Are Service Organizations as overwhelmed as the VA? Are there enough service officers to help those that need it?

2016-04-26T21:34:19-04:00

Response by SFC Wade W. made Apr 26 at 2016 9:46 PM

2016-04-26T21:46:53-04:00

On paper there are enough. As for properly trained SO's, no, I don't believe so. It is not an easy job and most VSO's do not pay their service officers. Things are frequently changing and as we all know, no two cases are alike. I would not want to be responsible for helping someone file a claim, I have had enough trouble with my own.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Apr 26 at 2016 9:52 PM

2016-04-26T21:52:26-04:00

First Rule; ALL Service Officers are not the same. I m in Florida in a large city. THere are State, County, Veteran organizations, and volunteer Service officers who are available to help you. I would say 10% are amazing, 20% are worthless, and the other 70% are trying but are not up to the standard. You need to find a good one.

So to answer your question; if all the Veterans sought help; YES, there is not enough to go around. Since a good amount of Veterans are disenchanted with the system or don't know what benefits they can receive, there is enough Service Officers to go around. However; there is NOT ENOUGH GOOD SERVICE OFFICERS to go around.

If you have some time before you get out, you should be preparing now. There are some great websites and offices you need to go to;

Veterans Affairs for the State you will reside in
Transition Service Officers at your post
Vet Center in your local area.
Veteran Organizations such as VFW/DAV/....
SIGN UP FOR - https://www.ebenefits.va.gov/ebenefits/homepage

http://benefits.va.gov/benefits/

For disability websites I recommend these;
http://www.militarydisabilitymadeeasy.com/
http://www.disabledveterans.org/
http://www.veteranslawblog.org/ (This website is excellent)

No one is going to help you more than yourself. Hit the Web before you get out and be an expert before you get out.

Home - eBenefits

Airmen who were exposed to agent orange while serving on contaminated C-123 aircraft and have a related disability may be eligible for benefits.

Response by LTC Stephen Kubiszewski made Apr 26 at 2016 10:50 PM

2016-04-26T22:50:40-04:00

Yes and no. Our mil/vets and their partners deserve more personal interface. Our current population of veteran charities number over 45k and out efforts are deluted and under focused.

Response by SPC Paul Jennings, J.D. made Apr 26 at 2016 11:45 PM

2016-04-26T23:45:06-04:00

The problem is you have to define "help." Does a VSO simply file the initial claim, do they initiate the appeal if needed, do they provide advice based on current statutes and case law? The claims and appeals process is its own intricate field of law and its constantly developing. How many VSOs are up to date on the CAVC rulings? What about the court of appeals for the federal circuit? How is a VCO trained and what is their continuing education requirements? Finally, what happens if the VSO messes up your claim, is there any recourse?

The unfortunate thing is there aren't really clear cut answers to most of these questions. You can have the best VSO out there, but a lot of times your sign on to be represented by the organization, not that particular VSO. There isn't a guarantee that individual will see you through the whole process.

Competent representation can easily be the difference between a denial and an award of benefits. However, it has to be up to the veteran to find that competent representation. So its not so much a case of a VSO being overwhelmed, but instead it's a problem of finding those truly skilled representatives.