Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland: "Your VA only wants you to believe the colorful propaganda produced by the Public Affairs Department."

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Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland provides regular columns for VA Watchdog dot Org.  If you would like to contact Jim about his columns, you can email him here...  The archive of Jim's articles is here...  To find an answer to a specific VA benefits question, use the VA Watchdog search engine... click here...  And, be sure to use Jim's:  A Military Veterans Guide To Disability Compensation and Pension Benefits -- A Compendium of Resources and Knowledge For The Disabled Veteran -- click here...   JIm's series for new vets, "Welcome Home," is also featured on Military.com. And, you can follow Jim on TWITTER here ...

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THE DISENCHANTED PATRIOT

by Jim Strickland

Jim;

Thank you for reading my e-mail. This is not an attempt to discredit or badmouth the VA. My goal is to ensure that this situation and the resulting mismanagement by the VA does not occur again.

The problem originated with my husband's VA Education benefits. When he returned from his deployment with the Army National Guard he was told he qualified for Chapter 1607. He applied for those benefits and received 1607 for 11 months. My husband then received a letter from the VA that said he was in fact not eligible because he was no longer drilling with the Guard and would have to pay all the money back. We took great issue with this as we were never told he had to be drilling to receive 1607. My husband hit brick wall after brick wall in his attempts to resolve this issue with the VA and even had one phone representative tell him, "You can't expect the VA to care for all returning veterans."

After the phone call the State Education Officer, SGT Della Gordon, told us that if he rejoined the Guard the problem would be fixed, it was not. We then went through a lengthy appeals process with the VA. The VA agreed that the debt was created through no fault of our own and applied the lower 1606 amount and waived the rest of the debt, which totaled about three thousand dollars. We were relieved but still unhappy as the waived debt came out of any future educational benefits he would receive. We were in the process of appealing that decision when my husband began receiving debt collection notices from the VA. We eventually determined that no one had informed the Debt Management Center of the waiver and they wanted the three thousand dollars.

Over the next four months we attempted to resolve this with VA but each time we called the phone number on the paperwork it either didn't work or if we were able to get through they could see the problem and couldn't fix it. My husband also talked to a number of different people on the GI Bill hotline that said they would fix it and they would call us back but they never did. Then we were reported to the Department of Treasury. The government took our tax refund and began taking five hundred dollars out of our bank account every month. Meanwhile we had a letter from the VA saying that we don't owe the money.

We were at a loss of what to do next. I am also a veteran and take great pride in my position as the Indiana Director of Student Veterans of America ( http://www.studentveterans.org/ ).

It was very difficult to transition from active duty to the college campus and my goal is to ease that transition for other service members. I turned to my fellow SVA members and was directed to Mr. Kevin Secor, Veterans Service Organizations Liaison with the Office of the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Mr. Secor graciously agreed to help my husband and I. He stopped the withdrawals from our bank account and was eventually able to ensure the return of our money. This process took two months, which brings the total amount of time spent on this terrible injustice to eighteen months.

I e-mailed Mr. Secor to thank him for his help and encourage both him and his office to thoroughly investigate how something so unjust could happen. I was however, brushed off. How many other service members have gone through this or are going through this right now. My husband and I were only able to resolve the situation through special connections. We were motivated to have this rectified and pursued every avenue that presented itself, even re-enlistment. We didn't give up, but how many others do?

I beg you to look into this. Thank you for your time.

Megan Lewis

Jim;

Thank you so much for taking an interest in my daughter and son-in-law's situation. My husband and I have encouraged Megan and Evan to aggressively pursue their rightful claim to educational benefits despite the many roadblocks of bureaucracy they encounter. What Megan did not mention is the personal sacrifices she and her husband have made in meeting their obligations to our country. Both joined the National Guard for the educational benefits that were available to them. Both came from middle class families with working parents. Because we worked, our children were never eligible for any government assistance with college expenses beyond minimal loans. Rather than ask their parents to liquidate their retirement accounts to pay their college expenses they chose to seek available funding through the National Guard.

A few months after Megan enlisted our country was devastated by the events of 9/11. Megan called me, terrified. I, too, was terrified by the implications of this event and how it would affect the commitment she had made. I cursed her father, my loving husband, for not agreeing to deplete our retirement accounts and meager savings to pay for her college. Megan and I talked and cried and knew she must do the honorable thing and follow through on the commitment she made. Prior to receiving orders to Iraq, Megan and Evan married. Their marriage delighted us and Evan's parents.

They were/are intelligent, caring and patriotic children - a testament, I hope, to her parents and his. The orders came. The tears came. They were deployed to Iraq. I cursed our government. If I had never married her father, never sought employment I could have raised Megan on welfare payments and she would have been eligible for Pell Grants to pay for her college education. She would not have to go to Iraq. She could pursue her academic interests. She would be safe. But, that's not what happened. They were deployed. They spent their first wedding anniversary in Iraq. They experienced the fear, the monstrous heat of the desert, the deprivations of war. They were in a building leveled by mortar fire. They did their duty. Megan was awarded a Commendation Medal. They came home safe. We all breathed a huge sigh of relief.

