Snippets Military/Veteran News

Snippets

Collection of reports in one post for faster viewing. Check back during the day for more.
(trying something new on this so let me know what you think)

From Military Times

VA Needs to Do Better Credential Checks on Its Doctors, Report Finds

Chief Master Sgt. Shannon Rix, 92nd Air Refueling Wing command chief, gives a commemorative National Salute to Veteran Patients Week pin to Mike Olmstead Feb. 13, 2017, at Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center, Wash. Olmstead served in the Army from 1944 to 1947 during World War II and is currently the community living center’s oldest resident. (Mackenzie Richardson/U.S. Air Force)

In sum, the GAO said the VA and VHA should make better use of the wealth of information on providers in the National Practitioner Data Bank.

In some cases, "providers had administrative or other non-disqualifying adverse actions reported in the NPDB," but VHA still determined that they could be hired, the report states.

It cited the case of a doctor who had surrendered his physical-therapy license for failure to complete physical therapy continuing education.

"Although his license surrender resulted in an adverse action in [the data bank], VHA determined that there were no concerns about the provider's ability to perform as a physician," the report states.

In other cases, "VHA facilities overlooked or were unaware of the disqualifying adverse-action information in NPDB," it adds.

"For example, VHA officials told GAO that, in one case, they inadvertently overlooked a disqualifying adverse action and hired a nurse whose license had been revoked for patient neglect. This nurse resigned in May 2017," according to the report.
read it here

On Military.com but from We Are The Mighty

5 Weird Fears That Only Service Members Have

Yay, getting to stand around in squares in a different country! So exciting! (U.S. Army Spc. Gage Hull)

5. Any acronym that ends in X probably sucks (Cs aren't great either)

CSTX, MRX, CPX, they all suck. ENDEX is cool. But if you get called into SIFOREXs or NATEXs, forget about it. There goes weeks or even months of your life. 

SINKEXs will monopolize your time, but at least there's usually a nice, big explosion you get to see.

Oh, quick translations — those are Combat Support Training Exercise, Mission Readiness Exercise, End of Exercise, Silent Force Exercise, National Terrorism Exercise, and Sink Exercise. Basically, if you hear an acronym with an X in it that you've never heard before, there's a good chance you're going to spend a few weeks in the field practicing something you know how to do. 

This message was brought to you by the letter 'C.' 'C' is just glad that you hate it a little less next to 'X,' because 'C' usually gets the blame thanks to things like JRTC, NTC, and JMRC (the Joint Readiness Training Center, National Training Center, and Joint Multinational Readiness Center, respectfully).

From Oklahoma Watch
Stitt’s Pick for Veterans Secretary Accused of Underpaying Veterans

Gov. Kevin Stitt’s pick to becomes Oklahoma’s next secretary of veterans affairs and the military is facing accusations that his consulting company violated federal labor laws by underpaying veterans.

Federal court filings show that 15 former workers have sued Tulsa-based Check-6 along with its founder and CEO Brian Brurud, whom Stitt appointed to the unpaid cabinet position in February. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in New Orleans. One of the plaintiffs lives in Louisiana, and the company has an office in the state. read it here

Rush to spend funds headline made advocates cringe

VA in rush to spend funds for suicide prevention? Seriously?

This is the headline that made advocates cringe! VA vows to spend full suicide prevention budget after revelation it left millions unused in 2018

This is December 20th! They had no plans for spending the funds, all of the nearly $5 million!

“This year, I’m making sure that we are spending the funding 100 percent,” said Dr. Steven Lieberman, who is in charge of the Veterans Health Administration. “I’m reviewing the budget monthly and making sure we have obligated all the dollars. We have to get it right.”

Excuse me? Then why didn't they before the GAO reported about them not doing it? Didn't they notice?

Well, not really that hard to believe there are a lot of things they did not notice.

Like the fact California is just adding on veterans status to death certificates so they have a clue how many veterans committed suicide there. Yes, California with the largest veterans population in the country. No need to wonder why out of the known suicides reported, Texas and Florida are tied for first place with 530.

The article went on to say a lot. Like this.

The GAO report also revealed the VA had no means to measure the effectiveness of its suicide prevention outreach campaigns. Lieberman told lawmakers that they would have a system in place to do so sometime in 2019.

