Vietnam veteran presented with medals
Posted: Aug 26, 2011
by Melanie Yuill
A Vietnam veteran received six long overdue medals and several ribbons on Thursday.
The VFW, Marine Corps League and American Legion watched from the Butte-Silver Bow Courthouse steps as U.S. Senator Jon Tester presented Gary Sonsteng with the medals. They include a combat action ribbon, Navy Commendation Medal, Vietnam Service Medal and more.
read more here
Showing posts with label Senator Jon Tester. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Senator Jon Tester. Show all posts
Friday, August 26, 2011
Thursday, June 2, 2011
College veterans get more time to pay back Uncle Sam for overpayments
VA extends Post-9/11 GI Bill overpayment period
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jun 2, 2011 12:02:16 EDT
Student veterans required to give back Post-9/11 GI Bill overpayments will get more time to do so under a new Veterans Affairs Department policy.
Previously, GI Bill overpayments had to be repaid before the end of the term, which in some cases left students paying thousands of dollars in a few months. The new policy gives them up to a year to make repayments.
The new repayment policy took effect on April 20 without fanfare. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who has pushed for the change, announced the new repayment rules on May 24. VA confirmed the rule change on Thursday.
Tester had pushed VA to change the rules after receiving complaints that students, who often were not at fault when excess tuition and fees was paid to a college or university, were given very little time to repay the money. In some cases, students were put in a position of repaying VA out of their own pockets while waiting on their school to pay them.
Although pleased that VA is giving veterans more time to pay, Tester said he still is not satisfied. He wants safeguards put in place to protect the credit records of veterans who end up owing money because of clerical errors, and he wants VA to come up with a way for schools that receive overpayments to directly reimburse the government without getting the student involved.
read more here
GI Bill overpayment period
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jun 2, 2011 12:02:16 EDT
Student veterans required to give back Post-9/11 GI Bill overpayments will get more time to do so under a new Veterans Affairs Department policy.
Previously, GI Bill overpayments had to be repaid before the end of the term, which in some cases left students paying thousands of dollars in a few months. The new policy gives them up to a year to make repayments.
The new repayment policy took effect on April 20 without fanfare. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who has pushed for the change, announced the new repayment rules on May 24. VA confirmed the rule change on Thursday.
Tester had pushed VA to change the rules after receiving complaints that students, who often were not at fault when excess tuition and fees was paid to a college or university, were given very little time to repay the money. In some cases, students were put in a position of repaying VA out of their own pockets while waiting on their school to pay them.
Although pleased that VA is giving veterans more time to pay, Tester said he still is not satisfied. He wants safeguards put in place to protect the credit records of veterans who end up owing money because of clerical errors, and he wants VA to come up with a way for schools that receive overpayments to directly reimburse the government without getting the student involved.
read more here
GI Bill overpayment period
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Tester, military brainstorm on VA services
Senator Tester said it's time to think outside the box and that is exactly what has been needed all along. Between service and civilian life, they don't fit in either box and we let them down expecting them to just jump right in.
When they are in the service and wounded, physically with visible wounds and invisible ones, they are expected to just do with what the unwounded receive and no longer fit into that box.
The DOD and the VA have a habit of just plodding along with the same treatments and rules as if one size fits all, when they never did. Sure, you can train them all alike but they never all end up with the same talents or excel at the same tasks. Would you take a Marine with the skills of a sniper and put him in the motor pool just because he was trained like everyone else? Would you take a man trained to cook for hundreds and put him in a tank? None of that would make any sense at all so how is it they can manage to think then but not when the men and women they trained need them instead?
The rest of the country has been doing very well addressing PTSD head on when it comes to police, firefighters, emergency responders and survivors. There are trained people all over the country to respond to traumatic events and emergencies. Crisis Intervention, Community Emergency Response Teams, Disaster and Extreme Event Preparedness teams, Stress Debriefers, you name it, they are trained and ready to go, but when it comes to the military and the VA, they only allow in certain types instead of highly trained, ready, able and willing to step in people from the communities.
