Department of Veterans Affairs 

Office of Inspector General 

Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration 

Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom 

Service Members and Veterans 

Report No. 06-03552-169 July 17, 2008

VA Office of Inspector General 

Washington, DC 20420 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

To Report Suspected Wrongdoing in VA Programs and Operations 

Call the OIG Hotline – (800) 488-8244 

VA Office of Inspector General 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

Contents 

 Page 

Executive Summary..............................................................................i

Introduction...................................................................................................................... 1

Purpose............................................................................................................................. 1

Background...................................................................................................................... 1

Scope and Methodology .................................................................................................. 3

Results and Conclusions ............................................................................................. 6

Issue 1: VA Regional Offices Needed to Promptly Process Claims Received From 

Seriously Disabled Veterans Who Served in Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.. 6

Issue 2: Outreach to Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and 

Veterans Needed Improvement ....................................................................................... 9 

Appendixes

A. Acting Under Secretary for Benefits Comments ..................................................... 16

B. OIG Contact and Staff Acknowledgments............................................................... 23

C. Report Distribution................................................................................................... 24

VA Office of Inspector General 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

Executive Summary 

Introduction 

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted an audit to determine if Veterans 

Benefits Administration (VBA) controls over transition assistance ensured (1) prompt 

processing of seriously disabled veterans’ compensation claims from Operations 

Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) and (2) effective outreach to OEF/OIF 

service members and veterans. 

The audit covered VBA transition assistance controls in effect during Fiscal Years (FY) 

2006–2008 (through January 2008). The audit included a review of 4,969 compensation 

claims received at 57 VA Regional Offices (VAROs) from seriously disabled OEF/OIF 

veterans the Department of Defense (DOD) discharged from military service during FY 

2006. The audit also evaluated VBA outreach to service members and veterans during 

FYs 2006 and 2007. 

VBA Emphasis on Seriously Disabled OEF/OIF Veterans. In January 2007, VA’s 

Under Secretary for Benefits wrote the following to all VBA employees: 

There is no higher priority for any VBA employee, whether serving in the field or 

in headquarters, than ensuring that we are timely meeting the needs of those 

seriously injured in OEF/OIF. At every level of our organization, we must ensure 

we have identified and are case-managing all of the seriously injured. We must 

actively work to stay in touch with them and do all we can to ease their transition. 

VBA defines seriously disabled veterans as service members who definitely or possibly 

will be discharged from military service because of an injury or illness and all veterans 

with DOD classification codes of very seriously injured, seriously injured, or a special 

category involving an amputation. 

Presidential, Congressional, and Government Accountability Office Concerns. After 

the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the U.S. led a coalition of military forces from 

more than 40 countries in two Global War on Terror (GWOT) operations. In October 

2001, OEF began in Afghanistan and in March 2003, OIF began in Iraq. During the 

period of October 2001–December 2007, about 1.7 million U.S. service members 

supported OEF/OIF operations. 

As these service members returned to the U.S., the President, Congress, and the 

Government Accountability Office (GAO) expressed concerns regarding VBA’s 

transition assistance. To address these concerns, in March 2007 the President established 

a Task Force on Returning Global War on Terror Heroes and a Commission on Care for 

America’s Returning Wounded Soldier. In addition, Congress held five hearings related 

to VBA’s transition assistance responsibilities during the period August 2005–April 

2007. These hearings focused on the effectiveness of the Transition Assistance Program 

(TAP) for members of the National Guard, cooperation between VA and DOD to meet 

VA Office of Inspector General i 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

the needs of returning service members, and timeliness of disability claims processing. 

Also, GAO issued the report Military and Veterans’ Benefits, Enhanced Services Could 

Improve Transition Assistance for Reserves and National Guard (Report No. GAO-05-

544, May 2005). The report recommended that DOD, in conjunction with the 

Department of Labor (DOL) and VA, determine what National Guard and Reserve 

members need to make a smooth transition and to explore options for enhancing their 

participation in TAP. 

VBA Transition Assistance Responsibilities and Controls. Title 10 of the U.S. Code 

requires VA, DOL, and DOD to administer TAP to meet the needs of service members 

and veterans transitioning from military service to civilian life. VBA transition 

assistance responsibilities include promptly processing OEF/OIF veterans’ claims and 

providing outreach to OEF/OIF service members and veterans. 

VBA had several controls over the processing of seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans’ 

claims and outreach to OEF/OIF service members and veterans. These controls included 

a 30-day goal for VARO processing of seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans’ 

compensation claims and TAP briefing participation rate goals of 53 percent for FY 2006 

and 85 percent for FY 2011. 

Results 

VBA controls needed strengthening to ensure transition assistance meets the needs of 

OEF/OIF service members and veterans. Controls over VARO processing of seriously 

disabled OEF/OIF veterans’ compensation claims needed strengthening to meet VBA’s 

30-day claim processing goal. Claim processing delays can cause veterans financial 

hardship by depriving them of compensation they may need to successfully transition 

from military service to civilian life. In addition, controls over outreach needed 

strengthening to ensure VBA informs service members and veterans of available VBA 

benefits that can ease their transition to civilian life. 

Claims Received from Seriously Disabled OEF/OIF Veterans Needed to Be 

Processed Promptly. To improve 

claim-processing timeliness, VBA 

needed to strengthen controls for 

obtaining DOD data identifying 

seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans and 

monitoring case-managed claims. As 

shown in Chart 1, VAROs did not 

process 3,776 (76 percent) of 4,969 

seriously disabled veteran compensation 

claims within VBA’s 30-day goal. 

Chart 1: Seriously Disabled OEF/OIF 

Veterans' Claims Processed (4,969 Claims)

1,193 

(24%)

3,776 

(76%)

30 Days or Less More Than 30 Days

VA Office of Inspector General ii 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

Of the 4,969 claims VAROs processed, 3,776 did not meet VBA’s goal by an average of 

114 days and as much as 504 days. Chart 2 shows the processing times for all 4,969 

claims VAROs processed. 

Obtaining DOD Data. 

In June 2005, VBA established 

procedures with DOD in a Memorandum 

of Understanding (MOU) to obtain 

medical information that identified 

seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans. In 

support of the MOU, the Under 

Secretary of Defense directed the U.S. 

Army Surgeon General to provide VBA 

a service member data report every 3 

weeks that includes the injury and illness 

classification codes needed to identify 

these veterans. However, as of January 

2008, VBA had not obtained any of the 

U.S. Army Surgeon General reports. 

Senior C&P Service officials stated that VBA had not followed up with DOD to obtain 

these reports because VBA was waiting to obtain the injury and classification codes from 

a planned VBA/DOD Veterans Tracking Application (VTA). As of January 2008, VBA 

was testing the reliability of VTA data and could not provide us with a planned full 

implementation date. 

Chart 2: Seriously Disabled OEF/OIF 

Veterans' Claims Processed (4,969 Claims)

68

1,015

538

475 505 480

695

1,193

24% 14 % 10 % 10 % 10 % 11% 20% 1% 0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

0 - 3031-60

61-90

91-120

121-150

151-180

181 - 365

366 +

Processing Days

Claims

Monitoring Case-Managed Claims. VBA policy requires VAROs to case manage 

seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans’ claims. Case management is intended to ensure 

VAROs process seriously disabled claims within VBA’s 30-day goal. Case management 

procedures require VAROs to closely monitor the status of each claim and use telephone 

calls and letters to inform each veteran of their claim’s status. VAROs only case 

managed 1,049 (21 percent) of the 4,969 seriously disabled OEF/OIF claims requiring 

case management. VAROs did not identify the remaining 3,920 (79 percent) claims for 

case management because VBA did not obtain the necessary information discussed 

above. Regardless, VBA’s case management had minimal effect on the timeliness of 

claims received from seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans. For example, VARO claim 

processing times did not meet the 30-day goal for 77 percent of the 3,920 claims that 

were not case managed and a minimally lower 74 percent of the 1,049 claims that were 

case managed. 