So, we have had veterans, at least 26 of them, doing their own outreach work, screaming for help for other veterans, because it was too late for them. Yes, that's right. At least 26 veterans committed suicide in very public ways this year.

Would be great to know exactly who gets the money and what they plan on doing with it BUT WOULD BE EVEN BETTER IF SOMEONE COULD EXPLAIN WTF HAPPENED TO ALL THE MONEY ALREADY SPENT THAT PRODUCED THE RESULTS WERE ARE SEEING EVERY DAY?

If you want to actually be aware who has been paying the price for this lack of urgency, it is loaded into a double barrel Howitzer!

 In January, a Michigan veteran went to an elementary school and killed himself. In February, a Texas Army veteran was dead after facing off with SWAT. 

Let's not forget about March when a veteran who was kicked out of a PTSD program in Yountville California, killed women who had dedicated their lives to help veterans, and then killed himself. But safe bet you didn't hear about the Vietnam veteran committing suicide in the Sheridan Police Department parking lot, or the Joint Base Lewis McChord Airman who committed suicide after killing his family. Or the Waterbury veteran who committed suicide by cop. Or the Air Force veteran in Oklahoma, or the soldier at Aberdeen Proving Ground, or the 62 year old veteran who committed suicide at the John Cochran VA Medical Center.

How about the 76 year old veteran in April, who killed himself in the Boynton City Hall Parking lot?

A Cannon Air Force Airman's body was found in Ned Houk Park in May. In June it was a 21 year old who committed suicide at Clarksville High School. A 38 year old veteran decided to record his awareness message in Colorado Springs and in Georgia, a Navy Veteran decided to set himself on fire at the Georgia State Capitol. A Sailor had his awareness message via walking into a helicopter blade at Norfolk Navy Yard.

Then there was July when an Air Force veteran shot his family and then himself after he set his house on fire in Alabama. In Chicago, a Police Officer/Marine veteran decided he had enough and he committed suicide in the parking lot of the police station.  Here in Florida, an 85 year old veteran pulled out his gun at the VA and killed himself. In Arizona, a veteran shot himself in the VA hospital Chapel.

In August a veteran/VA employee committed suicide in Topeka VA medical center and in Mishawaka VA parking lot a veteran shot himself in the parking lot.

In September, there was the veteran who committed suicide in Minneapolis VA parking lot. a day after he was discharged. 

How about October when a Greenville veteran video taped himself just before he committed suicide begging his family to forgive him?

In November, a veteran pulled out a gun in the Nashville VA lobby and ended his awareness message.

Here in Florida 10 days ago, a Retired Marine Colonel killed himself at Bay Pines.

So, please tell me if you think that the funds could have helped if they were spent during all these months. 

If they are in a rush to spend the money, maybe they should pay the families for the funerals that had to take place because NO ONE TOLD THESE VETERANS THEY COULD HEAL AND HOW TO GET IT!

Congress Suicide Prevention Zip-A-Dee-Doo-DAH!

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 30, 2015

There is a report out of California that is a reminder of exactly what has been going on in this country. People hear about problems and they want to do something. When politicians want to get their names on bills, they put together a bunch of words, figure out who will make money off the deal and then zip-a-dee-doo-dah, they pull a magic trick.

California
State and county officials cannot show how billions of dollars collected through a voter-approved tax on millionaires are being spent or whether the related programs have helped people with mental illness as voters intended, a state watchdog commission reported Tuesday.

The Little Hoover Commission report is the latest review to find that the state has little evidence to show that $13 billion in Proposition 63 funds have been effectively spent.

An investigation by The Associated Press in 2012 found that tens of millions of dollars generated by the tax went to general wellness programs for people who had not been diagnosed with any mental illness. Those programs include yoga, gardening, art classes and horseback riding. The state auditor reported similar findings a year later.

"After 10 years the state still can't document whether $13 billion raised through the act has improved the streets of California and the lives of its residents," the commissioners wrote.

And then when problems got worse, people wanted something done to help. Caring people didn't really care about what it would cost as long as people were helped. Short memory spans as folks got back to their own lives, they were not reminded of what already failed that was paid for, so as more people were suffering, they wanted politicians to do something to fix it.

