A group of veterans from organizations within the Lower Alabama Veterans Alliance met with Col. Pete Landrum, senior defense policy advisor for U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, to discuss the current backlog in Veterans Affairs benefits and medical care, and the disparaging medical system.
The meeting, sponsored by the Disabled American Veterans Chapter 94 in Ozark, took place in Daleville March 28.
As war efforts begin to wind down, Landrum said he understands it is essential for old and new veterans to get the medical assistance they need.
"Just think how may veterans we are going to have after (more than) 10 years of war," he said.
According to Bob Cooper, commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 6683 in Enterprise, more than 2 million veterans are currently waiting for disability or medical benefit claims.
Since 2009, Cooper said the backlog of 11,000 veterans waiting on disability claims has since grown to about 245,000 and is expected to increase to more than 900,000 by 2015.
"Who knows what's going to happen," he said.
Cooper said he thought the integrated electronic health record (iEHR) program mentioned in 2011 was going to help with the backlog, but believes it has since been canceled.
The program if enacted, would allow records-sharing between the Department of Defense and Veterans Administration.
Landrum said the system has not been canceled, but is just not working well with affordability.
C.J. Watson, quartermaster of the VFW Post 3073 in Dothan, said there's also an issue with the number of doctors, hospitals and appointments available for veterans.
She said the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Tuskegee has one of the best psychiatrists, but it is difficult to get an appointment.
"But when we find these things, I think getting the complaints to the right person or going to the veterans advocacy does work at these facilities if people utilize them," she said.
John Hoskin, coordinator of the Lower Alabama Veterans Alliance, said the Veterans Administration needs to start figuring out where money should go to provide veterans with the best possible care.
"It's not just about the money," he said. "We're getting good support financially. It's the last step, that additional support, the understanding where that money needs to go. Do we need a third X-ray machine or do we need extra doctor?"
Landrum said the veterans' concerns with the medical system are valid.
“We get a lot of complaints about people's cases, what percentage of disability, but once they get into the VA medical system it seems to go well," he said. "Not so well at getting your case done to getting your benefits...So we continue to work with them to try and speed that up."
Landrum said he tries to meet with local veterans at least twice a year to see how things are going and to report the findings back to Sessions.
"A group like this, the Lower Alabama Veterans Alliance, it gives us input on what's going on every day with veterans on the ground," he said. "Without this kind of input it's hard for us to know."
Along with listening to the veteran's concerns, Landrum said he also visits the Wiregrass to see how Fort Rucker, its soldiers, instructors and training is going. Landrum said he wanted to especially observe the impact of sequestration.
"Fort Rucker is going to (have) some cuts, but we're working on some stuff, and they are going to be OK," he said. "They're not going to have as big of an impact as we were afraid."
The local meeting gave area veterans a chance to deliver their concerns, and Landrum said their concerns are vital for Washington officials.
"It's important for us to talk so we know what the real story is, not what we think the story is from (Washington,) D.C.," he said.
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