I am a Chaplain, trained, certified and experienced to respond to traumatic events because I know what it looks like from the other side when no one responded to Vietnam veterans. I've been a Chaplain for a year, but have been doing the same work since 1982. Would the VA hire me as a Chaplain with all of this topping it off with my own insurance and licenses? No. I didn't get a degree from a seminary. What good does it do to take a person with very little life experience and put them on the front lines just because they went to the right school? If this worked, there would be no need for all the trainers traveling all over the country doing the training of responders in the field.
The troops are waiting for help and so are the veterans. It's time the DOD and the VA caught up to the rest of the country and got out of the box no one really fits in.
When they are in the service and wounded, physically with visible wounds and invisible ones, they are expected to just do with what the unwounded receive and no longer fit into that box.
The DOD and the VA have a habit of just plodding along with the same treatments and rules as if one size fits all, when they never did. Sure, you can train them all alike but they never all end up with the same talents or excel at the same tasks. Would you take a Marine with the skills of a sniper and put him in the motor pool just because he was trained like everyone else? Would you take a man trained to cook for hundreds and put him in a tank? None of that would make any sense at all so how is it they can manage to think then but not when the men and women they trained need them instead?
The rest of the country has been doing very well addressing PTSD head on when it comes to police, firefighters, emergency responders and survivors. There are trained people all over the country to respond to traumatic events and emergencies. Crisis Intervention, Community Emergency Response Teams, Disaster and Extreme Event Preparedness teams, Stress Debriefers, you name it, they are trained and ready to go, but when it comes to the military and the VA, they only allow in certain types instead of highly trained, ready, able and willing to step in people from the communities.
I am a Chaplain, trained, certified and experienced to respond to traumatic events because I know what it looks like from the other side when no one responded to Vietnam veterans. I've been a Chaplain for a year, but have been doing the same work since 1982. Would the VA hire me as a Chaplain with all of this topping it off with my own insurance and licenses? No. I didn't get a degree from a seminary. What good does it do to take a person with very little life experience and put them on the front lines just because they went to the right school? If this worked, there would be no need for all the trainers traveling all over the country doing the training of responders in the field.
The troops are waiting for help and so are the veterans. It's time the DOD and the VA caught up to the rest of the country and got out of the box no one really fits in.
Tester, military brainstorm on VA services
By MARTIN J. KIDSTON - Independent Record - 08/22/09
FORT HARRISON - A group of military leaders and health experts joined Sen. Jon Tester Friday in a brainstorming session aimed at finding ways to help veterans transition out of the service, find jobs and better promote the VA's many services.
A member of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, Tester, D-Mont., has held similar sessions since his election to office three years ago.
Among the results of the sessions are new vet centers in Kalispell and Great Falls, an increase to the mileage reimbursement for disabled vets, and more clinical resources to help treat veterans living in rural areas.
But Tester admitted Friday that work remains and the group spent more than an hour thinking "outside the box," broaching such ideas as educating families on post-war issues, reaching veterans on reservations, and expanding the VA system to include something of a hiring service for vets leaving the service.
read more here
Tester, military brainstorm on VA services
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Law to protect vets slows claims process
Law to protect vets slows claims process
By Tom Philpott, Special to Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, July 12, 2008
In the last decade, the Department of Veterans Affairs has doubled the number of disability claim processors on staff, and yet the average time to process a claim has climbed during that period from four months to six.
From January 2007 through June 2008, as VA added 2,700 claim processors to its inventory of 8,000, the average time to process a claim still fell unimpressively, from 183 days to 181.
"Something’s going on here that isn’t right, that needs to be fixed. I don’t know what the hell it is," said a frustrated Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., during a hearing Wednesday of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
"In the 1990s you were at 120 days" to process a claim. "Was there something in the process that changed," Tester asked Michael Walcoff, deputy undersecretary for benefits for the Veterans’ Benefits Administration.
click post title for more
By Tom Philpott, Special to Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Saturday, July 12, 2008
In the last decade, the Department of Veterans Affairs has doubled the number of disability claim processors on staff, and yet the average time to process a claim has climbed during that period from four months to six.
