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43–053 2008

TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR 

GUARD AND RESERVE FORCES 

FIELD HEARING 

BEFORE THE

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY 

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS 

SECOND SESSION 

MAY 16, 2008 

FIELD HEARING HELD IN SOUTH BEND, IN 

Serial No. 110–87 

Printed for the use of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs 

( 


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COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 

BOB FILNER, California, Chairman 

CORRINE BROWN, Florida 

VIC SNYDER, Arkansas 

MICHAEL H. MICHAUD, Maine 

STEPHANIE HERSETH SANDLIN, South 

Dakota 

HARRY E. MITCHELL, Arizona 

JOHN J. HALL, New York 

PHIL HARE, Illinois 

MICHAEL F. DOYLE, Pennsylvania 

SHELLEY BERKLEY, Nevada 

JOHN T. SALAZAR, Colorado 

CIRO D. RODRIGUEZ, Texas 

JOE DONNELLY, Indiana 

JERRY MCNERNEY, California 

ZACHARY T. SPACE, Ohio 

TIMOTHY J. WALZ, Minnesota 

STEVE BUYER, Indiana, Ranking 

CLIFF STEARNS, Florida 

JERRY MORAN, Kansas 

HENRY E. BROWN, JR., South Carolina 

JEFF MILLER, Florida 

JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas 

GINNY BROWN-WAITE, Florida 

MICHAEL R. TURNER, Ohio 

BRIAN P. BILBRAY, California 

DOUG LAMBORN, Colorado 

GUS M. BILIRAKIS, Florida 

VERN BUCHANAN, Florida 

STEVE SCALISE, Louisiana 

Malcom A. Shorter, Staff Director 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY

STEPHANIE HERSETH SANDLIN, South Dakota, Chairwoman 

JOE DONNELLY, Indiana 

JERRY MCNERNEY, California 

JOHN J. HALL, New York 

JOHN BOOZMAN, Arkansas, Ranking 

JERRY MORAN, Kansas 

VACANT 

Pursuant to clause 2(e)(4) of Rule XI of the Rules of the House, public hearing records 

of the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs are also published in electronic form. The printed 

hearing record remains the official version. Because electronic submissions are used to 

prepare both printed and electronic versions of the hearing record, the process of converting 

between various electronic formats may introduce unintentional errors or omissions. Such occurrences are inherent in the current publication process and should diminish as the process 

is further refined. 


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C O N T E N T S 

May 16, 2008 

Page 

Transition Assistance Program for Guard and Reserve Forces ........................... 1 

OPENING STATEMENTS 

Chairwoman Stephanie Herseth Sandlin .............................................................. 1 

Prepared statement of Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin .................................. 52 

Hon. John Boozman, Ranking Republican Member ............................................. 3 

Prepared statement of Congressman Boozman ............................................. 53 

Hon. Joe Donnelly .................................................................................................... 4 

WITNESSES 

U.S. Department of Labor, John M. McWilliam, Deputy Assistant Secretary, 

Veterans’ Employment and Training Service .................................................... 41 

Prepared statement of Mr. McWilliam ........................................................... 69 

U.S. Department of Defense, Jane Burke, Principal Director, Military Community and Family Policy ................................................................................... 42 

Prepared statement of Ms. Burke ................................................................... 71 

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, James A. Whitson, Director, Eastern 

Area, Veterans Benefits Administration ............................................................ 44 

Prepared statement of Mr. Whitson ............................................................... 76 

American Legion, Department of Indiana, Stephen W. Short, Department 

Adjutant ................................................................................................................ 33 

Prepared statement of Mr. Short .................................................................... 65 

Blosser, Staff Sergeant Donald A., Granger, IN ................................................... 26 

Prepared statement of Staff Sergeant Blosser ............................................... 63 

Indiana National Guard: 

Major General R. Martin Umbarger, Adjutant General of Indiana, Joint 

Forces Headquarters ........................................................................................ 6 

Prepared statement of Major General Umbarger .......................................... 53 

Major Cathy Van Bree, Director of Family Programs, Joint Forces Headquarters ............................................................................................................. 9 

Prepared statement of Major Van Bree .......................................................... 55 

Colonel Roger D. Peterman, Transition Assistance Advisor ............................ 10 

Prepared statement of Colonel Peterman ....................................................... 56 

Masapollo, Lori, Niles, MI ....................................................................................... 24 

Prepared statement of Ms. Masapollo ............................................................ 62 

McCool, Dawn, North Liberty, IN .......................................................................... 23 

Prepared statement of Ms. McCool ................................................................. 60 

Saenz, Roy, South Bend, IN .................................................................................... 20 

Prepared statement of Mr. Saenz ................................................................... 57 

Whitehead, Gary M., Elkhart County Veterans Service Officer, Elkhart, IN .... 35 

Prepared statement of Mr. Whitehead ........................................................... 68 

Williams, Elizabeth L., Indianapolis, IN ............................................................... 19 

Prepared statement of Ms. Williams .............................................................. 57 

SUBMISSION FOR THE RECORD 

Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs, Indianapolis, IN, Charles T. ‘‘Tom’’ 

Applegate, Director, statement ........................................................................... 80 


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TRANSITION ASSISTANCE PROGRAM FOR 

GUARD AND RESERVE FORCES 

FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2008 

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

COMMITTEE ON VETERANS’ AFFAIRS, 

SUBCOMMITTEE ON ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY, 

Washington, DC. 

The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 1:00 p.m., at Indiana University—South Bend, Wiekamp Hall, Room 1001, 1700 

Mishawaka Avenue, South Bend, Indiana, Hon. Stephanie Herseth 

Sandlin [Chairwoman of the Subcommittee] presiding. 

Present: Representatives Herseth Sandlin, Donnelly and Boozman. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF CHAIRWOMAN HERSETH SANDLIN 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. 

The Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Subcommittee on Economic 

Opportunity hearing on the Transition Assistance Program (TAP) 

for Guard and Reserve Forces, provided by the U.S. Department of 

Defense (DoD), U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the 

U.S. Department of Labor (DoL), will come to order. 

I’d like to thank my good friend and Ranking Member, Mr. John 

Boozman of Arkansas, for joining us here today, for his leadership 

on the Subcommittee, and for the productive bipartisan working relationship that we enjoy. 

I would also like to thank Congressman Joe Donnelly, from here 

in Indiana, for his hospitality in inviting us to South Bend. I’m 

honored to be here today. Mr. Donnelly is a hard-working, valued 

Member of this Subcommittee, who also works in a strong bipartisan manner to provide our Nation’s servicemembers, veterans, 

and their families the best available programs and services they 

need and deserve. 

Much progress has been made in education benefits, vocational 

rehabilitation services, employment programs, and VA Home Loan 

programs; however, I think everyone would agree that we must remain vigilant to guard against any decline in benefits or services, 

and we must continue to address unique needs experienced by 

members of the National Guard and Reserve Forces and their families. 

Like many of my colleagues on the Subcommittee, the State of 

South Dakota has had servicemembers who have been activated in 

support of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Some of these brave 

men and women have returned injured and are currently in need 

of healthcare and employment services. They, like all disabled vetVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:01 Dec 20, 2008 Jkt 043053 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 E:\HR\OC\A053.XXX A053

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erans from around the country, deserve our best efforts to provide 

a seamless and effective transition from military service to civilian 

life and the work force. 

Earlier last year, this Subcommittee held its first hearing that 

included the Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and 

Training Service programs that were created to assist veterans 

with employment assistance and protect the servicemember’s employment rights. While these programs have proven to be quite successful in certain parts of the country, today we will receive testimony from servicemembers who could benefit from these programs 

but who may not be aware they exist. 

Like my colleagues here today, I have had the opportunity to 

meet with local government officials and veterans back in my district in my home State of South Dakota. I have had many opportunities to speak with leadership staff, the Governor of South Dakota, 

Mike Rounds, and the Adjutant General of South Dakota’s National Guard, Major General Steve Doohen, about ways to improve 

existing veterans’ programs. 

I am glad that we have succeeded in making some progress for 

our Nation’s Reserve Forces. Included in the final version of the 

National Defense Authorization Act of 2008, we were able to gain 

bipartisan support for the language that would allow mobilized 

members of the Reserve Forces to use their Chapter 1607 education 

benefits for 10 years after they separate from service. While this 

is progress in the right direction, we must remain committed to expanding all benefits to help meet the needs of our servicemembers 

in the 21st century without sacrificing the quality of the services 

and the programs for veterans of past wars. 

Furthermore, our Subcommittee has been working with the full 

Committee Chairman, Congressman Bob Filner of California, to address the immediate needs of servicemembers and their families 

who face possible foreclosures on their homes. The Ranking Member of the full Committee, Steve Buyer, also from Indiana, has also 

been working with us to address the foreclosure crisis and its impact on our Nation’s veterans. 

As we have heard at a recent Subcommittee hearing, data specific to veterans does not exist or is limited in scope, leaving us 

with an incomplete picture that makes it hard for us to get a good 

idea of how the current mortgage problems are affecting our veterans. But, because veterans and their families come to us and talk 

with us about the problems that they are having, we know that 

there is more for us to do as they encounter these problems, to protect against the instability that results from losing one’s home. 

Today, thousands of veterans throughout our country deserve 

better, and we must do our best to ensure they are afforded the 

protections they need as they adjust to life after their military service. 

I am particularly interested in hearing about the issues of concern from National Guard and Reserve members, veterans and 

their spouses, and the actions the administration is taking to resolve the concerns of employment, education, rehabilitation, and 

housing, to provide effective transition assistance. We all know the 

effort it takes to undergo innovative approaches to assist soldiers 

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ward to learning more about the strategies employed by the leadership here in Indiana. 

I look forward to working with Mr. Boozman, with Mr. Donnelly, 

and the Members of this Subcommittee to ensure that all of our 

servicemembers are provided both proper training to complete their 

mission and the proper benefits to help them readjust and succeed 

in life after the military. 

[The prepared statement of Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin appears on p. 52.] 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. I now recognize the distinguished gentleman from Arkansas, Mr. Boozman, for any opening remarks. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN BOOZMAN 

Mr. BOOZMAN. Thank you, Madam Chair. It’s truly good to be 

here, and I want to welcome and thank our panelists for taking 

time out of their very busy schedules to come and share. I know 

this is going to be a very productive field hearing. I also want to 

thank Mr. Donnelly so much for inviting us to be here. It’s been 

a real pleasure working with him on the Subcommittee. You know, 

I think our Subcommittee, I think the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, 

in general, is the kind of thing that you want to see in Washington, 

since the people working together—you know, there’s a difference 

between Republicans and Democrats in some areas, but when it 

comes to veterans, we’re on the same page. 

So, again, thank you for being here, and thank you in the audience for also being here. I also want to thank our Chairlady for her 

hard work and leadership in so many different ways. 

Indiana has certainly always been well-represented in the defense of our country, from the Indiana territory militia formed in 

1801 to the 196,000 Hoosiers who served in the Civil War to those 

now serving in the 76th Brigade Combat team. And, in fact, I was 

visiting with the General; Arkansas also has the 39th Brigade deployed, and they’re not too far from each other, serving in Iraq. 

It’s no secret that today’s National Guard and Reserves are now 

an operational force and no longer a strategic reserve. That’s one 

of the reasons that H.R. 5684, a bill that Ms. Herseth Sandlin introduced, which we very much support, contains a very significant 

upgrade to the education benefits of the Guard and Reserve. 

Our Guardsmen and Reservists share many of the challenges of 

military life with their active-duty counterparts. They also face 

some unique difficulties, and we should endeavor to minimize those 

negative centers to the Service. One such challenge is, the members of the Guard and Reserves face multiple transitions in their 

deployment cycles. It’s not easy to leave your job and support your 

family, health insurance, retirement benefits, seniority, and other 

factors important to all of us. When the servicemember returns 

home, we should do everything in our power to ease that transition. 

I, especially, am very pleased with you, Madam Chair, in that 

you and I have visited several States where they have had solid 

programs to smooth the transition from combat to civilian life, and 

I’m really eager to learn about how Indiana meets that responsibility. I’m also very pleased that you’ve invited several wives to tesVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:01 Dec 20, 2008 Jkt 043053 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 E:\HR\OC\A053.XXX A053

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tify, because, without their strong support, we would probably have 

to rethink how we structure our Armed Forces. 

Finally, I want to thank each of those here who wear or have 

worn the uniform for their service. And I believe we owe a special 

recognition to the spouses, who pay the bills, raise the children, fix 

the appliances and the car, and take care of the myriad of things 

that keep a family intact while the servicemember is deployed. My 

dad was in the Air Force for 20 years, and I know how tough it 

is when mom or dad is away for extended periods of time. So, a 

special thanks to the family. 

And, with that, I turn it over to you, Madam Chair. 

[The prepared statement of Congressman Boozman appears on 

p. 53.] 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you, Mr. Boozman. 

I would now like to recognize the distinguished gentleman from 

Indiana, Mr. Donnelly, for any opening remarks he may have. 

OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOE DONNELLY 

Mr. DONNELLY. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. 

The first thing I’d like to say is how grateful we are to you and 

to Ranking Member Boozman for being here, being with all us to 

hear the concerns and the ideas of everyone in Indiana. We know 

how exceptional the servicemen and women from Arkansas and 

South Dakota are, and we have great gratitude to them, as well. 

Also, I would just like to mention—and I know General 

Umbarger was with the family yesterday—we lost a young man on 

May 10th, Joseph Ford, the first member of the 76th Brigade, who 

was killed. And it is with deep and heart-felt feeling in all of us 

that we honor him here today. 

And, General, thank you for being with the family yesterday, and 

I know you’ll be with them again in the next few days. 

To my fellow Members of the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee, I want to thank all of you for coming to South Bend, 

to the 2nd District of Indiana, a place that has exceptional pride 

in both our country and all those who serve. The topic of transition 

assistance is a timely subject around the country and here in Indiana. As was said, we have over 4,000 young men and women from 

our Guard in Iraq. The members of Company F, 151st Infantry of 

the Indiana National Guard, arrived home safely just last week 

back to South Bend, and they are dealing with all the transition 

assistance issues that any family could have to work with. 

I want to recognize the immense contributions of these people in 

F Company, of those who are serving right now, and the men and 

women here on the home front who are waiting for them to come 

back, trying to hold things together. 

As the fourth largest National Guard in the country, Indiana is 

a source of tremendous pride for our State. These men and women 

citizen soldiers selflessly serve to protect us in the event of natural 

or manmade disasters at home and also on the field of battle thousands of miles away. We are in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and 

over 10,000 have served overseas since September 11th. 

The strain on the members and their spouses and the family is 

great. Guardsmen and Reservists come home, just a few days removed from the war zone, and must readjust, almost on the run, 


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to their lives as civilians. Weighing in are such challenges as returning to work during an economic downturn, resuming family responsibilities, seeking an education, getting things back together 

on the job front. Unfortunately, many also return home bearing 

physical injuries or the invisible wounds of post traumatic stress 

disorder (PTSD). We owe a lot to our Hoosier men and women who 

put their lives on the line for our safety, but, most of all, we owe 

all our veterans the promise that, when they return home, they 

will have the access to the services they need to smoothly transition back to civilian life. Transition assistance can help us to provide this. 

I want to thank Sergeants Roy Saenz and Don Blosser, Mrs. Elizabeth Williams, Mrs. Dawn McCool, and Mrs. Lori Masapollo for 

being here today to give your firsthand accounts of the transition 

assistance process and what your families have gone through. 

I also mentioned him before, but I want to thank Major General 

Umbarger. We are fortunate to have you leading our National 

Guard here in our State. I want to recognize Indiana Department 

of Veterans Affairs Director, Tom Applegate, for his testimony 

today, and to thank him for the work he does on behalf of the veterans. 

Finally, I want to recognize all the VSOs who are here. You are 

the lifeline for all our veterans throughout the Congressional District. I want to thank the representatives of the Departments of 

Veterans Affairs, Labor, and Defense for being here today, and we 

look forward to all the testimony. You have given your heart and 

soul to this country, you have continued on afterward, and we want 

to thank you for your efforts, and we want to make sure that we’re 

treating our veterans the right way. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you, Mr. Donnelly. 