To monitor the processing of case-managed claims, VBA’s Office of Field Operations 

(OFO) and VAROs used an OEF/OIF Registry. However, the OEF/OIF Registry was not 

an effective monitoring tool because it did not clearly show and summarize claim 

processing timeliness information such as claim processing days to date. As a result, 

VA Office of Inspector General iii 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

OFO and VARO officials and case managers could not easily identify, track, and followup on claim processing delays. 

Outreach to OEF/OIF Service Members and Veterans Needed Improvement. We 

estimated OEF/OIF service member VBA TAP briefing participation rates of 43 percent 

in FY 2006 and 47 percent in FY 2007. These participation rates were slightly less than 

VBA’s FY 2006 goal of 53 percent. (VBA did not have a FY 2007 goal and, as 

discussed below, did not determine actual participation rates.) In addition, VBA did not 

deliver initial outreach letters to 65,853 (33 percent) of 198,128 OEF/OIF veterans. 

Furthermore, VBA did not provide special outreach to an additional 3,274 OEF/OIF 

veterans who did not have a high school diploma or equivalent. To improve outreach to 

service members and veterans, DoD is in the best position to collect and monitor service 

member attendance at VBA TAP briefings. In addition, VBA needed to strengthen 

procedures for processing initial outreach letters and establish policies and procedures for 

providing special outreach. 

Monitoring TAP Briefing Attendance. DOD and VBA did not determine and monitor 

TAP briefing attendance for OEF/OIF service members because of difficulties in 

collecting the data needed to calculate participation rates. To calculate these rates, DOD 

needs to determine the OEF/OIF service members eligible to attend TAP briefings and 

the OEF/OIF service members who participate in the briefings. (Hospitalized seriously 

disabled service members who cannot attend TAP briefings receive an individual briefing 

at the medical facility providing treatment.) Our estimated participation rates of 43 

percent in FY 2006 and 47 percent in FY 2007 indicate that VBA was not achieving the 

53 percent TAP participation rate goal. In addition to monitoring TAP briefing 

attendance, to help increase TAP briefing participation, DOD needed to mandate service 

members to attend a briefing prior to discharge. 

Processing Initial Outreach Letters. Title 38 of the U.S. Code requires VBA to advise 

discharged veterans, through outreach letters, of available VBA benefits. The 65,853 

OEF/OIF veterans did not receive initial outreach letters because C&P Service staff made 

incorrect ineligibility determinations (36,968 National Guard and Reserve veterans), did 

not obtain Certificates of Release or Discharge from Active Duty (DD-214s) information 

from DOD (22,879 veterans), and did not follow-up on letters returned as undeliverable 

(6,006 veterans). 

Providing Special Outreach. Title 38 of the U.S. Code requires VBA to perform special 

outreach, in person or by telephone, for veterans who do not have a high school diploma 

or equivalent. C&P Service staff stated that they did not identify and provide the 3,274 

OEF/OIF veterans special outreach because it was not required by VBA policies and 

procedures. 

VA Office of Inspector General iv 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

Conclusion 

VBA controls needed strengthening to ensure transition assistance meets the needs of 

OEF/OIF service members and veterans. Controls over VARO processing of seriously 

disabled OEF/OIF veterans’ compensation claims needed strengthening to reduce claimprocessing delays. In addition, controls over outreach needed strengthening to ensure 

VBA informs service members and veterans of available VBA benefits that can ease their 

transition to civilian life. VBA implementation of the following recommendations will 

address the transition control deficiencies identified during the audit and help ensure a 

smooth transition for the men and women who have made sacrifices in defense of 

freedom, not only in Iraq and Afghanistan, but also throughout the world. 

Recommendations 

1. We recommended the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits obtain U.S. Army Surgeon 

General reports that include the injury and illness classification codes necessary to 

identify seriously disabled service members until VBA fully implements VTA. 

2. We recommended the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits develop improved 

monitoring mechanisms to ensure VAROs promptly process seriously disabled 

OEF/OIF veterans’ compensation claims. 

3. We recommended the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits pursue an agreement with 

DOD requiring service members to attend a VBA TAP briefing prior to discharge. 

4. We recommended the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits develop a mechanism to 

obtain the VBA TAP briefing participation data necessary to calculate and monitor 

annual service member briefing participation rates. 

5. We recommended the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits establish policies and 

procedures that clearly describe minimum benefit eligibility requirements and 

implement controls for ensuring the accuracy of eligibility determinations. 

6. We recommended the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits develop a mechanism to 

obtain the DD-214 information needed to identify discharged veterans who should 

receive outreach letters. 

7. We recommended the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits establish policies and 

procedures that require staff to follow-up on initial outreach letters returned as 

undeliverable. 

8. We recommended the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits establish policies and 

procedures that require staff to provide special outreach to veterans who do not have a 

high school diploma or equivalent. 

VA Office of Inspector General v 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

Acting Under Secretary for Benefits Comments 

The Acting Under Secretary for Benefits concurred with the reports conclusions and 

recommendations, except for Recommendation 4. The Acting Under Secretary’s 

comments on each of the 8 recommendations are summarized below: 

1. The Acting Under Secretary stated that effective April 30, 2008, the VTA program 

was fully implemented, with all regional offices entering data into VTA on seriously 

injured service members. VBA requested closure of this recommendation. 

2. The Acting Under Secretary stated that in September 2007 enhancements to the 

Veterans Service Network (VETSNET) Operations Reports were made that provide 

regional offices with improved methods to track claims of seriously disabled 

OEF/OIF veterans. The Acting Under Secretary also reported that through June of 

FY 2008 more than 30 percent of claims from seriously injured veterans were 

processed in 30 days or less. VBA requested closure of this recommendation. 

3. The Acting Under Secretary stated that VA had aggressively pursued an agreement 

with DOD to require all separating and retiring service members to attend a TAP 

briefing. The Acting Under Secretary also stated that VBA believes the responsibility 

rests with DOD to increase TAP participation and that currently only the Marine 

Corp. mandates TAP attendance. VBA requested closure of this recommendation. 

4. The Acting Under Secretary stated that VBA did not concur with the recommendation 

to develop a mechanism to obtain the TAP briefing participation data necessary to 

calculate and monitor service member briefing participation rates. The Acting Under 

Secretary stated that DOD established the goal for a briefing participation rate of 85 

percent and determines who is eligible to participate. Therefore, VBA believes the 

responsibility to collect and monitor briefing participation rates lies with DoD. The 

Acting Under Secretary also stated that developing the mechanism would present 

significant challenges and provided examples of these challenges. 

5. The Acting Under Secretary stated that VBA is working to correct an identified 

VADS problem to ensure that outreach packages are appropriately generated for all 

veterans eligible for VA benefits, including National Guard and reserve veterans. 

VBA plans to correct the VADS problem by December 31, 2008. 

6. The Acting Under Secretary stated that VBA is working with the Department and 

DOD to convert to the use of separation data from the VA/DOD Identity Repository 

(VADIR) to issue outreach packages. VBA plans to complete the conversion by 

December 31, 2008. 