From January 2007 through June 2008, as VA added 2,700 claim processors to its inventory of 8,000, the average time to process a claim still fell unimpressively, from 183 days to 181.
"Something’s going on here that isn’t right, that needs to be fixed. I don’t know what the hell it is," said a frustrated Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., during a hearing Wednesday of the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee.
"In the 1990s you were at 120 days" to process a claim. "Was there something in the process that changed," Tester asked Michael Walcoff, deputy undersecretary for benefits for the Veterans’ Benefits Administration.
click post title for more
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Senator Tester, fix Montana's VA problem sooner
Tester, VA chief hear from veterans
Agency chief says help is on way; senator, vets tell of inadequate services
By TOM LUTEY
Of The Gazette Staff
Limited by staff and space, veterans' health care services in Montana fall short, said U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who brought U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake to Billings to meet with local veterans.
"What I'm getting at is the staff and the square footage is a big issue," Tester said Wednesday. "That's not just here. It's the same in Great Falls and other places."
Tester and Peake got a firsthand look at the tight cramped quarters of the Veterans Affairs Primary Care Center in Billings. Roughly a decade old, the facility at 2345 King Ave. W. is no longer big enough to accommodate services for Billings-area veterans. Plans to relocate to a larger facility are in the works, but the VA Primary Care Center is also short on staff members.
Veterans speaking to Tester and Peake said phone calls to the VA Primary Care Center sometimes go unanswered for half an hour. Getting in to see a counselor about war-related stress can take days.
With the problem veterans are having trying to get fit into the VA, buying land and building new hospitals and clinics will help, but that fix is years away. They need help today.
A quick search of commercial property in Billings Montana showed they not only have land that could be used in the future, but they also have buildings already available. Some of them seem to be a great deal. These are just a few of them.
Property Description:
Prime West End Office Building
2 story building with approx. 26,000 SQFT. Brick construction complex built in 1986 and remodeled in 1999. Located in approx. 66,000 SQFT landscaped and paved lot. The building has 25,825 SQFT. Excellent exposure to one of busiest avenues in Billings - King Avenue.
Location Description:
Located in the Homestead Business Park - Billings MT. A block from King Ave. on Grant Rd.
Property Use Type: Investment
Primary Type: Office
Office-Business Park
Building Size: 26,000 SF
Lot Size: 66,000 SF
Price: $3,200,000
Price/SF: $123.08
Cap Rate: 7.25%
Net Lease Investment: Yes
Years left on Lease: 2
Date Last Verified: 2/22/2008
Property ID: 15530183
Special Purpose Property
In or near Billings, MontanaVery solid 5,040 sq. ft. Commercial Construction. Scenic Spring Creek runs through property, mature trees, an oasis in the middle of Billings. Pe...
Status:Price:Bldg. Size:Cap Rate:Primary Type:Sub-Type:
Active$425,0005,040 SFN/ASpecial PurposeSpecial Purpose (Other)
Special Purpose Property
In or near Billings, MontanaSignificant, historical, brick building, with 7,025 sq. ft. on main level. Structurally astute, constructed of high quaility building materials, 7...
Status:Price:Bldg. Size:Cap Rate:Primary Type:Sub-Type:
Active$385,00014,050 SFN/ASpecial PurposeSpecial Purpose (Other)
Office Property
In or near Billings, Montana
Two 9,000 square foot buildings. Upscale Medical or office complex. 13,300 ADT's Per Day. Billings Highest Per Capita Income. Now Under Constru...
Status:No. Spaces:Rental Rate:Space Available:Bldg. Size:Primary Type:Sub-Type:
Active1$.012,800 SF9,000 SFOfficeMedical Office
Now, picture these buildings being used for veterans clinics and Vet's Centers. They seem to be just what the doctor ordered to take care of the veterans today and not just years from now. They could open up Vet Centers tomorrow. They could begin support groups for veterans and their families. If not then they will need to build a lot more homeless veterans shelters a couple of years from now. It's time to get serious about all of this and stop ringing their hands with the monumental task ahead. There is no time to play catch up when veterans are suffering because no one planned for them.
