GAO: Guard, Reserve Troops Struggle to Get VA Benefits
National Guard and Reserve members are having trouble accessing disability compensation compared to their active-duty counterparts, a report from the Government Accountability Office found.
National Guard and Reserve members are having trouble accessing disability compensation compared to their active-duty counterparts, a report from the Government Accountability Office found.
He was the fifth and last member of the U.S.
The Association of the U.S. Army has joined with other military and veterans’ organizations in support of bipartisan legislation that expands Department of Veterans Affairs health care to more than 3.5 million veterans exposed to the toxic fumes of battlefield burn pits.
The last of 11 Army post cemeteries has been transferred to Department of Veterans Affairs management, completing a 15-month process of moving the sites to VA care.
“Completion of the cemetery transfers highlights VA’s role in increasing efficiency and streamlining operations across the federal government,” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said in a statement.
“It also spotlights the strong partnership between VA and the Department of Defense,” he said.
The Department of Veterans Affairs continues to care for veterans—and some non-veterans—during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite halting face-to-face encounters, the department’s top official said.
“We have shown we are adaptable, we’re agile,” VA Secretary Robert Wilkie said during an event hosted by the Defense Writers Group July 7.
Women are the fastest-growing subpopulation of veterans, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
It’s everyone’s duty to take care of America’s veterans and “make sure we live up to Abraham Lincoln’s vision,” the secretary of Veterans Affairs said at the Association of the U.S. Army’s Annual Meeting and Exposition.
Speaking at the National Partners Luncheon Oct. 16, Secretary Robert Wilkie recounted stories of soldiers, past and present, as well as members of his own family who have served and suffered in America’s wars but sometimes faced difficult experiences when they returned home.
The Department of Veterans Affairs is falling far short of achieving a 2017 goal to expand cemeteries because of significant problems finding land for new burials, according to a new report by the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress.
A survey of the health, housing and lifestyle needs of Alabama’s older veterans was undertaken last fall in a joint effort of the University of Alabama’s Office of Military Families and Veterans and AARP Alabama.
AARP members who were identified as having prior service were surveyed in September. The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates there are 360,000 veterans living in Alabama, and that 65 percent are age 45 or older, the group targeted in the survey.
A White House government reform plan would transfer 11 Army-run cemeteries—all but one located at now closed forts—to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ National Cemetery Administration in a move aimed at improving efficiency and freeing up Army funds for more critical needs.
High-profile locations like Arlington National Cemetery, the cemeteries at the U.S. Military Academy and the U.S. Soldiers’ and Airmen’s Home, and cemeteries at 18 other Army installations would remain in the Army’s hands, as would Air Force-funded cemeteries at former Army bases.