7. The Acting Under Secretary stated that in March 2008, VBA provided informal 

procedures for the VADS Unit to identify better addresses for outreach letters 

returned as undeliverable. VBA plans to issue formal procedures by October 1, 2008. 

8. The Acting Under Secretary stated that VBA will establish policies and procedures to 

identify and conduct special outreach to veterans who do not have a high school 

VA Office of Inspector General vi 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

diploma or equivalent. VBA plans to implement these policies and procedures by 

December 31, 2008. 

In addition, the Acting Under Secretary provided technical comments, which we have 

incorporated into the body of the report. (See Appendix A for the full text of the Acting 

Under Secretary’s comments.) 

OIG Response 

We consider the completed actions for Recommendations 1–4 acceptable, and consider 

these recommendations closed. We consider the planned actions for Recommendations 

5–8 acceptable, and we will follow up on their implementation. 

The Acting Under Secretary for Benefits concurred in principle with Recommendation 3 

and did not concur with Recommendation 4. We agree with the Acting Under Secretary 

that DOD is in the best position and should have the responsibility for increasing service 

member TAP briefing attendance and collecting and monitoring participation rates. We 

coordinated with GAO and learned that as of July 15, 2008, GAO is preparing a report 

for an audit of DOD’s Benefits Delivery at Discharge Program. We expect the GAO to 

include a recommendation that the Secretary of Defense direct the Under Secretary of 

Defense for Personnel and Readiness to establish an accurate measure of service 

members’ participation in TAP, including VA benefit briefings. As a result, we consider 

recommendations 3 and 4 closed.

 (original signed by:) 

BELINDA J. FINN 

Assistant Inspector General for Auditing 

VA Office of Inspector General vii 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

Introduction 

Purpose 

The OIG conducted an audit to determine if VBA controls over transition assistance 

ensured (1) prompt processing of seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans’ compensation 

claims and (2) effective outreach to OEF/OIF service members and veterans. 

Background 

VBA Emphasis on Seriously Disabled OEF/OIF Veterans. In January 2007, VA’s 

Under Secretary for Benefits wrote the following to all VBA employees: 

There is no higher priority for any VBA employee, whether serving in the field or 

in headquarters, than ensuring that we are timely meeting the needs of those 

seriously injured in OEF/OIF. At every level of our organization, we must ensure 

we have identified and are case-managing all of the seriously injured. We must 

actively work to stay in touch with them and do all we can to ease their transition. 

VBA defines seriously disabled veterans as service members who definitely or possibly 

will be discharged from military service because of an injury or illness and all veterans 

with DOD classification codes of very seriously injured, seriously injured, or a special 

category involving an amputation. 

Presidential, Congressional, and GAO Concerns. After the September 11, 2001, 

terrorist attacks, the U.S. led a coalition of military forces from more than 40 countries in 

two GWOT operations. In October 2001, OEF began in Afghanistan and in March 2003 

OIF began in Iraq. During the period October 2001–December 2007, about 1.7 million 

U.S. service members supported OEF/OIF operations. As these service members have 

returned to the U.S., the President, Congress, and GAO have expressed concerns 

regarding VBA’s transition assistance. 

Presidential Concerns. In March 2007, the President established a Task Force on 

Returning Global War on Terror Heroes and a Commission on Care for America’s 

Returning Wounded Soldier. The Commission performed a comprehensive review of the 

care provided to America’s GWOT service members as they transition from military 

service to civilian life. In April 2007, the Task Force’s report made 25 recommendations 

to improve delivery of Federal services to returning service members. These 

recommendations included increasing active duty National Guard and U.S. Army, Navy, 

Air Force, Marine, and Coast Guard Reserve (Reserve) service member attendance at 

TAP briefings and developing a system to case manage veterans’ claims. In July 2007, 

the Commission’s report made six recommendations including a complete restructuring 

of the disability and compensation system and a rapid transfer of patient information 

between DOD and VA. 

VA Office of Inspector General 1 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

Congressional Concerns. During the period August 2005–April 2007, Congress held five 

hearings specifically related to VBA transition assistance responsibilities. The hearings 

included witness testimony discussing outreach and claim processing controls. For 

example, during a March 22, 2006, House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, 

Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity hearing, the Deputy Adjutant General of the 

Arkansas National Guard testified that VBA’s role in transition assistance was critical to 

the successful reintegration of service members into society. 

GAO Concerns. In May 2005, GAO’s report Military and Veterans’ Benefits, Enhanced 

Services Could Improve Transition Assistance for Reserves and National Guard (Report 

No. GAO-05-544) recommended that VA, DOD, and DOL determine what demobilizing 

National Guard and Reserve service members need to enhance their TAP participation. 

On June 30, 2006, the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Oversight and 

Investigations held a hearing on VA and DOD Health Care Efforts to Provide Seamless 

Transition of Care for OEF/OIF Service Members and Veterans. At the hearing, GAO 

testified that during the past 5 years, VA and DOD had made limited progress in sharing 

patient health information for seriously injured service members. 

VBA TAP Responsibilities. Title 10 of the U.S. Code requires VA, DOL, and DOD to 

administer TAP to meet the needs of service members and veterans transitioning from 

military service to civilian life. VBA transition assistance responsibilities include 

promptly processing OEF/OIF veterans’ claims and providing outreach to OEF/OIF 

service members and veterans. 

VA Office of Seamless Transition. In January 2005, VA established the Office of 

Seamless Transition (OST). OST replaced VA’s Task Force for the Seamless Transition 

of Returning Service Members that VA had established in August 2003 to coordinate 

VBA and VHA transition assistance activities and to work with DOD on TAP initiatives. 

In December 2004, the Task Force’s final report identified 11 initiatives for improving 

transition of service members. The plans included defining, identifying, and monitoring 

the entire OEF/OIF service member population, including activated Reserves. OST’s 

mission includes ensuring continuity and improved coordination of healthcare and 

benefits for seriously injured or ill service members returning from theaters of combat 

operations as they transition from DOD to VA. 

Controls Over Processing of Seriously Disabled OEF/OIF Veterans’ Claims. VBA 

had established several controls to help identify and promptly process seriously disabled 

OEF/OIF veterans’ claims. Key controls included: 

• An MOU with DOD to obtain medical information for seriously disabled OEF/OIF 

veterans and policies requiring C&P Service to provide VAROs weekly reports 

identifying claims received from these veterans. 

VA Office of Inspector General 2 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

• A 30-day goal for VARO processing of compensation claims received from seriously 

disabled OEF/OIF veterans. 

• Policies that required VAROs to assign case managers to closely monitor the 

processing of every claim received from seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans. 

• An OEF/OIF Registry that included information on each claim submitted by seriously 

disabled veterans. In June 2007, VBA partnered with DOD to create VTA that will 

replace the OEF/OIF Registry. 

Controls Over Outreach to OEF/OIF Service Members and Veterans. VBA had 

established controls to help ensure adequate outreach to OEF/OIF service members and 

veterans. Key outreach controls included: 

• An MOU with DOD, DOL, and Department of Homeland Security to provide service 

members information on VBA benefits at TAP briefings. 

• Policies and procedures requiring VARO staff to monitor TAP briefings to maintain a 

high-quality program and TAP briefing participation rate goals of 53 percent for FY 

2006 and 85 percent for FY 2011. 

• Policies and procedures requiring C&P Service to deliver initial outreach letters to all 

discharged OEF/OIF veterans. 

