Prime Minister Julia Gillard hears "tidal wave" of PTSD vets needing care

Australia is talking about a "tidal wave" of veterans with PTSD. Compare the 39 killed in Afghanistan to the 2,191 US troops killed. Their wounded of 249 to the thousands of US wounded. If Australia is already talking "tidal wave" what does that have to say about the US? When you consider how many more US forces are there compared to Australia, that should send the most powerful message of all.  If Australia is dealing with a "tidal wave" we are dealing with a tsunami.

Gillard confronted by soldier with PTSD
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been confronted on talkback radio by a soldier who complained about a lack of support for mentally ill veterans.

The man who identified himself as "Adam" says he returned from Afghanistan with post traumatic stress disorder but he has found the discharge process confusing and stressful.

His comments follow a warning from retired Army Major General John Cantwell that Defence will be bombarded "thousands" of mental illness cases as troops withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of the year.

Adam said he had a bad experience with the Department of Veterans' Affairs and asked the Prime Minister what she planned to do about it.

"My experiences with DVA, [Department of Veterans' Affairs] is a very jagged field and nobody can give you direct answer of where you're going to be and where you'll end up, which adds to the stresses of the discharge process," he said.

"Now what is your plan... for the return guys that are coming with those problems? Because they are going to come back and things are going to be different for them."
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Australia withdraws Afghanistan troops
At least 1,000 soldiers to be home by end of 2013 as security in Uruzgan province is handed over to Afghans
Associated Press in Canberra
guardian.co.uk
Tuesday 26 March 2013

Australia has announced two-thirds of its troops in Afghanistan will be home by the end of the 2013 when the international military base at Tarin Kowt in Uruzgan province closes.

The defence minister, Stephen Smith, said at least 1,000 of the 1,550 Australian troops in Afghanistan would be withdrawn by the end of the year.

Australia has the 10th largest national force in Afghanistan and is the largest military contributor outside Nato. Australia also has the largest number of special forces in the campaign after the United States and Britain.

Military involvement is supported by both the Australian government and opposition but its popularity among the Australian public has plummeted as the war has dragged on for 12 years. In that time 39 Australian troops have died and 249 have been wounded.
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VA Assistant Sec. Tommy Sowers blames others

UPDATE
March 28, 2013
Last night Jon Stewart of the Daily Show showed how angry he is over what is happening to our veterans coming home from Afghanistan joining the line of Iraq veterans. I like to watch the Daily Show before I finally go to sleep. Last night was not one of the nights when he got my mind off what I do all day long. I was too angry. Not angry about what usually gets my blood boiling. I was angry over Stewart forgetting how bad it has always been for our veterans.

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Daily Show on Facebook

I left the Daily Show this comment
I track all these reports and last night I was glad it was covered but wow are you wrong. The number of VA Service Reps was 1,516 in January of 2003 but in 2007 there were only 1,392. In 2000 the VA had 578,000 claims but went to 838,000 in 2008. That same year the VA was trying to do online claims. It was also later in the year of 879,291 in backlog including 148,000 Vietnam veterans who finally filed claims in 2007. That same year, the a defense contractor was given a contract for $2.7 million to make 555,000 phone calls to veterans to find out why they had not gone to the VA. Obama changed the rules for PTSD claims and Agent Orange Claims but with the mess that was there before, Congress didn't increase funding enough or hire enough staff to even catch up. Suicides are up and there are 900 DOD suicide prevention programs congress finds the money for but they are not working. RAND took a look among other researchers and found why they failed but DOD won't listen.
You should be angry at what is going on, but we've been angry all along.

If you doubt he is telling the truth, then you need to read what happened in 2008.

Veterans Affairs lauds technology, blames predecessors for 2-year claim wait
Jane C. Timm
9:35 AM on 03/27/2013

Veterans Affairs’ Assistant Secretary Tommy Sowers blamed the previous Veterans Affairs administration for the recently revealed 700-day wait that many veterans face when claiming disability.

The crux of the problem, Sowers said, is that they inherited an inefficient, paper-based claims system.

