Kristina Derro
Veteran Advocate

The wars in Iraqa and Afghanistan have dragged on for over a decade now. Since 2001, the U.S. has sent more than 2.2 million troops to battle, more than 6,600 were killed, and 50,000 were injured. This is a dismal reality of war.

However, the strides that have been made in medicine as a result of the war are astounding. The signature wounds of both conflicts, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI), have led the Department of Defense to apportion hundreds of millions of dollars for research studies and treatment.

In the past six years, the Department of Defense has invested a minimum of $2.7 billion in understanding psychological and neurological injuries. $700 million has been apportioned for TBI research which has included an effort to develop a portable diagnostic tool for TBIs. Additional funding has gone towards researching combat wounds that failed to heal, partly attributable to unique bacteria present in Afghanistan.

The VA has its own set of priorities when it comes to researching. The VA is currently faced with rehabilitating veterans who have suffered complex wounds and are considered “polytrauma”, those who have sustained injuries to more than one organ system, or have severe brain injuries, or are amputees, or were severely burned. VA has worked on improving how it coordinates care to this group of veterans. It’s also worked on developing hearing and vision implants as well as robotic prosthetic devices. It even has pioneered its own TBI program which explores different treatment modalities like personalized medicine and nerve regeneration.

There are challenges in coordinating massive research programs and implementing them for our troops and veterans. A January 2012 report by the Government Accountability Office found that the Department of Defense’s mental health and TBI research needed better quality control mechanisms to report financial data. However, despite these limitations, some of the world’s best researchers and massive amounts of money are being utilized in an attempt to assist our nation’s troops and veterans.

James Fausone
Veteran Advocate

Currently there are an estimated 2,500 dogs deployed oversees to assist American troops, sent into situations which include detecting explosives and chasing down an enemy while facing combat and gunfire. It is estimated that each military dog saves approximately 150 soldiers during its years of service. Though in past conflicts, such asVietnam, military dogs were given away, euthanized or abandoned, today,  a law was passed in 2000 to ensure that canine troops were well-treated. Some 400 military canines are retired from service every year, and adopted into new homes.

Robby’s Law, signed in 2000 by President Clinton, allows for the adoption of working dogs (as well as working horses) owned by the Department of Defense — adopted by their handlers, by civilians with training in their care, and by law enforcement agencies. Robby’s Law also requires an accounting of all dogs; the Secretary of Defense must submit an annual report which documents all of the dogs adopted under the program, the dogs still awaiting for adoption, and the dogs that were euthanized, and why (the official policy is that euthanasia is used if the dog is too aggressive to be rehomed, or to prevent suffering).    

Dogs have a long history on the battlefield.  They were used in battle by Attila the Hun and Frederickthe Great, by ancient Britons, Greeks, Egyptians, Persians, and Slavs. During World War I, dogs were used in the military by Belgium, Germany, France and Russia as scouts, as carriers, and to help find the injured on the field. In The U.S., dogs were officially trained starting in 1942, for the U.S. Army. More recently, military dogs have served in Afghanistan, Desert Storm, Iraq, Korea, and Vietnam. After service, a dog is not left in the combat zone, but is brought back to their duty station.  

Unfortunately, military dogs are still classified as “military equipment,” and, as such their transport from their duty station to a new, nonmilitary life is not paid for by the government. The burden is on the dog’s new owner to get it home. Currently there are at least two bills proposing that military dogs be reclassified as “canine members of the armed forces” and are awaiting attention from Congress.

There are organizations dedicated to working for these dogs, as well. The nonprofit organization Operation Military K-9 ships care packages to military working dogs and their handlers in the field. The public is invited to donate money or send their own care packages from a list of much-needed items U.S. War Dogs Association works to assist injured military dogs and their handlers recover back on U.S. soil. Military Working Dog Adoptions and Save A Vet work to heighten public awareness of the issues and needs of military working dogs.

Sources
http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/world-our-backyard/2013/jan/11/military-working-dogs-today/
http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/06/when-a-dog-isnt-a-dog/

By Jim Fausone
Veteran Disability Lawyer

We get asked about how to obtain a Purple Heart by veterans on a regular basis.  This issue has even infiltrated pop cultures.  The CBS show “Harry’s Law” about a quirky law firm recently had a story line about an Iraq veteran who suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), but did not get a Purple Heart.  Since this is the military, it starts with filling out a form.  DD Form 149 is a request to correct military records. The veteran is asking the Department of Defense (DOD)  to adjust its military records to reflect that a combat injury was received, sufficient to require medical treatment, and that a Purple Heart was earned.  You must explain, document, and prove the nature of the injury.  As you start the process you should obtain a copy of your discharge papers, otherwise known as a DD214, and see if it reflects wounded in combat.  If not you will have to gather service or medical records to prove the combat injury.  A recommendation for the citation from your unit commander will go a long way or a buddy statement about the conditions under which the injury was received. It is a long process but worth it to prove ones status and obtain the recognition and benefits that go with the Purple Heart. Once the forms and evidence are sent into your service branch for review and the waiting will begin.  A veteran service organization (VSO), or other veterans advocate, should be contacted to help you.  The link to DD149 is below.

