PTSD:What part of outreach didn't the VA understand?

Aside from the fact the VA only had to take the data from Vietnam veterans and PTSD, then use it to calculate how many more would come from Iraq and Afghanistan needing treatment for PTSD, what the hell did they expect would come when people across the country were moving mountains to get older veterans to seek help? I saw this coming years ago and all I needed was what was available online. The really sickening part is, most of what I've learned over the years came from the VA itself. What part of their own research didn't they understand? Why didn't they use any of it?

Veterans Affairs Faces Surge of Disability Claims

By JAMES DAO
Published: July 12, 2009

He jumped at loud noises, had unpredictable flashes of anger and was constantly replaying battle scenes in his head. When Damian J. Todd, who served two tours in Iraq with the Marine Corps, described those symptoms to a psychiatrist in January 2008, the diagnosis was quick: he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Less swift was the government’s response when Mr. Todd submitted, a month later, a disability claim that would entitle him to a monthly benefit check. Nearly 18 months went by before the Department of Veterans Affairs granted his claim late last month, Mr. Todd said.

Mr. Todd, 33, is part of a flood of veterans, young and old, seeking disability compensation from the department for psychological and physical injuries connected to their military service. The backlog of unprocessed claims for those disabilities is now over 400,000, up from 253,000 six years ago, the agency said.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/13/us/13backlog.html?_r=1&em