Scope and Methodology 

The audit covered VBA transition assistance controls for FYs 2006–2008 (through 

January 2008) and included a review of 4,969 compensation claims 57 VAROs received 

from seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans DOD discharged from military service during 

FY 2006. Of the 4,969 compensation claims reviewed, VBA’s OEF/OIF registry 

contained information on only 1,049 of these claims. We identified 3,920 additional 

claims by analyzing separation service code data for discharged veterans in DOD’s 

Contingency Tracking System (CTS) deployment file, ALLID file, and claim data in 

VBA’s BIRLS. The audit also evaluated VBA outreach to service members and veterans 

during FYs 2006 and 2007. We estimated the TAP briefing participation rates for 

FYs 2006 and 2007 by using VBA reported total service members attending FYs 2006 

and 2007 TAP briefings and DOD reported total service members discharged from the 

military during FYs 2006 and 2007. The audit did not review VHA’s medical services 

transition assistance and outreach because the VA OIG Office of Healthcare Inspections 

(OHI) and DOD OIG were reviewing these activities. 

We conducted audit work at the following sites: 

• VBA’s C&P Service and VA’s OST program offices in Washington, D.C. 

VA Office of Inspector General 3 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

• VAROs in Roanoke, VA, Houston, TX, and Waco, TX (We selected these VAROs 

because of the claims processing support they provide to the following three military 

treatment facilities.) 

• DOD’s Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington, D.C., Brooke Army Medical 

Center, San Antonio, TX, and Darnall Army Community Hospital, Ft. Hood, TX 

• VA’s Austin Automation Center, Austin, TX 

At VBA and OST offices, we interviewed program managers and reviewed policies and 

procedures, the Memorandum of Agreement between the National Guard and VA, and 

the VBA/DOD data-sharing MOU. At the three VAROs, we interviewed office 

managers, OEF/OIF coordinators, case managers, and other staff with transition 

assistance responsibilities. We also reviewed claims folders and TAP briefing 

presentations and attendance records. At the three military medical facilities, we 

observed outreach practices and reviewed outreach procedures and TAP briefing 

attendance records. We also interviewed the OEF/OIF coordinator at Walter Reed Army 

Medical Center and conducted telephone interviews with OEF/OIF coordinators at the 54 

VAROs we did not visit. 

We used computer-generated data from the following databases to accomplish the audit 

objectives: 

• VBA’s OEF/OIF Registry 

• VBA’s Veterans Assistance at Discharge System (VADS) 

• VBA’s Beneficiary Information Record Locator System (BIRLS) 

• DOD’s CTS Deployment File 

• VA and DOD’s Identity Repository (VADIR) 

• OIG’s LC Database1 (http://www.va.gov/oig/54/reports/VAOIG-07-00380-202.pdf) 

The OIG LC database is an analytical database developed by OHI. The database consists 

of the study population file, an ALLID file, and 18 DOD and VA master files that 

incorporate details about service members discharged or released from active military 

duty during the period July 2005–September 2006. The LC database provides a unique 

opportunity for systematically evaluating transition processes. Although we identified an 

insignificant difference between the LC database and the ALLID file, both were 

sufficiently reliable for accomplishing the audit objectives. 

 

1

 The OIG LC Database provides valuable information on service members and veterans. However, we did not use 

this database to clarify characteristics such as age, rank, Reserve or National Guard status for claims not processed 

timely. 

VA Office of Inspector General 4 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

To test the reliability of computer-generated data used during the audit, we compared 

relevant data with documents in VARO claims folders. The data was sufficiently reliable 

for the audit objectives. The audit focused on controls related to the audit objectives. 

The audit was not intended to form an opinion on the adequacy of VBA controls overall 

and the report does not render such an opinion. The audit was conducted in accordance 

with generally accepted government auditing standards. 

VA Office of Inspector General 5 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

Results and Conclusions 

Issue 1: VAROs Needed to Promptly Process Claims 

Received From Seriously Disabled Veterans Who Served In 

OEF/OIF 

Controls over VARO processing of 

seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans’ 

compensation claims needed 

strengthening to reduce claim-processing 

delays. As shown in Chart 1, VAROs 

did not process 3,776 (76 percent) of 

4,969 seriously disabled veteran 

compensation claims within VBA’s 30-

day goal. 

Of the 4,969 claims VAROs processed, 

3,776 did not meet VBA’s goal by an 

average of 114 days and as much as 504 

days. Chart 2 shows the processing 

times for all 4,969 claims VAROs 

processed. 

Chart 1: Seriously Disabled OEF/OIF 

Veterans' Claims Processed (4,969 Claims)

1,193 

(24%)

3,776 

(76%)

30 Days or Less More Than 30 Days

VAROs did not process these claims 

promptly because transition assistance 

controls did not ensure identification of 

all seriously injured OEF/OIF veterans’ 

claims and adequate case management of 

claims. Claim processing delays can 

cause veterans financial hardships by 

depriving them of compensation they 

may need to successfully transition from 

military service to civilian life. 

Procedures for Obtaining DOD 

Data Identifying Seriously 

Disabled OEF/OIF Veterans Needed Strengthening 

Chart 2: Seriously Disabled OEF/OIF 

Veterans' Claims Processed (4,969 Claims)

68

1,015

538

475 505 480

695

1,193

24% 14 % 10 % 10 % 10 % 11% 20% 1% 0

200

400

600

800

1,000

1,200

1,400

0 - 30

31-60

61-90

91-120

121-150

151-180

181 - 365

366 +

Processing Days

Claims

VBA procedures did not ensure VAROs received the DOD data necessary to identify 

claims received from seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans. As a result, only 1,049 (21 

percent) of the 4,969 seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans’ claims were placed on VBA’s 

OEF/OIF registry for case management. Although VAROs processed the remaining 

3,920 claims (79 percent), VBA did not identify them as seriously disabled OEF/OIF 

VA Office of Inspector General 6 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

veterans’ claims and, as a result, VAROs did not assign the claims the required higher 

processing priority. (We identified these claims by analyzing separation service code 

data for discharged veterans in DOD’s CTS, seriously disabled OEF/OIF veteran data in 

VBA’s OEF/OIF Registry, and claim data in VBA’s BIRLS.) VBA’s C&P Service 

should provide VAROs with the DOD information needed to identify claims received 

from seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans. If VAROs do not receive the DOD 

information, they cannot ensure all claims received from seriously disabled OEF/OIF 

veterans receive the required processing priority to meet VBA’s 30-day goal. 

In June 2005, VBA established an MOU with DOD to obtain medical information that 

identified seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans. In support of the MOU, in 

September 2005, the Under Secretary of Defense directed the U.S. Army Surgeon 

General to provide VBA a service member data report every 3 weeks that includes the 

injury and illness classification codes needed to identify these veterans. However, as of 

January 2008, VBA had not obtained any of the U.S. Army Surgeon General reports. 

Senior C&P Service officials stated that VBA had not followed up with DOD to obtain 

these reports because VBA was waiting to obtain the injury and classification codes from 

VTA, a planned VBA/DOD web-based application. As of January 2008, VBA was 

testing the reliability of VTA data and could not provide us with a planned full 

implementation date. 

Because VBA did not obtain the DOD information, VAROs had to use other less 

effective methods to identify seriously disabled OEF/OIF service members. All 58 

OEF/OIF coordinators interviewed (57 at VAROs and 1 at Walter Reed Army Medical 

Center) stated that they used other methods to identify these service members. The 

following example illustrates the methods OEF/OIF coordinators used: 

Example 1. The coordinator assigned to Walter Reed Army Medical Center 

relied on DOD social workers, Intensive Care Unit employees, and visual 

observation of new patients assigned to the Amputation Ward as methods to 

identify seriously disabled OEF/OIF service members. The coordinator stated that 

this method was less effective than obtaining a DOD list of seriously disabled 

OEF/OIF service members. Because the coordinator did not receive the DOD 

information, the coordinator could not consistently identify all seriously disabled 

OEF/OIF service members and, as a result, could not identify their claims for 

expedited processing. 

