New G.I. Bill Aims to Provide Expanded Educational Benefits to Troops
A new G.I. bill signed into law Monday doubles funding for education benefits available to military personnel who have served since Sept. 11, 2001, and allows transfer of benefits to a spouse or children. Analysts discuss the law and its meaning for veterans.
The Judge presiding over the class action lawsuit against VA, alleging systemic failures in health care and disability claims processing, has ordered a hearing on the e-mail issued by a VA psychologist. The psychologist suggests that counselors diagnose “adjustment disorder” in lieu of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder since it could impact the veterans disability compensation.
Judge to consider VA e-mail about PTSD diagnoses
The hearing ordered by U.S. District Judge Samuel Conti follows a two-week trial that ended last month. Veterans groups had sued the VA, saying it inadequately addressed a “rising tide” of mental health problems, especially post-traumatic stress disorder and suicides.
The plaintiffs asked Conti to reopen the case in light of the e-mail discovered after the trial ended.
The judge agreed, saying “the e-mail raises potentially serious questions that may warrant further attention.” He ordered lawyers for both sides to appear in court Tuesday to discuss whether the e-mail has any bearing on the case.
Lawyers for the veterans groups argue that Perez’s e-mail goes to the heart of their case, showing the VA’s indifference to treating mental health.
“This is not Joe the janitor writing this,” vets’ lawyer Arturo Gonzalez said. “This is a supervisor, and it shows how the VA thinks.”Gonzalez wants the judge to add the e-mail to the evidence given to him at the non-jury trial in support of the lawsuit.
Read the letter written by Gordon Erspamer to Judge Conti on the ptsd email [pdf link] here
Army suicides reported up again at 115 in 2007
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Army suicides increased again last year, amid the most violent year yet in both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. An Army official said Thursday that 115 troops committed suicide in 2007, a nearly 13 percent increase over the previous year’s 102. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because a full report on the deaths wasn’t being released until later Thursday.
About a quarter of the deaths occurred in Iraq.
The 115 confirmed deaths among active duty soldiers and National Guard and Reserve troops that had been activated was a lower number than previously feared. Preliminary figures released in January showed as many as 121 troops might have killed themselves, but a number of the deaths were still being investigated then and have since been attributed to other causes, the officials said. There’s more…
Air Force Times: GAO faults training for VA claims processors
Although the Veterans Affairs Department has added thousands of staff to help process disability claims, a new study finds those new employees face no consequences if they don’t attend mandatory training.
And because the caseload is so heavy, instructors aren’t always available to provide on-the-job training for new employees.
The Veterans Benefits Administration “is taking steps to strategically plan its training, but does not adequately evaluate its training and may be falling short in some areas of training design and implementation,” the Government Accountability Office said in a report released Tuesday.
Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, asked GAO to find out what training is provided and whether it is uniform; how well it is implemented and evaluated; and how it compares with performance management practices in the private sector. There’s more…
Veterans group VoteVets.org has launched television ads asking fellow veteran, Senator John McCain, to support a New GI Bill for the brave men and women who have honorably served this country since 9/11.
McCain targeted for opposing vets college aid bill
McCain, the all-but-nominated Republican presidential candidate, opposes a Democratic-backed bill that would significantly expand the breadth of education benefits for veterans, first adopted for those returning from World War II. Democrats want the proposal included in a war spending bill the Senate is scheduled to vote on this week…
And on Tuesday, a veterans’ group that has been critical of the war in Iraq is launching an ad in Washington to pressure McCain to change his mind.
The legislation, sponsored by Democratic Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia and Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, also veterans of Vietnam, would guarantee full tuition payments to veterans at any public school in their home state. Its expected cost is $52 billion over 10 years.
McCain says the legislation is too expensive and has proposed his own version, which would increase the monthly benefit available to most veterans to $1,500 from $1,100. It would not offer the equivalent of a full scholarship.
The ad by VoteVets.org Action Fund, features Iraq and Afghanistan veterans noting that both McCain and President Bush oppose the bill.
“McCain thinks covering a fraction of our education is enough,” one veteran says. Another one, pictured recovering from head wounds, adds in a voiceover: “We didn’t give a fraction in Iraq. We gave 100 percent.”
“Senator McCain” an announcer concludes, “we respect your service. Please respect ours.”
Stigma has always been one of the most significant barriers to seeking mental heath care. A new study by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) found that 61% of service members felt that seeking mental health care would negatively impact their career. However, DOD recently made clear that “Mental health counseling in and of itself is not a reason to revoke or deny a clearance.”
Gates acknowledges mistakes in treatment of troops
Question 21, which Gates called “infamous,” asks applicants whether they have consulted a mental health professional in the past seven years. If the answer is “Yes,” they must list details.
“It now is clear to people who answer that question that they can answer ‘No’ if they have sought help to deal with their combat stress in general terms,” Gates told a news conference.
The form, known as the Questionnaire for National Security Positions, is used throughout the U.S. government, but the change initially affects only troops and the Pentagon’s civilian workforce.
