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Navy secretary asks for funding to embed mental health professionals in units
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Thomas W. Harker, acting secretary of the Navy, speaks to U.S. Marines at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California on April 22, 2021. (Lance Cpl. Isaac Velasco/U.S. Marine Corps)
WASHINGTON The Navy has submitted a reprogramming request to the Defense Department that would allow the service to reallocate some of its current budget to spend on mental health services, acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker told reporters Wednesday.
The move would fund more embedded mental health practitioners “at the pointy end of the stick with the sailors and Marines, being able to give them services at the units where they are,” Harker said. “This is an area that we strongly believe in because it helps get people access to treatment at an early level, access to informal treatment.”
Austin mulls mandating coronavirus vaccine for troops once fully approved by FDA
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Tech. Sgt. Alexisa Humphre of the 8th Medical Group prepares to inject a dose of the Moderna coronavirus vaccine at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, Dec. 29, 2020. (Jordan Garner/U.S. Air Force)
WASHINGTON Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is considering whether to mandate the coronavirus vaccine for service members after the shot receives full Food and Drug Administration approval, acting Navy Secretary Thomas Harker told the House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday.
Austin’s office is “coming up with guidance” on requiring the vaccine for troops, Harker said during a hearing on the Navy’s 2022 budget proposal.
Spc. Joshua S. Robinson, a 22-year-old from Baton Rouge, La., died Thursday at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, as the result of an undisclosed noncombat-related incident that is under investigation, the Pentagon said in a statement.
Maj. Gen. Robert Castellvi will not return to his position after Marine Commandant Gen. David Berger suspended him May 3 amid an investigation into the formation of the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit, which now oversees the AAV platoon that suffered the accident, the service said in a statement.