To strengthen controls for identifying claims received from seriously disabled OEF/OIF 

veterans, VBA should obtain the U.S. Army Surgeon General reports, that include the 

injury and illness classification codes identifying seriously disabled service members, 

until VBA fully implements VTA. 

VA Office of Inspector General 7 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

Monitoring of Case-Managed Claims Processing Needed Improvement 

VBA needed to improve the monitoring of case managed claims processing to help 

ensure VAROs process case managed claims promptly. VAROs did not meet VBA’s 30-

day claim processing goal for 772 (74 percent) of 1,049 claims that were case managed. 

VBA policy requires VAROs to case manage seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans’ 

claims. Case management is intended to ensure processing of claims for seriously 

disabled veterans meets VBA’s 30-day processing goal. Case managers are required to 

closely monitor the status of each claim and use telephone calls and letters to inform each 

veteran of their claim’s status. 

To monitor VARO processing of case-managed claims, VBA’s Office of Field 

Operations (OFO) used an OEF/OIF Registry. In June 2007, VBA announced that it had 

partnered with DOD to create a web-based VTA that, when fully implemented, will 

replace the OEF/OIF Registry. For each case-managed claim, the registry shows the 

VARO of jurisdiction, the date the claim was received, and if the claim has been 

processed. Every month, VAROs are required to provide updated information to OFO 

for the registry and OFO is required to provide an updated registry to VAROs. 

VBA’s case management requirements had minimal effect on the timeliness of claims 

received from seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans. Claim processing times did not 

meet the 30-day goal for 77 percent of the 3,920 claims that were not case managed and a 

minimally lower 74 percent of the 1,049 claims that were case managed. As shown in 

Table 1 below, VAROs did not meet the timeliness goal by an average of 107 days for 

772 case-managed claims, 115 days for 3,004 claims that were not case managed, and 

114 days for the total 3,776 claims that were processed in more than 30 days. 

Table 1. VARO Processing Times for Seriously Disabled OEF/OIF Veterans’ Compensation Claims 

Number of Claims 

Days to Process Claims Case Managed Not Case Managed Total

0-30 (Within VBA goal) 277 (26%) 916 (23%) 1,193 (24%) 

31-60 148 (14%) 547 (14%) 695 (14%) 

61-90 122 (12%) 353 ( 9%) 475 (10%) 

91-120 109 (10%) 396 (10%) 505 (10%) 

121-150 105 (10%) 375 (10%) 480 (10%) 

151-180 96 ( 9%) 442 (11%) 538 (11%) 

181-365 176 (17%) 839 (22%) 1,015 (20%) 

Over 1-Year 16 ( 2%) 52 ( 1%) 68 ( 1%) 

 Totals 1,049 (100%) 3,920 (100%) 4,969 (100%) 

 Totals Not Meeting 30-Day Goal 772 (74%) 3,004 (77%) 3,776 (76%) 

 Average Days Over Goal 107 115 114 

Of the 4,969 total seriously disabled OEF/OIF veteran claims, VAROs took 181 to 365 

days to process 1,015 (20 percent) claims and over 1 year to process 68 (1 percent) 

VA Office of Inspector General 8 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

claims. The following example illustrates how claims processing untimeliness delayed 

veterans’ receipt of compensation: 

Example 2. A VARO received a claim from an OEF/OIF veteran because of a 

partial amputation of the left arm, a right eye retinal detachment, and shrapnel 

scars. The VARO identified the veteran as being seriously disabled and the claim 

as requiring case management. After receiving the claim, the VARO received the 

veteran’s service medical records in 15 days and the C&P examination results in 

23 days, both within the 30-day timeframe. However, the VARO took 142 days, 

or 112 days more than the 30-day goal, to process the claim. The VAROs 

untimeliness in processing the claim delayed the veteran’s receipt of $5,850. If 

the case manager, VARO, and OFO had effectively monitored the processing of 

this claim, then the VARO would have processed the claim in less than 30 days 

and the veteran would have received the $5,850 promptly. 

To strengthen monitoring, VBA needed to develop improved mechanisms that case 

managers, OEF/OIF coordinators, and OFO can use to more effectively track and followup on claims received from seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans. 

Issue 2: Outreach to OEF/OIF Service Members and 

Veterans Needed Improvement 

VBA needed to improve controls over outreach to OEF/OIF service members and 

veterans. VBA established a FY 2006 TAP briefing participation rate goal of 53 percent. 

However, neither DOD nor VBA were collecting and reporting data on participation rates 

achieved. We estimated that the FY 2006 participation rate was 43 percent. In addition, 

VBA did not deliver initial outreach letters to 65,853 OEF/OIF veterans. Furthermore, 

VBA did not provide special outreach to an additional 3,274 veterans who did not have a 

high school diploma or equivalent. 

Title 38 of the U.S. Code, requires VBA to notify service members and veterans of all 

benefits for which they may be eligible. To improve the effectiveness of controls over 

outreach to OEF/OIF service members and veterans, DOD needed to monitor and 

increase service member attendance at VBA TAP briefings. In addition, VBA needed to 

strengthen procedures for processing initial outreach letters and develop policies and 

procedures for special outreach. Improving these controls will help ensure OEF/OIF 

service members and veterans receive information explaining available VBA benefits and 

VAROs process submitted benefit claims within established timeframes. 

VA Office of Inspector General 9 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

VBA Needed to Monitor and Increase OEF/OIF Service Member 

Attendance at TAP Briefings 

VBA established service member participation rate goals for TAP briefings of 53 percent 

in FY 2006. DOD nor VBA were collecting and reporting data on participation rates 

achieved. We estimated participation rates of 43 percent in FY 2006 and 47 percent in 

FY 2007. Title 10 of the U.S. Code requires TAP briefings to be provided to service 

members within 12 months of separation and 24 months of retirement. VBA, DOD, and 

DOL provide TAP briefings at military installations in the U.S. and overseas. At TAP 

briefings, VARO staff inform service members of available benefits such as disability 

C&P, education, home loan guaranty, and life insurance. (Hospitalized seriously 

disabled service members who cannot attend TAP briefings receive an individual briefing 

at the medical facility providing treatment.) 

Monitoring TAP Briefing Attendance. DOD is in the best position to collect and 

monitor TAP briefing participation rates. Furthermore, according to the Under Secretary 

for Benefits, discharge data obtained from DOD is not accurate for purposes of 

determining TAP participation rates because service members can attend TAP briefings 

up to 2 years prior to retirement or 6 years prior to discharge and up to 6 months after 

discharge or retirement. 

We agree that discharge data from DOD may be inaccurate. To calculate accurate 

participation rates, DOD must determine the OEF/OIF service members eligible to attend 

TAP briefings and the OEF/OIF service members who participate in the briefings. 

Considering DOD and VBA did not have the data needed to calculate accurate 

participation rates, we used DOD discharge data to estimate FYs 2006 and 2007 

participation rates. To calculate the rates we used VBA reported total service members 

attending FYs 2006 and 2007 TAP briefings and DOD reported total service members 

discharged from the military during FYs 2006 and 2007. 

Increasing VBA TAP Briefing Attendance. We estimated OEF/OIF service members 

TAP briefing participation rates of 43 percent in FY 2006 and 47 percent in FY 2007. 