I would like to thank all of the panelists who will be testifying 

before the Subcommittee today. 

For all of you in the audience, this is a formal hearing of the Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. We’ve had 

a chance to visit with the witnesses ahead of time, to review their 

testimony, to invite them formally to be on our schedule of witnesses today. The questions that Mr. Boozman, Mr. Donnelly and 

myself will pose will be directed to the witnesses. 

We are more than happy to visit with others in attendance for 

any questions you may have of us or others that have joined us as 

witnesses following today’s hearing. Unlike more informal settings, 

today is a formal hearing of the Veterans Affairs’ Committee, and 

we look forward to hearing from our scheduled witnesses. Their 

written testimony will be made a matter of hearing record, and 

they will be summarizing their testimony so that we have time for 

questions for each of our four panels today. 

Let me welcome our first panel, Major General Martin 

Umbarger, Indiana Adjutant General; Major Cathy Van Bree, with 

Indiana National Guard Family Programs; and Mr. Roger Peterman, with Indiana National Guard Transition Assistance. 

Again, I would like to remind all of you, our witnesses, that your 

entire written statements will be entered for the hearing record. I 

think that our lights here will be working, correct? Each of you will 

be recognized for 5 minutes. When it gets down to the yellow, that’s 


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your signal to try to summarize, if you can. I’m usually not too 

hard when the 5 minutes are up, but, again, we do have four panels, and we want to make sure that there’s plenty of time for questions. If you could just monitor that and try to wrap up within 5 

minutes, we’d appreciate it. 

General Umbarger, we’re going to begin with you. Thank you, 

again, for your service here in the State of Indiana, the great partnership that I know you have with so many fellow adjutant generals across the country, and for your service on behalf of the men 

and women that you represent here in Indiana. You are now recognized for 5 minutes, General. 

STATEMENTS OF MAJOR GENERAL R. MARTIN UMBARGER, 

ADJUTANT GENERAL OF INDIANA, JOINT FORCES HEADQUARTERS, INDIANA NATIONAL GUARD; MAJOR CATHY VAN 

BREE, DIRECTOR OF FAMILY PROGRAMS, JOINT FORCES 

HEADQUARTERS, INDIANA NATIONAL GUARD; AND COLONEL ROGER D. PETERMAN, TRANSITION ASSISTANCE ADVISOR, INDIANA NATIONAL GUARD 

STATEMENT OF MAJOR GENERAL MARTIN UMBARGER 

Major General UMBARGER. Well, thank you, Madam Chair— 

Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin, Congressman Boozman, my good 

friend Congressman Donnelly. Thanks for your support for the National Guard and all the soldiers of Indiana. Other Members on the 

Subcommittee, distinguished guests of the audience—I see a lot of 

veterans sitting behind me—God bless you. Thank you for the service to the country that you’ve given to us. 

It’s a great opportunity for me speak on the issues regarding the 

care, treatment and benefits of our soldiers, airmen and families. 

Soldiers and airmen of the Indiana National Guard continue to answer the call on behalf of our Nation and the State of Indiana. As 

you know, the National Guard is a dual-missioned organization. 

We have a State mission in support of local first responders in 

their time of need, responding to manmade and natural disasters 

of our State. Our other mission is the Federal mission of reinforcing the Army and the Air Force in their missions all over the 

world. 

Since 9/11, I think you must agree, our great soldiers and airmen 

have done this important mission, and they’ve done it in spades. 

We currently have over 14,500 soldiers and airmen assigned to the 

Indiana National Guard, and we’re extremely proud and boast of 

being the fourth largest Army National Guard in the Nation. We 

are presently at 106 percent of our authorized strength, and, over 

the past 3 years, Indiana has ranked in the top five States in the 

Nation in recruiting and retention. We are present—each of the 

past 3 years, the Nation’s top recruiter has come from our ranks. 

Over 14,000 soldiers and airmen have been deployed to fight 

against the Global War on Terror. Presently, we have 4,133 Indiana Guardsmen, both Army and Air, deployed to multiple sites 

worldwide, doing a variety of missions. No State has more deployed 

than Indiana, at this time. 

The accomplishments of our brave soldiers and airmen are many, 

but the stresses of the multiple deployments have taken a toll on 


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our force and caused many adjustments to be made by my Joint 

Force Headquarters’ Indiana staff to support them during the predeployment, deployment and post-deployment phases. Prior to 9/11, 

what used to be a normal baseline of events, insufficient staffs of 

maybe one deep assisted with providing benefits to soldiers, airmen, and families. Today, in order to provide care of our soldiers, 

airmen, and their families is sweeping changes, administrative procedures, changes to the authorizations have been made. 

Prior to 9/11, the staffing of the Indiana Guard was either one 

or two deep or non-existent concerning veterans’ services to servicemembers and their families. Since 9/11, and the multiple deployment of our Hoosier Guardsmen, we have created a new directorate 

on my Joint Force staff—Indiana staff. The directorate is called my 

‘‘Civil Military Affairs Directorate.’’ We are one of the only few 

States which have caused—created this J9 Directorate to support 

servicemembers, their families, and employers during pre-deployment, deployment, and post-deployment. 

I gave you a handout of that. It kind of shows you, normally, this 

would be conducted by our personnel. They have personnel for so 

many needs, and our personnel on pay and awards and whatnot, 

and we felt the need to put these key areas under a—one directorate. And you see the different programs. I show the circle. 

They’re all, in fact, to assist the soldier. It’s Family Programs, Veterans Assistance—Veterans Transition Assistance, which I have 

Roger here, who works for me, and Cathy on the Family Programs. 

Our Ceremonial Unit. We give honors to those that have given the 

ultimate. Our Chaplain’s a very important part of a key component 

when we have an issue with the family. Our band will—ultimately, 

everybody wants our band, and we love our band for going away 

and coming home, but that, too, is linked to those wonderful occasions when linked back to the family, and our Command Historian 

are all linked to that. 

Several other changes in the staffing priority were also made to 

assist the servicemember through innovative techniques and hard 

decisions. The Indiana National Guard Relief Fund was established 

to assist families that incur economic difficulties during deployment. This 501(c)(3) fund was established as a result of many Hoosiers and organizations wanting to contribute financial assistance 

in many, many ways to our soldiers and our families. The fund assists families during times of economic difficulties as a result of 

their deployment. 

What I had was many officers would tell the Guard’s story, and 

we’d talk to people who’d say, ‘‘What can we do, General? Tell me.’’ 

And we’d get calls from a lady who gives us $20, all the way to 

Lily Endowment, who has given us over $750,000, and they don’t 

even want me to talk about it. But this is the way we get money 

in that we can use for issues of families of which we have no means 

or no way to help them. So I’m very, very proud of that program. 

We also have the Stay-Behind Title 10 Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers that are each authorized at each Armory Headquarters. These professional soldiers are very important to the continuity and support to the servicemember during the pre-deployment, deployment, and post-deployment phases. As an example— 

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sas—we have 17 Title 10 soldiers, combined with military technicians, that man our 28 armories that were vacated by the—by the 

Brigade going off. 

Initially, in the early stages after 9/11, when the unit was deployed, everybody went. There was nobody staying home. And our 

Armory and the Department of Defense said, ‘‘See if you can’t keep 

a certain number on Title 10 status and stay home to work with 

and assist with the families,’’ and we want to thank you for that. 

It’s—that’s a very good thing. 

Our number one asset in the Indiana National Guard always has 

been and will continue to be our people, our soldiers, and our airmen. All the weapon systems, vehicles, and military equipment are 

absolutely essential to our mission, but nothing is more important 

than our servicemembers and their families. During these demanding times to provide professional military units for Federal missions in support of our Nation, and provide support for Homeland 

Security missions, we must have instituted many initiatives to provide support to the servicemember. In many cases, we have re-assigned personnel in order to provide the proper support, if you will, 

taking it out of hide. However, recently, I am very pleased to say 

that we have received additional funding and authorizations which 

enables me to provide this much-needed support to our soldiers and 

airmen. 

One program, the Community-Based Health Care program, 

CBHCO, is a great program assisting our wounded warriors. In the 

past, once our soldiers returned, they were quickly demobilized off 

Title 10, which was bad for our soldiers and their families. The 

Army CBHCO program allows our wounded warriors to remain on 

Title 10 close to or at home, work at a military facility while their 

medical issues are being resolved. The sustainment of this program 

and others to assist the servicemember is an absolute must. With 

the exception of the Veterans Transition Assistance Officer, Roger 

Peterman, which requires at least one more advisor, we are now 

staffed at a sufficient level to provide the proper support, but I am 

concerned that these resources may some day be pulled from us. 

This would be a huge mistake. As we have learned the hard way 

as a Nation over the years, caring for our wounded and our veterans must continue long after the conflict ends. 

I will—I thank you, key Members of Congress, for providing the 

funding programs for such as the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration program. Programs such as this that care for our soldiers and families 

prior to deployment, during the deployment, and long after their 

return is critical to their proper reintegration back into their civilian careers. As a Nation, we have come a long way in taking care 

of those that are serving our country. I thank all of you for your 

support you have given to our heroes that have volunteered to 

serve their State and country. I thank you for the privilege and opportunity to be with you today. I am very proud to wear the uniform and serve in the ranks of these great young men and women, 

the few who are serving for the benefit of the many of our Nation. 

Madam Chairman, this concludes my testimony. 

[The prepared statement of Major General Umbarger appears on 

p. 53.] 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you, General. 


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Major Van Bree, you are recognized. 

STATEMENT OF MAJOR CATHY VAN BREE 

Major VAN BREE. Madam Chairwoman and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for this opportunity to speak to our soldiers 

and their family members concerning issues surrounding those. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Could you move your microphone a little 

closer to you, please? 

Major VAN BREE. Due to the large number of our servicemembers 

deploying recently, the Department of Defense, the Office of Secretary of Defense, and the State of Indiana have all taken notice 

that the families of our servicemembers need support and assistance. To that end, resources have been delivered, resulting in increased staff and resources in childcare and youth programming, 

family assistance, family readiness, mental health, and resource 

and referral through the Military OneSource, through Military 

Family Life consultants, and other agencies that have stepped up 

to this challenge. 

Indiana National Guard soldiers and airmen are now experiencing the largest deployment, as Major General Umbarger stated 

earlier. You will find some detailed information in the supplement 

I provided entitled ‘‘Family Programming Capabilities.’’ 

In the last 8 months, the Indiana National Guard Family Programs staff has grown from a staff of six to now 32 full-time personnel in order to better respond to the needs of the personnel— 

to the personnel and to their families. This staff serves all servicemembers and their families within Indiana, to include the National 

Guard, Reserves, active duty, and the retirees from all branches of 

the military. 

The resources we provide during pre-mobilization, mobilization, 

and post-mobilization are completely invaluable to our customers. 

These services include, but are not limited to, TRICARE training 

and assistance, Family Readiness Group planning and program implementation, youth programming, marriage enrichment seminars 

through the Strongbonds program, free mental health counseling, 

homecoming support, financial classes, unit rear detachment training, National Guard Relief Fund financial grant requests, as well 

as a myriad of other services that you’ll find on slide six of that 

supplement. 

Financial issues are the number one topic we assist families with 

when they are facing and/or returning deployment. We assist families with the financial issues through those services that we now 

have. The Family Assistance Specialist, the Family Readiness Support Assistant, our Military Family Life Consultant, and also our 

Military OneSource that have just newly been delivered to family 

programs. 

It is critical that we continue on with the funding of these programs in the future years. Our families now trust these services, 

they now rely on these services, and to take them away would be 

a huge detriment. Unfortunately, most of these new programs are 

only funded for 12 to 36 months. We serve as a combat multiplier 

on the battlefield, as we are able to focus on the families while 

Combatant Commanders can now focus on their mission. Further, 

we are a retention tool that far outweighs any cost. 


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The transition process is not over once the servicemember returns from mobilization. Some servicemembers take up to 12 

months or longer to fully re-integrate into their family, civilian employment, and/or their community. We take Indiana citizens out 

of—excuse me. We take Indiana citizens out of our State, away 

from their loved ones, away from their careers, and send them into 

a hostile environment. We cannot expect them to return mentally, 

emotionally, or physically as they departed Indiana. Assisting the 

servicemembers and their families within this transition process is 

essential. Some servicemembers are now volunteering for their 

third and fourth deployments. The revolving door of deployment is 

a strain for them, as well as their parents, their spouses, their children, and civilian employers, which can effectively be addressed by 

our programs, Transition Assistance and Employer Support of the 

Guard and Reserve. 

TRICARE is a part of that transition. While the financial benefit 

of TRICARE is sufficient, there are many issues within TRICARE 

that we need to address. Little to no provider coverage is available 

in some areas of Indiana, as many families travel over 45 minutes 

to get to their primary care provider. Referrals are cumbersome 

and takes weeks to months in some instances. Mental health outpatient services are not covered past the six free sessions initially 

available each calendar year. Claims processing is slow to providers, and reimbursement to families is slow, taking many months 

in some cases. Lack of providers and lack of updated provider lists 

are also a key complaint from our family members. 

TRICARE is a wonderful option to our servicemembers and their 

families, but has these—has some logistical constraints. Families 

transition from their current TRICARE—excuse me—from their 

current insurance to TRICARE, and back and forth to their civilian 

insurance, up to three and four times during their military career, 

and have little time to trip over the logistical roadblocks in their 

way. TRICARE needs to be more user-friendly in order to reduce 

the amount of stress the families already endure. 

And that concludes my testimony. 

[The prepared statement of Major Van Bree appears on p. 55.] 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you, Major. 

Colonel Peterman, you are now recognized. 

STATEMENT OF COLONEL ROGER D. PETERMAN 

Colonel PETERMAN. Madam Chairwoman, Members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate this opportunity to testify before you today 

in reference to the Transition Assistance Advisor (TAA), and Employer Support of Guard and Reserve, commonly referred to as 

ESGR, as it applies to the pre-mobilization, mobilization, and postmobilization of our Indiana soldiers. 

The TAA program is primarily designed to serve the members of 

the National Guard and their families. Additionally, we proudly 

serve the members of all Reserve components, veterans, and their 

families. The Transition—as the Transition Assistance Advisor, I 

work to provide a statewide point of contact in assisting members 

with access to veterans’ benefits and medical services. Services are 

provided at all phases of soldier deployment in conjunction with 

other Indiana National Guard directors. The TAA also provides asVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:01 Dec 20, 2008 Jkt 043053 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 E:\HR\OC\A053.XXX A053

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sistance in obtaining entitlements through the TRICARE Health 

System and access to community resources. 

The Transition Assistance Advisor works to build a community 

partnership through the National Guard, Reserves, DoD services, 

Department of Veterans Affairs, Indiana Department of Veterans 

Affairs, the veterans service organizations (VSOs), and the local 

communities. The TAA provides communication and coordination 

between these partners. We provide education and support to all eligible servicemembers and their families. A very important factor 

of this process is raising the awareness and the understanding of 

the available State and Federal VA benefits, as it—and the other 

various community agencies that can assist our servicemembers. 

Help is provided to the individual servicemember, ensuring that 

they are aware of the entitlement programs, access to metal care— 

mental care and benefits of TRICARE. There are many deadlines 

that require action, such as post-dental care. Servicemembers and 

their families needing counseling are advised where and how to get 

the help they need. Information is provided on insurance, such as 

Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance and Traumatic Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance. The TAA supports the VA and the 

local communities in helping develop job fairs designed to help 

servicemembers, veterans, and their families to find jobs. Assistance is also provided to our servicemembers in locating their lost 

DD–214s. 

Transition Assistance is provided during pre-mobilization, mobilization, and demobilization. During homecoming events, information 

is made available to servicemembers and their families in the form 

of VA—a form of brochures on VA benefits, educational opportunities, re-employment rights, and other relevant resources. At that 

point, the re-integration process has started. 

At 90 to 120 days, the Seamless Transition is conducted at the 

local unit or at a community center. Many organizations are 

brought together to ensure our soldiers receive the information and 

resources needed to return to several—to civilian life. Representatives at this event include finance, legal, VA benefits, VA Medical 

Center, Department of Labor, County Service Officers, TRICARE, 

Chaplain, Small Business Administration, Secretary of State, Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve, family programs, American Legion, the Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Veterans of 

Foreign Wars (VFW), and American Veterans (AMVETS). 

