The National Training Center at Fort Irwin in California poses a number of challenges for Army Reserve units that go beyond the rugged terrain, says Reserve civil affairs noncommissioned Sgt. 1st Class Charlie Colato. Activities at the center force the Reservists to adapt to and prepare for new contingencies.

Military leaders faced questions from the military personnel subcommittee of the House Armed Services Committee about recruitment and retention, remaining optimistic while acknowledging the work ahead. "We have challenges that remain and we still have a great deal of work to get to where we need to be if we are going to be truly competitive, but we're on a good path," said Navy personnel chief Vice Adm. Robert Burke.

The House voted 410-0 to send a bill to the Senate that would extend VA benefits to "blue water" Navy veterans, who served aboard ships during the Vietnam War but have not been able to get benefits for health conditions related to Agent Orange exposure. House Veterans' Affairs Committee Chairman Mark Takano, D-Calif., and ranking member Phil Roe, R-Tenn., asked Senate leaders to vote on the bill before Memorial Day.

Officials are investigating last week's crash of an Air National Guard F-16 fighter jet into a warehouse in Riverside, Calif., not far from March Air Reserve Base. No one was seriously injured and the pilot, who reported hydraulic problems, ejected from the jet, said Timothy Holliday, deputy fire chief at March.

Troops with the Texas-based Army Reserve 4th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) Operation Sustainment Team took part in the large Vibrant and Guardian Response 19 exercise that simulated simultaneous nuclear bomb detonations on two cities. "Our job is to synchronize reception and set the theater for all sustainment," said Army Reserve Master Sgt. Roy Pond, the team's operations noncommissioned officer.

Last week's Army Expeditionary Deployment Readiness Exercise at Georgia's Fort Stewart got C-17 Globemaster III support from the 315th Airlift Wing based at Joint Base Charleston, S.C. It was the first time a C-17 Globemaster III provided support for that exercise.

Troops and civilians took part in the 85th Army Reserve Support Command's "Stand for Life" suicide prevention training in Arlington Heights, Ill., which was filmed to give participants a video memento. "As people come off of that 'mountaintop experience' and life hits them and cynicism hits them and apathy hits them, we want to encourage them so that they remember why they came to this course," said Jason Rogers, suicide prevention manager of the 104th Training Division.

Long- and short-term memory improvements have been seen as a result of a brain-training program that's free to active-duty troops and their families, according to findings presented at the Traumatic Brain Injury Conference in Washington. The program, called BrainHQ, was created by Posit Science.