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ARTICLE 09 - Some Simple Rules for Success in Dealing with the VA ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- By Andrea West When attempting to work with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), particularly when trying to establish a service connection for an injury or to increase a disability rating, the first word that comes to mind is, "daunting." The novice sees the VA as a massive machine that will grind up and spit out anyone who doesn't know which to punch. In truth, this organization is quite understandable and easy to work with. I have been in the VA system since 1994, and my experience has been overwhelmingly positive. I am confident that, by avoiding two common mistakes and adopting a positive attitude, the veteran will significantly improve his or her chances of establishing a service connection or disability rating. The first mistake many veterans make is to treat the VA as the enemy. Acting on this premise, the veteran trying to establish a service connection takes the offensive approach, treating every obstacle and the person who tells him or her about it as an opponent to be defeated. This approach is wholly inappropriate. The VA and its staff should be viewed as potential allies, whose cooperation will help each veteran achieve his or her objective. The VA is not out to deny services. Like any other large and complex organization, it has a body of rules governing services and budgets, and each department understands the rules that pertain to its own area of expertise. VA staff members have a vested interest in making sure that veterans are served properly, in accordance with its rules and authority. Veterans should bear in mind that under the rules, they may not receive the service connection or the disability rating they seek. The second mistake veterans frequently make is trying to navigate the VA by themselves. This can lead to confusion if they start out in the wrong department. A better approach is to begin by visiting one of the veterans' service organizations representatives. There are a number of these organizations whose purpose is to serve the interests of veterans and assist them in working with the VA. The Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, and the Disabled American Veterans are three such organizations, and all of them typically maintain a service representative on the VA premises. Veterans should call the organization of choice and make an appointment to visit the service representative. Each veteran should bring a copy of any pertinent records that explain what he or she is trying to accomplish at the VA (enroll in the VA system, establish service connection for an injury, etc.), and specific information indicating what difficulties have occurred to date (missing records, eligibility questions, etc.). At this point, the veteran can ask the service representative what action should be taken. The service representative may ask the veteran to sign a limited power of attorney or similar permission for the representative to act on his or her behalf. It is important to remember that the service representative is there to advise and assist the veteran, but the veteran must do most of the actual work. This is especially true when it comes to providing documentation, because the burden of proof is on the veteran to produce the necessary records in his or her case. If records are missing, the service representative will indicate what forms must be filed to obtain them, but it is the veteran's responsibility to fill out the forms and follow up on their delivery. In fact, the service representative will point out which actions need to be taken, but the veteran must take them. Active-duty personnel should make sure that every injury is documented in his or her records. It is advisable to make two copies of everything in one's medical and dental records, and keep them in separate, safe places. When out-processing, a service member should carefully look for anything in his or her file that would be essential for claiming assistance for service-related injuries or medical conditions. It is recommended that he or she list all injuries and conditions accrued in the service. This will greatly facilitate filing a claim for injuries or other medical conditions with the VA after the discharged or retired military person makes initial contact with a veterans service organization. Another issue concerns the all-important DD-214 form, the formal record of service for each discharged or retired military service person. It is imperative that this form be completed correctly and in full when it is drawn up during out-processing. Making changes afterward is very difficult and time-consuming, if it can be done at all. Items to review in detail include the number of days of active service; combat or combat support details; medals and decorations, the reenlistment code and - last but not least - the type of discharge). It will save the service person a lot of future grief to ensure that all information presented is complete and correct before signing the form. Having enrolled in the VA system, what actions should the veteran take when seeking to establish service connection for an injury? Here is a simple but helpful roadmap for succeeding in that contact: First, the veteran should refer all questions concerning the process to the service representative, and all questions concerning medical conditions to the primary care physician. It is helpful at this point to adopt the three Ps - patience, persistence and politeness - as a personal motto: Patience is the first virtue, because claims of this nature are time-consuming and there is no way to rush the process. Some claims can take more than a year to process, so the veteran should be prepared to wait. Persistence comes second but is no less important. The veteran or retiree should check in with his or her service representative regularly. The final virtue is politeness. For VA officials and service representatives alike, it is much more of a pleasure to help a nice person, one who views the VA staff as his or her allies rather than enemies. The new veteran or retiree should also be prepared to attend a slew of appointments pertaining to his or her claim. Some of these may be offsite, such as at the offices of a private practitioner on contract to the VA for a particular service. It is essential that these appointments be kept, since the information gained from them is germane to the claim. There is no guarantee that the veteran will get the service connection or the disability rating he or she seeks, but following the procedures listed above is the best way to ensure ultimate success. Andrea West is DefenseWatch Veterans editor. She can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Table of Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- ARTICLE 10 - Guest Column: An Army Of Paupers ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- By Melana Zyla Vickers The image of Army Special Forces Sgt. 1st class Nathan Ross Chapman, 31 and a father of two, bleeding to death after being shot in the leg outside the Afghan town of Khost on January 4, is enough to evoke great heartsickness. Add the fact that Chapman, who had devoted 12 years to the Army, was making an estimated $52,000 per year, and the sorrow gives way to no small amount of guilt. Chapman wasn't the only one to give his nation everything while receiving almost nothing. The CIA's Mike Spann, a 32-year-old father of three