Special operations veterans ask Army to not cut tuition, certification benefits
A group of special operations veterans say an Army plan to cut education programs will hurt promotion and retention of elite soldiers.

BY PATTY NIEBERG | PUBLISHED MAY 3, 2024 2:07 PM EDT

 
Special operators are asking the Army not to cut benefits that help soldiers pay for secondary education and vocational training for civilian jobs post-military service.


David Cook, director of the Special Operations Association of America said that an Army proposal to cut civilian tuition and certification assistance could mean special operators like Green Berets and Rangers would lose a key path for promotions, leading to lower retention rates.

“The nature of special operations is that you have to volunteer to get selected, you have to go through the most rigorous training in the world and you go in every day with people that are better than you,” Cook, a former psychological operations soldier, told Task & Purpose. “Along with the fact that the Army evaluations have included secondary education to be promoted for senior enlisted ranks – then special operations promotion rates are higher than the conventional Army – which means that tuition assistance is a vital incentive for special operators to take advantage of.”

The group’s letter comes amid reports that the Army is considering cuts to two major assistance programs. The cuts, first reported by Military.com, come as the services and Congress are working through funding for the fiscal year 2025 budget.

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/special-operators-army-tuition-benefits/

Jeff McConney, former longtime controller at Trump Organization, testifying now
By Kyle Schnitzer

Jeff McConney, the former longtime controller of the Trump Organization, was sworn in and has taken the stand as the next witness in Donald Trump’s hush money trial.

McConney worked directly under the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, who was sentenced to five months in jail in April after admitting to lying during Trump’s civil fraud trial.

McConney previously testified in two trials tied to Trump including the civil fraud trial, where he was a co-defendant.

The real estate mogul was ordered to pay a total of $450 million for inflating the value of Trump’s property assets. A judge ruled that McConney was banned from serving in any financial management role at any New York company.

A judge also ruled that he was banned from holding an officer role at any New York company for three years.

He testified that the Trump Organization is paying for his lawyer today.

Would Dem. Rep Hank Johnson ask if they get too much equipment on one side, won't Haiti tip over?

US greenlights $60M in military assistance to Haiti amid rampant gang violence
The move is seen as an apparent attempt to go around Republican oversight efforts.
 

By MATT BERG and LARA SELIGMAN

05/04/2024 12:30 PM EDT

The Biden administration has approved a $60 million military aid package to help Haiti quell violent gangs wreaking havoc in the country, according to documents obtained by POLITICO.

The package, the second the U.S. has approved for the Haiti crisis this year, includes mostly small arms but also some armored vehicles. The notification lists at least 80 Humvees, 35 MaxxPro infantry carriers, sniper rifles, riot control gear, firearms, ammunition and surveillance drones.


The move would send weapons and equipment to the Haitian National Police as well as to nations supporting the multinational security mission to help quell the violence in Haiti: Kenya, Jamaica and the Bahamas among others, the memorandum of jurisdiction for the drawdown reads.

https://www.politico.com/news/2024/05/04/us-military-assistance-haiti-violence-00156150