They applied for VA benefits, were approved and returned to school. Life is good! Then, they were informed, they were not eligible for the benefits for which they were approved. What should they do? They were told - reenlist and this will all go away. They did, but it did not. Megan told you the rest. They were deadbeats. Their tax check was seized. Their bank account was raided.

My name is Elizabeth Rhue Kuhns. I served in the United States Air Force from 1975 to 1979. I was honorably discharged and attended college on the GI Bill benefits. My husband of 31 years, Megan's father, is Charles Kuhns. He served in the United States Air Force from 1975 to 1982. He was also honorably discharged. I will not go in to Evan's father's service in Viet Nam because I do not have his permission but his service was far greater than ours. We have worked our whole lives and raised two daughters. We love our country but are dismayed by the way service and patriotism are rewarded. If what you write is, in fact, read by members of Congress I hope they would read this and understand that we are the people they are supposed to represent and support.

My impression is they care nothing for people like us - they are only interested in the personal benefits they can glean from the special interests who line their pockets.

Signed,

A Disenchanted Patriot

Reply;

I've struggled for a month to craft an intelligent response to these good people. I asked their permission to use their names and that was given. Their courage is thus noted.

I can't fix the bureaucratic SNAFU they encountered. They knew that when they contacted me. They took time to write to me so that they could have a voice; they didn't want their experience to go unnoticed by the powers that control our Department of Veterans Affairs.

I've gone back to reread their letters and I've contemplated the question of why I receive so much mail like this?

After much thought, I've arrived at an answer to my question: There is no respect from our government...the Department of Veterans Affairs...given to the veterans that the DVA is mandated to serve. In return, we vets hold only scorn for our VA.

The DVA believes that marketing, not quality of service, is enough. The message of their supposed intent is everywhere. On the headquarters building it's carved in stone, "To care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan".

The full text of that segment (the final paragraph) of President Lincoln's second inaugural address is even richer with intent.

“With malice toward none, with charity for all,
with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right,
let us strive on to finish the work we are in,
to bind up the nation’s wounds,
to care for him who shall have borne the battle
and for his widow, and his orphan,
to do all which may achieve and cherish
a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”

If you turn to the VA web site you can see slick marketing pieces titled as "The American Veteran"
http://www1.va.gov/opa/feature/amervet/index.asp  The VA is recorded there as telling us just how good things are for us at the VA and how hard the system works for us.

Watching their videos, we begin to wonder if those infomercials aren't published by the people who used to tell us that smoking tobacco is good for our health. The VA uses the same sort of tactic that is offered up on your TV in the very early mornings to promote cleaning products and extra absorbent towels.

The Department of Veterans Affairs believes that by telling the American people that VA is doing a great job, our citizens will buy into it and veterans who complain have something wrong with them.

Unfortunately, the plan seems to work well for the VA. Unless you're a veteran who is trying to break through the barriers, you can't appreciate how the system is failing.

Megan, Evan and their "Disenchanted Patriot" mom aren't at all unusual in their struggles with VA. These aren't statistical outliers on a chart. Their experience is the usual in dealing with the VA.

In my world it's routine to hear of the veteran who receives 100% disability benefits (after 3 or 4 years waiting) and who applies for CHAMPVA and C-35 DEA for the dependents only to be rejected because they aren't 100% disabled.

It's routine for veterans to be told their benefits are being reduced because they didn't return a VA Form 21-4140 when they never received one in the first place.

When we've applied for an earned and well deserved disability benefit we will wait one to two years for a decision. No matter the spin VA puts on it, the truth is that it will take that long to get a decision and then it is more likely than not going to be wrong.

We've learned that VA won't speak with us. The telephone numbers at the Regional Offices are so top secret that if a VA employee receives a call from outside the VA system, the first response the veteran will hear is, "How did you get my number?"

We're aware that the toll free number isn't an information center that can provide us with a reliable answer to a question. Call centers are tools designed to distract us. If we call the toll free number we're routed far away from anyone in authority to people who have no factual data about our claim. This relieves the Regional Office staff from having to speak to veterans to resolve problems.

Veterans know that to visit a VA Regional Office is an exercise in frustration. It begins in the parking lot where you may circle for an hour to find a place to leave your vehicle. You'll go through a screening system that makes airport security seem to be a warm and inviting experience.

You'll be greeted by an individual who considers you as an interruption on his or her day. Then you'll wait to see someone who has no real advice or information to help you.

The memo written by Amy Hill July 10th is a classic description of what a veteran encounters daily.
http://vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nfjul09/nf071509-4.htm

Ms. Hill, the manager of the Montgomery, AL VARO, tells her staff; "We are meeting less than half of the performance targets we met last Fiscal Year and unfortunately have determined that those were made on unstable practices."