They just never bothered to track the tragic results with more suffering who could have actually been helped if politicians made sure they understood the problem, knew the facts, history and researched what had already been done comparing failures to successes before they wasted time and money causing more years of more suffering.

On the topic of fee basis care, when a veteran gets medical care outside the VA and they pay for it.
What GAO Found

The Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) fee basis care spending increased from about $3.04 billion in fiscal year 2008 to about $4.48 billion in fiscal year 2012. The slight decrease in fiscal year 2012 spending from the fiscal year 2011 level was due to VA's adoption of Medicare rates as its primary payment method for fee basis providers. VA's fee basis care utilization also increased from about 821,000 veterans in fiscal year 2008 to about 976,000 veterans in fiscal year 2012.

GAO found that several factors affect VA medical centers' (VAMC) utilization of fee basis care--including veteran travel distances to VAMCs and goals for the maximum amount of time veterans should wait for VAMC-based appointments. VAMCs that GAO reviewed reported that they often use fee basis care to provide veterans with treatment closer to their homes--particularly for veterans who are not eligible for travel reimbursement. In addition, VAMC officials reported that veterans are often referred to fee basis providers to ensure that VAMC-based clinics that would otherwise treat them can meet established VA wait time goals for how long veterans wait for an appointment. However, GAO found that VA has not established goals for and does not track how long veterans wait to be seen by fee basis providers.

But hey, we just believed reporters as if it was never done before when Congress said they wanted to do it after causing all the hoopla last year.

Then there is suicide prevention among veterans. We know these programs failed or we would be seeing more veterans committing suicide during a time when there has never been more "awareness" and more charities popping up across the county. As it is, bill after bill has been sold as something different but as we've seen, there is nothing new to see here. Suicide Prevention Efforts of the Veterans Health Administration, Erin Bagalman Analyst in Health Policy January 10, 2013 is yet one more indication no one is being held accountable for failures but above all that, no one is being held accountable for the money either.

Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act
The Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act (P.L. 110-110), enacted in 2007, required the VA Secretary to develop and implement a comprehensive suicide prevention program, and to report to Congress on the program. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that implementing the Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act would have “little, if any, cost,” because the VA already had implemented or was planning to implement each of the specific requirements.

The textbox below lists the required elements and additional authorized elements of the comprehensive suicide prevention program.
Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act (P.L. 110-110)
Required elements of the comprehensive suicide prevention program include the following:

• mandatory suicide prevention training for appropriate VA staff and contractors;
• designation of a suicide prevention counselor at each VA medical center;
• outreach and education for veterans and their families to promote mental health;
• mental health assessments of veterans and referrals to appropriate treatment;
• availability of 24-hour mental health care for veterans;
• research on best practices for suicide prevention; and
• research on mental health among veterans with military sexual trauma.
Additional authorized (but not required) elements include the following:
• a 24-hour toll-free hotline staffed by trained mental health personnel;
• peer support counseling; and
• other actions to reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans.

But there was more,

National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008
Section 1611 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (P.L. 110-181) directed the VA and DOD Secretaries to jointly develop a comprehensive care and transition policy for servicemembers recovering from serious injuries or illnesses related to their military service. The law specified that the policy must address (among other things) the training and skills of health care professionals, recovery coordinators, and case managers, to ensure that they are able to detect and report early warning signs of suicidal thoughts or behaviors, along with other behavioral health concerns. The law further specified that the policy must include tracking the notifications made by recovery care coordinators, medical care case managers, and nonmedical care managers to health care professionals regarding suicidal thoughts or behaviors, along with other behavioral health concerns. A 2009 Government Accountability Office report indicates that DOD and VA have developed the relevant policies.

Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2008
Section 809 of the Veterans’ Benefits Improvement Act of 2008 (P.L. 110-389) grants the VA Secretary authority to advertise in the media for various purposes, including suicide prevention. Caregivers and

Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010
Section 403 of the Caregivers and Veterans Omnibus Health Services Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-163) requires the VA Secretary to conduct a study to determine the number of veterans who died by suicide between January 1, 1999, and May 5, 2010 (i.e., the date of enactment). As of this writing, the study has not been completed.

As you discover more veterans are committing suicide, you need to remember, we've been down this road for so long now that the road wore out for far too many veterans we were told congress intended to save.

