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TRICARE Reserve Select Premiums Increasing in 2023

National Guardsmen and Reservists enrolled in TRICARE Reserve Select will pay more for their health insurance in 2023, according to a policy update from the Defense Health Agency. TRS monthly premiums will increase in January from $46.70 to $48.47... Read More Details

House Republicans Urge SECDEF to End Vaccine Mandate

Fourteen House Republicans have urged Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III to rescind the Pentagon’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate. In an Aug. 31 letter, the group cited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest guidance as evidence the... Read More Details

Lots of Work, Short Deadlines Await Returning Lawmakers

The Senate returns to work today from its summer recess; the House gets back next Tuesday. Both chambers face approaching deadlines. With progress slow on completing a fiscal 2023 budget, the most pressing matter will be developing a stopgap budget... Read More Details

NGB Implements Changes for Preventing Sexual Assault

The National Guard Bureau is implementing changes to better fight sexual assault and harassment in the ranks with new prevention initiatives across the Guard. First among the measures is an integrated approach that will add resources. Second is an... Read More Details

Army Guard Testing Free Child Care During Drill Weekends

Army National Guard soldiers in six states will have access to free child care during weekend drill under a pilot program launching this month. The goal is to help retain more single parents in the force, Maj. Gen. Eric K. Little, the National Guard... Read More Details

New Army PT Test Troublesome for Guard

The secretary of the Army says, “If you can’t pass the Army Combat Fitness Test, then there’s probably not a spot for you in the Army.” But Mark T. Esper’s regard for the new fitness test, which will begin one year of field testing next month, bumps... Read More Details

Ex-NGB Chief: White House ‘Gag Order’ on Space Guard Hurts U.S.

The Biden administration’s reluctance to openly discuss the merits of creating a Space National Guard hurts efforts to protect America's space interests, a former National Guard Bureau chief says. “In my opinion, the administration's ‘gag order’... Read More Details

House OKs Bill to Streamline VA Loan Process

The House last week approved legislation that would make the Department of Veterans Affairs update its rules on home appraisals bought using its home loan benefit. Lawmakers in both parties have voiced concern the VA home loan program disadvantages... Read More Details

Report: Erasing Confederacy from U.S. Military to Cost $62.5 million

The third and final report from an eight-member panel Congress created to identify Defense Department assets honoring the Confederacy recommends renaming or removing 1,100-plus items. The Naming Commission’s report released yesterday estimated the... Read More Details

GOP Letter to Army Secretary: End Vaccine Travel Rule

Fifty-one Republicans in Congress are demanding the Army secretary end a policy restricting official travel for the service’s troops unvaccinated against COVID-19. The policy mandates all unvaccinated Army soldiers must receive permission from the... Read More Details