This is criminal
03-30-2016, 05:26 AM
#1
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This is criminal
....and just disgusts me to the depths of my soul.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/us...-benefits.html
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/03/30/us...-benefits.html
03-30-2016, 06:28 AM
#2
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A question can be made as to whether these people should have received anything other than a honorable discharge and that is question for the UCMJ/Legal system to decide. But once that case has run its' course - serve with honor, get the benefits. Do not serve with honor, don't get the benefits.
03-30-2016, 06:39 AM
#3
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As a taxpayer, I believe if someone serves they should get the benefits, particularly if they served in a combat capacity.
And this irrespective of the status of their discharge.
As a taxpayer, I feel we owe that to our vets, who already are paid (and treated) like crap.
In particular...
This is outrageous. 
And this irrespective of the status of their discharge.
As a taxpayer, I feel we owe that to our vets, who already are paid (and treated) like crap.
In particular...
The G. I. Bill instructed the veterans agency to care for veterans if their service was “other than dishonorable.” The agency interpreted this as excluding “other than honorable” discharges.
Though veterans can apply for a category upgrade, the process is confusing, inconsistent and slow.
Only 10 percent of veterans are successful; a decision takes, on average, four years, the report said. In some regions, all requests are rejected.
Though veterans can apply for a category upgrade, the process is confusing, inconsistent and slow.
Only 10 percent of veterans are successful; a decision takes, on average, four years, the report said. In some regions, all requests are rejected.
03-30-2016, 06:42 AM
#4
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NO
We sent young men and women into combat. It is our burden to help these people, PERIOD.
For if not, then what is our military to us? A group of mercenaries we pull out of low income families to do our fighting?
NO.
It matters not if people don't live up to some standard. We sent them, they went and got hurt. They gave what they could, and I respect that.
Now it's MY turn to respect them.
AWACS
For if not, then what is our military to us? A group of mercenaries we pull out of low income families to do our fighting?
NO.
It matters not if people don't live up to some standard. We sent them, they went and got hurt. They gave what they could, and I respect that.
Now it's MY turn to respect them.
AWACS
03-30-2016, 06:59 AM
#6
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It absolutely does depend on your character of service.
As examples - one wartime, the other peacetime (well...Cold War), these two servicemen DO NOT deserve a single red cent of benefits from the VA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowe_Bergdahl
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton_J._Lonetree
Desertion and treason?
For a person who has served HONORABLY to be treated the same, and get no different benefits than either of the above mentioned former service members, would be an injustice that should deserve attention.
They broke the law, went through an established legal process, and were dealt punishments IAW with those regulations.
I agree that this needs further investigating:
Those two characterizations are different.
DISHONORABLE and OTHER THAN HONORABLE are two wholly different animals; and if the VA is misinterpreting this characterization than it should be brought up and corrected.
If the law needs to be changed, then there is a (painfully slow) process for that too.
As examples - one wartime, the other peacetime (well...Cold War), these two servicemen DO NOT deserve a single red cent of benefits from the VA.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowe_Bergdahl
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clayton_J._Lonetree
Desertion and treason?
For a person who has served HONORABLY to be treated the same, and get no different benefits than either of the above mentioned former service members, would be an injustice that should deserve attention.
They broke the law, went through an established legal process, and were dealt punishments IAW with those regulations.
I agree that this needs further investigating:
The G. I. Bill instructed the veterans agency to care for veterans if their service was “other than dishonorable.” The agency interpreted this as excluding “other than honorable” discharges
DISHONORABLE and OTHER THAN HONORABLE are two wholly different animals; and if the VA is misinterpreting this characterization than it should be brought up and corrected.
If the law needs to be changed, then there is a (painfully slow) process for that too.
03-30-2016, 07:02 AM
#7
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Originally Posted by USMCFLYR
Desertion and treason?
I can agree with that. The MAJOR offenses.
But absent without leave following a combat tour?
Gimme (or, more specifically, them) a break.
03-30-2016, 07:03 AM
#8
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Originally Posted by SayAlt
I can agree with that. The MAJOR offenses.
But absent without leave following a combat tour?
Gimme (or, more specifically, them) a break.
But absent without leave following a combat tour?
Gimme (or, more specifically, them) a break.
I agree that it isn't a clean sweep.
03-30-2016, 07:07 AM
#9
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Noted, and appreciate your comments.
I am sensitive about VA stuff.
Did you hear about the Navy vet who set himself on fire outside of the VA the other day, leaving behind a wife and 2 young children?
Broke my heart right then and there.
https://www.rt.com/usa/337487-vetera...lation-jersey/
I know plenty of vets commit suicide and it's a big problem. Seems to me the VA is making the problem worse, not better.
I am sensitive about VA stuff.
Did you hear about the Navy vet who set himself on fire outside of the VA the other day, leaving behind a wife and 2 young children?
Broke my heart right then and there.
https://www.rt.com/usa/337487-vetera...lation-jersey/
I know plenty of vets commit suicide and it's a big problem. Seems to me the VA is making the problem worse, not better.
04-07-2016, 12:59 PM
#10
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VA bosses in 7 states manipulated vets' wait times for care
Supervisors instructed schedulers to falsify patient wait times at Veterans Affairs' medical facilities in at least seven states, according to newly released investigation reports from the department’s inspector general.
The reports detail for the first time since the Phoenix VA wait-time scandal in 2014 how widespread scheduling manipulation was throughout the VA. Investigators previously have said manipulation was “systemic” but they did not identify which facilities had problems and how serious they were.
The investigations found that employees at 40 VA medical facilities in 19 states and Puerto Rico regularly “zeroed out” veteran wait times, which masked growing demand as new waves of veterans returned from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and as Vietnam veterans aged and needed more health care.
The inspector general launched investigations of more than 100 facilities after the Phoenix scandal in 2014. In some cases, they found manipulation had been going on for as long as a decade. In others, it had been just a few years. Roughly half of the 70 newly released reports are from investigations that were completed more than a year ago. They were released following a Freedom of Information Act request from USA TODAY.
More than 480,000 veterans were waiting more than 30 days for an appointment as of March 15, public VA data shows.
VA bosses in 7 states manipulated vets' wait times for care
See the results of VA wait-time probes in your state
See the results of VA wait-time probes in your state
See the results of VA wait-time probes in your state
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