UPDATE: VA'S SHREDDER PROBLEMS JUST A "SNAPSHOT IN TIME," NOT THE WHOLE STORY (Not Blue Water Navy)

VA WatchDog dot Org ^ | Oct 18, 2008 | Larry Scott

[Right Winged American]

UPDATE: VA'S SHREDDER PROBLEMS JUST A "SNAPSHOT IN TIME," NOT THE WHOLE STORY

VA spokesperson: "We're still trying to get a handle on how widespread the problem is and I can't say with certainly that this has never happened before."

by Larry Scott

The Department of Veterans' Affairs (VA) continues to struggle with revelations that documents critical to filing a claim with the Veterans' Benefits Administration (VBA) were found in shredder bins at VA Regional Offices (VAROs).

While our original story dealt only with the Detroit VARO, it is now acknowledged that VAROs in St. Louis, Waco and St. Petersburg have had similar problems.

But, the VA will only say that a total of 10 critical documents were found in shredder bins by Office of Inspector General (VAOIG) investigators.

I have been asked if this is really a big deal, and told the questioner they should ask the veteran whose document was about to be shredded.  That veteran could have had a claim delayed or denied because of the action.

One of the latest stories on this fiasco comes from CBS News.  Story here...

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/16/
cbsnews_investigates/main4527134.shtml

A VA spokesperson is quoted as saying, "We’re still trying to get a handle on how widespread the problem is and I can’t say with certainly that this has never happened before."  She added, "There is no way for a vet to know if their claim has been shredded or misplaced."

At least we have a bit of honesty from the VA.

So, how did this happen?  The spokesperson said, "We don’t really know how this happened. It was either done by an employee unknowingly making an error or it was put in there."

The VA is encouraging veterans to check the status of their claim by calling 1-800-827-1000.

It is very important to remember that VA's assertion that this involves only 10 critical documents is just a "snapshot in time."  What VAOIG found was there only at that instant waiting to be shredded.  But, how many documents were in the bins the day before?  And, the day before that?  And, before that?  And, add in all the other VAROs and you get an idea of the scope of this problem.

VA continues to minimize this situation.  Only 10 documents?  I'm not sure I believe that.  But, I do know one thing for sure.  VA knew about this problem for some time and did nothing about it until VA Watchdog dot Org broke the story.  So, can we now believe what we hear?  Are we to believe that they are really trying to solve this problem?  I'm afraid it's a wait-and-see situation, but I'm not hopeful.

In an article in Stars & Stripes (here... http://www.stripe
s.com/article.asp?section=104&article=58220 ), Rick Weidman of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) put it in perspective:  "I wish we could say we’re surprised by this, but the only real surprise is that they admitted it. We told [VA]...about this, but nothing has really happened. We can keep holding hearings and filing lawsuits, but I don’t know what it’s going to take to get them to obey the law."

Well said, Rick.  What will it take?

Original VA shredder story and follow-ups...
1. http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfoct08/nf101308-1.htm
2. http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfoct08/nf101408-3.htm
3. http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfoct08/nf101508-1.htm
4. http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfoct08/nf101708-3.htm
5. http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfoct08/nf101708-7.htm

 

[Right Winged American]

For more Blue Water Navy Vietnam Veterans/Agent Orange Info, go here:

http://bluewaternavy.org

Discussions/Forum about Blue Water Navy Vets, Here:

http://bluewaternavy.org/phpBB2/index.php

FreepMail me to join the Blue Water Navy ping list.

 

 

Blue Water Navy
Vietnam Veterans
of America

NOTE: THIS SERIES OF STORIES APPLIES TO ALL VETERANS OF ALL SERVICES.

If you have or had a claim submitted to the VA for anything this may have happened to you.

HOW WOULD YOU KNOW IF IT HAS?

GOOD QUESTION.

[Right Winged American]

But Wait—There's More!

[TangoLimaSierra]

Hell, they did that to me back in the 70’s. Lost the first claim after months of waiting and then drug their feet on the second till my bennies ran out. Too young and stupid to try to take ‘em to court.

[Right Winged American]

Oh, yeah. About a year ago I tried to find out when this started. Turns out that VA started being adversarial to veterans in the Johnson administration, and became more and more so from then on. One of Robert 'Strange' MacNamara's dumb ideas was filling open VA slots with people from other agencies like HUD, DOT, and even worse, the Social Security Adminsistraton.

Nowadays, nobody really trusts veterans in the VA, they figure them to be likely 'Whistle-Blowers'.

I'd bet the farm that's what happened here...