“Why are we still using paper in 2013?” Morning Joe‘s Mike Barnicle asked.
“Why in 2009 were we still using paper?” Sowers fired back. “When we came in, there was no plan to change that; we’ve been operating on a six month wait for over a decade.”

The wait now tops 600 days in many places.
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Buried under backlogs
By GREGG CARLSTROM
February 25, 2008

At the start of the Bush administration in 2001, VA had more than 400,000 pending claims for disability ratings, which determine a service-disabled veteran’s employability and disability benefits. The department made progress reducing that number: By 2003, the backlog was down to around 250,000.

But then the nation went to war.

“VA was kind of cruising right along with a certain volume of claims until the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Then the volume of claims increased,” said Belinda Finn, VA’s assistant inspector general for auditing. “We still had the same processes for handling a lower workload, and the system just hasn’t been able to handle the increase in claims.”

And so the backlog started creeping up. By 2008, VA once again has more than 400,000 pending claims for a disability rating. About 25 percent of those are officially considered backlogged, meaning they have been pending longer than six months.

“The number of claims that we receive each year has been going up pretty steadily,” said Michael Walcoff, VA’s associate deputy undersecretary for field operations. “In 2000, we got 578,000 claims, and last year got 838,000.

Apr 24, 2008 “Since 2006, the number of claims has grown 15 percent. The amount of time it takes to make decisions on disability claims is two to three year. On an average, it takes four years to get an appeals decision.”

Pilot Program to Cut Red Tape for Veterans' Disability Claims
VA Launches Pilot Program to Cut Red Tape for Veterans' Disability Claims
KWTX Channel 10 (Texas)
June 13, 2008 - The Texas Veterans Commission will assist the Department of Veterans Affairs Waco Regional Office in a pilot program aimed at faster processing of disability claims, the state Veterans Commission announced Friday.
The Waco VA Regional Office and the TVC was selected for the pilot program because “they are well known for working together with exceptional effectiveness,” the TVC said in a press release Friday.
Veterans counselors from TVC will use their unique understanding of VA claims processes to assist veterans in more quickly obtaining the evidence needed to support their claims,” said Acting Under Secretary for Benefits Patrick W. Dunne.

June 22, 2008
VA reported 879,291 claims were in backlog
June 22
Increased VA budget to quicken disability claims
BILL SMITH VIEWS ON VETERANS
THE HOUSE OF Representatives and the U.S. Senate approved legislation in March that would increase the VA budget by $3.2 billion, which is more than what the Administration offered in February. According to the June issue of DAV magazine, this move could set the VA’s total budget at $93.6 billion for 2009, indicating a $5.22 billion increase from this year. The two bills, H. Con. Res. 312 in the House and S. Con Res. 70 in the Senate, passed March 13 and 14 respectively.
From comments in the June issue of the VFW magazine: “The $3.2 billion increase is in line with the veterans health care recommendations that were laid out in the Independent Budget,” said Dennis M. Cullinan, director, National Legislative Service, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, when referring to a budget developed by the VFW, Paralyzed Veterans of America, AMVETS and Disabled Veterans. “Both the Senate and House versions reject the proposed co-payment and fee increases, which the VFW strongly opposes.”

July 16, 2008
VA Announces On-Line Claims Applications
Wonder if this has anything to do with Lockheed Martin messing up the claims process? That just made the news yesterday.

VA Announces On-Line Claims Applications
WASHINGTON (July 16, 2008) - The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today that on-line applications are now accepted from veterans, survivors and other claimants filing initial applications for disability compensation, pension, education, and vocational rehabilitation and employment benefits without the additional requirement to submit a signed paper copy of the application.
Effective immediately, VA will now process applications received through its on-line application website (VONAPP) without the claimant's signature. The electronic application will be sufficient authentication of the claimant's application for benefits. Normal development procedures and rules of evidence will still apply to all VONAPP applications.

