Veterans' Advocate Jim Strickland answers questions from VA Watchdog dot Org readers.

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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 to Z GUIDE OF VETERANS DISABILITY COMPENSATION BENEFITS" 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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by Jim Strickland

NOTE:  Letters in my Q&A columns are reprinted just as they come to me. Spelling and grammar are left as is and only small corrections are made to improve readability, ensure anonymity or delete expletives that may offend some readers. This is not legal advice. You should always seek the advice of an attorney who is qualified in Veterans' law before you make any decisions about your own benefits.

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Jim;

From my experience the training of VSO's is pretty poor and the attitude is "you need years to learn this stuff". I've had 3 one week classes put on by the American Legion to date [in 2 1/2 years] I was lucky to have a conscientious boss. The instructors tried hard to cover a lot of issues and had some people come in from the VA to explain what they do and how their units works/thinks. Add to this a couple of casual training seminars [ one day] with the state VSO"s and thats it.

This training for me looks like it's over as the county leaders have just taken away our training budget.

I have frequently met 5 or 10 year VSO's who have never attended a formal school and know very little and this astonishes me. It seems every couple of months the VA sends out to select people the WORD for the day and this is then distributed thru the VSO web sites as critical information to be followed by rote. In 2008 the WORD was frivolous claims we were threatened with losing our VA accreditation [ this word was not directly from the VA but through the training leadership].

Another thing that tends to color a VSO's thoughts are the DTA's and other communications the VA sends out in response to submitted claims. If one believes the letters and does not know or understand the CFR's then a whole lot of very conflicting and damaging decisions are going to be made by VSO's. As you have pointed out language and thinking skills are apparently not a requirement to become a VA notice typist.

As I've said before you have taught me as much as all the formal training I have be lucky enough to get.

Reply;

It's a very sad situation. If you look from state to state, a barber, a hairdresser or a manicurist has to have a certain degree of education set as the standard to get a license. Every state requires that those people have a valid license.

The requirements from state to state vary a little but not much. To operate without a license will possibly subject these folks to fines and a loss of any future business opportunities.

If you decide to visit your VSO tomorrow but first you want to go get a trim, you'll be assured that the person who cuts your hair is at least minimally trained and has a state department of some sort who watches over the process to ensure your safety.

After your haircut you can head over to the VSO. On your way you'll see a lot of others out and about in their cars...all licensed drivers who have passed a test of a standard that is very similar from state to state.

You may see a police officer. He or she will be licensed in accordance with state laws and a lot of federal standards. If you stop for a snack the provider of your food will have some sort of interaction with a health department that will hopefully help to ensure that employees are trained in a standard to keep your food from killing you.

When you finally meet your VSO you'll find that he or she may or may not have any skills applicable to the task of setting up paperwork that will impact the rest of your life. Doing the paperwork correctly will have an effect that will either allow you and your family to have access to a set of benefits you earned with your dedicated military service or you'll be subjected to years and years of endless denials and appeals as your convoluted file grows larger and more unmanageable.

There are good, smart, dedicated VSO's. You're one of them. I correspond with many VSO's and call them "friend". This in spite of my reputation as a guy who really doesn't like VSOs.

I'll set the record straight again...not that I believe it'll do any good but, here goes.

I do not approve of the VSO system as it exists today. I do believe that a well run system of VSOs who have a national standard of practice with a national standard of training and skills would be a benefit to veterans.

I do not object to the individuals who are trying to help others. I do object to the leadership of the organizations who allow and even encourage the current free-for-all that is the VSO system today.

It is my opinion that the Big Three (DAV, VFW, AL) use their VSO program as a hook to attract new members. It is my opinion that DAV id the worst offender. The VSO program of DAV is a blatant marketing ploy designed to bring veterans to the door and entice them with subtle promises of professional help with their benefits IF they purchase a Life Membership.

I fell for that myself. My DAV contact suggested that my claim may be acted upon more kindly if I were a part of the DAV. Then he went into the spiel of how a Life Membership would signify my commitment and so on. It was a prepackaged piece of sales not unlike how one may be pressured into buying a time share condo on the beaches of Florida.

I bought it, got my cute little card and my cute little pin and I called my VSO and he wasn't there. he had quit and someone else took his place. That person had no clue who I was and could have cared less. Then that one was gone to be replaced by another.

I had a Life Membership, my wallet was lighter and my service markedly deteriorated.

I eventually wised up and took the handlebars and throttle of my own claim, dumped any contact with DAV and I won.

When I won I got a form letter from DAV that congratulated themselves for a job well done.