The TAA program is successful because we care about soldiers, 

veterans, and their families. Over 90 percent of the TAAs are veterans or spouses of military members. Many TAAs have worked 

through the disability process. They have experienced the process 

and can help guide the servicemember through it. We helped build 

strong partnerships and coalitions with the VA Service Organizations, family programs, the Department of Labor, and the Employer Support of Guard and Reserve. Major Van Bree and I, the 

Family Programs Director, work closely on a daily operational level 

because our work overlaps. We are both serving as members of the 

Adjutant General’s staff. 

Now, I’d like to talk a little bit about a volunteer organization 

in which I serve as the State Chairman. Employer Support of the 

Guard and Reserve. The Employer Support of the Guard and ReVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:01 Dec 20, 2008 Jkt 043053 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 E:\HR\OC\A053.XXX A053

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serves—Reserve is a volunteer organization through the Department of Defense. 

The mission of the ESGR is to gain and maintain active support 

of all public and private employers for the men and women of the 

National Guard and Reserves. Additionally, this volunteer organization provides education, consultation, and, if necessary, informal 

mediation between the employer and the employee of Guards and 

Reserves. 

The ESGR is required to inform employers and their National 

Guard and Reserve employees of their rights and responsibilities to 

the Uniformed Employment and Re-Employment Rights Act, 

USERRA, Title 38 of U.S. Code chapter 43. Indiana has 16 schooltrained Ombudsmen who serve to mediate the issues between the 

employer and employee in the military. Currently, Indiana also has 

105 volunteers serving around the State. 

In summary, the ESGR’s goal is to support the American employers who share their employees with the Department of Defense to 

ensure the national security. ESGR helps employers to understand 

their vital role that they play in the defense of this country. We 

develop and promote culture in the American employer and the 

value of military service of these employers. 

Madam Chairwoman, this concludes my testimony. Thank you 

for this opportunity to speak before you on behalf of the Transition 

Assistance program and the ESGR. I would now entertain your 

questions. 

[The prepared statement of Colonel Peterman appears on p. 56.] 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you, Colonel. Thank you for your 

good work. 

I’d now like to recognize Mr. Boozman for the first round of questions. 

Mr. BOOZMAN. Thank you, Madam Chair. 

General, the DoD, have you visited with them about adding a 

Title 10 type—Title 10 days following deployment to the transition 

program? Have you—is that something that you would like to get 

done, or—— 

Major General UMBARGER. You mean for a select few, or for the 

entire—— 

Mr. BOOZMAN. For the entire. 

Major General UMBARGER. Uh, I’ve never addressed that. I guess 

I would say—— 

Mr. BOOZMAN. Is that something you’d be in favor of? 

Major General UMBARGER. No. I don’t know that I would be quite 

for that or not, because what we find, as our soldiers come home— 

I mean, they’re—we’re citizens first and soldiers second in the Reserve component. And we’ll find, when they get into demobilization 

process, most of—the majority of them want to go home and see 

their families and get re-integrated back into the workforce as soon 

as they possibly can. 

I wouldn’t mind having a limited ability for those that—and we 

have some of that. We’ve got what’s called Operation Warrior 

Trainers, where we have a soldier who’s come back from a deployment, and we have two or three wanting to stay on for 12 months 

or 24 months to train others that are going over, like, at Camp 

Atterbury, and we do this a lot. So it’s just—we have the ability 


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to do that. I don’t know that I’d want everyone to stay on Federal 

service the minute they come home. 

Mr. BOOZMAN. How about the—not being able to drill post-deployment for 90 days; would you be in favor of changing that. 

Major General UMBARGER. You know what? What I’m in favor 

of—and I’ve thought about this a lot, and it differs with Adjutant 

Generals, certainly. I feel like 90 days should be the option. We 

will find some of our soldiers would not want to come in. They 

want to be with their family, and getting back into the system, and 

they don’t want to come back to drill that first 30 days. But we 

have found most want—they want to come back to the friends 

they’ve been to war with. And I think it ought to be their call for 

90 days. 

And then, what we talked about, that Seamless Transition, on 

that third month when they come back, that’s when we bring them 

back and we give the awards and we have all of these wonderful 

groups that are there. So they kind of get a chance to think, hey, 

you know, the euphoria of getting home is kind of over their back, 

getting ready to become a citizen. Hey, maybe I can improve myself. So that’s a great time for us to have them to have this Seamless Transition program we explained to you, and it works very, 

very well. But I think it should be an option, not enforced either 

way; a mandatory, or you can’t come back. 

Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Peterman, the—are the members paid for 

their TAA classes in—that they appear—that they go through postdeployment? Are their families allowed to come? A lot of—— 

Colonel PETERMAN. Their families are invited and encouraged to 

come. What we have found, as the General said, when our servicemembers get home, first of all, they want to go home, and you’re 

standing between them and going home. So, the process, we don’t 

get a lot of them. We see better success at the Seamless Transition, 

but, being a guy, he doesn’t want to admit that he has problems. 

And what we have found, that if the spouse accompanies them, 

when he is asked, ‘‘Do you have problems or issues,’’ he’ll say no. 

And she says, ‘‘Let me tell you about the problems he really has.’’ 

Also, from my ESGR experience, where we have employers that 

are constantly calling us and saying, Hey. Johnny Jones went off. 

He was a great employee. When he came back, he’s a different person. How do we address that? And, so, consequently, we’re working 

on programs to work with the employers on the PTSD. So that’s 

an issue that we see rising every day. 

Mr. BOOZMAN. Major Van Bree, you’re fighting the battle, it 

sounds like you mentioned, in trying to get insurance and some of 

the difficulties there. I know, in our area, it’s always a battle making sure that there’s providers under that insurance plan when 

there’s nobody there to do it, you know. 

I’m worried about divorce; you know, things like that. What do 

we—what would you have us—what area would you like us, really, 

to focus on, in the sense that the divorce problems, things like that 

going on? Are these financial, or are they—— 

Major VAN BREE. Sir, most of the issues that we have with 

TRICARE is provider support. I, personally, have had to change 

doctors two times—or, three times now, because previous doctors 

might have not taken TRICARE, or they might have taken it and 


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then they decided to pull out of it because they didn’t care for the 

program. That seems to be consistent, I wouldn’t say 100 percent, 

but, obviously, at my level, I kind of get the issues that people 

below me cannot resolve on their own—on their own level. 

Divorce, obviously, takes a lot of—adds to that problem, I should 

say. But the biggest problem that we have is the provider support 

and, you know, where to find those doctors and where to find the 

list of providers in your area, because those lists that are provided 

are rarely updated, and, if they are—you know, if they are updated, they’re just plain inaccurate. 

Mr. BOOZMAN. Thank you very much. 

Thank you, Madam Chair. 

If you would, it would really be helpful if you would just jot 

down, you know, some of those things that you come across, as far 

as the problems in dealings with TRICARE. And if you would let 

us have that, that would be helpful. 

Major VAN BREE. Sure. 

Mr. BOOZMAN. Thank you. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you, Mr. Boozman. 

Mr. Donnelly. 

Mr. DONNELLY. Thank you. General Umbarger, The J9 Directorate. They have great programs in Arkansas and South Dakota, 

as well, but that model that we use in Indiana, has that been 

shown to other States, or has—have other States inquired as to 

that? 

Major General UMBARGER. You know, just this past, I think it 

was 3 months ago, we went to the Army Guard there at Alexandria, and we presented our home State, saying what we’re doing, 

and this is one of the programs that we presented to General 

Vaughn and his staff, and—General Vaughn’s the Director of the 

Army Guard—and they really, really liked it. 

It’s just something we created ourselves, and we felt like we 

needed—really needed it, and I think there’s two other States that 

picked it up. We have shared it with others to consider. It may not 

be the answer for everyone, but what I found is, you know, in the 

Armed—Army, we have J1, personnel; 2, intelligence. So, the J1 is 

so involved with promotions and awards and all the issues of mobilization and demobilization. So, what you found was Family Programs and all these issues to support the families and problems, 

it didn’t raise to the level, which it should. 

That’s why we set up a separate directorate, and I think it’s— 

I’m very proud of it. I think it is the way to do it, and we would 

share it with any State that they might—if they want a copy to 

show our successes with it. 

Mr. DONNELLY. Is there a clearinghouse, for instance, that the 50 

different Guards can go to and see best practices in this area or 

that area, much like you put the components of the J9 together. 

Major General UMBARGER. Not that I’m aware of. You know, I’ve 

got to be honest. It’s almost like, you know, the States are—I 

mean, we’re all independent States, and we kind of run our organizations a little better. But we do share—if there is something like 

this that is really successful, it’s—we meet three times a year as 

a body, the Adjutant Generals, and that’s where a lot of things like 

this are discussed. 


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Mr. DONNELLY. And, Major Van Bree, in your testimony, you talk 

about mental health visits. There are six free visits per year. What 

happens after those six free visits? 

Major VAN BREE. Then you have to pay out of your pocket, sir. 

Mr. DONNELLY. Which makes the ability to receive the mental 

health assistance—— 

Major VAN BREE. Right. 

Mr. DONNELLY [continuing]. Much more—— 

Major VAN BREE. What I have right now is, I have two military 

Family Life consultants who do solution-based counseling. It is not 

long-term counseling. It’s not medical counseling for PTSD or anything such as that. If the family needs long-term counseling, they 

would need to go through a mental health provider, through these 

six free visits, and then have to pay out of pocket for the rest, or 

use a supplemental insurance if they have one. 

Mr. DONNELLY. Then, the other question I have for you is, in 

terms of TRICARE, you know, we’ll be hearing testimony about the 

unavailability of it in certain areas because of doctors not accepting 

it. What are your suggestions to make TRICARE more acceptable 

to local physicians or to make it a program that medical clinics 

want to be a part of. 

Major VAN BREE. Well, it does need to be enticing to them to 

take TRICARE, but I can’t speak to what those would be. I don’t 

know if it’s a higher pay-off or, you know, financial pay-off for 

them, or pay-out. I don’t know what that would be. I can’t speak 

to that—to the dollars of that, or maybe just more timeliness of 

paying claims, because that seems to be an issue, too. 

If I go to the doctor, and they are not getting their reimbursement from TRICARE, of course, I’m liable because I signed, saying 

that I will take—accept financial liability. So I’ll pay my whatever—$300 or whatever that case may be, until TRICARE pays. So, 

either TRICARE is going to pay the doctor’s facility, or TRICARE 

will pay to me. And it seems that sometimes it takes too long. It 

takes 4, 5, 6 months sometimes. 

Mr. DONNELLY. Okay. And, Colonel Peterman, in regards to the 

employers, have you found, when it’s the second deployment, the 

third deployment, it becomes much more difficult for that particular employer in regards to the individual. 

Colonel PETERMAN. Absolutely. What we find, employers that are 

involved with the first rotation, it’s great. They’re very supportive. 

We have employers that are paying full salaries and benefits to the 

Guardsmen and Reservists. When it comes to the second—let’s say, 

for the third time—and, as General Umbarger mentioned, there are 

people who are on their fourth tour—they’re saying, ‘‘Hey. When do 

we get a break from this thing? You know, we keep having to replace this individual. We have to guarantee their job,’’ and, in 

many cases, they have to go out and hire an additional person to 

come in and to fill in during that year. And, at the end of that year, 

when that servicemember comes back, then they have a decision to 

make. And we find, at times, they don’t want to give up the person 

they just hired, even though the law says that they have to. 

So there are getting to be more and more concerns and problems 

with employers based on the multiple deployments. 

Mr. DONNELLY. Thank you. 


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Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you, Mr. Donnelly. 

General, what year did you establish the J9 Directory? 

Major General UMBARGER. Oh, gosh. What? I’d say over a year 

ago. 

Major VAN BREE. Yes, sir. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. To be clear, I think, Major Van Bree, you 

mentioned you went from six to now 32 full-time employees. Is this 

all State funding? 

Major VAN BREE. No. None of it. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. It’s all Federal funding. Is that all DoD 

and TAA? 

Major VAN BREE. I believe my dollars come from NGT, so where 

they originate I can’t really tell you, ma’am, but they all go through 

our different contract companies. I have seven other contract—excuse me—seven different contract companies that those dollars go 

to to provide those services. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Okay. In providing those services, the 

second panel we’re going to hear from are folks who have been, 

maybe, unaware of all the programs that exist. Can you describe 

the outreach, either pre-deployment, during deployment, and postdeployment, to spouses and families about the different programs 

that are available through the Federal or State agencies. 

Major VAN BREE. Yes. If you go to the types of support that are 

provided, it spells out some of the heavy hitters. I won’t say that 

it’s—that it is all-inclusive, but it’s slide six. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Yeah. I see that. What kind of outreach 

do you do? 

Major VAN BREE. Well, the marketing and so forth that we do, 

unfortunately, we do not have the funds to pay for a marketing 

person. So, what I do is, I take my Family Assistance Specialist 

and I take my—all my contractors, basically, and have them market their own programs. And, you know, it’s a double-edged sword 

because, while they’re marketing, they’re not servicing, you know, 

like they should be, obviously. They’re not getting in the weeds 

with these people. 

So, the outreach is going out through the pre-deployment and 

talking with the units, talking with the family members, conducting pre-deployment briefings, and having them—you know, basically marketing our services to them to tell them what they are. 

You know, saying, ‘‘Hey, dude. These services are now available to 

you.’’ Now, these are all new within the last 8 months, so we’ve— 

I mean, we’ve really been hitting it hard. 

And then, during deployment, obviously, we conduct outreach 

calls. Every 30 days, the family member will get an outreach call 

to say, you know, ‘‘How you doing? What can we do for you today?’’ 

And then, after deployment, we conduct post-deployment briefings to do the Seamless Transition and work with Transition Assistance, ESGR, and all the other DSOs that come in and talk to 

our servicemembers and their families. And we’re willing to integrate into that, as well. And for those old or new families that are 

not in the deployment cycle currently, we offer all those services 

and then some in focusing on financial assistance and so forth to 


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try—you know, to kind of intern for TRICARE issues that they 

have during transition. 

Major General UMBARGER. Madam Congresswoman. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Yes. 

Major General UMBARGER. One thing that, you know, might help 

us a lot is positions come as part of the supplemental support, you 

know, in the Global War on Terror. The concern that I have is that 

when the supplemental—and I know, as a Nation, we’d like to see 

them go away, but they’re not in the base budgets of the Army or 

of the DoD, and I would be afraid there would be a bill payer, as 

I said in my testimony, long after, it’s hopefully sometime, you 

know, where our soldiers aren’t being deployed. Still, the veteran 

issues and the soldier issues and the family issues continue. So I’m 

always asking—I’m afraid the Army—big Army or the Air Force 

might use that as a bill payer for other things. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Very good point, General. I’m glad you 

clarified, because that’s why I wanted to know, the breakdown, and 

knowing that this is primarily Federal funding, we know it’s coming through the emergency supplemental. A number of us in Congress—and I know that Mr. Donnelly was in a press conference at 

the beginning of this conference—was calling on the Pentagon and 

the administration to include more of the spending in the regular 

budgeting process on budget. 

I can understand emergency spending in the first year or two, 

maybe three, but we are well beyond emergency spending, in my 

opinion, at this point. This is much easier to predict, especially as 

it relates to the programs that you’re administering. They are so 

important to the servicemembers. 

Colonel Peterman, is the outreach, that Major Van Bree described, similar to the programs you’re administering as it relates 

to the followup and the outreach? 

Colonel PETERMAN. Yes, ma’am. They overlap each other, and I 

work with servicemembers and veterans well after this, any time 

they have a problem or concern, whether it be navigating VA, 

whether that’s getting education. Sometimes it’s issue, I’m working 

some—with some soldiers now on purple hearts. We cover through 

all stages. And it’s ongoing. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. I have two more questions. I’ll wrap up 

quickly. 

In response to Mr. Donnelly’s question on the impact of the multiple deployments on employers, are you seeing an increase of 

USERRA claims for those who have been deployed more than one 

time? 

