There is no complete listing of what was lost in the fire at the National Personnel Records Center. Image: Cheryl Casey/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffThe VA “generally” is able to salvage or reconstruct veterans’ records that were damaged or destroyed in a 1973 fire, an inspector general report has said, while recommending steps to speed up the process given the “advanced age” of those who still may need records to establish a claim for benefits.
There is no complete listing of what was lost in the fire at the National Personnel Records Center involving certain Army and Air Force records, it said, but in some cases records—such as those with only water damage—are still usable while others can be reconstructed from other potential sources such as military hospitals and other VA claim files.
It estimated that the process, once started by a VA program support assistants, on average takes 450 days from a claim being filed to being decided—nearly three times the length of a claim not involving such records. The IG further found that in many cases the steps of the process are not followed or that support assistants used that process when records were more readily available in other ways, adding to the processing time.
One reason, it said, is that the support assistants are not being trained sufficiently on those procedures.
The report said that the VA agreed with recommendations regarding tracking such requests and making sure that support assistants know and follow the procedures, adding that “It is critical that recommendations are not only effective but can be implemented quickly in order to best serve this vulnerable veteran population.”
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