Agency chief says help is on way; senator, vets tell of inadequate services
By TOM LUTEY
Of The Gazette Staff
Limited by staff and space, veterans' health care services in Montana fall short, said U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who brought U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake to Billings to meet with local veterans.
"What I'm getting at is the staff and the square footage is a big issue," Tester said Wednesday. "That's not just here. It's the same in Great Falls and other places."
Tester and Peake got a firsthand look at the tight cramped quarters of the Veterans Affairs Primary Care Center in Billings. Roughly a decade old, the facility at 2345 King Ave. W. is no longer big enough to accommodate services for Billings-area veterans. Plans to relocate to a larger facility are in the works, but the VA Primary Care Center is also short on staff members.
Veterans speaking to Tester and Peake said phone calls to the VA Primary Care Center sometimes go unanswered for half an hour. Getting in to see a counselor about war-related stress can take days.
There's a debate about how many claims will still be made by veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The Bush administration estimates that 33,690 new veterans will enter the system, but the majority of staff for the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, on which Tester serves, expects 200,000 claims by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.
If the committee is correct, the president's budgeted amount for new claims could leave funding short for about 150,000 veterans.
go here for the rest
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/02/21/news/local/18-va.txt
With the problem veterans are having trying to get fit into the VA, buying land and building new hospitals and clinics will help, but that fix is years away. They need help today.
A quick search of commercial property in Billings Montana showed they not only have land that could be used in the future, but they also have buildings already available. Some of them seem to be a great deal. These are just a few of them.
Property Description:
Prime West End Office Building
2 story building with approx. 26,000 SQFT. Brick construction complex built in 1986 and remodeled in 1999. Located in approx. 66,000 SQFT landscaped and paved lot. The building has 25,825 SQFT. Excellent exposure to one of busiest avenues in Billings - King Avenue.
Location Description:
Located in the Homestead Business Park - Billings MT. A block from King Ave. on Grant Rd.
Property Use Type: Investment
Primary Type: Office
Office-Business Park
Building Size: 26,000 SF
Lot Size: 66,000 SF
Price: $3,200,000
Price/SF: $123.08
Cap Rate: 7.25%
Net Lease Investment: Yes
Years left on Lease: 2
Date Last Verified: 2/22/2008
Property ID: 15530183
Special Purpose Property
In or near Billings, MontanaVery solid 5,040 sq. ft. Commercial Construction. Scenic Spring Creek runs through property, mature trees, an oasis in the middle of Billings. Pe...
Status:Price:Bldg. Size:Cap Rate:Primary Type:Sub-Type:
Active$425,0005,040 SFN/ASpecial PurposeSpecial Purpose (Other)
Special Purpose Property
In or near Billings, MontanaSignificant, historical, brick building, with 7,025 sq. ft. on main level. Structurally astute, constructed of high quaility building materials, 7...
Status:Price:Bldg. Size:Cap Rate:Primary Type:Sub-Type:
Active$385,00014,050 SFN/ASpecial PurposeSpecial Purpose (Other)
Office Property
In or near Billings, Montana
Two 9,000 square foot buildings. Upscale Medical or office complex. 13,300 ADT's Per Day. Billings Highest Per Capita Income. Now Under Constru...
Status:No. Spaces:Rental Rate:Space Available:Bldg. Size:Primary Type:Sub-Type:
Active1$.012,800 SF9,000 SFOfficeMedical Office
Now, picture these buildings being used for veterans clinics and Vet's Centers. They seem to be just what the doctor ordered to take care of the veterans today and not just years from now. They could open up Vet Centers tomorrow. They could begin support groups for veterans and their families. If not then they will need to build a lot more homeless veterans shelters a couple of years from now. It's time to get serious about all of this and stop ringing their hands with the monumental task ahead. There is no time to play catch up when veterans are suffering because no one planned for them.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
VA Sec. Peake and Senator Tester address needs of veterans
Federal Veterans Affairs Secretary visits Billings
By TOM LUTEY
Of The Gazette Staff
Limited by staff and space, Veteran's health care services in Montana fall short, said U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who today brought U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake to Billings to meet with local veterans.
