TREA: The Enlisted Association Blog

TREA Members, We hope you had a wonderful weekend in honor of our nation's heroes. In observance of Veterans Day 2022, we are proud to share with you that TREA's National President Deb Oelschig, 1st Vice President Walt Coley, and members of our Executive Staff attended events at The White House, Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, and on Capitol Hill last week. TREA was especially honored to lay a wreath at the Tomb of... Read More

TREA Members, On October 1, 2022, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs expanded and extended eligibility for VA health care for certain Veterans of the Gulf Wars and post-9/11 era. This expansion has increased health care eligibility for hundreds of thousands of toxic-exposed Veterans. Additionally, VA has already expanded health care eligibility for certain Veterans of the Vietnam War. Beginning on October 1, Post-9/11 Veterans who did not previously enroll in VA health care will... Read More

TREA Members, Throughout our history, Servicemembers have suffered exposures to dangerous toxic substances while performing their duties both in combat and in peacetime. ? Most recently, a generation of veterans who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and surrounding areas experienced recurring and prolonged exposure to toxic fumes from burn pits and other environmental hazards. As a result, many of them have developed respiratory conditions, cancers, and other serious illnesses, and many have already died. Sadly, far... Read More

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 23, 2022 Contact: legislativeinfo@trea.org ? Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Leaders Push to Deliver Annual Cost-of-Living Increase for Veterans WASHINGTON : Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Ranking Member Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) have introduced the Veterans Compensation Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Act of 2022 to increase the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and military survivors under the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). “When it comes to... Read More

TREA Members, As a result of our advocacy and your continued support, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is adding nine rare respiratory cancers to the list of presumed service-connected disabilities due to military environmental exposures to fine particulate matter. The following list of rare respiratory cancers will be added to VA s regulations through an Interim Final Rule published in the Federal Register on April 26, 2022: Squamous cell carcinoma of the larynx. Squamous... Read More

Good news! TREA was recently quoted in another release in support of the the "Veteran Service Equity Act" which would expand the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program to individuals who work at organizations like TREA. Here is a link to the release, which will be shared on social media: ? https://mikelevin.house.gov/media/press-releases/reps-mike-levin-and-katie-porter-introduce-legislation-to-expand-public-service-loan-forgiveness-to-vso-employees... Read More

Photo credit: U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs TREA Members, As we continue into the final year of the 117th Congress, we wanted to share with you some of our recent legislative accomplishments on behalf of all enlisted servicemembers, veterans, caregivers, and their families. In order to achieve these results, TREA has maintained strong relationships at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense, The White House, and on Capitol Hill to ensure your... Read More