JJ_BPK
04-25-2011, 03:36
It's about time..
http://www.armytimes.com/benefits/health/military-special-operations-va-benefits-111610w/?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4db41874b58e14bd%2C0
VA assigns officer to verify claims involving secret missions
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Nov 16, 2010 12:49:16 EST
For veterans claiming they can’t prove a service connection for their disability because it resulted from a secret operation, the Veterans Affairs Department has assigned a liaison officer to the U.S. Special Operations Command with direct access to classified files.
The little-known program has a VA employee work closely with the command historian at the command’s headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., to review files on classified missions for special operations units in all services.
Befitting the nature of the missions involved, the program, quietly launched a year ago, has received scant attention. Joe Davis, spokesman for Veterans of Foreign Wars, was unaware of the initiative. “But it does make perfect sense, given the clandestine nature of their business,” he said.
The liaison was established in December 2009 under an agreement between the Pentagon and VA.
The current VA liaison to the Special Operations Command is an Army veteran who was not part of a special operations unit but has the appropriate security clearances to review files, according to VA sources.
Lack of records access has been seen by many spec ops veterans as a roadblock to filing claims, especially for disabilities such as post-traumatic stress, for which there may be nothing in military health or personnel records to verify any treatment while the veteran was in uniform.
continued.......
Thanks for the obvious..
http://www.armytimes.com/benefits/health/military-special-operations-va-benefits-111610w/?sms_ss=facebook&at_xt=4db41874b58e14bd%2C0
VA assigns officer to verify claims involving secret missions
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Nov 16, 2010 12:49:16 EST
For veterans claiming they can’t prove a service connection for their disability because it resulted from a secret operation, the Veterans Affairs Department has assigned a liaison officer to the U.S. Special Operations Command with direct access to classified files.
The little-known program has a VA employee work closely with the command historian at the command’s headquarters at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., to review files on classified missions for special operations units in all services.
Befitting the nature of the missions involved, the program, quietly launched a year ago, has received scant attention. Joe Davis, spokesman for Veterans of Foreign Wars, was unaware of the initiative. “But it does make perfect sense, given the clandestine nature of their business,” he said.
The liaison was established in December 2009 under an agreement between the Pentagon and VA.
The current VA liaison to the Special Operations Command is an Army veteran who was not part of a special operations unit but has the appropriate security clearances to review files, according to VA sources.
Lack of records access has been seen by many spec ops veterans as a roadblock to filing claims, especially for disabilities such as post-traumatic stress, for which there may be nothing in military health or personnel records to verify any treatment while the veteran was in uniform.
continued.......
Thanks for the obvious..