Guest Author - Gary King

I have been asked several times if I feel the Veterans Administration (VA) is doing a good job and what is wrong with them, in my opinion?

I have had my ups and downs with the VA and have had to fight to get my rights, just like anyone else who is dealing with the VA now. But, the bottom line is that I feel the VA has been good to me. They have made mistakes, but who hasn't? They have made some bad choices, but who hasn't? They have done things which need to be overhauled and I really believe that one of the reasons the VA is not doing the job as good as they could is because they do not have enough veterans working for them. There are too many civilians who have no concept of what war and being a veteran is all about. I know, I worked for them for several years after my military service, and I found the most apathy and disrespect coming from people who worked for the VA who were not veterans. They simply did not and do not understand veterans.

What we need to do is to make sure someone is put in charge of the Department of Veterans Affairs who is a veteran and who really cares enough to clean all the dirt out from under the rug. All they have to really do is take a close look and analyze what is going on at numerous VA hospitals and then begin taking corrective measures. And I don't mean measures which cater to some politician or someone else.

If I were in charge of the Department of Veterans Affairs, some heads would roll--people who are spending money for things that do not need to be corrected and people who are wasting both time and money to resolve absolutely nothing, except eat up the taxpayers money. The problem with the Department of Veterans Affairs is that they do not have many veterans working for them and they do not have the expertise to know what to do to correct the problems.

I can walk into a VA Hospital and see in a few minutes WHY everything is behind and why some patients and people are not satisfied. The level of excellence is so low you cannot rate it and the human relations aspects are disgusting. They do not treat veterans like people! They treat them like a disease; a number; a statistic; something they have to deal with to get their paycheck; and something they have to get out of their hair.

The VA has been good to me but I am one of the lucky ones. But my dealings with the VA date back before the new current misguided regulations and rules were put into operation. Also, they are hiring people off the street who have about as much common sense as something I have not even figured out yet. Integrity? What is that? They have no idea what integrity is!

I watch what is going on when veterans check into a VA Hospital and I tell myself that a Congressman or a Senator should walk into the place by surprise and see what is going on. BUT, what Congressman or Senator cares enough to even do that? How many of these politicians take the time to check out anything they are supposed to be concerned about. They don't and consequently, that is one reason things are never improved or resolved so that everyone benefits.

What is wrong with the VA? The current staff, all the way to Washington, and the Administration itself that runs the VA. That is ONE of the things wrong with the VA. They say they do not have the money to run the VA the way it should be run, but if I were a Senator or Congressman, I would not give them anymore money because they don't know how to spend it wisely or improve the VA the way it needs to be improved.

The VA is on a downhill slide because the people who are supposed to be running the VA do not seem to have the common sense and integrity to know what is best for not only the VA but also the veterans. They have no idea of how to improve things because they do not understand the things they say they do not understand. And if they are confronted by something they do not understand, like Agent Orange, I actually believe they might even toss a coin to decide what to do. They do not research what they are dealing with and the majority of workers below the top echelon have no idea of how to make suggestions to improve things.

But so it goes, day after day, and now there is talk of reviewing things and making changes. But they have no conception of what they are reviewing in the first place because they did not understand it then and they will not understand it now. BUT they will stumble and fumble their way into some kind of plan and then set into motion some type of strategy to try to convince political figures that it resembles something called VETERANS HELP!

Any machine, in order to keep it running smooth, needs maintenance and preventive maintenance. But, you also need mechanics that know what they are doing. The trouble with the VA is there is no maintenance or preventive maintenance program and very few, if any mechanics that know what they are doing.