I'm currently litigating against the VA. Like the current scandal rocking the VA, the suit concerns a lack of leadership. The scandal and my case are admittedly partially due one of the failings in government services.
But at its core I think is this issue: many who fill leadership roles at the VA are retired military personnel, who should certainly have a calling and affinity for the veterans they serve, but who are collecting a government pension along with their salaries. I anecdotally wonder if they view the VA as a cushy retirement club to make a little pocket change and are complacent about their work. This appears to have been the attitude of some I have encountered in my research of my case.
When I was in the military, it often appeared that the twenty year retirement, all or nothing plan, created a lot of perversity in the ranks when getting to twenty became, more important than what was the best for the country. One of the bad examples in this litigation instructed his charges on the benefits and virtues of "triple dipping," that is, collecting both a military and VA retirement and then receiving consulting fees by working for a government contractor.
Maybe that system should change. Just a thought.
Loren M. Lambert © May 24, 2014
But at its core I think is this issue: many who fill leadership roles at the VA are retired military personnel, who should certainly have a calling and affinity for the veterans they serve, but who are collecting a government pension along with their salaries. I anecdotally wonder if they view the VA as a cushy retirement club to make a little pocket change and are complacent about their work. This appears to have been the attitude of some I have encountered in my research of my case.
When I was in the military, it often appeared that the twenty year retirement, all or nothing plan, created a lot of perversity in the ranks when getting to twenty became, more important than what was the best for the country. One of the bad examples in this litigation instructed his charges on the benefits and virtues of "triple dipping," that is, collecting both a military and VA retirement and then receiving consulting fees by working for a government contractor.
Maybe that system should change. Just a thought.
Loren M. Lambert © May 24, 2014
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