Top Ten

[hurryupnwait]

I am interested in finding the top ten VARO's

I ve heard Louisville and Nashville should be in the top ten.

Any input on Los Angeles, Oakland or Reno?

[rentalguy1]

not sure where you're coming up with this "benefit of being a veteran" angle. I didn't volunteer for the Army for any "benefits." I did so because it was my patriotic duty. I owed it to the country who had given my family so much opportunity for so many generations. I'm not special because I served and have the honor of being able to call myself a veteran.

[Bonzai]

I can not speak for many ROs, only two Sioux Falls, and Nashville; of which, I am recently dealing with Nashville, but they seem to be timely in their responses so far. I was OK with the service I recieved from Sioux Falls, until my last decision, but I had moved out of the VARO's area by then.

In the case of veterans being left behind, I know in my case, I exhausted every posibility I could before going to the VA. This was due to the horror stories I had read about, and I didn't want to be a guinea pig. I have talked with many other veterans, and found that they too were hesitant to use the VA system. I could very easily have been a veteran who slipped through the cracks, and know other veterans who will have nothing to do at all with the VA.

I agree that there is a VA maze to negotiate, but if you do not fit in one of the top patient categories, then treatment is suspect. There are many studies comparing civilian and veteran populations for homelessness and suicide rates, and there are varied results. I could open a whole can of worms by the mention of one veteran researcher, who says that Vietnam veterans actually have less problems than their civilian counterparts. He bases his conclusions on selected studies too. Statistics are a wonderful thing, when taken in the whole, but very seldom are they taken in the whole.

I joined the Army because my Uncles were all in the Army. My grandfather was in the Army, but my great-grandfather was a young boy at Little Big Horn, when my family fought against the Army. I also didn't join for the benefits. In my family, it is expected.

That being said, while I was in, there were a few individuals that I wanted to recommend for Change-in-MOS to in-flight missile repair. :)

[rentalguy1]

well broncovet, this thread is a attempt to find a little bit of a positive in this whole mess, so we should agree to keep it at that. If you want to discuss veteran homelessness versus civilian homelessness, maybe you could start a new thread.

[sixthscents]

I gotta say, even thought they are playing with me on this recent claim... Nasville VARO has been absolutely the best on I have dealt with. Over the years doing abvocacy I have dealt with almost all of them... Winchester-Salem is going to get really bad because it is a BDD point. Any VARO that is a BDD point is going to be swamped, and for some reason... they are only farming out a few claims to the less bust VARO's (like Nashville I suspect)

Any state with a large military presence will of course have a busier VARO, and thus take longer in the claims and appeals process. My opinion anyway.

Also gotta agree with rentalguy...

and yes I use spell check when I do claims... my typing is horrid I know

Edited March 31, 2009 by sixthscents

[Pete53]

Six:

Nice to see you posting again. I missed ya.

Pete

[rentalguy1]

good to see ya sixth!