Defense Authorization Act signed into law Dec. 31.
The Army expects that full operating capability for Enterprise Email users on the non-classified network, known as NIPRNet, which was previously planned for March 31, will slip at least 45 days and possibly longer.

Many “out” gay and lesbian Soldiers say they haven’t noticed much change in Army culture since the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” Sept. 20, and many still remain in the closet to those with whome they serve.
For most, it has been a relief that they can no longer be prosecuted or their Army careers jeopardized for being gay.

The Army is now one step closer to selecting a new set of camouflage patterns that could replace what Soldiers are wearing now in most places.
As part of the “Phase IV” camouflage effort, the Army has awarded contracts to five vendors — selected from an initial 20 — to each provide enough fabric in the new camouflage patterns they have developed to produce 150 uniforms for the Army to test.

Probably by this summer, the Army will be floating a new idea past the troops for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.
Not a program of record, but something the Army expects to test in Afghanistan this summer, the Long Endurance Multi-Intelligence Vehicle. It’s a hybrid air vehicle — like a blimp — that can carry multiple intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance payloads for more than 21 days at altitudes greater than 22,000 feet.

It’s time for the Army to reverse gears after 10 years of war, said the service’s leading proponent of training and doctrine.
Gen. Robert W. Cone, commander of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, spoke Jan. 12 about “shaping the Army of 2020.” As keynote speaker at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Aviation Symposium dinner at National Harbor, Md., he explained the terms “expansibility “and “reversibility.”

A smartphone can now be used for more than texting friends or flinging birds. With TriWest’s mobile account tools, you can get closer to your health care.
Get answers to general TRICARE questions whether you’re relaxing at home, standing in line or waiting at the doctor’s office. Download the TriWest mobile app (TriWest.com/GoMobile) for smart devices.

Nearly 4 million women give birth in the U.S. every year and almost a third of them will suffer pregnancy-related complications, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Prenatal care not only helps ensure those complications are caught early and treated, but can help prevent premature births. To support proper prenatal care and help women deliver healthy babies, TriWest Healthcare Alliance is now offering a new resource for military families who are expecting: The Pregnancy and Parenting Portal.