Veterans for Common Sense

November 21, 2008 – An Army Reserve colonel and Iraq war veteran could become the next secretary of Veterans’ Affairs.

Anthony Brown, Maryland’s lieutenant governor, is getting attention because he is on President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team as co-chair of the group studying priorities for the Veterans Affairs Department – and because, like Obama, he is a Harvard Law School graduate.

Brown, who turned 47 on Friday, had been a member of Veterans for Clinton, a group that supported Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., for the Democratic presidential nomination.

That he was named to the transition team appears to show that early support for an Obama rival has not worked against him.

Brown also helped draft the 2008 Democratic Party national platform last summer.

Brown’s name, hotly circulating Friday among people advising the Obama transition, comes after speculation had centered on two other people to take over the VA, both disabled veterans.

Former Sen. Max Cleland, a 67-year-old Vietnam veteran who lost both legs and an arm in that conflict, served as head of the then-Veterans Administration during the Carter administration and campaigned hard for Obama in the recent election campaign.

Tammy Duckworth, a 41-year-old Iraq war veteran who lost both legs when her helicopter was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade, has served as the head of the Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs since she lost a 2006 race for Congress.

Duckworth, a major in the Illinois National Guard, has been mentioned as a possible successor to Obama’s U.S. Senate seat, which he resigned after being elected president.

Obama aides did not respond to questions about the VA nomination. Although there has been speculation about several cabinet posts, no formal announcements have been made about nominees.

Brown was commissioned in the Army in 1984 and spent five years on active duty as a helicopter pilot with the 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division. He entered law school after leaving active duty. After getting his law degree, he spent two years as a clerk for the U.S. Court of Military Appeals.

Brown deployed to Iraq in 2004 as part of the 353rd Civil Affairs Command, and since 2007 has commanded the Army Reserve’s Pennsylvania-based 153rd Legal Support Organization.

Brown served as a Maryland state delegate from 1999 until his election as the state’s lieutenant governor in 2006.

Since then, he has worked on a variety of military and veterans projects, serving as chairman of the Maryland Veterans Behavioral Health Advisory Board that oversees efforts to provide and improve direct mental health services to returning veterans and working to expand services for veterans in rural areas.

“We will provide the services when they are not available to veterans,” Brown said in an interview with Military Times earlier this year about Maryland’s initiatives for returning veterans.

When Brown and Gov. Martin O’Malley looked at what they could do for returning veterans, Brown said, “The glaring area is in mental health, ” the inability of VA to care for veterans.”

To those who contend that this is a federal responsibility, Brown said that when he looks at someone, he doesn’t see a federal worker or civilian worker, but a Maryland resident.

“When they come home and take off the uniform, they are our neighbors,” he said.

Anthony G. Brown: Biography

Taken from the website of Lieutenant Governor Anthony G. Brown

 Anthony G. Brown was inaugurated as Maryland’s 8th lieutenant governor on January 17, 2007.

He works in full partnership with Governor Martin O’Malley to deliver on their campaign promises: to strengthen and grow Maryland’s middle class; to improve public safety and public education in every part of our state; and expand opportunities for all Marylanders.

Mr. Brown has long shown a deep commitment to public service, his community, the state of Maryland and our nation.

Prior to being selected to run along side Martin O’Malley, Mr. Brown was twice elected to represent residents of Prince George’s County (District 25) in the Maryland House of Delegates.  In Mr. Brown’s second term, House Speaker Michael Busch selected him to be Majority Whip where he took an active leadership role on such issues as veteran’s affairs, health care and adoption services.  He also championed various economic development initiatives, including overhauling Maryland’s Enterprise Zone Program.

Mr. Brown is a Harvard-educated attorney and has been a member of the Active and Reserve Components of the United States Army since 1984.  In 2004, Mr. Brown was deployed to Iraq to serve a 10-month tour with the Multi-National Force-Iraq, where he worked with military and civilian officials to deliver humanitarian assistance to the people of the war-torn country.

In 2007, Mr. Brown was promoted to the rank of Colonel and currently commands the 153rd Legal Support Organization located in Pennsylvania.  Mr. Brown is currently the highest-ranking elected official in the nation who has served a tour of duty in Iraq.

Within the O’Malley/Brown Administration, Mr. Brown focuses on four major policy areas:

   1. Military Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)
   2. Veterans Affairs
   3. Healthcare
   4. Higher Education
   5. Economic Development

As chairman of the Governor’s Subcabinet on BRAC, Mr. Brown oversees the state’s efforts to plan for the anticipated arrival of at least 28,000 BRAC households and 60,000 BRAC-related jobs in the state.  He coordinates with government and military agencies to ensure Maryland’s infrastructure and workforce is adequately prepared for BRAC.