Colonel PETERMAN. I would say not at this point. They’re calling 

and they’re saying, ‘‘When are we going to get some relief?‘‘ When 

we saw a real spike, when the brigade was mobilized and we had 

30—3,300 soldiers that were—left their jobs and going with the— 

and the cases spiked. We expect another big avalanche when they 

return home, which they’re due back in December. So, in March of 

next year, we see the caseload is going extremely high. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you. One last question. 

General Umbarger, the housing crisis. Any sense of how many of 

your servicemembers are experiencing problems? Have you been 


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tracking this in any of the programs that you’ve been administering under your command? 

Major General UMBARGER. I really can’t say that we’ve seen a big 

spike in the number of issues. I mean, we have soldiers getting into 

economic difficulties, but, at this time, it hasn’t been part of a deal 

that they’ve made that they cannot handle anymore being on the 

other side of a loan for a home or something. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. That’s good to hear. Hopefully, the lenders will be working closely with the families, particularly in light 

of the challenges with the deployment. 

Well, I thank you all for your testimony and your response to our 

questions. I’d like to see if Mr. Boozman or Mr. Donnelly have any 

follow-up questions at this time. 

Mr. BOOZMAN. I don’t have any follow-up. I do think, though, 

that the panel and you make a very good point about the base 

budget and the fact that it doesn’t include such stuff so that we 

don’t—so that we won’t have to worry about some of these things 

that are very, very of necessity, you know, in going forward, taking 

people. You know, we’ve made a commitment, to a lot of people 

with the war, and, for a number of different reasons, we need to 

increase the budget. So I appreciate you bringing that up. I appreciate your comments, Madam Chair. 

Mr. DONNELLY. Nothing further. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Well, thank you for your continued service to our Nation, for the protection of our Nation, and, certainly, 

your service to our servicemembers here in the great State of Indiana. Thank you. 

I’d now like to invite our witnesses on our second panel up to the 

witness table. Joining us on the second panel of witnesses is Mrs. 

Elizabeth Williams, National Guard member and spouse of a member of the Indiana National Guard; Mr. Roy Saenz, a member of 

the Marine Reserve Company; Mrs. Dawn McCool, spouse of a National Guard member; Mrs. Lori Masapollo, spouse of a Reservist; 

and Mr. Donald Blosser, member of the Indiana National Guard. 

We welcome you to the Subcommittee Field Hearing, and we appreciate your time and your testimony. 

As I mentioned prior to the first panel of witnesses, your written 

statements will be made part of the hearing record in their entirety. If you could summarize your opening statement within 5 

minutes, it will give plenty of time for follow-up questions. 

Mrs. Williams, we’ll start with you. You are recognized. 


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STATEMENTS OF ELIZABETH L. WILLIAMS, INDIANAPOLIS, IN 

(INDIANA NATIONAL GUARD MEMBER AND SPOUSE OF DEPLOYED INDIANA NATIONAL GUARD MEMBER); ROY SAENZ, 

SOUTH BEND, IN (FORMER MEMBER OF THE MARINE CORPS 

RESERVES); DAWN MCCOOL, NORTH LIBERTY, IN (SPOUSE 

OF INDIANA NATIONAL GUARD MEMBER); LORI MASAPOLLO, 

NILES, MI (SPOUSE OF ARMY RESERVIST); AND STAFF SERGEANT DONALD A. BLOSSER, GRANGER, IN (INDIANA NATIONAL GUARD MEMBER) 

STATEMENT OF ELIZABETH L. WILLIAMS 

Ms. WILLIAMS. Madam Chairwoman and Members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to be here today and to testify on my views and experiences in regards to the Transitional Assistance Program, and the ability of our family to cope with re-adjustment needs and the deployment of my spouse, Captain Christopher Williams. 

My husband is scheduled to return this month for his second 

year-long deployment. In 2003, he deployed for, approximately, 15 

months. Then he deployed for the second time in June of 2007, and 

is expected to turn—return any day. 

There has been significant progress in the efforts to provide transitional assistance to the soldiers and their families since my 

spouse’s first deployment experience. During his 2003 deployment, 

I can recall very little assistance available to support the families 

of the deployed servicemembers, outside of the Family Readiness 

Group and Military OneSource. That’s certainly not the case today. 

There’s a lot more available. 

It appears as though the Family Readiness Group is often used 

as the primary source of communication and information dissemination as it pertains to families and their available resources. 

Without the unit having a functioning Family Readiness Group, 

the soldiers, and especially the spouses, can often be left in the 

dark. I acknowledge that perhaps my testimony is also based on 

the fact that I am also a servicemember, as well as a spouse; therefore, I have the advantage of understanding the military and how 

it functions, as opposed to those spouses who may not. 

My husband deployed with a small detachment, which does not 

have a functioning Family Readiness Group. The little detachments 

can easily fall through the cracks, from time to time, even with the 

wonderful system that we have recently established. It appears as 

though our system may be designed for at least company-sized 

units and, when small units deploy, similar to my husband’s unit, 

they can easily be forgettable. Perhaps those units could be assigned to a Family Readiness Group which has already been established, or there could be a secondary means of communication other 

than the Family Readiness Group, used to distribute information 

to spouses and family members of the deployed military members. 

I have recently learned that we now have many new tools and 

resources in place, such as the Family Assistance Centers and the 

Family Readiness Support Assistants. We could never have too 

many of these. We already have 15 Family Assistance Centers; 

however, we really could use more Family Readiness Support Assistants to ensure the family Readiness Groups are functioning 


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properly and the Transitional Assistance Program benefits and resources are communicated effectively. Because sometimes we have 

family members who are already stressed out. And, so, it takes a 

lot of extra time. They may be overwhelmed with the additional 

load that they have because their family—because of the soldiers 

who are deployed. 

And, so, sometimes it might be helpful to have a—they may not 

be able to participate in Family Readiness Groups the way that 

they would like to. So, if they’re already stressed, then for them to 

also head to—which is a great outreach. It’s a great outreach. It’s 

a great way for some people to really be able to get involved and 

that, but there may be some family members who aren’t able to— 

and, also, who aren’t located geographically within a—you know, a 

close area to where it makes sense for, you know, them. Even 

though our Family—we—our—they offer great opportunities to be 

able to video conference and that type of thing. 

But, yeah. Maybe just putting more Family Assistance Centers, 

like a stable organization that can be there, even when the Family 

Readiness Groups, perhaps, are not able to function in the way 

that they would like, or when there are small detachments, maybe 

it could help to cover those. 

But, Madam Chairwoman, this concludes my prepared testimony, 

and I’d be pleased to answer any questions you or your Members 

of the Subcommittee might have. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Williams appears on p. 57.] 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you very much. 

Mr. Saenz, you’re now recognized. 

STATEMENT OF ROY SAENZ 

Mr. SAENZ. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman and Members of the 

Subcommittee, for this opportunity to speak with you about my 

transition. My name’s Sergeant Roy Saenz. I served in the United 

States Marine Corps Reserves for 8 years, from August 1997 to August of 2005. While I was in the Reserves, I was activated twice 

in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 

My first deployment was with Engineer Company B here in 

South Bend. Prior to leaving to our theater of operations and when 

we were returning, we went through a series of debriefings in Kuwait. This series was approximately 3 days’ worth of classes that 

we had. The debriefing I remember the most was the medical brief. 

We were given a questionnaire, asking about any issues we may 

have. Two things stood out; one, quote, If we had any issues, we 

would be placed on medical hold in Camp Pendleton until they 

were resolved, end quote; and, two, quote, We’re not telling you not 

to put any issues on the questionnaire; just that you would be on 

medical hold, quote. 

This meant that we would not be able to return home with our 

unit. Meanwhile, we were already aware of plans that were being 

made for our reunion back home in South Bend. Friends and family had been glued to the newspapers, following our every move, because we had an embedded reporter with us. So, at both ends of 

the phone lines, everyone wanted to be reunited, not stuck in California. 


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When we arrived in California, at Camp Pendleton, many units 

were returning there. So there was a very tight and quick schedule 

to get us through our briefs. We again went through a medical 

brief. This time, however, we waited in line and met with the doctor for a quick and very basic evaluation. If we brought anything 

up, they told us, ‘‘You can stay. We will do a full evaluation, but 

you will have to wait until next week.’’ Again, this meant that we 

would not be able to return home with our unit. Myself, I was in 

a unique position, where my mother and younger brother, who live 

in Arizona, had already flown to South Bend to meet us. So, the 

incentive to report anything, even minor, was trumped by the desire to reunite with family and friends. 

Upon arriving in South Bend, we received 3 days of leave. After 

that, we had a variety of classes over the course of the next week. 

Representatives from the Marine Corps League, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, and American Legion came with 

the intent of mostly increasing membership; however, through their 

comments, we did hear, ‘‘Make sure you keep a copy of your selective reenlistment bonus (SRB) and medical records, and take your 

DD–214 to the county recorder’s office.’’ 

My return from my second deployment, which was with Bridge 

Company Bravo from Folsom, Pennsylvania, was very much the 

same; however, upon returning, this time through Camp Lejeune, 

they informed us that we would not be held in Camp Lejeune; that 

we would be fixed once upon returning to our home unit. This time, 

as an attachment, I was then to spend 3 days with the unit in Folsom, Pennsylvania, and then be returned to my unit in South 

Bend. 

I have a couple of issues that I would like to bring to the Subcommittee’s attention. The first one is that the educational process 

and opportunities that are available to servicemembers while on 

active duty, there’s a lot of downtime while you are in Iraq and the 

opportunity to take classes. And, upon returning, while I was on 

medical hold, there was opportunity to take continuing education 

classes for college. This information was not revealed to me until 

June of 2005, which was 23 days prior to me coming off of active 

duty. 

The programs that were made available and the information was 

very inconsistent at that point in time, with things such as the 

REAP program, Reserve Education and Assistance Program. And 

the 2 years active—continuous active duty buy-in—it is Active 

Duty Reserve GI Bill. And there’s a lot of information about that 

at that time that we weren’t aware—made aware of due to the 

local unit levels not having the information readily available. 

The next thing that I would like to bring up to the Subcommittee 

is the filing of a claim process. Being in a unique position, where 

I fell off of contract at the end of my—coming off of active duty, 

whereas previously mentioned, the 90 days of hold for optional 

drilling, I chose not to do. But when coming off, I immediately filed 

for my VA Service claim. The process took about 8 months for the 

initial decision. Post to that, I continued to receive treatments for 

PTSD at a local VA, which is a local clinic here in South Bend. 

Eventually, I went to the Work One force—I’m sorry, Work One 

office, which is the unemployment office here in St. Joseph County. 


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At that point, I happened to stumble across a sign that said, ‘‘Are 

you a veteran? Have you talked to a VA representative?’’ Fortunately, I spoke with the representative. He informed me about the 

Vocational Rehabilitation Programs Coordinator in Fort Wayne, Indiana. So I met with him, and he was very thorough and very informative. I, later on, had medical issues that I—from injuries that 

I received in Iraq, which landed me in the hospital in May of 2007. 

As of May of 2008, the VA is still declining to pay this bill. It 

is during this process and during the compensation and pension 

pro—examination that I realized that there was a miscommunication and very limited communication between the VA benefits compensation and pension and the VA medical side. 

The last point that I would like to also illustrate is the PTSD factor. One of my Marines called me about a week—after a month we 

came—from when we came back. Because we were attached to a 

different unit in Folsom, Pennsylvania, the commanding officer at 

the local level here’s response was, ‘‘He’s Folsom’s problem, not 

ours.’’ Unfortunately, this Marine was later on discharged Other 

Than Honorably. These—this Marine, who served honorably, 

reached out to the unit, and we failed him due to a system that 

was not prepared for handling the PTSD of Reserve Marines—or 

Marines, and, by command, was not willing or prepared to handle 

the mixed issues with units. 

My recommendation to this Subcommittee is as follows: Evaluate 

Reserve troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan for PTSD related-issues at 45, 90-day and one-year mark. These evaluations 

should be done whether the servicemember is still on active duty, 

active reserves, individual ready reserves, or off of contract. 

The VA—the second recommendation is, the VA Medical and 

Benefits Departments develop a more efficient communication system to allow for a faster and smoother process of claims by veterans. 

Third is, currently, there are no efficient programs post-service 

that inform veterans of programs and assistance resources in their 

local regions. Many veterans get frustrated and give up on the system. 

Fourth, better inform Reserve servicemembers, while still under 

contract, of programs available while on active duty, better inform 

them of programs available post-service using available resources, 

such as VA service representatives, other local veterans’ representatives, including but not limited to unemployment agencies. 

Fifth would be establish a way for troops to deal with Administration problems that occur after they separate from service, such 

as unresolved pay issues. 

And my last recommendation would be—which is probably the 

most important, at this point, for when the troops go to veteran 

status—is to re-evaluate what services can be offered at the local 

level. Many veterans do not have the flexibility of schedule nor the 

means to travel long distances to receive assistance. 

My experience in 2007 was, I made eight trips to Fort Wayne, 

which was over 21⁄2 hours; two trips to Marion, over 21⁄2 hours; and 

six trips to Indianapolis, over 3 hours one way, to receive assistance through the VA system. 

That concludes my testimony. Thank you. 


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[The prepared statement of Mr. Saenz appears on p. 57.] 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you very much. 

Ms. McCool, thank you for being here. You are now recognized. 

STATEMENT OF DAWN McCOOL 

Ms. MCCOOL. Thank you, Subcommittee Chairwoman Sandlin, 

Congressman Boozman and Congressman Donnelly. I really appreciate the opportunity to share my experience today. My husband is 

currently a member of F Company 151st infantry. He was deployed 

in 2003 to Afghanistan for 15 months. His unit was deployed again 

in 2007 to Iraq, and Jim stayed back as the Rear Detachment Commander. 

The main source of the assistance when he was deployed was the 

Family Readiness Group. Unfortunately, it was not up and running, you know, as we had hoped. It was—mainly consisted of 

three women. We did try to involve a lot more family members, but 

it was very low. It just—the support was not there. Colonel 

Warrick did try to help us, you know, get it going. We had planned 

a big family day at Culver Military Academy. Had a humongous 

turnout for that. And we had also planned one for the zoo, so we 

got a call list of all the guys that were currently deployed. Had a 

lot of people respond by saying, yes, they would be there, and we 

had maybe 20. So it was a very tough experience, but it’s nice to 

hear that there are more—you know, more resources out there 

than what I was aware of at the time that he was deployed. 

Okay. The one resource that was provided on a broad scale for 

the Family Readiness Group was a conference they held at Scott 

Field, and that was just information on making the Family Readiness Group stronger, things that we could implement to help build 

up the—you know, the success for the Family Readiness Group. It 

also—but it—you know, it did not mention the fact, you know, anything abut the transition for the—when the guys came home. We 

were just kind of in the dark. 

My husband returned to the U.S. in July of 2005, and he came 

home in August of 2005. Once we found out that they were coming 

home, there was a whole new, you know, set of emotions that set 

in. It was just trying to, you know, reintegrate him into the family. 

Our three children—you know, it was great to have dad home, but, 

you know, it was just—it was a big—it was a struggle. 

He was—when he got home, he got to stay home without returning to his full-time job for Shindler Elevator for 5 months, so that 

was, you know, a time for us to get to know each other again. And 

I, you know, currently work for AM General, where we build the 

military Humvees, and it is—they were very, very supportive. Anything, you know, I needed. And I definitely, you know, want to say 

thank you to them. 

And I think that concludes my testimony. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. McCool appears on p. 60.] 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you. 

Ms. Masapollo—am I pronouncing that correctly? 

Ms. MASAPOLLO. Masapollo; yes. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you for being here, as well. You 

are now recognized. 


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STATEMENT OF LORI MASAPOLLO 

Ms. MASAPOLLO. Okay. And thank you, Madam Chairwoman 

Sandlin, Congressman Boozman, and Congressman Donnelly. And 

thank you for the invitation to be here today. I appreciate it. Can 

you hear me okay? 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Can you pull that a little bit closer? 

Thanks. 

Ms. MASAPOLLO. I’m rarely quiet. 

I am Lori Masapollo. My husband is Lieutenant Gary Masapollo. 