killed in Afghanistan in late November, earned less than $50,000 per year. The three Army Special Forces sergeants killed by a stray U.S. bomb in early December were similarly poorly paid. Patriotic, adventurous service is its own reward, some might retort. While there's a grain of truth in that, it's important not to exploit these brave Americans' sense of national duty. Compare the salaries of men on the front lines to others that might be judged comparably adventurous and service-oriented, and you'll find that soldiers serving in Afghanistan are getting short-changed. New York City firefighters such as the ones that doused the World Trade Center flames, for instance, can make $60,000 after only ten years. Unlike Special Forces soldiers, firefighters can also arrange their work in shifts that allow them to hold lucrative second jobs. Similarly, police officers in the Seattle area - where Chapman was raising his family - can make $60,500 after six years. These figures don't count overtime pay, which a soldier doesn't get even if he's working 24/7. Pointing this out is not to suggest that New York's bravest or Seattle's finest are overpaid. On the contrary, it is simply to suggest that, by comparison, U.S. military personnel are getting short shrift. And there's a contrast between the soldiers and broader society as well: According to a study by the think tank RAND, half of civilians with some college education earn more than their counterparts in the military do. Remuneration is faulty within the military, too. The paycheck that goes to a soldier suffering months of privation and threats to his life in Afghanistan is almost the same as that of a soldier of equal rank patrolling the Coke machines in the Pentagon. The maximum difference between the monthly pay of a Sgt. Chapman and a Sgt. Desk Jockey is about $800 and usually far less. It's broken down into special pays for such skills as freefall parachuting or scuba if the soldier has them, foreign-language proficiency, and a paltry $150 in "hostile fire and imminent danger" payments known as combat pay. To be sure, there's some simple economics at work here: The price of combat soldiers is set where the supply of young, intelligent, patriotic, able-bodied Americans meets the military's demand for them. If the nation had a shortage of qualified applicants for the Special Forces, it could presumably attract more candidates by raising the pay. The fact that it doesn't suggests that the country remains full of willing candidates. But at a time of war when combat soldiers' sacrifices are so glaring, there should be more to a discussion of their compensation than the cold logic of a supply curve. What's more, the question of fair pay is sure to come up again as the U.S. becomes more dependent on fighting wars Afghanistan-style, with air power supplemented by Special Forces. Fairness alone argues for rewarding the soldiers who put their lives at risk for the country, or indeed give their lives for it, with better financial compensation. If the services want to preserve the equity among all servicepeople of a certain rank, so be it. But for national gratitude's sake, the Department of Defense should increase the pay that goes to soldiers who actually serve in the line of fire. DoD has begun to improve the lot of soldiers overall, albeit modestly. An across-the-board, 5 percent increase in military pay kicked in this year. In addition, DoD offers servicepeople bonuses for reenlistment that can go as high as their basic annual salary minus special pay. And in a practice that arose to lure young people into the military during the 1990s boom years, when other jobs had much greater financial appeal, it will in some cases pay signing bonuses of up to $20,000. But these are one-time windfalls, and they don't particularly reward soldiers such as the Green Berets in Afghanistan. Far better for the nation to recognize the sacrifice of these men and their families and to reward it, than to remain slavishly attached to principles of intra-military equity, supply, and demand. © 2002 TechCentralStation.com, reprinted with permission. Vickers is a columnist for TechCentralStation.com and can be reached at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Table of Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- ARTICLE 11 - Medal of Honor Recipient -- MITCHELL, FRANK N., 1st Lt. USMC ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Marine Corps, Company A, 1st Battalion, 7th Marines, 1st Marine Division (Rein.). Place and date: Near Hansan-ni, Korea, 26 November 1950. Entered service at: Roaring Springs, Tex. Born: 18 August 1921, Indian Gap, Tex. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as leader of a rifle platoon of Company A, in action against enemy aggressor forces. Leading his platoon in point position during a patrol by his company through a thickly wooded and snow-covered area in the vicinity of Hansan-ni, 1st Lt. Mitchell acted immediately when the enemy suddenly opened fire at pointblank range, pinning down his forward elements and inflicting numerous casualties in his ranks. Boldly dashing to the front under blistering fire from automatic weapons and small arms, he seized an automatic rifle from one of the wounded men and effectively trained it against the attackers and, when his ammunition was expended, picked up and hurled grenades with deadly accuracy, at the same time directing and encouraging his men in driving the outnumbering enemy from his position. Maneuvering to set up a defense when the enemy furiously counterattacked to the front and left flank, 1st Lt. Mitchell, despite wounds sustained early in the action, reorganized his platoon under the devastating fire, and spearheaded a fierce hand-to-hand struggle to repulse the onslaught. Asking for volunteers to assist in searching for and evacuating the wounded, he personally led a party of litter bearers through the hostile lines in growing darkness and, although suffering intense pain from multiple wounds, stormed ahead and waged a single-handed battle against the enemy, successfully covering the withdrawal of his men before he was fatally struck down by a burst of small-arms fire. Stouthearted and indomitable in the face of tremendous odds, 1st Lt. Mitchell, by his fortitude, great personal valor and extraordinary heroism, saved the lives of several marines and inflicted heavy casualties among the aggressors. His unyielding courage throughout reflects the highest credit upon himself and the U.S. Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country If you know of any MOH recipient who is hospitalized or has passed away recently, please email DefenseWatch MOH Editor Jim H. at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Table of Contents ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- EDITOR'S NOTE: Your Support is Important! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- Footnote: The ultimate success in reviving and expanding SFTT depends on everyone. We need your financial contributions to continue our operation. While any amount is welcome, we suggest a $30 annual contribution from each member will enable us to succeed. The IRS recognizes SFTT as a 501(c)3 Non-Profit Educational Foundation (IRS EIN 31-1592564). Donations are tax deductible. Send us some moral support and encouragement to help in the struggle to improve combat readiness. Every little contribution helps. Mail your checks to: Soldiers For The Truth Foundation P.O. 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