All of this led to this

House passes 8 veterans’ benefits bills
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 30, 2008 17:26:37 EDT
Veterans with disabilities clearly connected to military service, such as amputated limbs as a result of combat wounds, would get speedy approval of claims to receive veterans’ benefits under a bill approved Wednesday by the House.
The Disability Claims Modernization Act, sponsored by Rep. John Hall, D-N.Y., is one of eight veteran-related bills that the House of Representatives rushed to pass before leaving town for a summer break that will stretch into early September and feature a lot of campaigning by lawmakers seeking re-election as well as the Democratic and Republican presidential nominating conventions.

Lockheed Martin mistakes caused $20 million in benefits errors to disabled veterans, Kucinich says
By Stephen Koff, Plain Dealer Washington Bureau Chief
on October 23, 2008
WASHINGTON -- A federal contractor's mistakes have caused $20 million in errors affecting severely disabled military veterans, according to U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich.
It's too early to tell how much of that represents money denied to severely disabled veterans, compared with excessive payments that the government made to veterans who should not have qualified for as much.
But according to Kucinich, citing an audit by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service, between 1,782 and 1,985 severely disabled veterans were wrongly denied a payment, while as many as 2,514 such veterans received inaccurate payments. This only includes payments exceeding $2,500, since smaller ones are not part of the DFAS review.
In terms of the number of veterans involved, this means the contractor, Lockheed Martin, "mis-computed and mishandled the VA Retro pay awards of the equivalent of a whole combat brigade," Kucinich said Wednesday.

If you read Wounded Times you get the news like the above without the political bull. You can know the facts. If you subscribe, you get it all first.  Remember it is free!

Medal of Honor Heroes gather to honor everyday heroes

Medal of Honor Heroes gather to honor everyday heroes
2013 Citizen Service Before Self Honors
By C.J. Lin
Stars and Stripes
Published: March 26, 2013

ARLINGTON, Va. — Marcos Ugarte wasn’t even thinking; he just knew he had to do it. He propped up a ladder against a burning home, climbed it and pulled to safety a 7-year-old boy who had been trapped in a second-floor room.

So when 21 Medal of Honor recipients gathered this week to honor the 15-year-old Ugarte and three other civilians with an award for bravery and sacrifice, the teen couldn’t help but think that what he did didn’t quite stack up.

“What I did was so small compared to what they have done in the war,” said Ugarte, of Troutdale, Ore. “They’re amazing. They’ve all done great deeds in the war, and I think it’s just an honor to shake their hand.”
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Army chaplain’s Passover seder a draw across Europe

Army chaplain’s Passover seder a draw across Europe
By Steven Beardsley
Stars and Stripes
Published: March 26, 2013

GRAFENWÖHR, Germany — Break out the Haggadah and crack the matza — Passover has arrived at this small Army garrison, where U.S. Army Europe’s only Jewish chaplain is holding services for the second straight year.

Capt. Andrew Shulman of the 18th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion guided participants in the first of four Passover seders on Monday, a meal that commemorates the Jewish exodus from Egypt and the tale of an angel of death passing over homes marked with the blood of a lamb.

The holiday began at sundown on Monday and continues through next Tuesday.
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 On the subject of "your" Easter and "my" Easter (Orthodox) here's the answer on why it is different.

What differences are there between Easter and Orthodox Easter? The most obvious difference between “Western Easter” and Orthodox Pascha is the date. While the feast-days occasionally coincide, Orthodox Christians still calculate the date of Easter on the old calendar established under Julius Caesar, a calendar which many Orthodox Churches still employ. At St. John’s, we use the modern calendar for most of our “fixed feasts” (we celebrate Christmas on December 25 according to the Gregorian calendar, for example), but in order that all the Orthodox Christian churches may celebrate the great “Feast of feasts” together, we calculate the date of Pascha following the more ancient Christian tradition.

Fatal police shooting of JBLM medic justified

Fatal police shooting of JBLM medic justified
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Mar 27, 2013

TACOMA, Wash. — The Pierce County prosecutor says a police officer was justified in fatally shooting a man who pointed a loaded handgun at him last August outside a Tacoma home.

Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said 29-year-old Prince Jamel Gavin refused orders to drop the gun and was shot when he raised it toward the officer.
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Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier killed by police