From: Wayne Gatewood, Jr To: Wayne Gatewood, Jr Subject: Veterans News for Tuesday, October 2, 2012 Date: Tuesday, October 02, 2012 8:52:05 PM Attachments: FY 2012 Preliminary 10-2-12 one decimal 5 SBA Scorecard Categories includes 6 FRCs.pdf WW II Hero Kovar.jpg WW II POW Len Kovar How I Survived.pdf Happy Tuesday good people. Hope you and yours are well. Sequestration is the hot topic and so it should be. Have to tell you folks, we deserve better. God only knows the price our Troops are paying while all the while the folly on the Hill continues. Shameful, simply shameful! For Today. “The first rule of any technology used in a business is that automation applied to an efficient operation will magnify the efficiency. The second is that automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.” Bill Gates VA/FedBid Shuts Out SDVOSBs if They Don't Have a GSA Schedule. OK Gang, have you wondered why you weren't seeing as many VA opportunities? It's because VA/FedBid worked out a programming process to give buyers the option to hide the buy from any SDVOSB without a GSA schedule. From FedBid: “If your company is not a GSA Schedule holder, you will not be able to view the Buy on FedBid, regardless if you are an authorized agent of another organization's GSA schedule.” I have been told folks that large firms are getting small purchase work through FedBid. Hope this is not the case because as we all know, Small Purchases MUST go to small business. Federal Government Preliminary Small Business Accomplishments for FY 2012 and a big thanks to DHS, Kevin Boshears, OSDBU; Dan Sturdivant, USMC Vietnam Vet and Deputy OSDBU; and Tony Bell, Small Business Officer. Please see the attached preliminary 2012 data. Of note, based on this preliminary data, DHS exceeded all of the socioeconomic categories (SDB, HUBZone, SDVOSB, and WOSB). DHS’s SDVOSB dollars of about $678 million with a percentage participation rate of about 5.4% is their highest since 2003. Also, based on this preliminary data, DHS stands at 31.0% in the overall small business category noting that their goal of 32.0% is 9 points higher than the government-wide goal of 23.0%. For those of you that have a special interest in SDVOSB participation, please see the following federal government website and please pass it along: Small Business Dashboard http://smallbusiness.data.gov/ In the far right hand column, you see the SDVOSB category with dollars and percentage for each federal agency. Again, Thanks and Congratulations to DHS and the OSDBU Team! Well Done DHS!! Those Who Have Served: A Symposium on Hiring Veterans. On October 5, 2012, from 7:30 am to 1:00 pm, the American Freedom Foundation will be hosting this event along with the Fairfax County Chamber of Commerce, at the Sheraton Premier at Tysons Corner. Please visit this link for more information AND also, please see attached Press Release. Any questions, please contact Ted Hacker, Co-founder, President & COO, American Freedom Foundation, Inc..American Freedom Festival http://www.americanfreedomfoundation.org Thanks Ted! A Promise Kept. http://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/8155/a-promise-kept/ Veterans Group Assesses VA Care. http://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/8164/veterans-group-assesses-va-care/ 1500 AM - Federal News Radio Headlines - IG Report Cites Failed Leadership in Wasteful VA Conference Spending. http://view.community.federalnewsradio.com/? j=fec6157172630c7c&m=fe91157073620c7b76&ls=fe2215727763027a731179&l=ff5d1c7877&s=fe5e177475670c7e7013&jb=ffcf14&ju=fe91157172610c7e70&r=0 "I Can't Afford To Live Like This"; VA Weeks, Months Late Paying Student Veterans - US News. http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/02/14174104-i-cant-afford-to-live-like-this-va-weeks-months-late-paying-student-veterans?lite&ocid=msnhp For Our Vets Dealing with Type II Diabetes (especially our Vietnam Vets): http://www.insulinnation.com/insulinnation/2012issue6? pg=12&pm=1&u1=texterity&linkImageSrc=/insulinnation/2012issue6/data/imgpages/tn/0012_qdjxbw.gif/#pg12 Thanks to Vietnam Veteran Randall Brown for sending this to us. VA Committed to Ending Veteran Homelessness. VA is committed to ending Veteran homelessness. If you or someone you know is homeless or about to become homeless, please utilize our resources and call 1-877-4AID-VET. Learn more about homeless Veteran resources. Reserve Officers Association (ROA) SmartBrief for October 2, 2012. http://www.smartbrief.com/servlet/wireless?issueid=102A408D-FE3B-4E72-8400- 636F2CDEFD5F&sid=22cbe9eb%2d3ef0%2d4eca%2d8105%2def9f466dc32d Learning to Eat Healthy During Football Season. (Good luck!) :-) http://www.blogs.va.gov/VAntage/8152/learning-to-eat-healthy-during-football-season/ Prayers and blessings for you and your loved ones and for our selfless and dear Troops and their loved ones everywhere. Best.....Wayne --------------------------------- Read below - pretty shameful stuff from a so-called Veteran. Sent in by our good friend Lee Dougherty, Army Ranger and Attorney