During the 2008 legislative session, on behalf of the O’Malley-Brown Administration, Mr. Brown championed legislation to care for the behavioral health of veterans transitioning from combat back to their communities.  He also worked to establish special funding for a veterans business loan program and academic scholarships for veterans and their family members.

In addition, Mr. Brown serves as co-chair of the Maryland Health Quality and Cost Council designed to bring together health care leaders to collaborate on ways to improve quality and contain costs across the public and private sectors.  The Council will lay out a blueprint to make Maryland an international leader in the delivery of health care.

Since taking office, Mr. Brown – a former chair of the Prince George’s Community College Board of Trustees – has traveled the state visiting community colleges and opening a dialogue with students and administrators.

Mr. Brown believes that community colleges provide an array of educational opportunities for diverse constituencies throughout Maryland.  The O’Malley-Brown Administration has invested record amounts in building the capacity of the state’s community colleges.

He serves on the Board of Directors for the East Baltimore Development, Inc. and the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore.  He is the O’Malley/Brown Administration’s liaison to the business community and has encouraged expanding opportunities for small and minority and businesses.

Mr. Brown lives in Prince George’s County and has two children, Rebecca and Jonathan.

November 20, 2008 – A resolution that would have called for protection of the West Los Angeles VA property from any uses by “a non-veterans organization or for any non-veterans-related purpose” was barred from consideration at the California Democratic Party Executive Board Meeting in Anaheim on Saturday, November 15.

Because of recent rule changes advancing the deadline for submitting such resolutions, the VA property resolution was filed two days late, explained Bob Handy, who chairs the California Democratic Party Veterans Caucus and who was one of the resolution’s authors.  The Resolutions Committee agreed to entertain the resolution nevertheless, said Handy, with the proviso that any one member of the Committee could veto its consideration, and that is what happened.

Julie Dad, a Santa Monica delegate at the gathering, said that John Hanna, a Resolutions Committee member from Orange County, objected to the consideration of the resolution, and so it never made it to the General Session.  The next time the resolution can be considered by the statewide party will be at the party’s state convention in Sacramento April 24-26, 2009, Dad said.

Handy said that he personally had not been pressured to abandon the resolution, but that he had been told by other supporters that considerable political pressure was being brought to bear against the resolution.

The resolution grew out of concerns by Handy and others who object to an August 2007 “Sharing Agreement” between the VA and an organization known as the Veterans Park Conservancy whereby approximately 16 acres of the VA property at the northeast corner of Wilshire and San Vicente Boulevards is to be used as a park “for the benefit of veterans and the general public.”  The 20-year agreement provides for no rent to the VA, but provides that the Conservancy shall undertake certain capital improvements “as resources become available.”

In a statement in support of the resolution, Robert L. Rosebrock, Co-Director of We the Veterans and Director of The Veterans Revolution, said, “This land is under the stewardship of the 30th U.S. Congressional District, Henry Waxman’s District, which he has represented over the past 35 years.  It is imperative that Congressman Waxman decides if he is looking out for Veterans “needs’ at the largest VA healthcare in the nation, or the ‘wants’ of one of the wealthiest Zip Codes in the nation.”

The resolution stated that “a public park, despite its value to the whole community, is inconsistent with the exclusive use for veterans envisioned by the donors [of the property in 1888], and the trust conveyed in their deed to the United States.”  Handy said the resolution had been signed by over a hundred persons from across the United States and across party lines, including Sen. Art Torres (Ret.), Chairman of the California Democratic Party and Santa Monica City councilmember Bobby Shriver.

November 20, 2008, Ft. Leonard Wood, MO – The number of soldiers seeking help for substance abuse has climbed 25{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} in the past five years, but the Army’s counseling program has remained significantly understaffed and struggling to meet the demand, according to Army records.

About 13,500 soldiers sought drug counseling this year and 7,200 soldiers were diagnosed with an abuse or dependency issue and enrolled in counseling, Army data show. That compares with 11,170 soldiers reporting to drug counseling in 2003, when 5,727 enrolled.

UNDERSTAFFED: Missouri Army drug abuse counseling program cited

Army records show 2.38{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} of all soldiers had positive results on routine drug urinalysis screening, a 10-year record. In 2004, when combat troops returned from Iraq in large numbers, 1.72{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} had positive results.

The Army requires one drug counselor for every 2,000 soldiers, yet is currently operating with one for 3,100 soldiers, a chronic shortage exacerbated by the increase in substance abuse cases.