He’s with the U.S. Army Reserves, and he has been a commissioned officer for 22 years, and, as we speak, he is currently at Fort 

Benning, out-processing from the fourth full-term deployment that 

he has had since 9/11. We’re no stranger to deployments. Unfortunately, I am a stranger to most of the Transition Assistance Programs that I’ve heard mentioned here today. And I would think 

that probably a lot of that has to do with the fact that, like Ms. 

Williams testified, my husband does not deploy with a full regiment behind him and take off from a structured environment. He’s 

usually gone—going in small groups, sometimes just on his own, as 

he did on this one, and that resource of having Family Readiness 

Groups and a community of like-minded people who are also deploying with him, and their families left behind, doesn’t exist for 

us. And, so, we tend to fall through the cracks on a lot of these programs. 

But I wanted to testify today, he’s been gone 41 of the last 79 

months, and, actually, I think that was conservative, in that I 

think it’s more like 42 or 43 of the last 79 months. And that has 

certainly left issues with our family. And while he’s getting ready 

to retire when he comes home from this, I would like to address 

some programs that we would have seen to be beneficial to us over 

the course of his service and, certainly, what we are concerned 

about is out there existing and made aware to younger Reservists 

that are currently serving and/or do Reserves. 

As Gary comes off this deployment, he needs to find a job, and 

that is his primary concern right now, and a great deal of stress 

to him. He currently—or, before deployment, in the past several 

years, he was a contracted Army employee who taught Military 

Science and International Law classes at the University of Notre 

Dame for the Fighting Irish Battalion. He had to give up that contract when he took his last deployment so they could fill his position. So he’s coming home unemployed. 

He’s 45 years old, and that’s the first time he’s been in that situation. He is very nervous. So—and I think he’s facing a lot of the 

same stress situations that most veterans do. If you’ve spent most 

of your life in military service and you’re coming home to a job 

market like this one, he’s worried. How do you find a new employer 

that’s not going to see his 25 years in the military and look at what 

he’s done and not see that as intimidating or think, good grief. This 

guy must be too regimented, you know, to work well in the civilian 

work force. That is a major concern for him. 

And I think if we would have—you know, what we’re doing to 

combat that has been entirely on our own. We are reaching out to 

fellow servicemembers who have already transitioned. We are seeking out third-party Web sites. We’re doing everything we can to try 


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to update his resume and help craft it in such a way that he is 

seen as an asset, which I believe him to be. 

So, if the military does offer any kind of resume crafting assistance, job placement, some of the support where you are partnering 

employers who have interest in military personnel, or would be, 

you know, amenable to that sort of thing, we’ve never been offered 

that. In fact, I can tell you that, right now, at Fort Benning, what 

he got handed was, ‘‘If you got any questions, try this Web site,’’ 

stamped him, and sent him on, you know. 

If he’s unable to find work, his education will probably need to 

be brushed up or rede—you know, recenter him to different employment skills that will make him employable somewhere else. If 

there is anything out there, he does not know when I’m speaking 

with him, and he has never been given any information about what 

education assistance is available to him now, and GI Bill would not 

apply. He doesn’t know what’s out there. But that sort of thing 

would be very helpful, because we’re going to have to come up with 

something when he comes home. 

When he comes off active duty and goes to find employment, 

healthcare coverage is a major concern for us. Gary and I have five 

children. One of our sons has since deployed with the Air Force, 

but the other four depend on us for healthcare. And I will echo that 

finding TRICARE providers in this area is very difficult. Keeping 

one for any length of time is practically impossible. If they are involved with the program, they frequently get out. 

I’m also very concerned that Gary’s going to come home with 

more stress than on previous deployments, because he is unemployed, and that—it can lead, possibly, to some more psychological 

issues than what he’s had in the past. We do miss him very much 

when he’s gone, but when he comes back here, there’s a large period of re-adjustment to bring him back into the family, to make 

him feel like he is contributing, and he has concerns there. 

Again, during out-processing at Fort Benning, they simply told 

him, ‘‘Go to a VA Hospital. Find your VA Hospital. If you’ve got 

issues, go there,’’ or, as you indicated, ‘‘If you want us to do a full 

work-up on you here and discuss it, you’ll be held.’’ And it’s kind 

of the issue that it’s almost a threatening circumstance. He certainly doesn’t care to spend any more time at Fort Benning, Georgia, than he needs to. He wants to come home to his family, and 

I would think that that’s like most Reservists coming home; they 

want to get on with their lives. They’re not interested in being held 

up. But our closest VA Hospital is hours away and not really a viable option, and he does have issues. 

I mean, mentioned in my comments, Gary, when he was drilling, 

as the regular Army has downsized, these Reservists are being 

asked to more frequently augment troops and go back in to do multiple deployments. He’s 90 miles away from drill, in Homewood, Illinois, or Gary, Indiana. Those people have never reached out to 

me. This last time he deployed as an individual augmentee, he 

went with a pool and left 308 to take this last assignment, which 

means he’s really off everybody’s radar, and there is nobody following up with us to make sure that we have the resources we 

need to cope pre-, post-, or during deployment. 


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So I think that anybody who takes on a Reservist’s role right 

now is really a wonderful patriot, because there’s not really a lot 

of perks involved with this job right now. When they leave—you 

know, when you’re gone as often as they are, he’s coming home to 

rusty skill sets for business. You know, there’s a lot that the rest 

of the world continued to learn and grow and do that he is behind 

on when he comes back to the corporate world. He has lost promotions, small 401K nest eggs, because he hasn’t been home to 

contribute, and, except for this latest tour, he had to maintain two 

households. 

MacDill Air Force Base has somehow condemned on-base housing. They put him out into a private sector apartment, a furnished 

apartment, at $3800 a month. When you do that, combined with 

renter’s insurance, food, and waiting to get reimbursed, sometimes 

2 to 3 months later, while you’re also maintaining your home expenses here for us, that’s a lot of financial burden to place on someone when they’re away. While we had the resources to deal with 

that, I think there’s a lot of young Reservists that do not, and 

that’s a financial burden they should not be made to cope with. 

That’s over time. My apologies, but thank you for allowing my 

testimony today. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Masapollo appears on p. 62.] 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Of course. We appreciate it very much. 

Mr. Blosser, you are now recognized. 

STATEMENT OF STAFF SERGEANT DONALD A. BLOSSER 

Sergeant BLOSSER. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman and Subcommittee Members, for the opportunity to speak with you about 

the transition experience. My name is Staff Sergeant Donald A. 

Blosser, for the Indiana National Guard. 

I served for 12 years in active duty, from 1980 to 1992, and I was 

stationed at Fort Lewis, Washington, when I was sent to Arizona 

Army—or, National Guard, the unit for deployment to what, at the 

time, was Operation Desert Shield. We were motor transfer operators. We deployed from Arizona to Saudi Arabia in January 1991, 

returned August 1991. The call-up went sufficiently, although One 

Stop and other services provided was not around at the time or was 

in the process of going in. We did not see the Veterans Affairs representatives at the time. 

We had general medical exams, as is preliminary exercise. On 

the return, we did not stay in Arizona for a prolonged time, and 

returned back to Fort Lewis. Upon return to Fort Lewis, we were 

placed in units that we would like to go to, because Fort Lewis was 

drawing down, and our unit was gone when we came back. 

We did meet with representatives and agencies on active duty 

that mostly were medical and some VA. I spent from September 

2005 to present with the Indiana National Guard. I went back to 

my civilian job, driving trucks, from 1992 to 2005. One large lure 

for joining the National Guard was to finish what I had started, 

to retire and to serve my country. And to receive my benefits. And 

this was—I was not receiving it due to a youthful oversight. 

I was put on active duty status in July of 2006 and deployed to 

the region on October 2000—correction, October 7, 2006. I deployed 

with the National Guard unit out of Camp Shelby, Mississippi, and 


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there were 55 soldiers from the State of Indiana who joined the 

unit of Mississippi, in order to bring it to 299 strong. There were 

soldiers from Kentucky, Tennessee, Michigan, as well, to reach its 

number. This was difficult at times because it brought together different mentalities from different parts of the country. 

When I returned on September 25th, 2007, from Iraq, I demobilized at Camp Shelby, Mississippi. I spent 3 days out-processing. 

They broke the days down into areas—groups; one was personnel, 

one was meeting representatives, one getting information on the 

One Stop, the Veterans Administrative benefits, and TRICARE. 

They gave us stations to visit, and the whole unit had to pass 

through. We were issued a check-sheet that had to be initialled by 

each representative to assure that we covered each station. The 

medical area had nine substations. The benefits station had five organizations represented. Once you went to final station, you were 

cleared. 

The State of Indiana had representatives at Camp Shelby to assist us, and any equipment, weapons to get transferred back over, 

and to help us make reservations for travel back to the State of Indiana. The representatives from Indiana were professional and represented—the Indiana National Guard was a constant, from the 

advance before deployment, when a lieutenant from the Joint Force 

headquarters in Indianapolis and I were the advance party. We 

met with the commander and made arrangements and were joined 

by three to four other Indiana representatives who helped transfer 

the equipment. 

Upon return, there were Indiana representatives there to take 

care of our equipment. We had no worries as far as who was being 

transferred from one State to the next. All Indiana representatives 

were very sharp and smooth during the process. The Kentucky representatives were sharp, as well, and they had 72 soldiers that had 

deployed. Michigan and Tennessee did not have representatives, 

but we’re talking groups of about 12 people. 

There was a true, individual concern for each soldier passing 

through. We were told that we would be going through this again 

in about 90 days at the State level. Around the middle of January, 

we did this at the 38th Infantry Division Headquarters Armory in 

Indianapolis. I completed medical questionnaires, saw a doctor, and 

met with representatives from the Veterans Administration, One 

Stop, the VFW, American Legion, and other support groups, including TRICARE. That event went fairly well. I’m comparing this from 

when I came back from Desert Storm. 

I had been deployed with Dayton Freight Line for 9 years. I put 

them in an award for the State—from the State, because I told 

them I was leaving to serve. They wished me well, told me to be 

safe, and took care of my family while I was overseas. I did not ask 

questions. All they asked for was document orders, showing that I 

was being deployed. While I was gone, they checked on my family 

twice, they also checked and gave her profit sharing checks, and 

gave her any assistance that she needed. 

When I came back, they gave me a pro-rated profit sharing 

check, welcomed me back with open arms, and . . . I have heard 

of the horror stories of some civilian jobs out there that don’t receive the servicemembers as well as I received with my civilian job. 


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To end on a positive note, overall, I must say that the soldier is 

better informed and taken care of. In my situation, the TRICARE 

needs to see improvement. And this concludes my statement. 

[The prepared statement of Sergeant Blosser appears on p. 63.] 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you very much, Mr. Blosser. 

I thank all of our witnesses. I would now like to recognize Mr. 

Donnelly for the first round of questions. 

Mr. DONNELLY. The first question I have is for Ms. McCool and 

Ms. Williams. Has there been any—in the Family Readiness 

Group, is there any standard process that is used, or is it different 

from time to time? 

Ms. WILLIAMS. Sir, I believe there is a standard process—standard operating process, but—for procedures, but if the unit—if it’s 

not stood up, you know, in the beginning, or if they don’t—coming 

into it in the beginning, then they never—those, you know, processes and procedures are never employed. 

Mr. DONNELLY. So it’s pretty easy to get lost between the cracks 

in this process. 

Ms. WILLIAMS. From the smaller detachments, I think so, sir. 

Our—I mean, our Family Readiness Program is outstanding. We 

have a wonderful State that does a great job, great leadership. 

They support their soldiers and families, and, if you were to call, 

at any point in time, to the Family Programs office and say, hey, 

I need help with this, I believe they would do everything they could 

to help. I think it’s just when a lot of information—if information 

is disseminated through the Family Readiness Group, if you don’t 

have a functioning Family Readiness Group, then that’s where you 

can have an issue. But if you have another conduit, such as the 

Family Assistance Centers, and they could disseminate the information, I think that would be really helpful as a backup. 

Mr. DONNELLY. And the next thing is just a comment I have. We 

heard from Sergeant Saenz about the long distances you had to 

travel for hospital-type care. 

Mr. SAENZ. Yes, sir. 

Mr. DONNELLY. And we heard from Ms. Masapollo about the long 

distances, and we’ve been talking about that in this area for a significant amount of time, and we’re fortunate to have folks from the 

VA here. And, to you, I say, this is the hole in the yard. And what 

I mean by that is, from this spot, in this building, your closest VA 

hospital is 21⁄2 hours away. It’s 3 hours to Indy, it’s 21⁄2 hours to 

Fort Wayne, 21⁄2 hours to Battle Creek, 3 hours to Chicago, and we 

are the place that has been forgotten. 

And it is not just—I bring this up because we have seen, firsthand today, the effect that this has on our community; that this 

is not just a desire to fill up a hospital building or fill up medical 

care, but it is directly impacting the lives of the people who serve 

our community, and we have truly been the area that has been forgotten about. At least from what I see. Has your experience been 

the same? 

Ms. MASAPOLLO. Yes. Yes, it has. 

Mr. DONNELLY. And, Ms. Masapollo, in regards to your husband’s 

employment at Notre Dame, is he appointed and placed there by 

the Army, or is that an appointment by military aid? 


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Ms. MASAPOLLO. The Army placed him there, and then he contracted through Comtech—— 

Mr. DONNELLY. Okay. So—— 

Ms. MASAPOLLO [continuing]. For that position, but he did have 

to relinquish it when he was deployed so they could fill it. Otherwise, they would not have a professor for the program—for the 

ROTC program. 

Mr. DONNELLY. Okay. And I guess my question, then, in followup 

is, is there not something else to guarantee him when he’s not deployed to serve his country? 

Ms. MASAPOLLO. No. 

Mr. DONNELLY. Then I think Mr. Peterman can talk to you later 

about that, as to how that adds up. Maybe you could assist me on 

that. 

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you, Mr. Donnelly. 

Mr. Boozman. 

Mr. BOOZMAN. Thank you, Madam Chair. 

Again, thank all of you for serving in your different ways, and 

the—I do think it’s important that we get this smaller group thing 

fixed in the sense that, hopefully, as the war winds down, I think 

the deployments that we have in the future, hopefully, at some 

point fairly soon, will be of that nature. You know, it’s one thing 

when the whole brigade leaves, and things, and you’ve got all of 

that support, but the other situation, as we—again, as this thing 

winds down, which it will do, at some point, that we have the ability to outreach to those smaller groups. 

I thank you, Madam Chair. We appreciate you bringing that to 

our attention. 

Hopefully, we can get you fixed up, Mr. Saenz, with some of your 

problems. I don’t know what Mr. Donnelly—you know, Joe, myself, 

and the Chairlady will see if we can get some of these things addressed a little bit more timely. The bureaucracy is so frustrating 

and I know that that is frustrating. And, so, we appreciate your reminding us of that. I guess, sadly, I have constituents like you that 

remind me, it seems like, on a daily basis, as they run into the bureaucracy, also. But we do appreciate your service. And, again, 

thank you very much for your very, very helpful testimony. 

Thank you. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you, Mr. Boozman. I fully agree 

on this issue regarding the smaller detachments, and I think that 

we will be able to follow-up with a later panel here today. When 

we get back to Washington to address this issue, we will have some 

creative ideas that maybe some States are coming up with. I think, 

certainly, we’re seeing it with the National Guard, with some folks 

that are volunteering for additional deployments, and then maybe, 

in certain terms, are being brought to full strength with units of 

prior deployment. 

I’m particularly concerned about our Reserve members, because 

even in South Dakota, we know exactly who to go to when we want 

to find out what’s going on with different Guardsmen from the 

State; where they are in-country, what are the dates of demobilization. We can get everything, but we don’t always have the same 

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serve units in the State. When they’re getting attached to larger 

units it’s very difficult. 

I think, Ms. Masapollo, you’ve highlighted, from the family perspective, just how difficult this is, particularly when there are multiple deployments. 

