WASHINGTON, DC—In March 2008, when federal officials were quoting a wide range of numbers when citing the cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a book was published that calculated an estimated total price tag that included the cost of OEF/OIF veterans’ healthcare and disability expenses over their lifetime. The book, The Three Trillion Dollar War: The True Cost of the Iraq Conflict, put the total estimated cost at between $3 trillion and $5 trillion—a figure that Congressional reports later agreed with.

The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place. —George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950)
I recently returned to work from a week of fly fishing for bass (Yes, I tie my own flies.) and water sports with my family in Maine.

WASHINGTON, DC—Preventing servicemembers from bleeding to death on the battlefield is a top priority for military researchers, according to Col Dallas Hack, director of the Combat Casualty Care Research Program at the US Army Medical and Materiel Command at Fort Detrick.

WASHINGTON, DC—Civilian and military experts gathered to discuss the use of virtual world technology to address psychological health for servicemembers, veterans, and their families at a conference held by the National Center for Telehealth & Technology (T2) in August.

WASHINGTON, DC—The 40-year decline in tobacco use in the US has stalled, according to CDC. A new CDC report states that the number of adult smokers dropped between 2000 and 2005, but smoking has remained at about 20% to 21% since 2005.

WASHINGTON, DC—Continued increases—as much as 15%—were made in nationwide coverage for vaccines specifically recommended for pre-teens, according to CDC estimates released in August.

WASHINGTON, DC—Seventy-five percent of babies born in the United States in 2007 started life breastfeeding, meeting the nation’s Healthy People 2010 goal, according to CDC.