Veterans officers receive training

By Bill Cissell, Journal Staff Writer | Tuesday, May 25, 2004

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RAPID CITY — Professional advocates change the lives of veterans, according to the president of the National Association of County Veteran Service Officers.

More than 200 VSOs from 26 states are in Rapid City through Friday learning about changes in federal law, Veterans Administration policy and other issues that affect America's veteran population, according to Doug LeValley, the organization's president. LeValley is also a VSO for Clark County in Springfield, Ohio.

He said the organization has almost 1,000 members but that there are about 2,400 VSOs across the nation.

"We aren't employees of the Veterans Administration. We are professional veterans advocates," Le-

Valley said. "We work for the county and for the individual veteran."

He said the VSOs in attendance are hearing about new things the VA is doing, new ways to file claims and about new benefits, such as those for chronic lymphocytic leukemia n recently connected to exposure to Agent Orange, a defoliant used during the Vietnam war.

"Filing a claim with the VA isn't a problem, the challenge is proving that claim — getting the supporting evidence," LeValley said. "That's what a lot of this school is about."

According to the Veterans Affairs Web site, the 2000 Census showed there were more than 26 million veterans, or almost 13 percent of the nation's population. More than

29 percent of them were disabled.

LeValley said one of the biggest challenges VSOs face is simply getting the word out to veterans that they might have benefits coming n be they medical, educational or otherwise.

"Many veterans, when they come home, they simply get out and go back to their job and their family. Generally, if they hear anything about benefits, it's from another veteran," LeValley said.

LeValley said VSOs spend some of their time visiting VA facilities, social service agencies and even going on the radio to tell veterans about potential benefits.

He said service officers try to be part of the debriefing process with all of the returning soldiers who are members of National Guard or Reserve units.

"We tell them to keep copies of all their medical records," LeValley said.

LeValley said there have been a lot of changes in the 15 years he has been doing VSO work.

"It took a long time for the VA to recognize the problems associated with Agent Orange and post traumatic stress disorder. It used to be called battle fatigue or shell shock. It took them a long time to recognize that this was something a soldier lived with the rest of their life," Le-Valley said.

Other topics to be covered at the weeklong conference include prescriptions, pensions for both vets and their dependents, and educational, medical and burial benefits.

He said that the topic of female veterans is also an issue.

"We probably have 50 female VSOs here, and that's a drastic change from years ago. Many women don't even realize they are veterans, and many VA facilities are just now getting the appropriate staff to handle the issues of the female veteran," LeValley said.

Personally, LeValley said, he believes his work is more than a job. "It's a calling. There hasn't been a day in 15 years that I haven't wanted to go to work."

Providing better access to VA facilities is one of the changes that is needed, LeValley said.

"But that comes down to a matter of money. Most VSOs believe VA funding should be mandatory, like Social Security or Medicare and not discretionary (debated and changed every year by Congress)," LeValley said.

Contact Bill Cissell at 394-8412 or e-mail bill.cissell@rapidcityjournal.com