VBA did not achieve the FY 2006 participation rate goal of 53 percent because DOD did 

not mandate all eligible service members to attend a VBA TAP briefing prior to 

discharge. As of January 2008, the Marine Corps was the only branch of DOD that 

required service members to attend TAP briefings. The problem of service members not 

attending TAP briefings was discussed in GAO report Military and Veterans’ Benefits, 

Enhanced Services Could Improve Transition Assistance for Reserves and National 

Guard (Report No. GAO-05-544, May 2005). The report stated that DOD TAP 

representatives believed that making TAP briefing attendance mandatory for service 

members would improve transition assistance. 

VA Office of Inspector General 10 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

Procedures For Processing Initial Outreach Letters Needed 

Strengthening 

To improve outreach to veterans, VBA needed to strengthen procedures for processing 

initial outreach letters. VBA did not deliver initial outreach letters to 65,853 (33 percent) 

of the 198,128 OEF/OIF veterans discharged from the military during FY 2006. Title 38 

of the U.S. Code requires VBA to advise each discharged veteran of available benefits by 

letter. VBA uses an initial outreach letter to inform recently discharged veterans of 

available benefits. The letter includes information on benefits such as disability C&P, 

education, home loan guaranties, and life insurance. The letter also includes a toll-free 

number veterans can call for additional information. The 65,853 veterans did not receive 

letters because C&P Service staff made incorrect ineligibility determinations (36,968 

veterans), did not obtain DD-214 information from DOD (22,879 veterans), and did not 

follow-up on letters returned as undeliverable (6,006 veterans). 

Incorrect Ineligibility Determinations. C&P Service did not send initial outreach

letters to 36,968 discharged OEF/OIF National Guard and Reserve veterans because C&P 

Service staff incorrectly determined that the veterans were ineligible for benefits. C&P 

Service procedures require staff to review every discharged veteran’s DD-214 to 

determine if the veteran has met minimum active duty requirements for benefit eligibility. 

To be eligible for benefits, the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) requires veterans 

to complete a minimum of 24 months of continuous active duty or complete called-up 

periods of active duty of less than 24 months. 

C&P Service staff incorrectly determined that 36,968 National Guard and Reserve 

veterans, whose called-up active duty periods were less than 24 months, were ineligible 

for benefits because they applied the CFR’s minimum active duty requirement of 24 

months regardless of whether or not the veteran had been called to active service. 

According to the C&P Service, Assistant Director of Veterans Services, staff did not fully 

understand the CFR minimum active duty service requirements because VBA did not 

have a written policy explaining the requirements. C&P Service staff also made the 

incorrect ineligibility determinations because C&P Service controls did not include 

policies and procedures to ensure the accuracy of staff ineligibility determinations. 

According to the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits, C&P Service does not make 

eligibility determinations for separating service members for purposes of the initial 

outreach letter. Instead, VADS generates initial outreach letters based on data extracted 

from veterans’ DD-214s. However, the Acting Under Secretary also acknowledged that 

C&P Service is responsible for ensuring VADS generates the outreach letters to eligible 

service members by stating that as of July 2008 C&P Service is working with the VADS 

Unit to implement corrective actions. 

DD-214 Information Not Obtained. Our analysis of information in VBA and DOD 

databases identified 22,879 veterans that DOD had discharged and C&P Service had not 

sent initial outreach letters. When a veteran is discharged, DOD should provide the 

VA Office of Inspector General 11 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

veteran’s DD-214 information to C&P Service. When C&P Service staff receive the DD214 information, they should record, in VADS, data such as the veteran’s period of 

service, separation date, and character of discharge. VADS automatically generates 

initial outreach letters on a daily basis to these veterans. Because C&P service staff did 

not receive the 22,879 veterans’ DD-214 information, the veterans did not receive the 

initial outreach letters. 

Inadequate Follow-up on Undeliverable Letters. C&P Service staff did not follow-up 

on 6,006 initial outreach letters returned as undeliverable because of incorrect addresses. 

When C&P Service staff received the letters returned as undeliverable, they recorded in 

VADS that the letters had been returned and shredded the letters. They did not take any 

action to determine current addresses because VBA did not have policies and procedures 

requiring any follow-up. To improve controls, VBA should require staff to follow-up on 

letters returned as undeliverable and attempt to obtain current addresses from sources 

such as VADIR, the Internal Revenue Service, or telephone contacts with veterans or 

their dependents. 

Policies and Procedures for Special Outreach Are Needed 

Title 38 of the U.S. Code requires VBA to perform special outreach, in person or by 

telephone, for veterans who do not have a high school diploma or equivalent. VBA did 

not have policies and procedures requiring special outreach for these veterans. As a 

result, C&P Service staff did not perform special outreach for 3,274 discharged OEF/OIF 

veterans who did not have a high school diploma. C&P Service staff stated they did not 

identify veterans for special outreach and could not remember when they had last 

performed any special outreach. The Chief of Outreach for C&P Service stated that 

special outreach is no longer necessary because the military has evolved to a point where 

most recruits have a high school diploma or equivalent. However, the Chief of Outreach 

had no evidence to support his statement and our analysis of information in VBA and 

DOD databases identified 3,274 discharged veterans who did not have high school 

diplomas or equivalent. Staff did not perform the required special outreach because VBA 

did not have policies and procedures requiring them to identify veterans who should 

receive special outreach and to perform the outreach. As a result, these veterans may not 

be aware of or claim certain benefits they should receive. 

Conclusion 

Controls over VARO processing of seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans’ compensation 

claims needed strengthening to reduce claim-processing delays. In addition, controls 

over outreach needed strengthening to ensure VBA informs service members and 

veterans of available VBA benefits that can ease their transition to civilian life. VBA 

implementation of the following recommendations will address the transition control 

deficiencies identified during the audit and help ensure a smooth transition for the men 

VA Office of Inspector General 12 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

and women who have made sacrifices in defense of freedom, not only in Iraq and 

Afghanistan, but also throughout the world. 

Recommendations 

1. We recommended the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits obtain U.S. Army Surgeon 

General reports that include the injury and illness classification codes necessary to 

identify seriously disabled service members until VBA fully implements VTA. 

2. We recommended the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits develop improved 

monitoring mechanisms to ensure VAROs promptly process seriously disabled 

OEF/OIF veterans’ compensation claims. 

3. We recommended the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits pursue an agreement with 

DOD requiring service members to attend a VBA TAP briefing prior to discharge. 

4. We recommended the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits develop a mechanism to 

obtain the VBA TAP briefing participation data necessary to calculate and monitor 

annual service member briefing participation rates. 

5. We recommended the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits establish policies and 

procedures that clearly describe minimum benefit eligibility requirements and 

implement controls for ensuring the accuracy of eligibility determinations. 

6. We recommended the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits develop a mechanism to 

obtain the DD-214 information needed to identify discharged veterans who should 

receive outreach letters. 

7. We recommended the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits establish policies and 

procedures that require staff to follow-up on initial outreach letters returned as 

undeliverable. 

8. We recommended the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits establish policies and 

procedures that require staff to provide special outreach to veterans who do not have a 

high school diploma or equivalent. 

Acting Under Secretary for Benefits Comments 

The Acting Under Secretary for Benefits concurred with the reports conclusions and 

recommendations, except for Recommendation 4. The Acting Under Secretary’s 

comments on each of the 8 recommendations are summarized below: 

1. The Acting Under Secretary stated that effective April 30, 2008, the VTA program 

was fully implemented, with all regional offices entering data into VTA on seriously 

injured service members. VBA requested closure of this recommendation. 

