Do military Veterans have a sense of entitlement? As American warriors come home from the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan many are claiming to have problems getting the proper care and coverage they believe they had earned and were told they would receive.
American Armed Forces have continued to downsize and a giant “backlog” has affected the Veterans Affairs. The crushing inventory of claims for disability, pension and educational benefits have overwhelmed the Department of Veterans Affairs.
President Barack Obama has pledged to serve veterans “as well as they’ve served us,” yet many veterans feel as though they are jumping through far too many hoops without getting any real results.
For hundreds of thousands of veterans, the result has been long waits for decisions, mishandled documents, confusing communications and infuriating mistakes in their claims.
Those who are getting helped are scheduled months out in advance for their appointments without any regard for the veterans schedule, forcing them to have no choice but to make the appointment or risk not being seen at all.
Despite the fact that the national average for unemployed Veterans is 6.3 percent and 10 percent for post 9/11 vets, Veterans that we spoke with said they feel as though that number is really 3 to 4 times the amount reported by the government.
In a phone interview with Bloomberg, clinical psychologist Craig Bryan states: “The system is completely overwhelmed.” Bryan who is an associate director of the National Center for Veterans Studies at the University of Utah went on to say that, “We did not prepare the VA system for what many of us would argue is the natural consequence of combat and protracted warfare, and we’re trying to play catch-up.”
For one man who chooses to remain anonymous he said that despite having spent 8 years in the military and having a bachelors degree, the prospect of finding a job has been unsuccessful despite having applied to over 100 different companies and agencies. He was told that he was unqualified for the government jobs that were equivalent to his military job, despite his evident credentials.
Upon his trip to the career centers across town he said he encountered many career counselors, and job advisers who informed him he was unqualified for many of the jobs telling him that he would need more education on top of his bachelors degree. The man said he felt as though the career counselors were there filling a spot but not there to help him find employment.
Another veteran said he felt as though welfare recipients hold higher importance to the United States than returning veterans.
This leads us to our question, do Veterans have a sense of entitlement or are they being let down by the government who promised them their sacrifice would not go without benefit…
Do military Veterans have a sense of entitlement or is the American Veteran Affairs failing them?
