NARA Backlog

[Berta]

I saw a very elderly disabled woman on Fox News this AM and they cannot find proof of her husband's military service-and the interviewer said VARA is about half a million behind in the records backlog-I could not believe it was that bad but it sure is.

https://www.rollcall.com/2021/04/20/veterans-hit-by-huge-pandemic-related-records-backlog/

The interviewer said even if they find his records , a survivors VA benefits claim could take 3 years.

What is wrong with NARA these days????????

Proof of service is a critical initial aspect of the claims process- hopefully the young men and women these days in the Mil, get their records before they leave the Military.

 

 

 

 

 

[pacmanx1]

Part of the backlog problem is that the government is still in a somewhat of a shutdown phase and only open with a limited crew and for those that are working other government agencies are still in that same shutdown phase.

[brokensoldier244th]

27 minutes ago, broncovet said:

The cheats make it more difficult for the rest of us.  I guess what I dont "get" about this whole thing is that most people have a dd214 proving service.  Yea, that could be faked, but its not the only document which can be faked and those fakes often catch up to the VEt.  

I just dont get how it can take 2 years backlog to read dd 214's.  

Now, if its medical records, in service, that is different.  Most of the time, in my experience, the service records dont make that much difference except that you got an honorable discharge, and the dates, and an in service event.  Yes, there are Nehmer boots on the ground vietnam, etc., but this is not always relevant.  

Nara doesn’t just have personnel, they have medical, we have to request both, and Vamc doesn’t have service records. Sometimes with more recent stuff we can get it other places but at some point NARA is it, and we’re competing with every civilian request, too. 

[Berta]

The records of the deceased vet I mentioned, whose widow was on Fox news, might have been 

destroyed in the 1973 St Louis Fire. The widow has his dog tags, but I wonder if anyone has really helped her.

The story was mentioned three times yesterday on Fox, but we were in a heavy cloud cover and my TV reception was awful-constant 771 error before the clouds broke up- but I never heard the St Louis Fire mentioned by the VA, per the widow.

I hope someone out there who heard this story can help her. She just turned 91 years old so this was a WWII vet.

 She could be eligible for a VA pension but proving SC death at this point will be difficult.

( one of my so called vet reps asked me to help a vet many years ago- VA had said his records were lost in the St Louis Fire. The veteran however was discharged well after the St Louis fire.

But the vet rep thought the veteran's Personality disorder was a SC disability. The claim was denied.)

 

"Overview:

On July 12, 1973, a disastrous fire at the National Personnel Records Center (NPRC) destroyed approximately 16-18 million Official Military Personnel Files (OMPF). The records affected:

Branch	Personnel and Period Affected	Estimated Loss
Army	Personnel discharged November 1, 1912 to January 1, 1960	80%
Air Force	Personnel discharged September 25, 1947 to January 1, 1964 (with names alphabetically after Hubbard, James E.)	75%

No duplicate copies of these records were ever maintained, nor were microfilm copies produced. Neither were any indexes created prior to the fire. In addition, millions of documents had been lent to the Department of Veterans Affairs before the fire occurred. Therefore, a complete listing of the records that were lost is not available. However, in the years following the fire, the NPRC collected numerous series of records (referred to as Auxiliary Records) that are used to reconstruct basic service information."

 

The 1973 Fire, National Personnel Records Center | National Archives

[broncovet]

The St Louis Fire is often used as an excuse by VA.  One Veteran was told that his records were lost in the St. Louis Fire by VA.  This is impossible, without a time machine because the Veteran exited from service in 1980.  So his records could not have been sent to NPRC until AFTER 1980, well after the fire.  I wish I could find the link.  

Its another example of VA's credibility issues with Veterans.  

I would like to see VA "be certain" before they tell Vets stuff.

Someone pointed out the IRS "sends out (tax) refund checks" almost immediatly after receipt of tax forms.   Later, if you lied on your tax form, they will recover money overpaid.  

If the IRS can do this on this massive scale, its unclear why VA can not just "pay Veterans", and, for the cheats, publish their names in the paper, when its found out that they lied on their application with things like fake dd214's and the like.  

While its true that some portions of money paid out is un recoverable, other Vets who pulled these shennanigans can be fined.  Certainly, if you received 1000 from VA through Fraud, its not unreasonable to have to pay back 2000, ( or more) to cover recovery costs, and be a deterrent for attempting fraud.  If you commit fraud to obtain VA benefits, such as fake dd214's, then its certainly right to have to pay a penalty and be put "in the poor house", like other criminals.  

The danger, of course, is that "no human ever existed" that got these benefits, because it was all a made up name etc, which of course, also happens to IRS.  Other countries "claim to be you", file a tax return and keep the money.  Your money.  

Whatever IRS uses to catch these criminals could be used to also catch VA benefit fraud.  

I think much of the VA benefit fraud is often an "inside job".   

Frankly, I have no idea how you could get away with defrauding VA.  It takes years and years, its based on medical records, service records, etc.  Of course, that is probably because "I dont think like a criminal".  

I choose to "not plot evil".  Zechariah 8:17 

While some succeed in getting away with some type of robbery or fraud, for some period of time,  in the end "winners never cheat" and "cheaters never win".  If you want to win, good.  Raise your skill level, with practice and good advice.  

Its my opinion that "there is a skill set" for obtaining VA benefits, and "none" of it has anything to do with fraud.  All of it has to do with serving your country honorably, and "IF" you were injured in service,  only then apply and get the benefits you deserve.