The Defense and Veterans Affairs departments plan to expand the jointly operated Disability Operation System pilot program – aimed at streamlining the benefits application process for veterans – to six more military installations. Fort Benning, Ga., Fort Bragg, N.C., Fort Hood, Texas, Fort Lewis, Wash., Fort Riley, Kan., and Portsmouth Naval Medical Center, Va., will join the other 27 bases now taking part in the program, which was set up in 2007 to end redundancies and the ensuing confusion veterans experienced when trying to steer their disability claims through the DoD and VA bureaucracies. The pilot program has helped more than 5,400 service members to date.