The problem has been more severe here, where three counselors had been serving 14,000 soldiers and 1,000 Marines — one for every 5,000 troops. In recent months, three more counselors joined the staff.

Les McFarling, director of the Army Substance Abuse Programs, said the Army is authorized for 283 drug and alcohol counselors and despite new staffing this year, is still 38{cd9ac3671b356cd86fdb96f1eda7eb3bb1367f54cff58cc36abbd73c33c82e1d} short of full strength.

Col. Theresa Sullivan, former hospital commander, agreed that the program has had problems but insisted that no one was denied counseling.

Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., is demanding a review of the program after her staff investigated allegations that more than 150 troops at the installation here were denied substance abuse counseling because of a staff shortage.

“If it was that bad at Fort Leonard Wood, it very well could be an Army-wide problem,” McCaskill said Wednesday, urging aggressive hiring efforts. “This is about grabbing the military and shaking them and saying, ‘Hey, you’ve got to focus (on this).’ “

In a Nov. 12 letter to Army Secretary Pete Geren that McCaskill’s staff provided to USA TODAY, McCaskill said the fort’s program had been “in shambles” for years.

“How is it that a program can so deteriorate at a time when drug use and alcohol abuse is known to be closely tied to PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), suicides, criminal behavior, divorce and domestic abuse, all of which have substantially increased in recent years in the Army?” McCaskill wrote.

USA TODAY reported last month that narcotic pain-relief prescriptions for injured troops jumped from 30,000 a month to 50,000 since the Iraq war began, raising concerns about potential drug abuse and addiction.

November 20, 2008, Vilseck, Germany – Two U.S. soldiers have been charged by the military with conspiracy to commit premeditated murder relating to the shooting deaths of four Iraqi prisoners in Baghdad in early 2007 in what was allegedly a retaliation killing.

According to a statement released Thursday by the U.S. Army Joint Multinational Command office in Germany, Staff Sgt. Jess Cunningham, 27, and Sgt. Charles Quigley, 28, both formerly of the 1st Batt., 18th Inf. Regiment, will face the charges at a general courts-martial.

The charges were referred to the courts-martial on Nov. 17, 2008, following the conclusion of an Article 32 investigation that began Aug. 28 at the Rose Barracks Courthouse in Vilseck, Germany, according to the statement.

The military said no date had been set for the court-martials hearings.

Meanwhile, an Iraqi al Qaeda in Iraq leader blamed in the 2004 abduction and murder of a U.S. Army reservist and several other attacks over several years has been killed in Baghdad, the U.S. military said Thursday.

Hajji Hammadi, also known as Hammadi Awdah Abd Farhan and Abd-al-Salam Ahmad Abdallah al-Janabi, was killed with another armed insurgent on Nov. 11 in a raid by U.S. forces acting on a tip in Baghdad’s Mansour neighborhood, according to a statement.

The abduction of Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Matt Maupin of Batavia, Ohio, was one of the most high-profile against American forces in Iraq.

The 20-year-old private first class was seized when his fuel convoy was attacked by insurgents in Iraq on April 19, 2004, as the insurgency was gaining strength. Al-Jazeera later aired a videotape in April 2004 showing him wearing camouflage and a floppy desert hat, sitting on a floor surrounded by five masked men holding automatic rifles.

Cunningham and Quigley are two of seven American soldiers allegedly involved in the incidents which took place in April and May of 2007.

Spc. Steven Ribordy, 25, of Salina, Kansas pleaded guilty early in October to charges of accessory to murder and was sentenced to eight months in prison for his role in the killings.

The four Iraqis were bound, blindfolded, shot and dumped in a canal in Baghdad.

Ribourdy was also to receive a bad conduct discharge from the Army as part of his plea deal. He also agreed to testify against other members of his unit.

Ribordy testified that he had helped stand guard as the prisoners were killed by other members of his patrol in early 2007. He said he approached the scene after the shots were fired and saw three bodies lying in a pool of blood, and then the fourth nearer to the canal.

Ribordy told the court he saw three other members of the patrol – Sgt. John E. Hatley, Sgt. 1st Class Joseph P. Mayo, and Sgt. Michael P. Leahy Jr. – at the scene and smelled gunpowder in the air.

“They all seemed calm,” he said.

Ribordy testified that he helped move one of the bodies to the edge of the canal, then push it in.

“I wasn’t ordered or asked in any way, shape or form to move the body,” he told the court. “I wanted to get it done and get out of there – I didn’t want anybody getting in trouble.”