2. The Acting Under Secretary stated that in September 2007 enhancements to the 

Veterans Service Network (VETSNET) Operations Reports were made that provide 

regional offices with improved methods to track claims of seriously disabled 

VA Office of Inspector General 13 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

OEF/OIF veterans. The Acting Under Secretary also reported that through June of 

FY 2008 more than 30 percent of claims from seriously injured veterans were 

processed in 30 days or less. VBA requested closure of this recommendation. 

3. The Acting Under Secretary stated that VA had aggressively pursued an agreement 

with DOD to require all separating and retiring service members to attend a TAP 

briefing. The Acting Under Secretary also stated that VBA believes the responsibility 

rests with DOD to increase TAP participation and that currently only the Marine 

Corp. mandates TAP attendance. VBA requested closure of this recommendation. 

4. The Acting Under Secretary stated that VBA did not concur with the recommendation 

to develop a mechanism to obtain the TAP briefing participation data necessary to 

calculate and monitor service member briefing participation rates. The Acting Under 

Secretary stated that DOD established the goal for a briefing participation rate of 85 

percent and determines who is eligible to participate. Therefore, VBA believes the 

responsibility to collect and monitor briefing participation rates lies with DoD. The 

Acting Under Secretary also stated that developing the mechanism would present 

significant challenges and provided examples of these challenges. 

5. The Acting Under Secretary stated that VBA is working to correct an identified 

VADS problem to ensure that outreach packages are appropriately generated for all 

veterans eligible for VA benefits, including National Guard and reserve veterans. 

VBA plans to correct the VADS problem by December 31, 2008. 

6. The Acting Under Secretary stated that VBA is working with the Department and 

DOD to convert to the use of separation data from the VA/DOD Identity Repository 

(VADIR) to issue outreach packages. VBA plans to complete the conversion by 

December 31, 2008. 

7. The Acting Under Secretary stated that in March 2008, VBA provided informal 

procedures for the VADS Unit to identify better addresses for outreach letters 

returned as undeliverable. VBA plans to issue formal procedures by October 1, 2008. 

8. The Acting Under Secretary stated that VBA will establish policies and procedures to 

identify and conduct special outreach to veterans who do not have a high school 

diploma or equivalent. VBA plans to implement these policies and procedures by 

December 31, 2008. 

In addition, the Acting Under Secretary provided technical comments, which we have 

incorporated into the body of the report. (See Appendix A for the full text of the Acting 

Under Secretary’s comments.) 

OIG Response 

We consider the completed actions for Recommendations 1–4 acceptable, and consider 

these recommendations closed. We consider the planned actions for Recommendations 

5–8 acceptable, and we will follow up on their implementation. 

VA Office of Inspector General 14 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

The Acting Under Secretary for Benefits concurred in principle with Recommendation 3 

and did not concur with Recommendation 4. We agree with the Acting Under Secretary 

that DOD is in the best position and should have the responsibility for increasing service 

member TAP briefing attendance and collecting and monitoring participation rates. We 

coordinated with GAO and learned that as of July 15, 2008, GAO is preparing a report 

for an audit of DOD’s Benefits Delivery at Discharge Program. We expect the GAO 

report to include a recommendation that the Secretary of Defense direct the Under 

Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to establish an accurate measure of 

service members’ participation in TAP, including VA benefit briefings. As a result, we 

consider recommendations 3 and 4 closed. 

 

VA Office of Inspector General 15 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans

Appendix A 

Acting Under Secretary for Benefits Comments 

VA Office of Inspector General 16 

Department of MEMORANDUM

Veterans Affairs

Date: July 9, 2008 

From: Acting Under Secretary for Benefits (20) 

Subj: OIG Draft Report—Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration 

Transition Assistance for Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service 

Members and Veterans (Project No. 2006-03552-R9-0002)—WebCIMS 406091 

To: Assistant Inspector General for Audit (52) 

1. This is in response to your request for VBA’s review of OIG Draft 

Report— Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance 

for Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans. 

VBA’s comments are attached. 

2. Questions may be referred to Nancy Holly, Program Analyst, at 461-9199. 

Attachment 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

Appendix A 

VA Office of Inspector General 17 

Acting Under Secretary for Benefits Comments 

to Office of Inspector General’s Report 

VBA COMMENTS ON OIG DRAFT REPORT 

Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance 

for Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

The Veterans Benefits Administration offers the following comments on OIG’s 

draft report: 

Page iv and Page 10, Monitoring TAP Briefing Attendance: 

“VBA did not determine and monitor TAP briefing attendance for OEF/OIF 

service members because C&P Service did not obtain the information needed to 

calculate participation rates.” 

VBA Comment

The Compensation and Pension (C&P) Service tracks the numbers of TAP 

participants, but does not separately track those participants who served 

OEF/OIF theaters of operations. Discharge data, if obtained from DoD, is not 

accurate for purposes of determining TAP participation rates because 

servicemembers can attend TAP briefings up to two years prior to retirement or 

six months prior to discharge and up to six months after discharge or 

retirement. 

Page iv, Processing Initial Outreach Letters, and 

Page 11, Procedures for Processing Initial Outreach Letters Needed):

“The 65,853 OEF/OIF veterans did not receive initial outreach letters because 

C&P Service staff made incorrect ineligibility determinations (36,968 National 

Guard and Reserve veterans), did not obtain Certificates of Release or Discharge 

from Active Duty (DD214s) information from DoD (22,879 veterans), and did not 

follow-up on letters returned as undeliverable (6,006 veterans).” 

Page 11, Incorrect Ineligibility Determinations: 

“C&P Service did not send initial outreach letters to 36,968 discharged OEF/OIF 

National and Reserve veterans because C&P Service staff incorrectly determined 

that the veterans were ineligible for benefits.” 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

Appendix A 

VA Office of Inspector General 18 

Acting Under Secretary for Benefits Comments 

to Office of Inspector General’s Report 

Page 2. 

Page 11, Incorrect Ineligibility Determinations (continued): 

“C&P Service staff incorrectly determined that 36,968 National and Guard 

Reserve veterans, whose called-up active duty periods were less than 24 months, 

were ineligible for benefits because they applied the CFR’s minimum active duty 

requirement of 24 months regardless of whether or not the veteran had been called 

to active service.” 

VBA Comment

The C&P Service does not make eligibility determinations for separating 

servicemembers for purposes of the initial outreach letter. The initial outreach 

letters are generated by the Veterans Assistance Discharge System (VADS). 

The goal of VADS is to ensure former servicemembers are in VA’s records 

system and to notify veterans of VA benefits. VADS data is extracted from 

veterans’ DD Forms 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active 

Duty. 

The C&P Service discovered through an oversight visit to the VADS Unit in 

early 2008 that outreach packages were not being sent to approximately 60,000 

separating servicemembers because of undeliverable mail, untimely receipt of 

DD214s on separating Reserve and National Guard members, and VADS 

rejected DD214 data for veterans with less than 24 months of service. The 

C&P Service is working with the VADS Unit to implement corrective actions. 

Recommendation 1: We recommend the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits 

obtain U.S. Army Surgeon General reports that include the injury and illness 

classification codes necessary to identify seriously disabled service members until 

VBA fully implements VTA. 

Response: VBA concurs. 

Effective April 30, 2008, the VTA program was fully implemented, with all 

regional offices entering data into VTA on the seriously injured servicemembers at 

major medical treatment facilities and those residing within their jurisdiction. 