Accused Navy vets scammer is former lawyer October 1st, 2012 · No Comments · Fraud The man known as “Bobby Thompson” is a former lawyer with degrees from the University of Virginia and Harvard, federal officials say. U.S. Marshals say “Thompson” is really John D. Cody, an Army veteran and former Arizona lawyer wanted since 1987 on fraud charges. “Thompson” is accused of running an elaborate fake veterans support group that collected millions in donations, allowing him to give to political campaigns and rub elbows with top elected officials. In Virginia, he helped persuade lawmakers to relax charity oversight regulations, a change that was promptly reversed after the veterans scam was exposed. A U.S. Marshal credits Google for helping to undercover the defendant’s true identity. He said an Internet search led him to an old FBI wanted poster for Cody and he noticed a resemblance to “Thompson,” reports The [Cleveland] Plain Dealer. According to the FBI, Cody graduated from U.Va. in 1969 and earned a JD from Harvard Law School in 1972. He served in the Army as a captain in military intelligence and practiced law in Arizona from 1980 to 1984. As a lawyer, Cody was known for his shabby clothing, flamboyant pompadour and outlandish accusations about his courtroom opponents, according to published reports. Cody was never licensed in Virginia, according to the Virginia State Bar. Cody was wanted in the Eastern District of Virginia for allegedly stealing money from probate accounts and seeking loans using false identities. He dropped out of sight in 1985, leaving his Corvette parked at the Phoenix airport with the keys in the ignition. The Florida-based U.S. Navy Veterans Association headed by “Thompson” collected at least $2 million from Virginia residents and donated $55,500 to the campaign of Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli. After the scam came to light, the General Assembly repealed a change limiting oversight of charity fundraising, and Cuccinelli donated the Thompson contribution to veterans’ groups. “Thompson” disappeared in 2010 but was arrested April 30 in Oregon after a nationwide manhunt. -------------------------------- VA Veterans News for Tuesday, October 2, 2012. Thanks to Kevin Secor, VA VSO Liaison 1. Video shows US reporter—former Marine—alive after capture in Syria. 2. US Veterans Agency Official Resigns Before Report on Spending. 3. IG: VA wasted hundreds of thousands on extravagant conferences. 4. Talking to troops, top NCO hears about “insider threats”. 5. US: $100M veterans scam suspect in Ohio is Harvard Law grad. 6. American Humane Association Calls on Veterans Administration. 7. MacDill event looks for leaders. 8. Four arrested in shooting at Florida VFW post. 9. New survey strives to get input from state veterans. 10. VA fails to track cause of veterans deaths. 11. Suicides: More Common Than Murder. 12. Consolidating Field Offices: Big Promise, Little Progress. 13. Facility In California Would Pool Resources From VA, DOD, Civilian Hospitals. 14. IG To Release Report On VA Conferences. 15. VA Touts New Digitized System As Antidote To Claims Backlog. 16. VA Is Transitioning To An Electronic Claims System. 17. Rescuing Veterans From The Abyss. 18. Housing Proposed To Help Homeless. 19. Volunteers Beautify Northport Veterans Association Medical Center. VA Official Requested Grant For Project. 20. VA To Hold Open House For Complementary And Alternative Medicine Program. 21. Annual Event Aids Homeless Veterans. 22. For Disabled Vets, Skiing On Lake Seminole Brings "Freedom." 23. Give Thanks For Men And Women In The Military. 24. Veterans Pay Respects To Japanese Americans Killed During World. 25. VA / VSO-MSO Hearings as October 2, 2012: 26. Today in History: 1. Video shows US reporter—former Marine—alive after capture in Syria. Austin Tice, a former Marine and American freelance journalist in Syria who hasn’t communicated with family and colleagues since mid-August, is shown alive and in the custody of armed men in a video posted on YouTube. 2. US Veterans Agency Official Resigns Before Report on Spending. Businessweek The top human resources official at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs resigned a day before the scheduled release of an inspector general's report on questionable spending tied to two conferences in Florida. The agency announced in a brief ... 3. IG: VA wasted hundreds of thousands on extravagant conferences. Investigators looking into lavish spending for a pair of Veterans Affairs training conferences in 2011 found evidence that department employees improperly accepted gifts, wasted hundreds of thousands on unneeded expenses and exhibited “serious management weaknesses” in handling taxpayer dollars. 4. Talking to troops, top NCO hears about “insider threats”. The priority for frontline troops was clear as Command Sgt. Maj. Bill Johnson, America’s top enlisted man for ground operations, trudged up the stairs of a bombed out, teetering building in this crucial southern city: on an upper floor two U.S.