Veteran News Archive

VETERAN NEWS ARCHIVE

Army Has Plan to Boost Signups

The Army has a master plan for recovering from this year's painful recruiting problems that includes financial incentives and a proposed finder's fee for soldiers who refer recruits: Military.comVA Still Plans to View All PTSD Claims

Veterans groups and House Democrats blasted VA plans to review all post-traumatic stress disorder claims because of irregularities in their compensation system, calling it insulting to heroes who have served their country....Military.com

Death Toll Rises for Military Reservists

The National Guard and Reserves are suffering a strikingly higher share of U.S. casualties in Iraq, their portion of total American military deaths nearly doubling since last year. Military.com

American Freedom Festival, November 11th

This Veterans Day, join country music performers, actors, athletes, dignitaries and other supporters at the historic Roseland Ballroom to raise money and awareness for the veterans of America's armed forces and their families affected by Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Military.com

Number of U.S. Troops in Iraq Has Risen

The troop total is now at its highest since shortly after the January elections for an Iraqi National Assembly. At the time, U.S. commanders increased their forces to about 160,000 in anticipation of increased insurgent violence. Military.com

Army Planning for 4 Years in Iraq

WASHINGTON - The Army is planning for the possibility of keeping the current number of soldiers in Iraq -- well over 100,000 -- for four more years, the Army's top general said Saturday.

In an Associated Press interview, Gen. Peter Schoomaker said the Army is prepared for the "worst case" in terms of the required level of troops in Iraq. He said the number could be adjusted lower if called for by slowing the force rotation or by shortening tours for soldiers.

Schoomaker said commanders in Iraq and others who are in the chain of command will decide how many troops will be needed next year and beyond. His responsibility is to provide them, trained and equipped.

About 138,000 U.S. troops, including about 25,000 Marines, are now in Iraq.

"We are now into '07-'09 in our planning," Schoomaker said, having completed work on the set of combat and support units that will be rotated into Iraq over the coming year for 12-month tours of duty.

Schoomaker's comments come amid indications from Bush administration officials and commanders in Iraq that the size of the U.S. force may be scaled back next year if certain conditions are achieved.

Among those conditions: an Iraqi constitution must be drafted in coming days; it must be approved in a national referendum; and elections must be held for a new government under that charter.

Schoomaker, who spoke aboard an Army jet on the trip back to Washington from Kansas City, Mo., made no predictions about the pace of political progress in Iraq. But he said he was confident the Army could provide the current number of forces to fight the insurgency for many more years. The 2007-09 rotation he is planning would go beyond President Bush's term in office, which ends in January 2009.

Schoomaker was in Kansas City for a dinner Friday hosted by the Military Order of the World Wars, a veterans' organization.

"We're staying 18 months to two years ahead of ourselves" in planning which active-duty and National Guard and Reserve units will be provided to meet the commanders' needs, Schoomaker said in the interview.

The main active-duty combat units that are scheduled to go to Iraq in the coming year are the 101st Airborne Division, based at Fort Campbell, Ky., and the 4th Infantry Division from Fort Hood, Texas. Both did one-year tours earlier in the war.

The Army has changed the way it arranges troop rotations.

Instead of sending a full complement of replacement forces each 12-month cycle, it is stretching out the rotation over two years.

The current rotation, for 2005-07, will overlap with the 2006-08 replacements. Beyond that, the Army is piecing together the plan for the 2007-09 switch, Schoomaker said.

With the recent deployments of National Guard brigades from Georgia and Pennsylvania, the National Guard has seven combat brigades in Iraq -- the most of the entire war -- plus thousands of support troops.

Along with the Army Reserve and Marine Reserve, they account for about 40 percent of the total U.S. forces in Iraq. Schoomaker said that will be scaled back next year to about 25 percent as newly expanded active-duty divisions such as the 101st Airborne enter the rotation.

August has been the deadliest month of the war for the National Guard and Reserve, with at least 42 fatalities thus far. Schoomaker disputed the suggestion by some that the Guard and Reserve units are not fully prepared for the hostile environment of Iraq.

"I'm very confident that there is no difference in the preparation" of active-duty soldiers and the reservists, who normally train one weekend a month and two weeks each summer, unless they are mobilized. Once called to active duty, they go through the same training as active-duty units.

In internal surveys, some in the reserve forces have indicated to Army leaders that they think they are spending too much time in pre-deployment training, not too little, Schoomaker said.

"Consistently, what we've been (hearing) is, `We're better than you think we are, and we could do this faster,'" he said. "I can promise you that we're not taking any risk in terms of what we're doing to prepare people."

Vet Stress Might Rise With Review of 72,000 PTSD Cases

By Tom Philpott

August 18, 2005

Ronald Nesler of Las Cruces, N.M., a Vietnam veteran rated 100-percent disabled by post-traumatic stress disorder, learned this month that his case, as decided in 1997 by the Department of Veterans Affairs, lacked documents to support the finding of service-connected PTSD.
The VA regional office in Albuquerque advised Nesler in an Aug. 11 letter that he has 60 days to provide evidence he was exposed to the stressful wartime incidents described in his claim papers years ago.