"What I'm getting at is the staff and the square footage is a big issue," Tester said. "That's not just here. It's the same in Great Falls and other places."
Tester and the secretary got a firsthand look at the tight cramped quarters of the Veterans Affairs Primary Affairs Clinic in Billings. Roughly a decade old, the King Avenue health care facility is no longer big enough to accommodate services for Billings-area veterans. Plans to relocate to a larger facility are in the works, but the VA Primary Care Center is also short on staff.
Wait time
Veterans speaking to Tester and Peake said phone calls to the VA Primary Care Center often go unanswered for half an hour. Getting in to see a counselor about war-related stress can take days.
Rural areas
Addressing veteran's care in rural areas specifically, Peake announced the creation of a rural health advisory committee to bring rural health care issues to the fore. Tester brought Peake to Montana to so the secretary could see challenges of veteran health care in rural areas first hand. Peake in turn said some areas of Montana went beyond rural and were actually frontier.
Release of medical records
The need for better mental health care was later driven home during a town hall meeting, in which the father of a suicidal Marine living in Billings pleaded for the release of his son's military records so the boy could get help. Trembling and near tears, the man barely made his request.
But this is the most troubling of all
The average time for processing claims currently is 185 days and only one in 10 claims are filed correctly.
go here for the rest
http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/02/20/news/local/20-vavisit.txt
This last part is the biggest reason all veterans should seek the help of service officers to fill these claims out the right way the first time. It's too hard to know what the form is asking for half the time. While organizations like the DAV do not charge for their help, all they ask is that you consider joining them. That's all. They are not connected to the government but they know how the system works. They operate on donations. Most of them do.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Tester says will take work to fix president’s budget
Tester says will take work to fix president’s budget
(Created: Thursday, February 7, 2008 11:49 AM MST)
Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
U. S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. Said Wednesday that Congress will have a lot of work adding needed items to the budget proposal presented by President Bush this week. “It’s out of touch with Montana values, I can tell you that,” he said. Tester said the president has ignored issues like rural health care, Veterans Administration programs and water projects in his budget while adding to the national debt.
Bush failed in his responsibility to prioritize many important issues, Tester added. “Hopefully in the Senate we can get those back into the budget,” he said. One of the specific issues Tester said was left out of the president’s budget was funding water projects in Montana. One of those projects is repairing the St. Mary’s Diversion which supplies most of the water to the Milk River each year, authorized by Congress last year at $153 million, and another is the Rocky Boy’s/North Central Montana Regional Water System, which requested $20 million to $30 million last year and received just more than $5 million. Tester said he and senior Montana Sen. Max Baucus have fought to include money for Montana water projects in the last budget and will continue to do so, but “it will be an uphill fight.” “… We will continue to because it’s very important,” Tester said. “It’s the kind of long-term economic stimulus we need to be working on. There’s not one penny in the president’s budget for any of those projects and we are going to fight for those projects.”
http://www.havredailynews.com/articles/2008/02/07/local_headlines/world.txt
(Created: Thursday, February 7, 2008 11:49 AM MST)
Tim Leeds Havre Daily News tleeds@havredailynews.com
U. S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. Said Wednesday that Congress will have a lot of work adding needed items to the budget proposal presented by President Bush this week. “It’s out of touch with Montana values, I can tell you that,” he said. Tester said the president has ignored issues like rural health care, Veterans Administration programs and water projects in his budget while adding to the national debt.
Bush failed in his responsibility to prioritize many important issues, Tester added. “Hopefully in the Senate we can get those back into the budget,” he said. One of the specific issues Tester said was left out of the president’s budget was funding water projects in Montana. One of those projects is repairing the St. Mary’s Diversion which supplies most of the water to the Milk River each year, authorized by Congress last year at $153 million, and another is the Rocky Boy’s/North Central Montana Regional Water System, which requested $20 million to $30 million last year and received just more than $5 million. Tester said he and senior Montana Sen. Max Baucus have fought to include money for Montana water projects in the last budget and will continue to do so, but “it will be an uphill fight.” “… We will continue to because it’s very important,” Tester said. “It’s the kind of long-term economic stimulus we need to be working on. There’s not one penny in the president’s budget for any of those projects and we are going to fight for those projects.”
http://www.havredailynews.com/articles/2008/02/07/local_headlines/world.txt
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Senator Tester hears of retribution against veterans from the VA
Tester: More must be done for veterans
By PERRY BACKUS of the Missoulian
HAMILTON - U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., told veterans Friday that while some good work has been accomplished, much improvement is still needed in the way this country treats those who've served.
