Legion Commander Flays VA CARES

Eighteen VA medical facilities nationwide have been tagged by the VA Capital Asset Review for Enhanced Services (VA CARES) for possible shutdown or realignment. VA Secretary James Nicholson has said his announcement about the installations is imminent. American Legion Commander Thomas L. Bock asserted that veterans in the communities involved were excluded from the decisionmaking process last fall when VA suspended meetings with them. “Everything went into limbo for half a year and now suddenly the secretary says he is prepared to make a unilateral decision that affects the lives of millions of America’s veterans” said Bock. Now is certainly not the time to reduce VA facility capacity when there are more than 500,000 newly discharged veterans from active duty after service in Iraq and Afghanistan, he said.