News
at
VA Says Claims Backlog Down 36 Percent since March
WASHINGTON – At a hearing today before the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Under Secretary for Benefits, Allison A. Hickey, outlined progress made by the Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) in reducing the backlog of Veterans’ disability compensation and pension claims by 36 percent since March -- attributing the success to the combined impact of VBA's transformation initiatives and increased employee productivity.
at
Categories: Mental HealthSome troubled Los Angeles veterans are getting help through an unlikely source: orphaned parrots.
The West L.A. campus of the Department of Veterans Affairs has an exotic-bird rescue facility on its sprawling 387-acre campus. It houses 21 aviaries with nearly 40 parrots that are part of a unique animal-assisted therapy program for veterans coping with post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, alcoholism and other ailments.
The Feathered Friends program at the VA Medical Center gives veterans a chance to work through their issues by caring for orphaned exotic birds.
at
By DAVE PHILIPPS | JAN. 7, 2015
New York Times
COLORADO SPRINGS — Nearly 200 sick and wounded soldiers in a gym at Fort Carson last month listened silently as Lt. Col. Daniel Gade offered a surprising warning: The disability checks designed to help troops like them after they leave the service might actually be harmful.
at
Young veterans want the public to listen to their needs, not worship them as 'heroes.'
By Chris Marvin Nov. 11, 2014 | 11:00 a.m. EST | U.S. News and World Report
By the end of this year, the Pentagon will have only about 9,500 troops in Afghanistan. As 13 years of combat operations come to a close, it’s time to pivot. We need to turn our attention toward service members and veterans here at home, and we need to engage with them.
at
By Tom Philpott
Stars and Stripes
Published: October 16, 2014
Editor's note: This story has been corrected.
Congress last August gave the Department of Veteran Affairs 90 days to issue medical “Choice Cards” to 9.1 million veterans enrolled in VA care.
at
at
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
The Fargo VA Health Care System is pleased to announce the opening of a new VA Community Based Outpatient Clinic in Devils Lake, North Dakota on Tuesday, August 19, 2014. The location of the new VA clinic is at the Devils Lake Mercy Hospital, 1031 7th St NE, Devils Lake, North Dakota.
A ribbon cutting ceremony and open house will be held on Monday, August 18, 2014, at 1:00 p.m. at the clinic. The public is invited.
at
Gregg Zoroya
USA TODAY
12:47 p.m. EDT June 18, 2014
Actors have Oscars. Live theater, the Tony Awards. Journalists receive Pulitzers and scientists Nobel Prizes.
Now there is the Lincoln — for veterans.
The idea is to recognize exemplary service by and for veterans. The award is the brain child of an ex-Green Beret and former assistant secretary with the Department of Veterans Affairs, Tommy Sowers, in cooperation with the Friars Club and Friars Foundation.
at
Fellow Veterans and Family Members,
After 38 years in The Army, I am now honored and privileged to serve as your Secretary of Veterans Affairs (VA). VA remains committed to providing the high quality benefits you have earned and deserve.
at
Article by: PAUL LEVY , Star Tribune Updated: April 17, 2014 - 11:38 PM
Minnesota veterans who were deployed in Iraq or Afghanistan have returned to their families, friends, jobs or school. But rarely do they visit county veterans services offices — not even those vets with post-traumatic stress disorder.