Military Affairs Dept history

In 1821, Mexico won its independence from Spain.

With the signing of the Gadsden Purchase in 1853, Arizona acquired the land from the Gila River to its present boundary with Mexico.

With the Civil War still going on and Carleton still fighting the Navajos, the United States War Department therefore authorized Governor John Noble Goodwin of Arizona to raise five companies of Arizona Volunteers in 1864.

Recruitment was delayed for a year, but by the fall of 1865, more than 350 men had been issued into service under the command of nine officers.

The VA’s National Cemetery Administration also began after the Civil War, and it had buried over 300,000 Union soldiers in 73 national cemeteries by 1870.

The Apache problem was finally quelled with the surrender of Geronimo in 1886 at Fort Bowie.

When the Spanish-American War began in 1898, Arizona provided two troops of 250 men to go to San Antonio, Texas.

The United States government had to change and improve the benefits and services they offered Veterans in and after 1917, when the United States entered World War I. The first World War was the first war that used machinery instead of close combat to decimate the enemy.

The 158th Infantry was honored to act as guard of honor to President Wilson during his residence in France in 1918, and the 158th Infantry Band was chosen as Wilson’s honor band.

The regiment was mustered out of federal service on May 3, 1919.

Room 340 has been the home of veterans’ hearings since 1920.

Between the two World Wars, President Hoover consolidated the Veterans Bureau with the National Homes and Pension Bureau to create the Veterans Administration in 1930.

1933 The Board of Veterans Appeals was established.

On 16 September 1940, with the declaration of the National Emergency, the 158th Infantry joined its parent organization, the 45th Division at Ft.

After December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the 158th Infantry Regiment was removed from the 45th Division and became a separate Regiment.

In January 1942, the Regiment embarked at the Port of New Orleans and disembarked in the Canal Zone.

After the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, the Committee became formally known as the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs.

Shinseki was inspired by his uncles’ service, and he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, where he earned a B.A. in engineering and a second lieutenant’s commission in 1965.

The Arizona National Guard retained the 158th Infantry until the unit converted into Military Police and Transportation Corps units effective December 7, 1967.

He spent almost a year recovering from his wounds, but he returned to active duty in 1971.

Shinseki earned an M.A. in English from Duke University (1976) before taking a position as an instructor at West Point.

When was the Department of Veterans Affairs created? President Ronald Reagan signed legislation in 1988 that created the Department of Veterans Affairs, allowing the federal government to expand the VA’s services and benefits and reach more armed forces Veterans than ever before.

VA was established as the Department of Veterans Affairs on March 15, 1989, succeeding the Veterans Administration and assuming responsibility for providing federal benefits to veterans and their dependents.

He continued to advance along the officer career track, with extended postings at the Pentagon and with the 3rd Infantry Division in West Germany, and in 1991 he was promoted to brigadier general.

He received his first division command when he was named commanding general of the 1st Cavalry Division in 1994, and he earned his second star later that year.

Shinseki added a third star in 1996, and he was named commander in chief of United States Army forces in Europe the following year.

Bill Clinton nominated him to the post of army chief of staff in April 1999.

In 2008 Obama nominated Shinseki to serve as secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the second largest agency in the federal government.

On March 26, 2012, the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs Chairman Jeff Miller unveiled the empty chair draped with the official POW/MIA flag to honor America’s Prisoners of War and those Missing in Action.