'Dirty bomb' threat at hospitals remains, GAO report says

'Dirty bomb' threat at hospitals remains, GAO report says
By ANNE GEARAN
The Washington Post
Published: September 10, 2012

WASHINGTON — Federal regulators have failed to implement safeguards to secure radiological materials that could be used in a "dirty bomb" at nearly four out of every five high-risk hospitals and medical facilities nationwide, according to a draft report by congressional investigators.

Eleven years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks focused attention on the possibility that terrorists could use crude nuclear devices, the analysis by the Government Accountability Office described numerous instances of failure to secure highly radioactive material at hospitals.

"Medical facilities currently are not required to take any specific actions to make sure these materials are safe, and many have very sloppy practices, which is remarkable nearly 11 years after 9/11," according to a copy of the draft scheduled for release Tuesday and provided to The Washington Post.
read more here

Some veterans hide assets to get need-based pension

VA pension fund exploited
GAO: Some veterans hide assets to get need-based pension — and some companies prey on vets
By Josh Sweigart and Andrew J. Tobias
Staff Writer
Updated 10:04 PM Friday, June 8, 2012

By hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars in assets, some veterans are able to exploit a program meant to help low-income wartime vets with cash assistance. And hundreds of companies, some of whom may have predatory practices, are charging hefty fees to steer veterans through this loophole.

These are the findings of a year-long investigation by the U.S. Government Accountability Office of a needs-based pension administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The GAO noted multiple instances of attorneys and financial planners helping veterans move assets into trusts controlled by family members or annuities. One veteran qualified for benefits just three weeks after transferring more than $1 million elsewhere.

The program pays between $8,219 and $24,239 annually, tax-free.

The amount is based on number of dependents and medical need.

Veterans at the Dayton VFW on Wilmington Pike interviewed Thursday were troubled that people who wouldn’t otherwise be eligible find loopholes to get into the program, especially as benefits for veterans face increasing budget pressures in Washington.
read more here

Congress turns up heat on burn pits

Congress turns up heat on burn pits

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 15, 2009 13:33:14 EDT

Two lawmakers have called upon the Government Accountability Office, the investigative arm of Congress, to determine if open-air burn pits for waste disposal in Iraq and Afghanistan are exposing troops to harm, as well as if there are any alternatives.

“Preliminary reports have indicated that fumes from these burn pits produce a considerable amount of contaminants that may cause short- and long-term harm to our service members serving in proximity to these operations,” wrote Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., and Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., in a letter dated July 9.

And on Tuesday, Feingold and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., proposed an amendment to the 2010 defense authorization bill that would “prohibit the disposal of covered waste in an open-air burn pit during a contingency operation lasting longer than one year” and would direct the secretary of defense to submit a report about what is burned in the pits and a plan for alternative options. The House has already passed a similar amendment in its version of the defense policy bill.
read more here
Congress turns up heat on burn pits

GAO report on VA and what needs to be done

Department of Veterans Affairs
The Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) mission reflects the nation's commitment to care for veterans, their families, and their survivors.

About a quarter of the nation's population, approximately 74.5 million people, are potentially eligible for VA benefits and services because they are veterans, family members, or survivors of veterans.

VA is responsible for providing federal benefits to eligible veterans and their families and operates nationwide programs for health care, financial assistance, and burial benefits.

The health care delivery system operated by VA is the largest in the nation and provides a broad range of services, including services uniquely related to veterans' health or special needs.

VA also provides disability compensation to veterans who are disabled by injury or disease incurred or aggravated during military service as well as pensions for certain wartime veterans with disabilities.
VA faces a range of key management challenges in the areas of disability benefits, health care delivery, property management, and information technology.

VA's eligibility criteria for disability compensation do not fully incorporate a modern understanding of how technology and the labor market affect disabled veterans' ability to work. In addition, VA continues to face long-standing problems with large pending disability claims inventories, lengthy processing times, concerns about decision accuracy and consistency, and replacing an aging benefits processing system it relies on to accurately process benefits to more than 3.5 million veterans. Further, both VA and the Department of Defense (DOD) face challenges in meeting the health care and disability evaluation needs of servicemembers returning from military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as veterans of those military operations.

