Local Service
and/or Legislative Issues:
Department Service Office June Business Hours: The Department Service Office will be open each Monday through Friday from 7:30 AM until 4:00 PM during the month of June. Appointments are necessary for client visits. You may contact the Department Service Office by calling our new direct number of 317-916-3605; calling a long distance toll free number of 1-888-723-7999, extension 3; faxing us at 317-226-6645; or by using the following e-mail address: vsohickj@vba.va.gov.
New Post Service Officers Training
Seminar, Attention: Post Service Officers and Post Commanders:
Place and Time: The day following the department convention, Sunday,
July 13, 2008, 8:AM until Noon at the convention site,
the Marriott Hotel, Salon A, 7202 East 21st,
Topics: Post service officers’ duties and responsibilities, ethics, the rehab program, homeless veterans program, claims representation, veterans service and membership, avoiding common mistakes, newly discharged veterans consultation checklist, replacing the DD Form 214, disability compensation, non-service connected pension, survivors compensation and pension, burial benefits, the appeals process, military correction and review board issues, concurrent receipt and combat related special pay, and VA medical benefits. Department Service Officers will also conduct an open panel discussion to help answer any and all veterans’ benefits and service issues of concern to the audience.
Added Resources: Service officers in attendance will also receive a computer disc containing The American Legion Department of Indiana Field Service Officers Training Manual, Training Certification Test, claims research information, forms link for federal and State benefits, and a Veterans Benefit Power Point presentation for post presentations.
Why and How: This seminar
will help American Legion posts assist its members with veterans benefit
issues, and improve membership through services. Pre-registration is not
required. All post service officers are encouraged to attend. The training
session is free, but attendees will likely incur costs associated with travel
and possibly lodging. Active post service officers volunteer much of their time
while assisting post members. Posts may now reward their service officers by
sponsoring their attendance at this training session, then
reap the benefit of their service officer’s increased knowledge.
National Service and/or Legislative Issues:
Agent Orange Blue Water
Veterans Case: On May 8, 2008, The Federal Circuit issued a decision
reversing the Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims (CAVC) decision in the Haas
case. This means that unless this case is appealed to the and won with a
full Court review or at the United States Supreme Court, veterans that served
only in the “blue waters” off the coast of Vietnam during the Vietnam War will
not be granted service connection for Agent Orange related diseases unless they
can provide convincing evidence of direct Agent Orange exposure during active
duty service. We expect VA will soon be issuing denial decisions on all the
“Blue Water” Agent Orange related claims that have been pending while waiting
the Circuit Court decision. The
National Veterans Legal Services Program (NVLSP), counsel for Haas, plan to request an en banc (full Court) review of the three
judge decision within 21 days. Once the full Court renders a decision, either
the claimant or VA could petition the US Supreme Court for certiorari within 90
days.
VA VETERAN
POPULATION ESTIMATE: The Department of Veterans Affairs has
updated the official estimate of the veteran population. Using its Veteran Population Model (VetPop), VA estimates a total veteran population of
approximately 24,816,000 as of 30 SEP 07. Estimates are based on data from the
Department of Defense (DoD),
the Census Bureau and the Veterans Benefits Administration. VetPop, which was
last updated in 2004, groups veterans into various demographic categories (age,
sex, state, race, rank, military branch, and period of service) and projects
results thirty years into the future. VetPop used the Census 2000 estimate of veterans—26,745,000
as of April, 2000—as a starting point.
The population increases as service members separate from active duty
and decreases through mortality. VetPop models these changes using DoD’s reports of past and projected separations as
well as DoD mortality rates. VetPop2007 results are higher than VetPop2004
results due to lower mortality rates and higher-than-expected separations. The difference is 1.2% in 2007 and grows to
2.8% by 2015. Results can be accessed at http://www1.va.gov/vetdata/
by clicking on “Demographics”. The
website includes results described above, estimates of veterans by county and
by Congressional District, as well as descriptive documents and tutorials on
how to access the data.
Further questions
regarding VetPop should be emailed to
VetPop@va.gov. [Source: VA's Office of the Actuary 22 Apr 07 ++]
2007
If you divide
the total expenditures into the number of veterans within the state, you get
the average amount of VA expenditures spent on each veteran within the state:
For Indiana this figure is: $2,342.
VA’s total fiscal year 2007
expenditures for the entire country is
$75,638,660,000. The country’s entire 2007 veterans
population is 23,701,354. If you divide this figure in the same manner as shown
above, it shows the average expenditure for each veteran in the
This therefore indicates that VA
spends an average of $892 less on each