Investigators still face months of work before the start of the court martial for Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the psychiatrist accused of gunning down more than 40 fellow soldiers at Fort Hood earlier this month. But on Friday a panel of military legal experts said that's just the start of a lengthy process for his team of attorney's and the Fort Hood community.

Members of the National Institute of Military Justice said despite the complexity of the case -- multiple victims, widespread media coverage, and a defendant still facing serious injuries -- they still expect military officials to complete Hasan's court martial by the end of 2010. 

However, if sentenced to death Hasan's execution would not be nearly as speedy. Attorney Brian Baldrate said the average wait on the military's "death row" is eight years, and a case like Hasan's could take much longer. 

UPDATED at 11:50 p.m. Friday, 6:20 p.m. Saturday.

Season openers in high school hoops: Friday, Boys, Kinnick 54, Perry 38 at Iwakuni. Edgren 51, Yokota 47 at Misawa. E.J. King 59, Zama 56 at Zama. Kadena 92, Koza 58 on Okinawa. Girls, Zama 30, E.J. King 14. Edgren 52, Yokota 34 at Misawa. Kinnick 81, Perry 18. Itoman 51, Kadena 27.

Saturday, Boys, Kadena 76, Kitanakagusuku 55, Kubasaki 93, Chatan 71 on Okinawa; St. Mary's International 50, E.J. King 45, Robert D. Edgren 46, Yokota 36, Nile C. Kinnick 73, Matthew C. Perry 50 in Japan. Girls, Kitanakagusuku 56, Kadena 29 on Okinawa; Kinnick 52, Perry 9, Edgren 56, Yokota 35 and Seisen International 38, E.J. King 15 in Japan.

If you’ve applied for the Army’s retroactive stop-loss compensation program, you’ve probably received an e-mail saying your claim has hit a snag.

Maj. Roy Whitley estimates that the Army has told about 80 percent of applicants that it disagrees with them on how long they were held beyond the scheduled end of their service since 2001.

“Don’t misconstrue that as a broken claim; don’t default to ‘This is really bad news:’ It’s kind of anticipated,” said Whitley, project manager for the compensation program.

The claims have not been rejected; Instead, they have been assigned a case manager, Whitley explained on Thursday. Applicants are not required to submit more documentation.

Ft Hood is the topic of the day on Capitol Hill and across the Potomac at the Pentagon as the federal government begins fallout investigations of the massacre, hoping to answer a simple question:  How did this happen?

On the Hill, Sen. Jospeh Lieberman I.-Conn., chairs the first hearing on the issue, pushing ahead of a White House request to let them handle the investigation. 

At the Pentagon, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen will make their first appearance in the press briefing room since September 3.  The Associate Press has reported Gates will announce the details of the Defense Department review. 

Reporters also expect Gates to give his first extended remarks and face open questioning from the press corps about the tragedy and the investigation. 

Fiscal 2010 started 49 days ago, but Congress still hasn't approved a new budget for the Department of Veterans Affairs (and several other federal agencies).

But veterans groups breathed a sigh of relief last night when the Senate unanimously passed its version of the budget bill and sent the matter to a conference committee, the first positive steps in the process in weeks. The House passed its version in the summer.

The issue now goes before a conference committee, and lawmakers are hopeful they can reach a compromise by the end of this calendar year.

The proposal contains a 9 percent increase in veterans health care funds and the first advance appropriation for the VA -- a $48.2 billion down payment for the department in 2011, so veterans program coordinators won't have to worry as much about lengthy budget delays next year.

The Kaiserslautern Officials Association might be running the refereeing show this year in DODDS-Europe, but don't get the idea you have to be in the K-town area to work the high school mats this winter.
"We need refs more in places like Hohenfels, Ansbach, Vilseck, Brussels, SHAPE, AFNORTH and England," KOA's Al Shaff said Wednesday.

In other words, not just the K-town area. You just have to join the organization, not relocate, if you want to referee high school matches this winter.

Anyone interested, wherever he or she resides, is invited to Saturday's 8:30 a.m. registration and clinic in Bldg 404 at Ramstein Air Base. That's next to the Northside Shoppette.

Call Shaff at German civ. 06371-946084 or E-mail him at al.shaff@yahoo.com for more info.

We need to hear from you.

The Army is holding a bloggers roundtable on Thursday on compensation for soldiers who were held under stop-loss between September 2001 and September 2008 in an effort to get the word out about the payouts.

But so far, several readers have posted on my recent blog that they have questions about how long it will take for their claims to be processed, and they have complained that they are having a hard time reaching someone from the Army about their claims.

 Golf wasn’t the only inter-service sports endeavor the Air Force dominated last week, Armed Forces sports chief Ken Polk reported on Tuesday.