He told judge Col. Timothy Grammel that he was now sorry for his actions.

All seven soldiers allegedly involved were assigned to the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade of the 1st Infantry Division in Iraq. They are now part of the Germany-based 172nd Infantry Brigade.

In September, another soldier charged with conspiracy to commit murder, Spc. Belmor Ramos, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to seven months in prison and given a dishonorable discharge. Ramos, 23, testified he had stood guard as the killings were carried out.

Ramos, of Clearfield, Utah, was given the relatively lenient sentence as part of a deal under which he will also testify against others alleged to have been involved in the killings.

Ramos and Ribordy were in the same Humvee during the killings – Ramos manning the machine-gun turret and Ribordy at the wheel, Ribordy testified.

At Ramos’ trial and August hearings for Cunningham and Quigley, witnesses said four Iraqi men were bound, blindfolded, shot in the head and dumped in a Baghdad canal – killings prosecutors said were in retribution for casualties in the unit.

During the Article 32 hearings for Cunningham and Quigley, soldiers who were on the patrol said that the four unidentified Iraqis – likely Sunnis – were taken into custody after a shootout with insurgents and taken to the unit’s operating base near Baghdad. Later that night, members of the patrol took the four men out to a remote location and killed them, witnesses said.

Hatley, Mayo, and Leahy were all charged with premeditated murder, conspiracy to commit premeditated murder and obstruction of justice.

Leahy’s Article 32 proceedings, to determine if there is enough evidence for him to be sent before a court-martial, was to have taken place on Nov. 12, but no dates for the other two soldiers’ hearings had been set.

Hatley and Leahy were also charged with one count each of premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit premeditated murder in a separate killing near Baghdad in January 2007.

Leahy was also charged with being an accessory after the fact in that incident, a September statement from the Army said, without providing more details.

November 21, 2008, Canandaigua, NY – Veteran Affairs Secretary Dr. James Peake called the suicide rate among veterans “a chronic problem” during a visit Thursday to the VA Medical Center.

Referring to statistics showing that, on average, 6,500 U.S. veterans a year – or 18 a day – commit suicide, Peake said the data suggests an elevation in the suicide rate among veterans of all ages. Figures also suggest an “upturn in younger veterans” committing suicide, said Peake, including those who have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan.

Peake, a West Point graduate, Vietnam veteran and former cardiac surgeon, toured the 75-year-old VA campus and talked with the media and local veterans advocates during the visit, which was prompted by the success of the national veterans suicide-prevention hotline.

The hotline, which opened in July 2007, fielded 84,541 calls as of Sept. 30. That figure was nearly double the 43,294 calls received as of April 30. The number of calls resulting in rescues rose even more sharply, from 885 as of April 30 to 2,130 as of Sept. 30.

The hotline serves a dual purpose: not only saving lives but developing data to enhance mental-health services, said Peake.

That data is helping in the research being done by the Center of Excellence at the Canandaigua VA. The center employs 41 administrative officers, training consultants and clinical researchers focused on preventing suicide and treating mental illness in veterans. It is working in conjunction with the hotline and strives to link veterans with the appropriate services and programs, as well as educating the community and VA staff about sensitive issues such as suicide.

The key now is to continue to “get the word out,” said Peake, in letting veterans and their families know about the hotline and other VA services. Peake, who became VA secretary in December, said he has lifted a ban on advertising VA services to help in the outreach efforts.

Thursday’s visit, which was not open to the public, was attended by veterans’ advocates Ralph Calabrese, a veterans of the Korean War; and Gene Simes, a Marine Corps veteran and national chairman of Operation Firing for Effect.

A few of their questions for Peake centered on the changing role of the VA, expanding outpatient services and using private health-care facilities to address certain veterans’ needs.

Calabrese said he thinks veterans need the camaraderie and empathy they receive at a VA, as opposed to receiving health-care at private facilities, where providers don’t always have experience with veterans.

 Peake said the role of the VA is shifting to meet the needs of the 21st century, including expanding evening and weekend hours at the VA for serving outpatients and working more out in the community.

Reaching veterans often means finding “that teachable moment,” said Peake. A veteran may have been home for a while before discovering troubles in work or family life tied to his or her military service.

“It is the role of the VA to be there for special needs and for those who have fallen through the cracks,” Peake said.

November 21, 2008 – Staffers at the national suicide prevention hotline for veterans, located at the Canandaigua Veterans Affairs Medical Center, received a pat on the back Thursday during a visit from Dr. James B. Peake, U.S. secretary of veterans affairs.