"Otherwise, benefits, if confirmed entitlement is not established, may result in a change in your disability claims compensation," the VA letter warned. The sentence was set off by bold-face and underlined type.

Nelser's "permanent and total" disability award is suddenly at risk because of a VA inspector general review of 2,100 randomly-selected PTSD cases with 100-percent disability awards. The IG found that 25 percent, or 527 of them, lacked documents to verify veteran-reported evidence.

The IG review of PTSD cases was released in May, as part of a 200-page report on variances in VA disability compensation across the nation. Many more than 527 PTSD cases are at risk, however. The VA has announced it will review documents of 72,000 PTSD cases, those awarded 100-percent disability ratings from Oct. 1, 1999, through Sept. 30, 2004.

Over those five years, the number veterans awarded compensation for PTSD jumped by 80 percent, from 120,000 cases in fiscal 1999 to 216,000. The planned review of the 72,000 cases likely won't begin until January, said VA spokesman Scott Hogenson.

"Everybody talks about how PTSD is a very subjective diagnosis. This is not about diagnosis," said Hogenson. "This is about collecting the empirical paperwork that says, 'Yes, this individual was in this set of circumstances during this time in which these things happened, which may have led to post-traumatic stress.' "

Legitimate stressors in a veteran's service jacket might be descriptions and dates of combat engagements or "de facto" stress indicators like a Combat Infantry Badge or Purple Heart. The aim is to verify exposure to conditions that might leave a veteran with PTSD. The IG study suggested that claim examiners have been lax in demanding documents.

From 1999 to 2004, the IG said, PTSD payments jumped by 149 percent, from a $1.7 billion total a year to $4.3 billion. To show the potential cost of not seeking evidence of stressors in PTSD cases, the IG said a 25 percent error rate would have caused "questionable payments" of $860 million for VA in 2004 and $19.8 billion over those veterans' lifetimes.

Nesler, who has a wife and handicapped step-daughter, receives PTSD compensation of a little over $2500 a month. He said VA officials have assured him that a decision to lower his PTSD rating would reflect a VA mistake. It should not raise suspicion of fraud. They also have assured him, though not in writing, that his VA compensation won't fall. They do so, most likely, because Nesler has a 100-percent rating for prostate cancer. The VA presumes this cancer, if suffered by Vietnam veterans, presumably is from exposure to Agent Orange, a defoliant used widely during that war.

Nesler said his disability for cancer is not "permanent and total" like his PTSD award. He knows of many veterans treated for cancer who have seen their rating, and thus their pay, drop sharply following treatment.

A 1967 draftee, Nesler reached Vietnam in 1970. He served for 13 of his 14 months as a meteorological observer for B Battery, 6 th Battalion, 32 nd Artillery, part of the 1 st Field Forces Vietnam.

The whole war experience was stressful, Nesler said, though his unit came under fire only seven or eight days while he was there. His most disturbing memories, he said, are of atrocities committed by soldiers. Nesler said he saw an American soldier detonate a directional mine toward a small bus, filled with Vietnamese women and children, near the town of Ninh Hua.

The incident, he said, was covered up but the screams and faces haunt him still. Nesler said he also feels guilt for not having filed an official incident report.

Nesler, a staff sergeant, was discharged in 1975 after eight years. He wasn't feeling well and, as the years passed, he grew more anxious, had nightmares, insomnia and difficulty concentrating, all of which the VA later would tie to the war. In 1997, before VA approved his PTSD claim, Nesler gave to VA the names of a senior officer, two warrant officers and several senior enlisted soldiers who likely could verify the bus incident.

"I thought that was my proof," he said. A VA official told him only recently that the names were never contacted. Still, the VA ruled in 1997, based on "un-refuted evidence," that Nesler had served in a combat zone, had witnessed "a bus being bombed" and had a well-founded diagnosis of PTSD. It found "total occupational and social impairment" from a variety of symptoms.

Yet, Nesler said, he was in far better shape then than he is today.

"I have emphysema. I have cancer. I have a torn ligament in my shoulder. I have severe arthritis. I have PTSD…And I get this [letter] dropped in my lap. Right now my life is on hold ‘til I find out what's going to happen."

If the VA experience with 2100 PTSD cases is repeated in a review of 72,000 next year, one quarter of these vets, about 18,000, might feel their own stress levels rise as VA presses them to better document their claims.

VA Activates Surviving Spouse Website

The Department of Veterans Affairs recently activated a new website aimed directly at surviving spouses of military members who died on active duty and surviving spouses of veterans who died after serving their country. The website at http://www.vba.va.gov/survivors not only has links to the VA pages describing survivor benefits but also to other government sites that may offer valuable information and assistance. There is also a link to Frequently Asked Questions that answers most questions. For more specific questions, the site tells how to contact the VA directly.