http://www.dtic.mil/whs/directives/infomgt/forms/eforms/dd0149.pdf

To learn more or to contact a Veterans disability lawyer, Veterans disability attorney, Veterans lawyer, or Veterans attorney call 1.800.693.4800 or visit Legalhelpforveterans.com

by Kristina Derro
Veterans Disability Attorney

On May 25, 2011, Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the Honoring All Veterans Act of 2011, which seeks to improve aid and services to veterans in the areas of employment, housing, education, and health care. The Act aims at aiding veterans who are seeking education and employment by increasing the number of participants in independent living programs that allow veterans to participate in family and community life, increasing their potential to return to work. It will also provide funding for outreach on college campuses to help veterans maximize their ability to study and gain employment.

The Act authorizes the Department of Defense (DoD) to study how to ensure that civilian employers and educational institutions recognize veterans’ military training and qualifications—transferring the certificates and licensed skills from the military to civilian jobs would ensure that the training that occurred during service was not lost for veterans returning to the civilian workplace. It also authorizes that veterans can use the DoD’s Transition Assistance Program and meet with counselors at any military installation for up to one year after leaving service to receive information about job hunting, education options, and career development.

To address the rising amount of homeless veterans that is estimated to be 76,000 in 2009, the Honoring All Veterans Act provides services to military families who are on the verge of losing their home by permanently extending their foreclosure protection. The Act will also raise the per diem rate that certain programs give out, in an effort to take into account the geographic disparities around the nation.

The Honoring All Veterans Act attempts to deal with the health care shortcomings in the treatment of veterans. The Act authorizes VA to access state prescription drug monitoring programs in order to address substance abuse. It also allows military family members to access VA counseling services while a service member is deployed, and it directs the VA to improve rehabilitation and reintegration plans that address long term care for veterans with traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). The overall goal of the Act is to modernize the VA—to streamline the transition from active service to veteran status for service members, to have a responsive Board of Veterans Appeals handling disability claims, and to be constantly updating pension amounts to reflect the cost of living.

To learn more or to contact a Veterans disability lawyer, Veterans disability attorney, Veterans lawyer, or Veterans attorney call 1.800.693.4800 or visit Legalhelpforveterans.com

by Kristina Derro
Veteran Disability Lawyer

A 2008 survey performed by the military revealed that over 21% of service women are victims of Military Sexual Trauma (MST). Unfortunately, due to the private nature and the stigma attached to this type of assault, along with the embarrassment and fear of retaliation that the victims have, most incidents go unreported. In fact, the Department of Defense has acknowledged that 75% of MSTs are not reported.

Victims of MST suffer through the initial assault and the repercussions during his or her time in service. The victims then end up being re-victimized when they apply for compensation from VA for the assault they suffered. The majority of VA claims for compensation for MST are denied because of a lack of documentation proving that they occurred. At this time, military records documenting MST are destroyed between one and five years after filing. This provides no lasting record for the MST victims.

A new piece of legislation has been recently introduced into Congress by Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn) and is authored by members of both political parties. This Bill will change the way records regarding MST are made and retained across all five branches of the military. The goal is to allow MST records to be kept for a longer period of time, allowing the documentation to be available if and when the veteran ultimately applies for service connection years down the road. The Bill also includes provisions for research on sexual assault and harassment into the military, in an attempt to discover ways to combat and prevent MST from happening in the first instance.

 Read more about this piece of legislation at:

http://www.vabenefitblog.com/new-bill-addresses-record-keeping-for-military-sexual-trauma/  

Do not be discouraged if you suffered from MST while in the military and failed to report it. Here at Legal Help for Veterans, PLLC (LHFV), we have been successful in getting benefits for those service men and women who either did not report the incident at the time it occurred, or had the records destroyed by the time they filed for VA benefits. In lieu of official military documents, we have used testimony from friends and family members who noticed pronounced changes in behavior in the veteran after the MST. Further, military performance reviews that have documented a significant and sudden decrease in performance have also been helpful in indicating that an MST occurred.

To learn more or to contact a Veterans disability lawyer, Veterans disability attorney, Veterans lawyer, or Veterans attorney call 1.800.693.4800 or visit Legalhelpforveterans.com