She goes on to say, "We are NOT providing quality service to the veterans of this state and we are no longer able to present a case that we are" and also, "Another unfortunate discovery over the last few months is the lack of individual empowerment and ownership we are seeing in the work that is passing through each and every employees' hands."

Ms. Hill's memo states it very well. The work product at her Regional Office is very poor and nobody cares.

We understand Ms. Hill's frustration with her staff. We also know that she was courageous to speak the truth and to put it in writing. Undoubtedly her career with the VA is through and over. The VA doesn't tolerate this sort of public venting of the facts.

Your VA only wants you to believe the colorful propaganda produced by the Public Affairs Department.

Ms. Hill's memo could have come from any VARO. Every Regional Office is in the same boat as the Montgomery Veterans Service Center. The CHAMPVA center is broken, The DEA Chapter 35 staff have the same problems that the Regional Offices do.

Heaven help you should you become involved with the incompetence of the Financial Services Center or the Debt Management Center. Dante himself couldn't have dreamed up the sort of next level of Hell that exists for the lost souls who are condemned to deal with those institutions. The sign above their doors should read, "Abandon all hope ye who enter here..."

But why? Why has our government allowed the system to deteriorate to what it is today? Why is it that Congressman Filner and his House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs aren't taking aggressive action to correct the problems? What is Senator Daniel Akaka's Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs doing? Where is any action at all from our newest temporary Secretary of the DVA, General Shinseki? Why was Tammy Duckworth muzzled so quickly and effectively?

I've only come up with a single answer. There is no respect for the veteran. For all the flowery language that your government issues, there is no substance to support any of it.

The old guard bureaucrats are entrenched federal employees with a strong union to protect them. Those are good jobs with great benefits. Those VBA employees want to hold out for retirement and see no reason for change. The younger employees at your VA don't have any voice. They're apathetic at best and incompetent at worst and yet the system will continue to provide them with a great living.

There are too few veterans in politics and in the VA system. The veterans who are a part of the system seem to have forgotten the rest of us. There is no greater disrespect than that from a fellow veteran who believes in his superiority to you. They got theirs, it's up to you to get yours.

You won't find anyone who will tell you that your VA is doing the job it was built to do. There are no veterans who will offer up compliments about the quality of service, the courtesy and respect or how helpful anyone was as the veteran asked for help.

Most civilians who know veterans shake their heads in disbelief and mumble, "Something should be done."

Those folks are right, of course. Something should be done. There needs to be swift and sure action to fix this and it needs to happen right now.

You shouldn't count on any positive change though. History has a way of repeating itself when it concerns your VA. The Dole-Shalala Commission proposed "sweeping changes" to how your VA operates.The study was promptly swept under a White House rug.
http://www.vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/nfJUL07/nf072607-4.htm  Even the VFW came out (as they often do) in opposition to making positive change.
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfFEB08/nf020808-1.htm

In 2007, "(President) Bush announced that he had instructed Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Jim Nicholson 'to look at every one of these recommendations, to take them seriously, and to implement them.'" http://tinyurl.com/krnvwx

None of the recommendations was enacted.

The VA Office of the Inspector General (VA OIG) issues a report to the Congress that lists their recommendations made and the response via report by the receiving agency. For the period ending March 31, 2005 VA OIG notes that there are 345 recommendations to the VHA and 48 reports received. The VBA received 25 recommendations and responded only to 7.
(Semiannual Report to Congress, October 1, 2004 - March 31, 2005
 http://www.va.gov/oig/publications/efoia/default.asp)
Your VA has a rich history of doing whatever it wants to do and ignoring all practical solutions to better serve veterans. In recent news Larry Scott reports "VA CLAIMS PROCESSING KEEPS FALLING BEHIND"
 http://vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nfjul09/nf072809-4.htm

Representative Bob Filner, House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman has endorsed an idea put forth by Harvard professor Linda Bilmes to begin approving all VA claims, then audit many of those to determine accuracy.
http://www.vawatchdog.org/09/nf09/nfjul09/nf071609-1.htm  This is just what the IRS does and has been doing successfully for decades and it works well there.

Don't get your hopes up. Sensible ideas that would require a politician to risk taking a stand for veterans aren't in vogue in Washington. Taking a risk is an action best reserved for soldiers, not politicians. Courage in combat isn't a trait politicians possess.

The House and the Senate Veterans Affairs Committees aren't about action, they're about interminable meetings to rehash the same issues over and over, ad nauseum. To act boldly on behalf of the veterans they should serve may damage a political career and that sort of collateral effect simply isn't worth it.

I invite you to join the ranks of the hundreds of thousands of us...we, the Disenchanted Patriots of America. If you have ever interacted with your DVA you're already a charter member.

If you're new here, welcome aboard. Get in line, find yourself a berth and prepare for a long and choppy ride. It's a perfect storm at your VA and the forecast says it isn't going to get better anytime soon.

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TOPICS: veterans, veterans' benefits, VA, Department of Veterans' Affairs, Jim Strickland, Veterans' Advocate,