New Policy Urges Soldiers to Seek Mental Health Care
The NewsHour had an excellent segment on the new policy as well as a round table discussion with Colonel Loree Sutton, the director of the Department of Defense’s Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury; Terri Tanielian, a researcher at the Rand Center, who co-directed the recent study on mental health care needs for veterans; and Jason Forrester, director of policy for the advocacy group Veterans for America.
Below is the DOD News Release and the Revised “question 21″
Former Senator John Edwards’ letter to the editor of The New York Times on the plight of veterans and the often misleading casualties numbers reported by the media.
Broken Soldiers, and a Broken System
In “For Wounded Veterans and Their Families, a Journey Without Maps” (Editorial Observer, March 24), Lawrence Downes missed an important opportunity to explain why both the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs are unprepared to care for the service members who have been hurt in the Iraq war.
The reason is that the frequently reported number of the wounded in action (29,320 as of March 1) does not include everyone who’s been hurt.
The complete number of nonfatal casualties in Iraq is 60,645. Most assume the wounded number includes all, but it does not. It leaves out another 8,273 injured and 23,052 who became ill and required medical air transport from the war zone. The Department of Defense releases two reports: one with the weekly numbers of those wounded and killed, and then another monthly report with the complete numbers. After five years, it is time for respected news organizations to use the complete number.
The public needs this information so that we can better prepare for the care of all of our veterans from this war and others. The struggle for them and their families your article addressed is happening all across this country. Nearly 300,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans have already sought care from the V.A.
The system is broken. That is why so many veterans are still fighting for the care they earned. That is why their families struggle with paperwork and months of delay. And that is why 154,000 veterans sleep on grates or under bridges every night.
We have tens of thousands set to come home, and we aren’t prepared. Every day we should honor the more than 4,000 lives lost: every suicide, bullet or serious accident.
And every day we should honor those who have been hurt. That number is 60,645 and rising.
John Edwards
Chapel Hill, N.C., March 31, 2008The writer is the former presidential candidate and former senator from North Carolina.
A recent study for the VA found that 18% of veterans, recently separated from service, are unemployed and of those employed 25% earn less that $21,840 a year. This article from the San Francisco Chronicle highlights the difficulty veterans encounter trying to find a job.
Support the troops? Then hire a veteran.
Ken Crawford, who tries to place veterans with jobs for the San Francisco veterans group Swords to Ploughshares [sic], told me it is “very rare” that he places a vet in a job that pays health benefits, much less offers a 401(k) plan. Men and women whom this country recently trusted to command others and represent America abroad now are flipping burgers and delivering pizza.
“A veteran should not go from saying, ‘Sir, yes, sir,’ to, ‘Do you want fries with that?’ or ‘Would you like to supersize that order?’ ” Crawford added.
PTSD has turned into a two-edged sword. Advocates’ focus on the trauma has delivered funds and programs to help shell-shocked vets. Yet the price is that this focus has undermined the image of men and women who served their country and are perfectly capable of holding down a good job - but they have to be hired first.
Crawford suspects that corporate HR types note the veterans’ box checked off on an online application and see damaged goods. Service in the military is seen as a negative, not a plus. Businesses also are afraid that a newly returned vet might be called back into service.
Walter Williams, Iraq and Afghanistan Veteran and case manager at Swords to Plowshares, remarked
“The civilian world, to me, is a lot colder than the military world.”
The loss of critical medical and personal documents in support of a veterans disability claim by the VA is an inexcusable occurrence. Unfortunately, incidents like this are more widespread than the general public is aware of and far more common than the VA cares to admit.
Missing files stretch VA appeals process
Chauncey Robinson spent six months in the Army — and has spent the past 16 years in a battle for veterans’ disability benefits.
It hardly helps the Albany, N.Y., native that the Veterans Affairs Department has lost all his personnel and medical files.
“I don’t even know where my VA files are today,” Robinson said. “In New York, they say the files are in Washington, D.C. In D.C., they say the files are in New York. I don’t think the VA knows where they are, which means I may have to reconstruct my claim all over again.”
“This could be over if the VA didn’t keep losing my records,” Robinson said. “It has happened so often that it is hard for me to believe it isn’t being done intentionally.”
Bay Area Iraq War Vets Face Possible Blindness
This story not only highlights the fact that it is common for service members to be exposed to multiple IED blasts throughout their service but also the fact that injuries are sustained even if a person appears to be unharmed.
“We were in several IED (improvised explosive device) blasts throughout the tour,” Kvasnak said.
But Kvasnak remember the one that left him with the injuries no one saw coming.
“It was just massive concussive force and it thrust you forward, or whatever. I just felt really dazed afterwards and ringing in the ears and I couldn’t really see straight,” Kvasnak said.
Kvasnak hasn’t been able to see straight since that blast. He sees double, has sensitivity to light and the headaches he gets from trying to read or watch TV are so bad that he sometimes passes out.
“In this war, blast injuries have become the signature injuries. These can cause damage to the eye. They can also cause damage to the visual system and the visual processing centers in the brain,” VA research psychologist Gregory Goodrich said.
Many soldiers don’t even realize something’s wrong with them. They’re returning home with only half their visual field, not knowing that they’re missing their entire left field of perception.
Without treatment, blast injuries like Kvasnak’s can lead to long-term problems, even blindness