VA Sets Up Free Number for Vets, Families

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has set up a toll-free number for veterans who normally receive health care at VA facilities in New Orleans, Gulfport, Miss., and Biloxi, Miss. The number can also be used by family members concerned about the location of veterans who were hospitalized at those facilities. The Gulfport facility has been closed, and the New Orleans medical center has been evacuated. The Biloxi facility is still operational. The number is 1-800-507-4571. It will be staffed continuously for the duration of the emergency. By calling that number, people can find out about: (1) receiving health care for veterans evacuated from the storm area; (2) receiving prescription drugs for veterans in the stricken area; (3) locating evacuated VA patients; and (4) any other health care questions for veterans in the area affected by the storm. For more on Hurricane Katrina, visit our special section covering the disaster and ongoing relief efforts.

PTSD Case Review Hit; More Meds Moving Off Formulary

By Tom Philpott

September 29, 2005

Both his grandfather and great uncle served in World War II, said Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), but only his great uncle entered a Nazi death camp as the war came to a close.
"According to the story my grandmother told," said the senator in a phone interview, "when he got home he went up to his parents' house, into the attic, and didn't talk for about six months."

It was an era, said Obama, in which many veterans struggled through the trauma of war, without counseling or disability pay.

Obama had several generations of veterans in mind, he suggested, when he joined with fellow Democrats Richard Durbin ( Ill. ), Patty Murray ( Wash. ) and Daniel K. Akaka ( Hawaii ) Sept. 22 on an amendment to block the Department of Veterans Affairs from reviewing case files of 72,000 veterans rated 100-percent disabled by post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Senate, on a voice vote, adopted the amendment to the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Appropriation Act (HR 2528).

The House version of the bill has no such language, so a House-Senate conference committee will decide its fate during final negotiations on the bill.

Rep. Steve Buyer (R-Ind.), chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, declined an interview but in a written statement said, "If a veteran's claim is unfairly denied, that is a problem. If a claim is granted in error, that is money taken from another veteran."

VA officials believe some PTSD claims have been decided for veterans without proper documentation. They announced their massive review only after the VA inspector general studied 2,100 randomly-selected cases of PTSD disability awards and found 25 percent lacked documents to verify that a traumatic, service-connected incident occurred.

Given the poor staff work, VA said that in January it would begin to review paperwork for all 100-percent disabled PTSD cases decided over five years, from October 1999 through September 2004. In that period, the IG said, the number of veterans receiving compensation for PTSD rose by 80 percent and annual PTSD payments rose from $1.7 billion to $4.3 billion.

But the Senate's amendment would bar the VA from conducting its case review until it justifies the program to Congress. It also would prohibit the VA from lowering PTSD awards except in cases of fraud.

"None of us wants to see any fraud or waste in government spending," said Obama, who serves on the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee. "But nowhere should we be more willing to give people the benefit of the doubt than with the brave men and women who served our country."

VA, he said, "is presuming significant fraud for people who have received 100-percent disability payments on PTSD claims. They are not conducting a comparable survey of people whose claims were denied. What that indicates, to me at least, is there is some bias against those who have received payments."

He noted that the original IG investigation was launched because of veterans' complaints of wide disparities in claim award between VA regions.

"There were a couple of ways the VA could have handled it. They could have said, 'You know, this is troubling. It seems that some veterans are being shortchanged. Let's make sure all veterans are being treated fairly and generously.' "

Instead, the VA decided to "level down rather than up" on benefits.

He predicted House conferees will concede to the Senate on this issue.

"If you just think about the nature of PTSD, imagine the number of servicemen who come back and never even bother about making a PTSD claim, despite the fact that they've having significant trauma," Obama said. "Think about those who maybe put in a claim but weren't organized enough to have the paperwork, and now, potentially, are going to see benefits reduced."

Obama said the rise in PTSD payments likely reflects greater knowledge today of the disorder rather than sloppy staff work or fraud.

TRIMMING THE DRUG FORMULARY -- The Defense Department's Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee is recommending that several heart medicines and a drug to treat swollen prostates be moved off the military formulary, which would limit their availability on base and raise their price for beneficiaries who use the TRICARE retail network or mail order program.

If Dr. William Winkenwerder, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, approved the recommendations, more than 300,000 cardiac patients and 90,000 men with benign prostate enlargement will have to switch medicines within four to six months or face higher drug costs.

The committee said the following drugs should be listed "non-formulary" drugs:

-- ACE (angiotensin converting enzyme) inhibitors for treatment of hypertension: brand names Altace, Aceon, Accupril and Univasc;

-- Calcium channel blockers for treatment of angina and other heart conditions: brand names Verelan, Verelan PM, Covera HS, Cardizem, Norvasc, DynaCirc, DynaCirc CR, Cardene (sustained release) and Nicardipine (immediate release)

-- Alpha blocker, to treat benign prostatic hypertrophy: brand name Flomax.

Sydney Hickey, who chairs the beneficiary advisory panel, said she and colleagues disagreed with dropping Altace, an effective drug not only in preventing cardiovascular episodes but, trial data show, in preventing the onset of diabetes. About 115,000 military beneficiaries use Altace.

Non-formulary drugs are not dispensed routinely on base and beneficiaries are charged $22 per prescription, rather than $9, in the TRICARE retail network and mail order program.

Based on an earlier recommendation, erectile dysfunction drugs Viagra and Cialis will fall off the formulary Oct. 12. Levitra will remain.

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