These groups need to get out of the business of representing veterans. The state and county is the best representation available today although that often is a failure too. In most states they are forced (by politics) to work through the Big Three so your county VSO can only do so much before it's sent to one of the others.

I'd give up the licensing of barbers and hair stylists if I knew that energy could be redirected to strengthening the national VSO effort.

OK, it's easy for me to say that...I haven't had a haircut in years...but, you get the idea.

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Jim;

I read with immense interest your most recent Q&A. Before I join you in your opinion of the DAV, let me say I am a paid up for life member of the DAV, American Legion, and the VFW. These three organizations perform important work in communities but I've learned over the years as an advocate that they have to some extend been co-opted by the VA.

My brother, currently a totally permanently disabled veteran, was drawn to a DAV outreach van one day many years ago and was advised, like you, that he should join the DAV so they could file a claim for increase for him. He joined, they filed, and at 19 years and 6 months at his rate then, he was reduced. Imagine that. Just 6 months away from 20 year rate protection the DAV files for an increase. This is one of those instances where concentrating on the earliest effective date for an increase might not have been the best approach.

I practice veterans disability law as an accredited claims agent at the administrative level and so far, every claimant that has come to me has been represented by one of the three VSOs named above. The greatest number I have represented had been represented by the DAV. In every instance to date, I was able to correct a reduction, appeal an award, get a denied increase approved, and in many cases help the veteran obtain a TDIU rating. This is a telling fact to me about the quality of their work.

I do feel that the VSOs are very good at getting the lower ratings and the clear scheduler total ratings. They can also get the TDIU ratings that are glaringly evident. However, they do not seem able to recognize that far too many TDIU claims are denied incorrectly or they don't understand the law or regulations. This is very sad.

Like you, I welcomed lawyers in VA disability law. I am especially pleased that they are now involved in the administrative side. It's been long overdue. I was terribly disappointed by the DAV's stance on this, and all the VSOs stance on creating the Court in 1988. To me, the resistance was not about protecting veterans but about saving jobs for the organizations and keeping a recruitment tool that was, in some instances, being abused.

Shortly after passage in 2006 of veterans choice legislation, the DAV was looking for a DAV-friendly representative to attach repeal language to a legislative vehicle to get lawyers out of the administrative arena. They may still be looking although it would seem fruitless to do so now.

The organizations would have been better served if they took advantage of this change, as successful businesses and organizations often do during periods of great change, and step up their training efforts, compete at the administrative level with attorneys for claims AFTER stepping up training, and then market their services as free. There is so much work to be done that the competition would be great for veterans in terms of representation. However, without much better training, without a commitment to getting the highest rating the veteran is entitled to under law rather than just getting a rating, and increasing their commitment to client service they will simply not be able to compete.

They need to get back in touch with the veteran and think about severing their ties with the VA ,if for no other reason than the perception it gives to today's veteran. If they don't get into the mix and compete, the organizations could find themselves slowly becoming irrelevant. In my opinion this would be sad even if necessary.

Reply;

Thanks for your thoughtful note.

I'm afraid that the Big Three don't get it. They're sure that the 1950's will come back and we'll have more and more veterans who are interested in silly hats and ladies auxiliaries and small town politics at a little local club house. The world has changed but they haven't changed with it.

I met with a young (40) veteran and his wife yesterday. He spent 8 years in airborne and special forces and he's broken physically and spiritually. He approached DAV and they made it clear he should join and they would help him. He walked away from them to the Georgia State DVA. They filed a VA Form 21-526 for him with a laundry list of ailments but have had nothing more for him. He lives too far away to visit them, (gas has become sort of expensive) and as he can't work, trips to town aren't possible. He's being forced into bankruptcy.

In a matter of a short time, he's gone from being one of America's heroes to being indigent and depending on his wife to put bread on the table. It hurts him almost as much as his knees and back from those many jumps he made.

The last thing he's interested in is joining a club. He wants a job but who would hire him? His skill is jumping from airplanes and helicopters, blowing stuff up and killing people.

If these organizations want to support the veterans of today, they'll begin to operate more like the Salvation Army and less like an exclusive country club.

Keep up your good work.

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Jim;

I've got a veteran that has come to me with an MRI of the brain dated May 26, 2000, showing Ischemic disease. Would he fall under the new ruling? Yes, he is a Nam vet. As you know I help vets file claims but, I am at a lose on this one since nothing is written in stone yet. Not sure if it has to say of the heart. So, this is the main reason I am asking in hopes that you might know since you have worked in the medical field in the past.

Reply;

That veteran isn't part of the new ruling, no.

However, that does not prevent you from filing a claim for him.

If he has "ischemic" vascular disease of the brain, you can figure he probably has it throughout his body. It just hasn't been diagnosed yet.