VA has faced difficulties in managing its resources to be consistent with a substantial increase in its patient workload, has allowed internal control weaknesses and inadequate oversight to limit its ability to maximize revenue from third-party insurers, and has challenges recruiting and retaining health care professionals to provide care to its veteran population. In addition, VA lacks policies and procedures designed to provide adequate controls over funds used for the procurement of goods and services.

Compounding VA's challenge to manage its resources is its vast inventory of underutilized and vacant space.

VA faces challenges in controlling its IT equipment and managing its IT resources.
http://www.gao.gov/transition_2009/agency/vad/

linked from Veterans For Common Sense

GAO Voting problems in 10 swing states

Report: Voting problems in several swing states
Story Highlights
New report finds voting problems in states up for grabs this year

Report says 10 states are at risk, including Ohio, Virginia, Wisconsin

Problems listed include lack of voting machines and registration glitches


From Kitty Pilgrim
CNN Anchor/Correspondent


(CNN) -- A new Government Accountability Office report on voting system testing finds that the Election Assistance Commission has not notified election officials across the country about electronic voting machine failures.


A line of voters cast their ballots in the primary March 4 in Columbus, Ohio.

And a new study by Common Cause and the Century Foundation finds that 10 very vital swing states have significant voting problems that have not been addressed since the last election.

Those 10 states, according to Common Cause, are Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.

In Colorado, 20,000 left polling places without voting in 2006 because of crashed computer registration machines and long lines. And this election day, Colorado will have another new registration system.

"You know, Colorado is two years behind many states in implementing a statewide voter database. ... This is a new system, and there's just a lot of unknowns as to whether or not voters will be successful," said Jenny Flanagan of Common Cause.

The problems listed in the report range from not enough voting machines to glitches with electronic registration poll books. Read the report
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/09/18/voting.problems/index.html

Department of Defense cannot ensure troops get mental health checkups

Report: DoD cannot ensure troops get checkups

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Sep 5, 2008 8:06:58 EDT

Law requires that service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan go through a post-deployment health re-assessment three to six months after deployment to make sure symptoms for post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, as well as other health concerns that weren’t caught immediately upon return, can be treated.

But the Governmental Accountability Office released a report on Thursday stating that the Defense Department does not have a way to guarantee all war veterans actually complete that process.

The reports they use do not allow the Defense Department “to calculate a completion rate” because they don’t provide the number of service members who should have deployed and, hence, been assessed, GAO said in its report. The office also concluded that the department conducts too few site visits to have a big enough sample to validate the number of service members being assessed.

The Defense Department also had not, as of June 2008, implemented recommendations from GAO’s June 2007 report intended to fix the same problems. Defense Department officials agreed at that time that they needed to require the services to give complete reports, but did not follow through.

“As a result, DoD’s quality-assurance program cannot provide decision makers with reasonable assurance that service members complete” the assessment, the report states.

And, “as of June 2008, DoD’s quality assurance program was staffed with one full-time equivalent position,” which meant that person could not make enough site visits to check for compliance.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/military_postdeployment_care_090408w/

Who are you really supporting? The Troops or Bush?

This has been bothering me for a long time. While I read what the pro-war bloggers seem to find oh so important to spread all over the net, there is very little they do post about the troops, other than what they believe will "support" Bush. While I do see their point that good news does not get reported on the nightly news, apparently they didn't notice the bad news does not get reported either.

Consider this from the GAO

GAO Report Faults Post-'Surge' Planning
Lack of Comprehensive Strategy Cited, but Pentagon Study Sees Gains in Iraq

By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, June 24, 2008; A14



The administration lacks an updated and comprehensive Iraq strategy to move beyond the "surge" of combat troops President Bush launched in January 2007 as an 18-month effort to curtail violence and build Iraqi democracy, government investigators said yesterday.

While agreeing with the administration that violence has decreased sharply, a report released yesterday by the Government Accountability Office concluded that many other goals Bush outlined a year and a half ago in the "New Way Forward" strategy remain unmet.