I do want to spend a little bit of time with my questions for you, 

Mr. Saenz, as it relates to the education benefits. I appreciate the 

recommendation you’ve made to the Subcommittee today as it relates to followup in identifying and re-assessing for PTSD. I think 

that’s a very important recommendation, that we have spoken with 

our colleague from the full Committee and our Health Subcommittee in our districts and other colleagues’ districts, and in especially looking at re-evaluating services at the local levels to assist 

folks. 

Let’s talk about this education benefits issue that you experienced. Can you explain that in just a little bit more detail to me 

about what was available to you in-country during the deployment, 

and the fact that you weren’t aware of some of the benefits until 

23 days right before de-activation. Sergeant, just cover that again 

for me. 

Mr. SAENZ. The—most Marine Reserves, when they join on, 

there’s the Collect Reserve GI Bill that is part of the initial contract right. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Which is pertaining to our Chapter 1606 

Benefit. 

Mr. SAENZ. Yes, ma’am. What was going on when we were coming off of deployment is, in the Administrative systems, the units 

for almost all rela—all branches of military, there’s information 

that they have, primarily regarding educational opportunities. For 

example, while you’re on active duty, you can go to college, and 

they basically pay for it, whether it’s—if you’re stationed in a certain area for a long period of time, you’re able to go to a local university there if your command allows it. Other folks choose online 

opportunities. And those items are paid for. 

A lot of times, now, while we’re—our troops are deployed to Iraq 

and Afghanistan, they are in a position where there’s a lot of downtime, and where they could use something of that nature, whether 

it be a correspondence or an online, because there are a lot of bases 

now that have the online capabilities, so that the—they would be 

able to plug into those types of things. However, that information’s 

not getting to them. Whether it be a unit level issue or a branch 

issue, the information’s just not getting to them that these are 

available options for them. 

The second part of that is that the REAP Program, Reserve Educational and Assistance Program, it came out and was approved by 

the House and the Senate, roughly, about two—the end of 2004/ 

early 2005. That program, while it was marketed at—to us at the 

unit level as an opportunity to increase in your moneys available 

for post-contractual service to—for education, however, when all 

the dust settles, it was more of a re-enlistment type of feature. So 

there’s about 2 to 3 years’ worth of servicemembers who were either coming off of active duty—or, coming off the Reserves or right 

during that time, or just to, that never saw the opportunity to plug 

into that resource. 


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There are many—on my second deployment, I volunteered, as 

well, with a small unit from South Bend. There was four of us that 

attached to Folsom. Again, it’s a very similar situation with a lot 

of these spouses here, where you’re augmenting a unit. Well, that 

information, again, is not necessarily sent out to you. But what a 

lot of us were trying to do was volunteer to get two consecutive 

years, to be able to buy into the Active Duty GI Bill, because that 

was the way that we understood it. 

Well, in a lot of cases, we ran into roadblocks because the higherups did not want that to happen. So we had come off of one set 

of orders before going on to the next set of orders, which would give 

you a gap in service so that we wouldn’t have that two consecutive 

years; therefore, a lot of us, during that time period, were trying 

to at least accumulate 2 years of active service because it was our 

impression that then we would be able to qualify for the REAP Program. Unfortunately, we missed out on both opportunities. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Well, I am pleased to inform you we have 

taken some steps to address this. Not all, which would get it to 

your particular circumstances or some of those that you have 

served with. I mentioned, the National Defense Authorization 

Act—and this is going to require additional oversight from our perspective, as well as our colleagues and Armed Services Committee. 

We made sure that the Chapter 1607 now can be utilized by selected Reserve members for 10 years following separation of service, and that it’s no longer 2 consecutive years but three cumulative. I believe that’s right, right? 

I understand the frustration that you experienced there, and we 

have had concerns. We’ve had a number of Subcommittee hearings 

where we’ve asked some folks with the Federal agencies just how 

the new program was being marketed, if at all. Clearly, there have 

been problems, and we appreciate you explaining, in more detail, 

your experience that we can take back and continue to work to address these shortcomings in effective administration of the new 

program that was designed to reward your service, not be so difficult to access. 

Before recognizing Mr. Boozman and Mr. Donnelly for any followup questions they may have, let me pose two further quick 

questions. First, Ms. McCool, you state in your written testimony 

that it would be very helpful, and I think families would benefit 

from some sort of compilation to have a book or a pamphlet of the 

services that would be provided and available to servicemembers, 

their spouse, and their families. 

Have you discussed that idea with the Family Readiness Group 

or with anyone in the Indiana National Guard? 

Ms. MCCOOL. Currently, you know, I’ve talked to my husband 

about it, as he, you know, is a Rear Detachment Commander, to 

try to come up with a—you know, a pamphlet or something just 

so—you know, even if it’s a phone number—just somebody that the 

families can contact to let them know, I’m having this problem, you 

know, and try to get them the help that they need, because there 

is help out there, and they just have to be able to find and access 

those types of services. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Right. 


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Then a question for Ms. Williams, Ms. McCool, and Ms. 

Masapollo. We are aware that we are going to get a little tight on 

time, so just a yes or no response. Were you, at any time during 

your spouse’s deployment, contacted by anyone from the Department of Defense, the VA, or the Department of Labor? 

Ms. MCCOOL. No. 

Ms. WILLIAMS. No. 

Ms. MASAPOLLO. No. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Ms. Williams. 

Ms. WILLIAMS. No. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. No? Okay. Ms. McCool, no. We do not 

want to leave you out, Mr. Blosser, so let me just say I’m glad that 

your transition sounds like it was smoother than many. 

Sergeant BLOSSER. Yes. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. It sounds like it’s because of, sort of, the 

learning as we go and the great work of the Indiana National 

Guard in the present, in partnership with other agencies during 

the demobilization. I’m very supportive of this. Thank you for being 

here and for sharing your thoughts and insights. 

Mr. Donnelly. 

Mr. DONNELLY. The only other thing I’d like to say is to thank 

Dayton Freight Line for being such an exceptional employer. They 

really serve as a model to everyone. 

Sergeant BLOSSER. Thank you. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Mr. Boozman. 

Mr. BOOZMAN. No, I—that’s exactly what I was going to say. I’ve 

heard very much, we do appreciate it. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you. 

Thank you all for being here and for testifying. We know, in 

service to one’s country, in addition to your own members of your 

family, there is a team effort here, and we certainly appreciate the 

insights that you have offered and the information that, again, we 

can take back to Washington. We look forward to following up with 

these various agencies. Thank you very much. 

We are now going to ask that our witnesses on Panel Three 

please come forward. Participating in the third panel is Mr. Stephen Short, Department Adjutant, Indiana, the American Legion; 

and Mr. Gary Whitehead, Service Officer for the Elkhart County 

Veterans of Indiana. 

Because we have to wrap up the field hearing no later than 3:45, 

I am going to have to ask you to do everything possible to keep 

your summary of your written statements to 5 minutes so that we 

have plenty of time for questions and have enough time for our 

fourth panel, where we have the representatives from our Federal 

agency joining us today. 

We very much appreciate Mr. Short and Mr. Whitehead for your 

service and your continuing service for our Nation’s veterans and 

to veterans here in the 2nd Congressional District of Indiana. 

Thank you. 

Mr. Short, we will start with you. You are recognized for 5 minutes. 


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STATEMENTS OF STEPHEN W. SHORT, DEPARTMENT ADJUTANT, AMERICAN LEGION, DEPARTMENT OF INDIANA; AND 

GARY M. WHITEHEAD, ELKHART COUNTY VETERANS SERVICE OFFICER, ELKHART, IN 

STATEMENT OF STEPHEN W. SHORT 

Mr. SHORT. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, Members of the 

Subcommittee. Thank you for the great opportunity to present testimony today. Since you all have a copy of my complete testimony, 

I will try to highlight the concerns and recommendations of the 

American Legion with regard to the enhanced Transition Assistance for members of the National Guard and Reserves. 

After the fall of the Soviet Union but prior to September 11th, 

2001, the Bush and Clinton administrations began a sizeable drawdown of our active military force structure, placing an increasingly 

large burden on the Reserve components of the United States military to fight our Nation’s war. During that time, Congress enacted 

Public Law 101–510, which authorized the creation of the Transition Assistance Program, or TAP, to assist service—servicemembers from several areas back into the civilian work force. The 

Disabled Transition Assistance Program, or DTAP, was created by 

the Department of Labor and the Department of Veterans Affairs 

to assist not only disabled military servicemembers but their families back into civilian life. 

As I previously mentioned, our Reserve forces have become an 

enormous portion in total force structure. With continued DoD reliance on the 1.8 million Reserve and National Guard troops, it becomes imperative that we continue to attract and retain well-qualified individuals. Without providing proper incentives for these individuals to enlist and re-enlist, our military will be hard-pressed to 

accomplish our Global War on Terror mission. Currently, many National Guard and Reserve troops are returning from the war in 

Iraq and Afghanistan only to encounter problems with their Federal and civilian employers. They face the prospect of no job, loss 

of promotion in benefits, and job promotions. Federal law, as we 

know, is supposed to protect these servicemembers from losing jobs, 

benefits, and promotions, but, sadly, in many cases, we’ve been unable to accomplish this because of the lengthy deployment and multiple deployments. 

The American Legion believes that these servicemembers would 

greatly benefit from a stronger and enhanced service provided by 

the Transition Assistance Program, particularly with regard to the 

employment, mental health, and small business components. On 

the other side of the coin, along with multiple deployments of Reservists, it’s had a catastrophic effect on employers, as well. Currently, the Small Business Administration offers military Reservists the Economic Injury Disaster Loans to businesses that can provide evidence that their activated Reservist is critical to the success 

of the company. 

The American Legion recommends that the Small Business Administration should be part of any Reservist or National Guard 

TAP briefings, and act in an advising capacity to veteran 

businessowners and to assist them with resources and information 

to help lessen the impact of activation on their bottom line. 


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Another issue of great concern to the American Legion is the 

availability and use of the Montgomery GI Bill, educational funds 

for Guard and Reserve members. Currently, the Montgomery GI 

Bill pays an average Reservist $317 a month compared to his active-duty counterpart, who is paid $1101 a month. In addition, rising tuition costs force many Reservists to rely on commercial loans 

to supplement the Montgomery GI Bill. When Reservists are forced 

to withdraw from school due to the military obligation, the commercial loan must still be paid regardless of whether the student 

finishes the course, adding to the cumulated debt of that servicemember. The American Legion recommends that TAP briefings include an education representative to provide National Guard and 

Reserve members this kind of information so they can avoid undue 

financial hardship. 

Currently, under the Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act, this 

exists for servicemembers with regard to actions terminating 

leases, evictions, foreclosures, default judgements, as well as providing for lower interest rates on loans, credit cards, and protecting 

against lapses or terminations of insurance policies. With increased 

reliance on Guard and Reserve units, creditors residing in remote 

areas outside the traditional military towns are not aware of this 

act. As a result, servicemembers are experiencing financial difficulties and, in some cases, being financially ruined because this piece 

of legislation is unknown. If the Transition Assistance Program 

was made mandatory, much of this confusion could be avoided. 

Currently, the Navy Transition Assistance Program reps discuss 

personal financial planning during workshops and seminars, but 

the Reserve components need to have this issue addressed during 

Transition Assistance, as well. 

The simple fact is that the normal percentage of Reserve component troops are separating from Service without the benefit of 

Transition Assistance Programs. Currently, Reserve component 

pilot programs for TAP are underway in Oregon, Michigan, and 

Minnesota. The Department of Defense and Department of Labor 

reports indicate that, in Oregon, 40 percent of the attending 

servicemembers were looking for employment. The American Legion recognizes the value of this program and recommends that it 

become mandatory for all transitioning servicemembers. We recommend that this task be accomplished in the following ways: Incorporate TAP into the unit’s training schedule months before activation. Have the TAP briefing during the unit’s organization date 

of a holiday/family day that would include spouses. Activate the 

unit for a weekend, either before or after deployment. Make TAP 

briefings available to units at their mob station, prior to moving 

into theater, and spend an extra day or two at the demob site to 

include TAP. 

In closing, the American Legion re-affirms its strong support of 

the Transition Assistance Program, but also encourages the Department of Defense to require that all separating and active duty 

servicemembers, including those in the Reserves and the National 

Guard, be given an opportunity to participate in TAP training not 

more than 180 days prior to their separation or retirement from 

the Armed Forces, and followup counselors not later than 180 days 

after separation from active duty. We also support efforts to manVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:01 Dec 20, 2008 Jkt 043053 PO 00000 Frm 00038 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 E:\HR\OC\A053.XXX A053

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date that all servicemembers be given the opportunity to participate in TAP and DTAP. 

Madam Chairwoman, that concludes my remarks, and I’ll be 

happy to answer questions. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Short appears on p. 65.] 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you, Mr. Short. 

Mr. Whitehead, you are recognized. 

STATEMENT OF GARY M. WHITEHEAD 

Mr. WHITEHEAD. Good afternoon, Madam Chairwoman and Subcommittee Members. It is a tremendous honor to be here today. I 

have been a County Service Officer for 22 years, after I retired 

from the Navy July 1986. I’m one of 91 Service Officers in the 

State of Indiana. Each county, besides Marion County, has a County Service Officer. 

When Indiana Guardsmen and Reservists return home, they’re 

required to complete at least 3 days of classes covering everything 

from seeing a Chaplain to having a briefing from one—from an individual from Work Force One concerning their re-employment 

rights. 

Even today, when I interview a World War II veteran, Korea, or 

Vietnam veteran, I ask them if their disabilities were documented 

in their service medical record, and they advise me that they were 

not because they would have had to stay on active duty several 

more days, and they wanted to get home to their loved ones. This 

is still happening today, but at least they are given the opportunity 

and the knowledge that there are people out in their communities 

that will be—provide assistance for them. Like the old saying, ‘‘You 

can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink,’’ sometimes our veterans are just like that; they think getting medical 

care or compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs is 

welfare. 

I have spoken with Paul Curtice, the VFW State Service Officer, 

and he advised me of all of the information that he and the DAV 

Service Officers put out during their presentation to our returning 

veterans. Here in Indiana, several months after the Guardsmen 

and Reservists have settled back into the community, they are 

given a program which was referred to earlier as the Seamless Program, which is run by the Department—Indiana Department of 

Veterans Affairs. And the Department of Veterans Affairs, they 

work together in this program, and they conduct the training with 

the units, keeping them informed about their benefits. 

Personally, I feel that the Department of Veterans Affairs and 

the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs and the military Department of Indiana is doing something—is doing everything that 

they can to make sure our soldiers are informed of their benefits 

and rights as Veterans. It is the veteran’s responsibility to follow 

up with their claims for compensation and healthcare. They are— 

I like refer to it as a toolbox, and they’re given a lot of tools, and 

they have to use—be able to use these tools. The only thing that 

bothers my fellow Service Officers—and there a number of them 

here in the audience—and myself is that, when these training sessions are scheduled in our communities, we are not invited to parVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:01 Dec 20, 2008 Jkt 043053 PO 00000 Frm 00039 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 E:\HR\OC\A053.XXX A053

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ticipate since we are not a part of Department of Veterans Affairs, 

or the DOV. 

Overall, the Transition Assistance Program provided to our 

troops is very good, and all of us, working together, can make our 

veterans get re-adjusted back with their families and their communities. 

Thank you very much for listening to me, and this completes my 

testimony. God bless America. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Whitehead appears on p. 68.] 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you, Mr. Whitehead. 

Mr. Short, I’m a proud member of the American Legion Auxiliary. It’s always nice to—— 

Mr. SHORT. Same for me, ma’am. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN [continuing]. See members of the American Legion from other States. Me, too. I appreciate your insights 

and your mention of the pilot program for Reservists in Oregon, in 

Michigan, and Minnesota. It’s something important for our Subcommittee to follow up, to determine the effectiveness of those pilot 

programs. Again, they may have been established as we were working our way through all of these deployments and de-activations, 

and we have had some people fall through the cracks. I’d be very 

interested in getting both of your perspectives on what we have 

heard from the prior panel on the smaller detachments, and Ms. 

Masapollo and her husband’s situation, in particular, as it relates 

to transition assistance. 

Mr. Whitehead, I agree in terms of the toolbox that veterans 

have and the responsibility to use those tools, but we’ve got to 

make sure they’re getting the toolbox or that, you know, once they 

get the toolbox, they know everything that is in it. I mean, a lot 

is going on at the time that they are transitioned back into civilian 

life. 