“It's going to take resolve and hope,” he said. “I still have hope that we can fix the problems.”
A standing-room-only crowd of veterans had plenty of frustrations to air at the listening session with Tester, who is a member of the Senate's Veterans' Affair Committee.
With a backlog of 450,000-plus claims facing the VA, they said, it can take years for a veteran's case to be processed. They said the VA's rating system for post-traumatic stress disorder isn't being applied uniformly and Montana's veterans are falling through the cracks. And, the veterans said, they fear losing benefits if they stand up and complain.
“If anyone disagrees with the VA, they take a chance of having their benefits cut,” said a veteran named Ron, who refused to give his last name in fear of retaliation. “Anytime we step out of line, we get nailed. That's the attitude the VA has toward veterans.
“What are you going to do to change that attitude toward us?” he asked Tester.
Tester replied that veterans deserve to get the benefits they were promised when they agreed to serve their country.
He asked Ron for names.
“I will do my level best to get those bastards out of the system,” Tester said.
Following the meeting, Tester said he's heard both good and bad about Montana's VA offices. He'll follow up on reports of retribution and listen to both sides before making up his mind.
“There's no room for retribution in government, period,” he said. “After hearing both sides, we'll try to make the best decision possible for our veterans.”
go here for the rest
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/01/19/news/local/news04.txt
“It was the largest increase in the history of the VA,” Skinner said. “It's still about $12 billion short of what we need.”
Ron Skinner, a Vietnam veteran, was instrumental in making it happen. He believes there are other veterans across the state who would do the same thing if given a chance.
$12 billion short of what they need? Then why didn't they fund it fully? What is wrong with these people?
What is worse is that you have PTSD veterans being threatened with retribution. How is this possible?
At least Senator Tester and Ron Skinner are watching out for the veterans. If you have been threatened with retribution from anyone with the VA let him know.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Mental health treatment for Montana vets lags behind nation
Statistics contradict praise of mental health programs Mental health treatment for Montana vets lags behind nation
By CHRIS ADAMS
McClatchy Newspapers
By CHRIS ADAMS
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, took officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs to an auditorium at the Montana State University-College of Technology campus in Great Falls last summer to talk about the best way to provide health care to veterans in the region's vast rural areas.
The director of the VA region that includes Montana, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming detailed all that the agency was doing to provide for veterans' health needs — physical and mental.
"Comprehensive mental-health care is one of the top priorities for Network 19," Glen Grippen said, referring to the multi-state Rocky Mountain region. He said that mental health staff had been added recently, specifically for treating post-traumatic stress disorder.
Each medical center now has a suicide prevention coordinator, he said, and the VA's medical centers "actively collaborate with state National Guard and Reserve components to ensure that no returning soldier slips through the cracks."
click post title for the rest
By CHRIS ADAMS
McClatchy Newspapers
By CHRIS ADAMS
McClatchy Newspapers
WASHINGTON — Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, took officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs to an auditorium at the Montana State University-College of Technology campus in Great Falls last summer to talk about the best way to provide health care to veterans in the region's vast rural areas.
The director of the VA region that includes Montana, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming detailed all that the agency was doing to provide for veterans' health needs — physical and mental.
"Comprehensive mental-health care is one of the top priorities for Network 19," Glen Grippen said, referring to the multi-state Rocky Mountain region. He said that mental health staff had been added recently, specifically for treating post-traumatic stress disorder.
Each medical center now has a suicide prevention coordinator, he said, and the VA's medical centers "actively collaborate with state National Guard and Reserve components to ensure that no returning soldier slips through the cracks."
click post title for the rest
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