Explosive ordnance disposal technicians conduct unstable exit free fall jumps as part of flight operations with the Spanish navy on Feb. 13, 2020, in Rota, Spain. (Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Katie Cox/Navy)Lance Cpl. Darren J. Duhaime, a small arms repairer/technician with 5th Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, engages a target with an M249 light machine gun during a machine gun range at Fort Greely, Alaska, Feb. 22, 2020, in preparation for exercise Arctic Edge 2020. (Lance Cpl. Jose Gonzalez/Marine Corps)Members of the 335th Training Squadron freestyle drill team perform during the 81st Training Group drill down on the Levitow Training Support Facility drill pad at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., Feb. 21, 2020. Airmen from the 81st TRG competed in a quarterly open-ranks inspection, regulation drill routine and freestyle drill routine. (Kemberly Groue/Air Force)A U.S. soldier drinks cobra blood during a jungle survival course as part of exercise Cobra Gold 2020 at Ban Dan Lan Hoi, Kingdom of Thailand, Feb. 27, 2020. (Staff Sgt. Christopher Osburn/Army Reserve)Senior Airman Zachary Anderson, 911th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron crew chief, services a nose landing-gear tire on a C-17 Globemaster III at the Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station, Pa., Feb. 26, 2020. (Joshua J. Seybert/Air Force)U.S. Marines with Combat Assault Company and Combat Logistics Battalion 3 breach a doorway during a demolition range, Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Feb. 26, 2020. (Cpl. Matthew Kirk/Marine Corps )Members of the Air Force's 44th Aircraft Maintenance Unit prepare to rearm an F-15C Eagle during an Agile Combat Employment exercise Feb. 21, 2020, at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Japan. (Senior Airman Rhett Isbell/Air Force)Marines assigned to the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit depart amphibious assault ship USS America (LHA 6) at Laem Chaban, Thailand, on Feb. 26, 2020, in support of Exercise Cobra Gold 2020 (CG 20). (Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Jonathan Berlier/Navy)From left: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and U.S. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper prepare to speak in Kabul on Feb. 29, 2020, regarding a joint declaration that could result in all foreign troops leaving Afghanistan within 14 months. (NATO)U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, left, and Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Taliban group's top political leader shack hands after signing a peace agreement between Taliban and U.S. officials in Doha, Qatar, Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020. (Hussein Sayed/AP)
The piecemeal progress of extremism-prevention efforts during the past four years is more than can be expected out of the Pentagon in 2025, experts said.
Holiday helpers have been busy, as plenty of organizations and individuals have been working to make the days a bit brighter for troops and their families.
The project was scheduled to take 10 years and cost $16 billion. Nearly eight years later, only six of VA’s 170-plus medical sites are using the software.
The figures are the latest available from federal census data and suggest limited progress on the issue of suicide prevention by Veterans Affairs leaders.
