Military

In the opening statement at his court-martial, Maj. Nidal Hasan said, “The evidence will clearly show that I am the shooter.”

While the case against Hasan, the Army psychiatrist accused of killing 13 people at Fort Hood in 2009, appears simple, punishment may not be swift.

Texas currently leads the nation the number of backlogged Veteran Affairs disability claims and Sen. John Cornyn heard firsthand from Veterans about the problems they’ve seen related to the backlog when comes to awarding VA benefits.

But according the Texas Veterans Administration’s Tom Palladino, a new system here in Texas is also leading the way for reducing the backlog.

"So as of this month, July, the total number of claims is at 75,000 and the total number of backlogged claims is at 50,000. So we have helped reduce that," Palladino said.

The Greater San Antonio YMCA is offering complimentary memberships to military families living in the metro area as part of their Military Outreach Initiative.

The YMCA has gyms and programs for all ages, and is offering the free memberships at locations in San Antonio, New Braunfels and Boerne.

The complimentary memberships are available to:

The Air Force has put into place most of the institutional safeguards recommended to end the sexual assault problem at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

Gen. Edward A. Rice, Jr., commander of the Air Education and Training Command, said the remaining changes are more long-term, and will be added over the next two years.

The 45 recommendations came out of the commander’s investigation last fall, and Rice said 35 safeguards have been put into place over the past nine months that are already proving successful.

Army Entertainment is launching the ninth season of "Operation Rising Star," a singing competition based on the "American Idol" format. The program is open to active duty military, National Guard and Reserve members and their adult family members.

The Army Installation Management Command is encouraging garrisons to collaborate with their food and beverage facilities, recreation programs, marketing teams and Better Opportunities for Single Servicemembers programs to get a program going for local contestants.

Update: Six of the first 20 potential panelists in the trail of Major Nidal Hasan were dismissed today in the first day of jury selection. The court will resume tomorrow and split the remaining panelists into groups for individual questioning. The first group will begin at 9 a.m. and the second group will be questioned at 2:30 p.m. Hasan is accused of killing 13 people and wounding more than 30 in a shooting at the Fort Hood army post in 2009. 

  Furloughs began Monday for 23,000 Department of Defense employees at Joint Base San Antonio as part of the government’s sequestration measure to tighten the federal budget.

About 700,000 total Department of Defense employees will be taking one day a week off for the next 11 weeks -- the government reduced the furloughs from the original 22 days.

Joint Base San Antonio’s Brent Boller said the military could not avoid the cutbacks entirely, despite other efforts to reduce military expenses:

General Edward Rice Jr. will be recorded as the commander who led the investigation into the worst sex scandal in Air Force history, having ordered the investigation of sexual misconduct by military training instructors at Lackland.

Rice and Maj. Gen. Margaret Woodward announced the results of the investigation last November, finding a laundry list of policy characteristics that the report said allowed a climate of abuse to occur.

A former NATO commander is in San Antonio to promote a new business opportunity for veterans. The Grilled Cheese Truck, a company from Los Angeles, has announced it is expanding its veteran-owned businesses to the Alamo city.

General Wesley Clark commanded thousands of troops from Vietnam to Fort Hood. He was a Rhodes Scholar, has received the Silver Star and the Bronze Star, and held the position as the NATO Supreme Allied Commander.