Some Guardsmen, Reservists back from Iraq didn't get benefits

[DogPoundPup]

Source: McClatchy Newspapers

The Department of Veterans Affairs failed to send benefit packages to nearly 37,000 National Guard and Reserve members who fought in Iraq and Afghanistan because it mistakenly thought they were ineligible.

Several senators raised the discovery Wednesday, detailed in a report by the VA's Office of Inspector General, as the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee held a hearing on whether Guard and Reserve members are being adequately informed of the benefits that are available to them.

"While the VA has targeted outreach programs in place to help service members, we still miss far too many veterans who need help and aren't aware of the services and benefits they have earned," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., a senior member of the committee.

Murray and others have long criticized the VA and the Defense Department as not doing enough to ensure that the more than 488,000 members of the National Guard and Reserves who've been mobilized and deployed are notified of and receive the benefits they're entitled to.

Read more: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/45262.html

[EFerrari]

1. Why do these "mistakes" always err on the side of no benefits? n/t

[TheDebbieDee]

2. Mistaken, my a$$.............

This was another deliberate attempt by the * admin to give Veterans the shaft!

[Rambis]

3. Been doing this for years

taking people out within a day or a matter of hours so the government doesn't have to pay haz duty you name it. It is a long illustrious tradition in the US military. What makes me red arsed about it is * claims to support the troops while he slashes benefits left right and centre.