This Week at American Veteran

This week at American Veteran we will recap last week's VSO/MSO summit at VA central office in Washington, D.C., where leaders from the nation's top veterans' service and member service organizations gathered to discuss VA's current initiatives to better serve the veterans' community.

We will also follow AMVETS National Legislative Director Ray Kelley and National Deputy Legislative Director Christina Roof to Capitol Hill, where they will sit in on the House Invisible Wounds Caucus roundtable to discuss tinnitus in today's returning service members. Tinnitus is commonly exhibited by ringing in the ears experienced by service members exposed to excessive noise, gun shots and explosions in the combat zone.

American Veteran will also follow this week's hearing in the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs when VA Secretary Eric Shinseki will deliver testimony on VA's plan to implement the latest Agent Orange presumptive service-connected conditions, which AMVETS has expressed its support for in the past. Should Congress approve VA's proposed guidelines, more than 150,000 Vietnam veterans could be eligible to receive VA care and compensation for the new presumptive conditions.

This week, AMVETS leaders will also check back in with the Department of Education which is expected to start making decisions on grant awards for student-veteran "centers of excellence" by next Tuesday, Sept. 28. AMVETS has championed the effort to commission such federal grants over the last three years and the department has solicited grant applications throughout the summer.

This week we will also bring you highlights of recent 9/11 and National POW/MIA Recognition Day observances from AMVETS posts and departments around the country. If you have a story you would like us to highlight here on the blog or in the pages of American Veteran magazine, please send them along. And, as always, please feel free to comment on our stories.

Post-9/11 G.I. Bill Update: Living Stipend Make-Ups in August

Yesterday, Military Times reported that VA will automatically issue living stipend make-up checks in August to veterans who received inaccurate payments for the spring semester. Veterans will not need to apply for the updated payments.

By law, VA was obligated to update its living stipend payments to conform to the new Department of Defense Basic Allowance for Housing, of BAH, payments on Jan. 1. However, VA cited shortcomings in its IT infrastructure for the spring semester and chose to ensure that all enrolled veterans in the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill received compensation, rather than adjusting the existing payment model after facing issues with the program's roll-out in the fall.

AMVETS leaders have been closely monitoring the implementation of the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill and calling for improvements to make the benefit more equitable. AMVETS also spearheaded recent efforts to commission federal grants for student-veterans' "centers of excellence" on college campuses nationwide, offering student-veterans all the tools necessary to succeed in the academic environment.

Department of Education is currently accepting grant applications from colleges and universities interested in commissioning such centers as part of the $6 million pilot program.

When news of G.I. Bill payment delays surfaced, AMVETS leaders were concerned that the hassles would foster attrition among student-veterans experiencing financial hardships as a result of the delay. Fortunately, AMVETS partner Supportive Education for the Returning Veteran, or SERV, reported that attrition rates among many of the nation's student-veterans were negligible in the first academic year of the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill, with many schools actually seeing a spike in veteran enrollment between the fall and spring semesters.

VA plans to have its automated Post-9/11 G.I. Bill claims system operational by December, ensuring that payment delays and other hiccups in the enrollment system are eliminated. AMVETS leaders will continue to monitor VA's implementation of the new system to ensure timely and accurate delivery of the landmark benefit.

American Veteran will continue to follow implementation of the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill and continuing efforts by the veterans' community to ensure timely, accurate and equitable delivery of the benefit.

(Image: VA's official logo for the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill.)