The report, after a bleak GAO assessment last summer, cited little improvement in the ability of the Iraqi security forces to act independently of the U.S. military, and noted that key legislation passed by the Iraqi parliament had not been implemented while other crucial laws had not been passed. The report also judged that key Iraqi ministries spent less of their allocated budgets last year than in previous years, and said that oil and electricity production had repeatedly not met U.S. targets.
go here for more
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/23/AR2008062302050_pf.html

Since the surge, we've heard the surge is working even while the death count of US forces reached an all time yearly high. In April when the death count of US forces increased to over 50, not one word was said yet as soon as the death count dropped, it was all over the pro-war blog sites. Had they really supported the troops they would post the bad with the good because both parts of events in Iraq involve them.

When they come home wounded and not taken care of properly, they are again ignored by the pro-war bloggers. The media was attacked for reporting on the bad conditions. All in all, when they claim to be supporting the troops, they are really supporting Bush and don't care how he treats them. Wounds not taken care of are no problem to them. Backlogged claims, no problem. Food stamps and unemployment lines and homelessness, no problem for the pro-war bloggers. Very, very sad. I'd like to say at least they are paying attention to the troops, Iraq and Afghanistan, but they aren't. If they were, they would post whatever news they could find since very little is coming out on either occupation.

GAO finds Army medical evaluations lacking

GAO finds Army medical evaluations lacking

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Jun 10, 2008 17:10:17 EDT

The Army does not keep good enough records to properly determine which soldiers with medical issues are eligible to deploy, according to a new Government Accountability Office study released Tuesday.

And GAO estimated that 3 percent of soldiers deploying from Forts Benning and Stewart in Georgia and Fort Drum, N.Y., who are required by their medical issues to go before the medical evaluation board did not do so before they deployed.

In other words, soldiers who might have been discharged from the military for medical conditions that make them unable to do their jobs were instead deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. The GAO chose those bases because they had large numbers of deployed soldiers during the year previous to the study.

“In some cases, soldiers were not evaluated because commanders lacked timely access to profiles,” the report stated. “In other cases, commanders did not take timely actions.”
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/06/military_medicalissues_deploy_061008w/

Military Inconsistent' On Medical Records Reviews

Report: Military Inconsistent' On Medical Records Reviews
By LISA CHEDEKEL And MATTHEW KAUFFMAN Courant Staff Writers
June 5, 2008

The military is not routinely reviewing the medical records of troops being sent to war despite a policy that calls for such a check before service members are deemed mentally fit to deploy, congressional investigators said in a new report.

In the report, the Government Accountability Office said that although the Department of Defense, or DoD, had taken some "positive steps" to improve the mental-health screening of deploying and returning troops, "unfortunately, DoD's policies for reviewing medical records during the pre-deployment health assessment are inconsistent."

"Because of DoD's inconsistent policies," the investigators said, "providers determining if ... service members meet DoD's minimum mental health standards for deployment may not have complete medical information."

The accountability office reviewed changes approved 18 months ago in the way troops are screened for mental-health status before and after deploying to war.

The defense department in late 2006 adopted a policy, in response to congressional legislation, that tightened pre-deployment screening by setting limits on when troops with mental-health problems may be sent to war and retained in combat.

The legislation was prompted by a series of stories in The Courant that found troops' mental illnesses were being missed or ignored during pre-deployment screenings. Some of those troops committed suicide in Iraq.
go here for more
http://www.courant.com/news/nationworld/hc-screen0605.artjun05,0,4311866.story

GAO: Wounded care better, but more needed

GAO: Wounded care better, but more needed

By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Feb 28, 2008 16:17:42 EST

Government Accountability Office representatives praised the Army for some of the advances it has made over the past year but said there is still a long way to go in hiring legal representatives to help soldiers going through the disability retirement process.

Also, some treatment facilities lack as much as 40 percent of the staff they need to maintain a ratio of one legal counselor per 30 soldiers, said John Pendleton, GAO acting director of health care, on Wednesday at a hearing of the House Oversight and Government Reform national security subcommittee.

“The Army has made progress in the five months since our September hearing,” he said, referring to a previous GAO report showing that the Army’s Transition Units were only half-staffed. But one-third of the units still have staffing shortages, he said.

And, 2,500 wounded, sick or injured soldiers waiting to go through the evaluation process remain in their units — and not in the Warrior Transition Units designed to ensure they receive the administrative help they need, as well as allowing trained professionals to keep a close eye on them for medical or mental health needs, Pendleton said.
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/military_armyprogress_woundedwarrior_022808w/