FW: VFW Action Corps Weekly, July 3, 2014

Thank You

VVA Chapter 17

Member
Robert serge

To all my fellow veterans friends and family my we all remember

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Subject: VFW Action Corps Weekly, July 3, 2014
To: rserge@live.com
From: tmorris@vfw.org
Date: Thu, 3 Jul 2014 15:01:37 -0400

VFW Action Corps Weekly July 3, 2014 In This Issue: 1. President Nominates New VA Secretary 2. VA Facilities Report Given to President 3. VA Directs Monthly VSO Meetings in All Medical Centers 4. Burn Pit Registry Now Open 5. Interim Military Compensation Commission Report Released 1. President Nominates New VA Secretary: The president has nominated former Proctor & Gamble chief executive Robert McDonald to become the new secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs. McDonald is a West Point graduate and served for five years as an Army infantry officer. VFW National Commander Bill Thien said McDonald's experience leading complex organizations will be a plus, since the VA is ultimately in the service industry and needs to be run like a business. "However, the VA is also unlike any organization in the private sector," he said, " because it's led by political appointees in Washington but managed entirely by federal civilians in the field. We need a VA secretary who can change an organization with many internal loyalties into a culture where properly serving America's veterans becomes the only definition of mission success or failure. The VFW hopes Mr. McDonald is up to that challenge, and we look forward to working with him once he is confirmed." Read the Chief's entire statement at http://www.vfw.org/News-and-Events/Articles/2014-Articles/VFW-STATEMENT-ON-VA-SECRETARY-NOMINATION/. 2. VA Facilities Report Given to President: Late last week, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Rob Nabors provided his findings to the president on the VA healthcare crisis. Nabors was assigned to investigate more than 27 facilities that had reportedly kept alternate waiting lists that led to failures in access to care, which may have resulted in the deaths of several veterans. Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson was also in attendance and reported VA's progress in implementing reforms as well as on the separate site visits made to a dozen VA medical facilities across the country. According to the Nabors report, inadequate resources and a "corrosive culture" contributed to personnel problems, which impacted the timeliness of care provided to veterans. Nabors also acknowledged that the VA needs more doctors, administrators and staff. Gibson reported that the VA Inspector General is now investigating 77 facilities, and action is being taken to hire more support staff, deploy mobile units to underserved areas, and provide more whistleblower protection. The VFW agrees with the recommendations of the report and continues to work with Congress and the administration to increase access, efficiency and accountability across VA. For the White House statement and report, go to http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/06/27/readout-president-s-meeting-acting-veterans-affairs-secretary-sloan-gi-0. 3. VA Directs Monthly VSO Meetings in All Medical Centers: Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson has directed the leadership of all 153 VA Medical Centers to begin holding monthly meetings with veteran and military service organizations and other community partners in order to better serve veterans in the communities where they reside. Monthly VSO/MSO meetings with the VA secretary and senior staff are standard in Washington, but not in the field, where access to care issues and proven allegations of unofficial waiting lists have resulted in a system-wide crisis in care and confidence. The VFW hopes that all VFW department commanders and department service officers will get involved as soon as their local VAMCs announce their meeting schedules. 4. Burn Pit Registry Now Open: All Desert Shield/Storm veterans, and Post-9/11 veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and deployments into Djibouti are encouraged to logon to the VA's new burn pit registry to report exposures to airborne hazards such as smoke from burn pits, oil-well fires, and other pollutants or exposures encountered during deployment, as well as other health concerns. A registry is required to properly document whether such exposures harmed or caused other illnesses or diseases. VA officials acknowledge that troops may suffer from illnesses related to environmental exposures, and has established a surveillance program for service members exposed to the known carcinogen hexavalent chromium from a water treatment facility near Basra in 2003, but VA also said there is not yet enough scientific evidence to prove that exposure to burn pits causes long-term health problems. Logon to the Airborne Hazards and Open Burn Pit Registry at https://veteran.mobilehealth.va.gov/AHBurnPitRegistry/index.html#page/home. 5. Interim Military Compensation Commission Report Released: The Military Compensation and Retirement Modernization Commission released a 358-page interim report today that thoroughly defines all the pay, allowances and Quality of Life programs that are under consideration for possible consolidation, enhancement, reduction, elimination or increased cost-sharing. The interim report does not, however, make recommendations regarding which program will be impacted. Those recommendations will be released next February in the commission's final report to the president. The VFW has met several times with the commission and testified before them last fall. Read the interim report at http://www.mcrmc.gov/index.php/reports. To sign up new veterans' advocates, click here: http://capwiz.com/vfw/mlm/signup.htm. As always, we want to share your advocacy stories on the VFW Capitol Hill blog. To share your stories either fill out our online form by clicking here, http://www.vfw.org/Forms/Capitol-Hill-Blog-Submissions/, or simply email photos and stories directly to vfwac@vfw.org.

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