Any perspective you would like to share on this issue with the 

smaller detachments? 

Mr. SHORT. Yes, ma’am. My unit, the Army Reserve Unit, was 

deployed in this war, as well, in 2003, but I was with a battalionsized unit. We also had soldiers who were, both prior to our deployment and after our deployment, cross-leveled or augmented, as the 

term was used here earlier. And the—our Family Readiness Group 

was outstanding at the battalion level, but as was testified before, 

these folks that are cross-leveled—and we had a lot of—probably 

25 troops from other States from the Army Reserve sent to us to 

accomplish our mission, and I don’t know of any contact that their 

units—they—of course, they had no Family Readiness Group. This 

was early in the war, 2003. 

And, so, our—my experience was probably limited to the fact 

that we were not—we hadn’t learned this process yet. But I had 

troops that were cross-leveled, too, from Illinois and Wisconsin, 

that, you know, basically never heard from their folks, and I didn’t 

find out if their families had been. 

But the Family Readiness Group is critical to maintaining contact and information flow to the families. And I heard one—one of 

the testimonies referred to the fact that their Family Readiness 

Group, their FRG, was very small and not very effective, and that 

can be a killer, as far as keeping the folks well-informed. 


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My battalion commander and I would do video conferences with 

our FRG leaders about every other month and let them know specific issues that were going on. So I’d say that’s probably very true, 

because the—in Reserve programs, you got so many units that are 

missing people in specific job skills—engineers, medics; that type 

of thing—so you get a lot of cross-leveling, and these folks are from, 

usually, other States. And our Family Readiness Groups would try 

to look after them, but a lot of that fell through the cracks, too, 

ma’am. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you. 

Mr. Whitehead. 

Mr. WHITEHEAD. Yes, ma’am. What we see, as the County Veteran Service Officers, we actually don’t see that veteran until he’s 

home and he’s completed everything. Here in Indiana, the Director 

of Veterans Affairs for the State made us, as County Service Officers, go through a one-day training to provide assistance and be 

able to do it with what General Umbarger had mentioned earlier, 

the military relief fund. And, so, we have been trained to assist the 

families with those applications for any financial assistance and 

things. 

Other than that, we, as County Service Officers, we’re at the bottom. You know, we don’t really see them, and we don’t—unless 

that family member comes into our office, we don’t know who’s on 

active duty, we don’t know about the dependents, and we wish we 

were a part of the wheel, but, here again, we aren’t. And, like Mr. 

Short said, here, in one hand, you have the Reserves. In the other 

hand, you have the National Guard. The National Guard goes 

through this TAP program through Camp Atterbury here in Indiana. I don’t know what the Reserves are doing. I know the activeduty people are required to go through, you know, a three-day TAP 

class, but the Reserves—— 

Mr. SHORT. I have—if I can comment, I have to say that the 

State of Indiana, with regard to my troops, was fantastic. I received 

letters from the Department of Veterans Affairs from Indiana. And 

this was early. I came home in June of 2004, and I wasn’t in a position where I needed any educational assistance or employment assistance, but I would get a constant barrage of letters from the Department of Veterans Affairs, wanting—offering the opportunity to 

attend groups. And I’ve got to say the State of Indiana, not just the 

National Guard, but the entire structure of the Department of Veterans Affairs has done a wonderful job, in my opinion. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you. 

Mr. WHITEHEAD. The only thing I’d like to add is, I had spoken 

with a couple gentlemen that had been through TAP, and actually, 

it was Mr. Curtice of the VFW, and I asked if we somehow, the 

County Service Officers, could get a list of those National Guardsmen that are coming home from their units into our communities. 

Besides getting the letter from the State of Indiana, welcoming 

them home, we could also get them a letter from my County Service Office. Here I am. My hours. 

I never wear a coat and tie to work. It’s just, sometimes that 

makes—I feel that it makes that veteran feel uncomfortable. Here’s 

another government person telling me what to do. And if I can 


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come down to his level and be able to get that trust in him, I’m 

gonna make it to second base with him. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you both. 

Mr. Boozman. 

Mr. BOOZMAN. Thank you, Mr. Whitehead. You guys do a great 

job. You really do, and we really appreciate your hard work. 

Tell me the type of people that we’re talking about today, as they 

come and visit with you, what are the major problems that you’re 

seeing as a result of maybe not getting enough information, you 

know, through the TAP process or all these other things that we 

try and do. What are they asking you to help them with, primarily? 

Mr. WHITEHEAD. Basically, getting into the healthcare system. 

And then I—we—I work very close with the Fort Wayne VA, Veterans closest hospital. And I can—once I get the medical application, look at the DD–214 to make sure they have their in-country— 

you know, their awards and things, making sure that their dental 

has been completed prior to discharge, I fax that medical application to Fort Wayne. Within a week, they get a phone call from our 

South Bend Clinic, getting them in. 

We also—the vets—Fort Wayne has a Vet Center, and they go 

to my office once a week to do counseling so my veterans don’t have 

to travel to Fort Wayne. And we have worked—I have a—an extra 

office that they’re able to counsel veterans without having to 

make—and they also counsel wives and veterans together. 

We worked with the court systems to be able to use the Vet Center counselors for those veterans that have gotten DUIs and things. 

Instead of paying through the court system, we’re able to use the 

VA and the Vet Centers at no cost to the veteran. 

Mr. BOOZMAN. Very good. Thank you. 

Mr. WHITEHEAD. Yes, sir. 

Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Short, again, we appreciate all that you guys 

do. We on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee really do the best we 

can to tip the sphere and try and push these things forward, but 

we couldn’t do that without the veterans and reservists’ organizations. And, so, we appreciate all that you do. 

And I don’t mean this bad or in any disrespect to anybody, but 

I’m so glad that you’re a fairly young guy. One of the—I say that 

in the sense that one of the great problems that we have is that 

the people—the greatest generation, is getting older, and it’s very 

difficult as they come to Washington and we look at them. You 

know, that trip is getting much, much harder for them to make 

every year. And we see people like this, people at home, you 

know—one of the neat things about this job is, you get to meet a 

lot of different people that you normally wouldn’t meet. And some 

of my dearest friends have been that generation that are involved 

in the VSOs, but we’re losing them, you know. And I get—seems 

like I get an E-mail once a week of somebody that’s done so much, 

and yet, they’re starting to pass away. 

So it’s good that—I think that’s a great challenge that you have 

and I have in encouraging the VSOs, if we’re gonna continue to 

push things forward in the future, you know, it’s—we just got to 

do that. So, thank you for your hard work. Appreciate all you do. 

Mr. SHORT. You’re welcome, sir. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Mr. Donnelly. 


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Mr. DONNELLY. I want to thank Mr. Whitehead for your service 

and to all the VSOs who are in the audience here. We have a number of them from around the district. And, also, to all of the State. 

You’re the frontline, and we sure appreciate it. 

And, Mr. Short, I wanted to ask you—I want to thank you for 

your service, too, especially to your young look, as well, but also in 

regards to the employment situation. Has that become more difficult, as we go on here year after year? 

Mr. SHORT. Yes, sir. It seems like, in the recent year and-a-half 

that’s just past, it’s getting more difficult. And I think that’s one 

of the reasons the education benefit is so critical; because that 

gives the returning veteran an option to redo themselves in terms 

of their skill sets and their knowledge. And, as long as we can continue to improve the education benefits, that may be a little bit of 

a hedge against the employment issue, too. 

Mr. DONNELLY. I mean, we—it’s a—it’s hard on the employers—— 

Mr. SHORT. Oh, absolutely. 

Mr. DONNELLY [continuing]. As you well know. 

Mr. SHORT. Yes. 

Mr. DONNELLY. It’s—is it the kind of thing where the employers 

are now saying, We just—it’s making it tough to keep our business 

going. 

Mr. SHORT. I haven’t heard that, specifically, from employers, because it’s been my experience the employers we talk to appear to 

be very patriotic and want to be as supportive as they can. And the 

gentleman that was from ESGR here before, I know his—he gets 

a lot more calls on that than I do, but I get an occasional call. And 

so far in Indiana, at least, I’ve been very happy with the cooperation employers are showing to our servicemen. 

Mr. DONNELLY. And that’s really important, because, when the 

young man or woman comes home, they need to work, obviously. 

Mr. SHORT. It can—they—as was testified by one of the spouses, 

the re-adjustment can be huge, regardless of whether that person 

has PTSD issues or not. And adding that employment issue to the 

mix can make it a really difficult family situation. 

I should mention, too, that the various VSOs—and I can’t speak 

specifically for the Legion, but I know the VFW and the AMVETS 

and DAV, we have programs. Our program is called Temporary Financial Assistance, which we give a lot of referrals to. And the 

American Legion, as well as the other service organizations, will 

provide, if there are minor children at home in a veteran’s family, 

regardless of when that veteran serves, and they’ve got a problem 

with a rent payment or a medical bill or a utility bill, an issue like 

that, they can apply to us, and we give one-time grants to these 

folks to try to keep them afloat. And I know these other organizations have similar programs. So we put our money where our 

mouth is, too. 

Mr. DONNELLY. Thank you very much, and, again, Gary. You 

really are—on behalf of all the VSOs, and to all of you, we say 

thank you very much. 

Mr. WHITEHEAD. Just one—I’d just like to make a quick comment. Mr. Donnelly, you spoke earlier about, here in Michiana 

being a no-man’s land. It’s true. We have over 72,000 veterans in 


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this area, and, for us to get any care at all, it’s Battle Creek, you 

know, Chicago, Crown Point, Fort Wayne, Marion, and Indianapolis. And we’re just here in limbo, and it’s hard to tell a World War 

II veteran, 80 years old, he’s going to have to drive to Fort Wayne 

to get a hearing test. And it’s getting tough. 

And the one—the other thing I think I—we’re dealing with is our 

younger men that are coming back, and women that are coming 

back, from the war. None of their friends can communicate with 

what they’ve experienced, you know, and they’re having a hard— 

that’s what they’re having—a hard time adjusting. Their friends 

don’t know what they went through in Afghanistan, killing people. 

You know, it’s just Vietnam again, you know, but this time it’s with 

their friends, and they turn to drinking and they turn to drugs. 

And I’m seeing a lot of that. 

Mr. SHORT. Madam Chairwoman, one other point. This war has 

seen a—in my unit, we’ve experienced this. We’re seeing a huge increase in the amount of female soldiers that are going into critical 

jobs that it’s not like it was even during Vietnam, and I think everyone needs to stay aware of the fact that, for years, you were basically dealing with the issues of male veterans, but we also have 

a huge percentage of female veterans who are coming back who 

may have different issues. That needs to be monitored, as well. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you for mentioning that. I, and a 

number of my colleagues, introduced a bill specifically to address 

women veterans’ healthcare needs. I know that a number of our 

medical centers around the country have undertaken their own initiatives, but recognize the need to address various access barriers 

to access for women veterans for healthcare, looking at pilot programs to provide childcare during the time that they’re receiving 

treatments, especially if they’re suffering from post traumatic 

stress disorder. I appreciate your comment in that regard, for not 

only healthcare but other transition needs for female veterans. 

I thank you both for your ongoing service to our Nation’s veterans, for the insights you’ve offered today, and for your very hard 

work in addition to your own service to our country. Thank you for 

being here today. 

Mr. SHORT. Thank you. 

Mr. WHITEHEAD. Thank you. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. We appreciate it very much. 

We now invite our final panel today to the witness table. Participating in our fourth panel is Mr. John McWilliam, Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service, 

U.S. Department of Labor. He is accompanied by Ms. Heather Higgins, the Acting Regional Administrator for Veterans’ Employment 

and Training Service, U.S. Department of Labor; Ms. Jane Burke, 

Principal Director for the Military Community and Family Policy, 

U.S. Department of Defense; and Mr. James Whitson, the Director, 

Eastern Area, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs who is accompanied by Dennis Kuewa, the Director of Indianapolis Regional Office, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 

Thank you all for being here, and for listening to the prior testimony from the prior three panels, as well. Again, in the interest 

of time, if you can summarize your opening statement in 5 minVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:01 Dec 20, 2008 Jkt 043053 PO 00000 Frm 00044 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 E:\HR\OC\A053.XXX A053

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utes, your entire written statement will be entered for the hearing 

record. 

Mr. MCWILLIAM. it’s good to see you. Good to see you here in 

South Bend. I generally see you in Washington before the Subcommittee. You are now recognized. 

STATEMENTS OF JOHN M. McWILLIAM, DEPUTY ASSISTANT 

SECRETARY, VETERANS’ EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING 

SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR; ACCOMPANIED BY 

HEATHER HIGGINS, ACTING REGIONAL ADMINISTRATOR 

FOR, VETERANS’ EMPLOYMENT AND TRAINING SERVICE, 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF LABOR; JANE BURKE, PRINCIPAL DIRECTOR, MILITARY COMMUNITY AND FAMILY POLICY, U.S. 

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE; AND JAMES A. WHITSON, DIRECTOR, EASTERN AREA, VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS; ACCOMPANIED BY DENNIS KUEWA, DIRECTOR, INDIANAPOLIS REGIONAL OFFICE, VETERANS BENEFITS ADMINISTRATION, 

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS 

STATEMENT OF JOHN M. McWILLIAM 

Mr. MCWILLIAM. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, Ranking 

Member Boozman, and Congressman Donnelly. Thank you for the 

opportunity to appear before the Subcommittee to discuss the U.S. 

Department of Labor’s role in providing transition services to our 

returning servicemembers. 

The mission of the Veterans’ Employment and Training Service 

is to provide veterans and transitioning servicemembers with the 

resources and services to succeed in the 21st century work force. 

One of the most important ways we do that is to provide employment workshops to separating servicemembers. The role of Labor 

is to provide employment workshops during the TAP session. Our 

mission is to provide those employment workshops at every location requested by the military. We are proud of our partnership 

with the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Homeland Security 

in this important mission. 

Since 1991, when Labor began providing employment workshops, 

over 1 million separating and retiring servicemembers and their 

spouses have attended the classes. This past fiscal year, over 

146,000 servicemembers and spouses attended over 4,700 employment workshops at 215 military installations in the United States 

and overseas. 

Let me address the National Guard and Reserve component. 

What we have found, as has been mentioned by several of the witnesses earlier, is that the demobilization process is rapid, leaving 

little time for the full 21⁄2 day employment workshop. Our State directors work directly with Guard and Reserve commanders to make 

special arrangements, following demobilization, to present a modified TAP employment workshop. We developed this modified workshop in 2007. It is not a separate program, but it is modular so 

that the Guards and Reserve commanders can pick, which modules 

they think are important. 

Since 2001, we have provided transition services to over 146,000 

National Guard and Reservists. These services range in size from 


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just mobilization/demobilization briefings to the full-scale TAP employment workshop. They have been provided to 43 States and the 

District of Columbia. Here in Indiana, we are proud to have participated in the Hoosier Veterans Seamless Transition Program. 

In the past 14 months, DoL has attended over 58 mobilization 

events in Indiana, servicing over 5,300 servicemembers. A Local 

Veterans’ Employment Representative is stationed full time at 

Camp Atterbury to participate in demobilization briefings and to 

provide employment workshops. 

In closing, I thank you for allowing me to address you today on 

this important issue. Ms. Higgins and I will be pleased to address 

any questions you may have. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. McWilliam appears on p. 69.] 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you very much. 

Ms. Burke, you are welcome to the Subcommittee. You are now 

recognized. 

STATEMENT OF JANE BURKE 

Ms. BURKE. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman and distinguished 

Members of the Subcommittee. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Can you pull that just a little bit closer 

to you. 

Ms. BURKE. It’s been very helpful for us today to hear the testimonies earlier, and we’ll certainly take those back with us. I can’t 

think of a single thing that was addressed that we don’t have many 

Committees and commissions working with the Department of 

Labor and the Veterans Administration. We’re really working hard 

to try to solve some of these problems, so I want to assure you that 

we are on board and we are listening. 