He praised the work of the hotline, which has received about 85,000 calls since it opened in late July 2007. Nearly 37,000 callers so far were veterans – including nearly 1,000 active duty military personnel. That means the hotline averages 101 calls from veterans per day.

The Canandaigua hotline has summoned emergency care for 2,130 people deemed to be at imminent risk.

“I’ve been bragging about this place for the year I’ve been in office,” Peake said. He was sworn into office in December and is responsible for the $77.3 billion national V.A. system of health care, benefits and national cemeteries for America’s veterans and their dependents.

Jan Kemp, V.A. national suicide prevention coordinator, said from her Canandaigua office that she believes Peake took away a sense of awe. “It’s resources well spent,” she said. “It was extremely gratifying to me to be able to show him what his undying support has produced.”

The visit was a marked turnaround from five years ago, when the V.A. proposed closing the Canandaigua campus to cut costs.

Peake said that the Canandaigua V.A. has adapted remarkably since it was built in 1933. At its peak it housed 1,700 veterans. Now, only about 200 veterans live at the center and about 18,000 are treated as outpatients a year. Future plans call for creating a 120-bed nursing home, a new 50-bed residential rehabilitation facility and a renovated outpatient building.

“It is the role of the V.A. to be there, to take care of those that served this nation,” said Peake, a decorated Vietnam veteran.

Nationally, Peake said the V.A. is improving care by opening 44 new community-based outpatient clinics in 2009, extending evening and Saturday hours, and combining mental health and primary care at veterans hospitals and outpatient clinics.

The agency continues to study how best to deliver care and when to best assess whether military personnel need mental health support. Research and mental health treatment efforts at the Canandaigua V.A. in collaboration with the psychiatry department at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry are part of that work.

Additional National Suicide Prevention Hotline Facts

The national suicide prevention lifeline number is (800) 273-8255. Callers hear a recording inviting veterans or those calling with concern for a veteran to press 1. Those calls are routed to the V.A. National Suicide Prevention Hotline in Canandaigua. In its first 15 months, that call center handled:
84,541 calls in all.
2,130 callers were at imminent risk and emergency care was summoned.
36,913 callers were veterans.
964 callers were active duty military personnel.
5,059 callers were family or friends of a veteran.
7,935 veterans agreed to receive follow-up calls from a suicide prevention coordinator at their local VA.
4,301 nonveterans were transferred to their local community’s hotline.

November 19, 2008 – Doubts were raised Wednesday about whether the Bush administration can do anything to restore confidence in the Veterans Affairs Department following the discovery last month of almost 500 key benefits claims documents in shredding bins at regional offices.

But the problem, initially discovered by teams of auditors from the VA inspector general’s office, didn’t exactly shock the veterans’ community. Veterans have complained for decades about VA losing or destroying claims documents, making an already complicated process even more difficult to deal with.

Veterans’ advocates attending a roundtable discussion arranged by the House Veterans Affairs Committee said VA’s admission of mishandling documents is a sign of the fundamental problems that veterans have seen for years.

Rick Weidman, executive director for government affairs of Vietnam Veterans of America, said the only real news is that VA now acknowledged the problem.

“Shredding is not the issue,” he said, calling instead for focus on “the integrity of the process.”

Rep. Harry Mitchell, D-Ariz., said he is worried that leaving key documents to be shredded is a sign of a larger workload problem and pressure to meet production quotas. Mitchell said it has led him to wonder whether VA officials have been completely honest when they said they had all of the resources they needed to handle claims.

Retired Vice Adm. Patrick Dunne, VA’s undersecretary for benefits, said the problem reflects poor document handling procedures, not an effort to prevent veterans from getting what is due them.

The ultimate answer, he said, is a completely electronic filing system in which key records are scanned into a computer – although a paperless claims processing system won’t be available before 2010.

A short-term solution, which might not be fully in place before President-elect Barack Obama takes office in January, sets new document management procedures for every VA regional office – including establishing records management officers and requiring two people to review any document before shredding.

Rep. Bob Filner, D-Calif., the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman, said the fact that a review found 41 of the 57 VA regional offices had crucial documents in shredding bins is an “intolerable situation.”

“These actions completely shatter confidence in the whole VA system,” Filner said. “This episode has further strengthened my belief that we need to have accountability in [VA] and leadership that demands accountability. These incidents and mistakes, all occurring to the detriment of our veterans and never to their benefit, remind me more of the Keystone Cops than a supportive organization dedicated to taking care of our veterans.”

The VA has announced special procedures for veterans who believe lost records have led to the denial or delay of a benefits claim.