I would file and I'd tell them that I'm filing for "Ischemic heart and total body vascular disease, particularly of the brain".

I would question the veteran, "Do you ever have chest pain? Do you have diabetes? Do you have an irregular heartbeat? Are you short of breath? Do your feet and ankles swell?"

You get the idea. This will force VA into giving him a C & P to rule out heart disease. In other words, if you claim that it is very likely he has ischemic heart disease because of certain symptoms, then they must prove he doesn't. To prove he doesn't will force them to do tests that may well show that he does have it.

As you're doing this you should either consider an IME or push on his VA doctor to assess the possibility of ischemic heart disease.

Please have a look at my newest "A to Z Guide of Veterans Disability Benefits" at http://jimstrickland912.com Have a look at the IME page for suggestions on how to get the IME done.

Play the game hard my friend!

Keep up your good work as an advocate for our brothers and sisters.

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Jim;

I know you are very busy so I'll get right into it.

I have many claims open in the VA most are under appeal. Most are straight forward claims documented in my military and civilian medical records. I entered the service in 1961 and retired in 1987. Of course I was in Vietnam with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. Non combat MOS Track Vehicle Motor Sgt. In the Cav there was no such thing as non combat MOS. You fought right with the grunt. I lost one man while there. Now here is the problem as I see it.

I could not figure out why the VSO's several. and the VA were giving me such a hard time with these claims and then one of my acquaintances from the Cav. who does VSO work made a remark," DIRTY PAPER".It did not bother me at first and then on one of my bad nights I thought about the remark. That day I called the DAV and asked if they ever heard the remark. After much stuttering I was told "YES". It referred To soldiers who for one reason or another had gotten disciplinary action put in their records and although they were found not guilty in a court martial it can and probably would affect their claims.

Jim I fall into that category .I was found not guilty but the court martial order lists all the charges and they read like a porn novel. This is in my records which are now at the VA and are the reason my claims are being denied, held and mishandled.

I wrote VA as well as DAV. stating I thought this was wrong. The only items of concern should be a honorable discharge and the pertinent documentation needed to justify/prove the claim.This is a constitutional issue as well as a FOIA issue.

Jim I served over 26 years and yes I did get into trouble in 1971. Was found NOT GUILTY of the major charges. Guilty plea for taking a jeep to find parts without permission. Lawyers advise.
Bottom line Jim is I do not think this should be considered into a claim. I have a Legion Of Merit 2 Meritorious service Medals and so many ARCOMS .I quit counting. Plus Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry and various other awards and decorations. Was in 4 offensives of the Tet 68.

The VA did answer with," They were going to pass the problem up the line to supervisors". DAV crawled into a hole.

Bottom line the VSO's nor VA have any business tagging soldiers with such a slur. DIRTY PAPER. needs to come off the books. Dishonorably discharged yes perhaps BAD PAPER. But not that outrageous statement. It should be also noted my medical records from 1961 to 1973 are missing. Convenient?

I am continuing forward and will do so until I pass on. However Jim, I would like you to take a moment and address this in a note to me if you find time.
Sure you hear this often. You really do help with your insight.

Reply;

Thank you for your service sir. I'll always have the time to assist with your VA issues. Please don't hesitate to write to me.

Welcome home!

I've never heard of such a thing as "dirty paper" and I don't believe that it exists.

The law is quite clear. If your discharge is other than dishonorable, you are eligible for benefits. Like you, I have disciplinary history. I was AWOL and lost 4 days time. It's a sad story of a young man and 3.2 beer...gallons of 3.2 beer. My discharge is honorable. My lost time was never mentioned except as a brief note on my DD 214.

Medical records are often missing. I correspond with veterans every day who are missing records. There is no conspiracy...the VA runs a very sloppy organization. If you could ever gain access to the interior of a VA regional Office I promise you that it would knock your socks off. Cardboard boxes are stacked floor to ceiling with your paper files. When your files go from desk to desk and station to station in the VARO, they are transported around in old grocery carts that a homeless veteran would reject as being too shabby.

Yes, there have been documented events of abuse. Larry and I interrupted the "Shreddergate" scandal a year ago...employees were intentionally destroying records so they wouldn't have to deal with them.

To my knowledge, that hasn't happened since.

I'm going to ask my most trusted VA Insider about the Dirty Paper thing. I won't ID you in any way. He's a very good man and if such a things exists one way or another, he'll let us know.

I'll get back with you.

(Later)

MY VA Insider...a "Rater" in a VARO...has replied and he has said there is no such thing as "dirty paper". If you have an honorable discharge, that's it...nothing else is considered but the evidence relevant to your claim.

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