VBA requests closure of this recommendation. 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

Appendix A 

VA Office of Inspector General 19 

Acting Under Secretary for Benefits Comments 

to Office of Inspector General’s Report 

Page 3. 

Recommendation 2: We recommend the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits 

develop improved monitoring mechanisms to ensure VAROs promptly process 

seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans’ compensation claims. 

Response: VBA concurs. 

Enhancements to the VETSNET Operations Reports were made in September 

2007 that provide regional offices with improved methods to track claims of 

seriously disabled OEF/OIF veterans. VBA’s Area Offices and the Office of Field 

Operations run weekly reports to monitor all pending claims from seriously 

injured veterans and identify and follow-up if the claims are not being processed 

timely. 

At the end of FY07, the average days to process an original claim from a seriously 

injured veteran was 111.2 days. During the month of June 2008, the average days 

to complete these claims improved to 46.6 days. The combined average 

processing days for original and supplemental claims from seriously injured 

veterans in June was 56.3 days. While VBA continues to strive for an average of 

30 days to complete these claims, processing every claim in 30 days would be 

extremely difficult due to evidentiary requirements, as well as the notice 

requirements of the Veterans Claims Assistance Act. This fiscal year through 

June, more than 30% of claims from seriously injured veterans were processed in 

30 days or less. 

VBA requests closure of this recommendation. 

Recommendation 3: We recommend the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits 

pursue an agreement with DOD requiring service members to attend a VBA TAP 

briefing prior to discharge. 

Response: VBA concurs in principle. 

VA aggressively pursued an agreement with DOD to require that all separating 

and retiring servicemembers attend a TAP briefing. Currently, the only service 

mandating TAP attendance is the Marine Corps. In a memorandum dated August 

24, 2007, DOD’s Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and 

Readiness directed the Assistant Secretaries of the Army, Navy, and Air Force to 

develop plans to achieve the pledge that Secretary Gates made to the President as 

an outcome of the Task Force on Global War on Terror Heroes to increase TAP 

attendance to 85 percent. We believe the responsibility rests with DOD to 

increase TAP participation. VBA staff is available to provide TAP briefings. 

VBA requests closure of this recommendation. 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

Appendix A 

VA Office of Inspector General 20 

Acting Under Secretary for Benefits Comments 

to Office of Inspector General’s Report 

Page 4. 

Recommendation 4: We recommend the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits 

develop a mechanism to obtain the VBA TAP briefing participation data necessary 

to calculate and monitor annual service member briefing participation rates. 

Response: VBA does not concur. 

TAP briefings are a joint venture of DOD, DOL, and VBA. DOD schedules all 

TAP briefings and announces availability to eligible servicemembers. VBA’s role 

is to provide staff to conduct the VA portion of the briefings. We do not have a 

list of servicemembers eligible to participate in TAP, nor do we collect individual 

identifying information from participants. We collect only the number of 

attendees. DOD has set the goal for participation level at 85 percent and 

determines who is eligible to participate. We therefore believe the responsibility 

to collect and monitor servicemember participation rates lies with DoD. 

Developing the mechanism recommended in the report would present significant 

challenges. For example, servicemembers may attend a TAP briefing up to two 

years prior to their discharge date. Given this extremely long window of 

opportunity, it would be necessary to collect data over a span of two years in order 

to determine the participation rate for a specific year. Additionally, VBA would 

need to collect personal identifying information on each servicemember in 

attendance. A simpler solution would be to have DOD record the attendance of 

those participating in TAP in their personnel records and then collect the 

information at the time of discharge. 

Recommendation 5: We recommend the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits 

establish policies and procedures that clearly describe minimum benefit eligibility 

requirements and implement controls for ensuring the accuracy of eligibility 

determinations. 

Response: VBA concurs with the intent of the recommendation. 

 Target Completion Date: December 31, 2008 

Minimum eligibility requirements for VA benefits are determined when veterans 

initially file for a particular benefit. It appears this recommendation relates to the 

input of information into the Veterans Assistance at Discharge System (VADS) to 

generate outreach packages to separating servicemembers. 

VBA is working to correct the identified VADS problem and ensure the outreach 

packages are appropriately generated for all veterans eligible for VA benefits, 

including National Guard and Reserve veterans. The changes underway will also 

ensure that VBA business lines are able to use the information in VADS to 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

Appendix A 

VA Office of Inspector General 21 

Acting Under Secretary for Benefits Comments 

to Office of Inspector General’s Report 

Page 5. 

determine eligibility for benefits without further verification of military service for 

most veterans. 

Implementation of these new procedures will reduce the number of rejected DD214s that require additional input through the VADS process and will ensure that 

VA’s Beneficiary Identification and Records Locator System (BIRLS) contains 

accurate and up-to-date information. 

Recommendation 6: We recommend the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits 

develop a mechanism to obtain the DD-214 information needed to identify 

discharged veterans who should receive outreach letters. 

Response: VBA concurs. Target Completion Date: December 31, 2008 

VBA is working with the Department and DOD to convert to use of separation 

data from the VA/DOD Identity Repository (VADIR) to issue outreach packages. 

VADIR is becoming the authoritative database for personal identifying 

information and military history of the beneficiary population served by DOD and 

VA. Delays and gaps have been identified in processing DD-214s from the 

military service branches, especially for members of the Reserve and National 

Guard. VADIR replaces multiple data interfaces between DOD and VA and 

facilitates interagency data sharing. Receipt of separation data through VADIR 

will close the gap for timely issuance of benefit information to transitioning 

servicemembers. 

Recommendation 7: We recommend the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits 

establish policies and procedures that require staff to follow-up on initial outreach 

letters returned as undeliverable. 

Response: VBA concurs. Target Completion Date: October 1, 2008 

In March 2008, VBA provided informal procedures for the VADS Unit to follow 

to identify better addresses for outreach letters returned as undeliverable. Through 

access to Debtor Discovery, the VADS Unit has increased ability to obtain 

updated addresses for delivery of outreach letters returned as undeliverable. 

Formal procedures are being drafted. 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans 

Appendix A 

VA Office of Inspector General 22 

Acting Under Secretary for Benefits Comments 

to Office of Inspector General’s Report 

Page 6. 

Recommendation 8: We recommend the Acting Under Secretary for Benefits 

establish policies and procedures that require staff to provide special outreach to 

veterans who do not have a high school diploma or equivalent. 

Response: VBA concurs. Target Completion Date: December 31, 2008 

VBA will establish policies and procedures to identify and conduct special 

outreach efforts to veterans who have recently separated or retired and do not have 

a high school diploma or equivalent. 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans

Appendix B 

VA Office of Inspector General 23 

OIG Contact and Staff Acknowledgments 

OIG Contact Brent Arronte (727) 395-2436 

Acknowledgments George Ayetin 

Alan Brecese 

Robert Campbell 

Charles Chiarenza 
Audit of Veterans Benefits Administration Transition Assistance for 

Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom Service Members and Veterans

Appendix C 

VA Office of Inspector General 24 

Report Distribution 

VA Distribution

Office of the Secretary 

Veterans Benefits Administration 

Veterans Health Administration 

National Cemetery Administration 

Assistant Secretaries 

Office of General Counsel 

Non-VA Distribution

House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

House Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and 

Related Agencies 

House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform 

Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and 

Related Agencies 

Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs 

National Veterans Service Organizations 

Government Accountability Office 

Office of Management and Budget 

Department of Defense 

Department of Labor 

Department of Homeland Security 

This report will be available in the near future on the OIG’s Web site at 

http://www.va.gov/oig/publications/reports-list.asp. This report will remain on the OIG 

Web site for at least 2 FYs after it is issued.