We’re pleased—I’d like to mention, too, that Gerry Carlon, the 

Director of our newly established Joint Family Assistance Center 

in Washington, and the Joint Family Assistance Center is augmenting staff at the Indiana National Guard, trying to focus on the 

development of family support. We’re also working with the governors of Arkansas and the Governors of Indiana, and we are moving forward to try and pull all 50 States into this consortium of additional resources. 

In this project, we are combining State and DoD resources in an 

effort to increase outreach to the Guard and Reserve families. The 

first panel was exactly right; the outreach is really a huge problem. 

Shortly, South Dakota is going to be joining other States in the 

new outreach efforts. The purpose of the new Joint Family Assistance is to bring more awareness to the benefits, and to be able to 

serve people on an individual basis as much as we can. We currently have the Joint Family Assistance in 15 States and, as I said, 

Indiana and Arkansas were one of the first of the 15 States. These 

programs facilitate partnerships among Federal, State and local organizations, they build benefits and transition assistance and outreach for the deploying units. Resources are developed for State-byState database for reliable around-the-clock family assistance. So I 

believe that, at the end of the period, when we get all 50 States 

on board, we will see some improvement on how we connect with 

our troops and our families. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with HEARING
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I want to reiterate the Department of Defense’s commitment to 

facilitating successful transition from military to civilian life, along 

with my colleagues who are here today. One of our paradigm—and 

we’ve heard it today. One of our new paradigms shifts has been the 

recognition of financial readiness, military and veterans’ benefits, 

and transition assistance as closely linked to one another. They 

must be addressed as a whole. Therefore, we set up a new directorate in the last couple of months called the Office of Personal Finance and Transitioning, and we hope to establish a network of national financial and transitional professionals. 

This new approach will ensure that there’s 24/7 global access to 

educational resources and individualized financial and transition 

planning resources through multiple delivery methodologies. Building on the traditional transition program, we launched TurboTAP 

last year. This is a dynamic automated Web-base system for delivery of transition assistance information. It allows each National 

Guard and Reserve member to obtain a lifelong account and a tailored Individual Transition Plan based on their transition needs. 

TurboTAP connects them to information on the military and Veterans’ benefits. It’s like the ‘‘Google’’ of all of the benefits, and we’re 

hoping that will give them a place to go, no matter where they are 

in their lifecycle, in the military or after the military. This is a 21st 

century approach to delivering individualized information and benefits to servicemembers and families with a just-in-time focus. 

Madam Chairwoman, as we continue to expand the capabilities 

of this platform, we will solicit your approval and legislative support. In the fall of 2007, DoD TurboTAP Mobile Training Teams 

began training the National Guard and Reserves upon request. By 

the end of 2009, our goal is to have the TurboTAP Global Training 

Teams fully integrated into deployment support, transition assistance, and financial awareness programs in all 50 States. 

I would like to mention one other very important tool, and we’re 

working to customize this tool on the ground with the National 

Guard. It’s called the Military OneSource. Today I’ve heard many 

of the ladies here mention there was really nobody to talk to, and 

no outreach. Military OneSource has been hugely successful in our 

active-duty side of the house, and it’s beginning to spread into the 

National Guard. It’s a 24/7 capability, where you can call and get 

a qualified, Master’s-Degree-level person who will help you problem-solve, who will get you to the right resource. It’s been very, 

very successful so far, and I’m hoping that once we begin with our 

new outreach to 50 States, we will have one person hired to put 

a Military OneSource database together for each State. 

This new State database will be customized by State; it won’t be 

just what’s available to the Nation but what’s available in your 

State. And then we’ll have people in this 24/7, customer-friendly 

call center able to get you to those right resources. We have high 

hopes that this is going to break a little bit of the Code. Of course, 

it won’t fix everything, but it should be some place for families of 

deployed servicemembers to reach out for assistance. 

The Military OneSource will be especially beneficial to those who 

are geographically separated, and we are trying to take the best of 

what we do for the active duty and see how we can accommodate 

that to the National Guard and Reserves. 


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Madam Chairwoman, on behalf of the men and women in the 

military today, I thank you and the Members of the Subcommittee 

for your steadfast support during these demanding times. Thank 

you. 

[The prepared statement of Ms. Burke appears on p. 71.] 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you, Ms. Burke. 

Mr. Whitson, nice for you to be here today. We look forward to 

your testimony. You are recognized. 

STATEMENT OF JAMES A. WHITSON 

Mr. WHITSON. Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, 

Members of the Subcommittee. I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the VA Transition Assistance Program and other outreach efforts to support separating servicemembers and their families during their transition from military to 

civilian life. I am accompanied today by Mr. Dennis Kuewa, who 

is the Director of our Regional Office in Indianapolis. And also with 

him today is John Myers, Counseling Psychologist, our Vocational 

Rehabilitation and Employment Officer, and Dave Dezern, who is 

the Assistant Service Center Manager at the Indianapolis Regional 

Office. So they’re here with us today, as well. And we’ve all been 

listening very carefully to the testimony, and we are all learning 

today, Madam Chairwoman, as we move through this process. 

My testimony today will cover the comprehensive transitional assistance VA provides to all servicemembers, including members of 

the National Guard and Reserves, as well as our current efforts 

here in Indiana to perform outreach. VA currently conducts, in conjunction with DoD and the Department of Labor, outreach initiatives to disseminate information to servicemembers of our benefits 

and services at various stages through the enlistment process and 

following up in both the pre- and post-deployment. 

Our TAP and DTAP program briefings are conducted nationwide 

and overseas to prepare both retiring and separating servicemembers for return to civilian life. These briefings are presented 

to both regular active-duty servicemembers and, as I mentioned, at 

both pre- and post-deployment for Reserve and Guard members. 

They are generally followed by the opportunity for a personal interview and assistance with the submission of claim for benefits. 

Last year, the VA conducted over 8,000 briefings to almost 

300,000 attendees at these TAP and DTAP briefings. During the 

TAP briefings, we introduce attendees to VA vocational rehabilitation and employment programs. We also use this opportunity to 

present the ‘‘Five Tracks to Employment’’ process and our online 

employment services Web site, which is www.Vetsuccess.gov. 

Using our Veterans Assistance at Discharge, program, VA also 

sends welcome-home packages to all separated servicemembers. 

The packages include a letter from the Secretary, along with comprehensive VA benefits information. VA and DoD jointly sponsor 

the Benefits Delivery at Discharge, BDD, program. At 153 military 

installations, we accept disability claims prior to discharge. We attempt to get these claims 60 to 100 days—180 days prior to release 

from active duty. There, we collect the Service treatment records, 

conduct a single cooperative examination, and complete a disability 

rating decision. In many cases, this is completed prior to separation 


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so that disability benefits can commence immediately upon separation. 

VA and DoD are also piloting a single disability evaluation system, the DES system. This is a process where a rating decision 

forms the basis for both the military Medical Evaluation Board’s 

process, as well as the VA disability rating process. 

With the onset of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), VA has expended our outreach efforts 

to ensure that our military veterans are honored for their service 

and receive VA services and benefits they have earned. In 2003, VA 

began to assign permanent, full-time representatives at all key 

military treatment facilities. 

We have also begun hiring recovery care coordinators. These VA 

employees monitor patient progress and coordinate submission of 

claims for our most seriously injured OIF and OEF veterans. Also, 

at our regional offices, case managers ensure that the claims of the 

most seriously injured are expedited and case-managed throughout 

the process. Here in Indiana, Mr. Kuewa and his staff conduct comprehensive outreach briefings and case-manage disability claims for 

seriously injured OEF/OIF veterans. Last year, the regional office 

conducted over 40 briefings with over 6,000 attendees from both active Guard and Reserve Armed Forces. 

Madam Chairwoman, we are—Chairwoman, we are proud of the 

VA for our continuing role in the transition of servicemembers to 

civilian life. Like this Subcommittee, we look for ways to continually improve the process, and look forward to working with the 

Subcommittee and Members of Congress to do that. 

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before you today, and 

I would welcome responding questions. 

[The prepared statement of Mr. Whitson appears on p. 76.] 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you, Mr. Whitson. 

Mr. Donnelly, you are recognized for questions. 

Mr. DONNELLY. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. I know we’re 

a little tight on time. I just want to ask Mr. McWilliam, with the 

TAP program, is it something that you think can be made mandatory, and, if so, should it be made mandatory? 

Mr. MCWILLIAM. Mr. Donnelly, that’s, of course, a decision by the 

Department of Defense on whether it would be made mandatory. 

Let me say, though, as a result of the Global War on Terror Task 

Force, which worked about a year ago on this, the Secretary of Defense has established a goal of 85 percent of attendance at the employment workshops, which is, I would say, almost everyone that 

needs to attend. There’s a certain percentage that are going to 

school or already have jobs that probably don’t need to attend. So, 

they set a very high mark, they’re working toward it, and I think 

that’s almost full attendance, sir. 

Mr. DONNELLY. Okay. And then, Ms. Burke, with the Military 

OneSource, when will that be up and running. 

Ms. BURKE. It has been up and running for several years now, 

but it’s beginning to take off. Marketing is the issue. 

Mr. DONNELLY. Okay. That’s what I mean. When will it be in a 

position where—that the families we’ve seen here today will be 

aware of it—— 

Ms. BURKE. These families—— 


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Mr. DONNELLY [continuing]. And be able to do that. 

Ms. BURKE. I’m sorry. It’s the awareness issue. It’s there. It’s 

there for them. It’s there for every National Guard and Reserve 

member. It’s there for every active-duty member, so it’s a matter 

of awareness. We have been putting commercials on the Oprah 

show, advertising, because that’s where spouses are listening. Also, 

on the Today Show. 

We are trying to get better effort advertisement there. We also 

need unit help, and the unit help is coming now with the new Joint 

Family Assistance Outreach. 

Mr. DONNELLY. Do you ever send correspondence to the families, 

telling them? You know, if you have lists, send an actual hard copy, 

saying, here’s what we can do. 

Ms. BURKE. We do that on the active-duty side, but we have not 

done that yet with the National Guard and Reserves. 

Mr. DONNELLY. Okay. That might be something to think about. 

And, Mr. Whitson and Mr. Kuewa, thanks for—thank you for 

your efforts for the veterans in this area. Obviously, we have listened to you, as well as many other parts of the country, but I 

think we have a very strong case for the things that have been discussed today. 

Mr. WHITSON. And I will take many of the questions and observations back to the Secretary for his review. 

Mr. DONNELLY. Tell him I’d love to have lunch with him. 

Thank you. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Mr. Boozman. 

Mr. BOOZMAN. Thank you. Again, I agree with Mr. Donnelly. I 

think what we all need, the TAP program is so important, and 

we’ve had the opportunity in the years past, with the Subcommittee, to visit, and I know that you all are working hard to 

do that. We appreciate your hard work helping us in Arkansas in 

a number of different ways. But it is so important, because it really 

affects all this other stuff. You know, all the testimony that we’ve 

heard, the problems that we’re seeing, many of them, came from 

really not knowing. 

So, the more that we can shore that up, I think, the better. And, 

again, I think you’re working hard to do that, and we really do appreciate your efforts. I know that it’s improved dramatically, in the 

last 7 years since I’ve been around on the Committee. But, again, 

we’ve got to continue to do that. So I think that, there probably 

should be either a mandatory or that we should stick to the 85 percent. And I agree that 85 percent probably doesn’t take care of the 

people that need to be there. But, again, if these people don’t do 

it, they’re causing hardship for a lot of other people because they 

don’t know. And I know that our troops’ strength is important 

stuff. I mean this is very, very important that the commander is 

looking at the troops’ strength. You know, sometimes it’s not as important. But, again, that’s better than this. 

Mr. McWilliam, the lady that testified about losing her position 

at Notre Dame, can you comment on that, and kind of tell us, kind 

of, what you’re—if you have any thoughts about that or—it’s okay. 

You’re among friends. 

Mr. MCWILLIAM. That’s right, Mr. Boozman. We were talking 

about that. I gave her my contact information. She said her husVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:01 Dec 20, 2008 Jkt 043053 PO 00000 Frm 00050 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 E:\HR\OC\A053.XXX A053

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band would contact me as soon as he gets home. We need to look 

into it. You cannot waive your USERRA rights for re-employment, 

so we need to understand exactly what his employment situation 

was before he left, and look into it. We have very skilled investigators, and we’ll get right to the bottom of it. 

Mr. BOOZMAN. Well, I know you will. But, it does seem like— 

again, I don’t understand the situation, so—— 

Mr. MCWILLIAM. No, sir. 

Mr. BOOZMAN [continuing]. On the surface it does seem like, regardless of who we’re dealing with here. And, perhaps, that is 

something we could look into. 

Mr. MCWILLIAM. Yes, sir. 

Mr. BOOZMAN. Mr. Kuewa? Is that how you pronounce it? 

Mr. KUEWA. Kuewa, sir. 

Mr. BOOZMAN. Well, that’s close. I’m Boozman, so I have the 

same problem. 

Mr. Saenz, you know, with his deal with—could you guys, kind 

of look at that and give him some advice and—— 

Mr. WHITSON. We do have plans on linking up with him afterward and see if we can—— 

Mr. BOOZMAN. Good. 

Mr. WHITSON [continuing]. Be of some assistance. 

Mr. BOOZMAN. Good. I would appreciate that. 

The other thing, very quickly, we’ve got the TAP program, and, 

again, I can see a lot of improvement, but how should we measure 

that improvement? Do you all have suggestions? How do we know? 

I mean, what are our accountability measures that we know that 

can be—that it’s doing what we want it to do? What are our measurement factors? 

Ms. BURKE. Well, we currently have a form, a government form 

that must be signed before a servicemember leaves Service. This 

form lists all of the benefits that are available, in general terms. 

But that doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily interested at that 

point. I think that’s one of the problems, is how do we get just-intime information to them, not how do we get them in five solid 

days of classes. We’re working on that with our TurboTAP program. If we can train them in a day or two about the possibilities, 

then they know to go back to this resource, they have this account 

for life. This is the TurboTAP strategy. 

We’re thinking that that’s a solid possibility for solving some of 

the problems if all three of us work together to update that information and referral. 

Mr. MCWILLIAM. I’ve spoken with the various directors of the 

education and employment workshops. We recently had an off-site 

meeting with our partners from Defense and some of our Advisory 

Committee people to look at the future of TAP, and one of the clear 

points that we made there was, we need to do follow-up with people who attend TAP. Right now, we do an immediate survey, right 

while they’re there, on how effective the program was. We need to 

do that once they’ve left the Service and they’re in deployment. 

So we are building that into the future of TAP. We’re going to 

restructure the entire program and include a survey, a followup 

survey, so that we can look at what was important to the person, 

and what they wished we had also covered. 


wwoods2 on PRODPC68 with HEARING
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Mr. BOOZMAN. Very quickly, because I don’t want the Chairwoman to be banging me with her gavel, the one thing that I think 

would really help out—I enjoy, when we look at the TAP programs, 

we have to visit with Family Service Support, I think, but, also, we 

have to visit with, kind of, a break-out session. What I’d really like 

to know is, they were very up front about the careers that they 

wanted to pursue. Many of them wanted to go into franchises and 

things like that. 

Could you, in your questionnaire, could you—if it’s not there 

now—if it is there, give us the information. I mean, that’s what 

we’re trying to do, is to facilitate through the GI Bill this other 

stuff, putting veterans to work. Can you make that part of your 

questionnaire as to what they want to get into? 

I know Mr. Michaud had an amendment we did the other day 

with trying—with truck driving and trying to upfront this and that. 

I mean, we talked about those things before, but I do think that 

would be very helpful, and I think, really, it would be good if we 

could match up what we’re trying to do with what—what they actually want to do. 

Mr. MCWILLIAM. Sure. And I’ll talk with staff about that. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Thank you, Mr. Boozman. 

I want to make sure we have enough time for any other additional questions that Mr. Donnelly and Mr. Boozman may have. I 

appreciate the hard work and I appreciate the improvement, but 

there are clearly some problems here, and we need to do a better 

job. Our responsibility in the Subcommittee is to make sure you 

have the resources to do so. It should not take a field hearing in 

South Bend, Indiana, for us to understand that there’s a particular 

problem with these smaller detachments of Reservists, but there 

clearly is. 

I’d like some perspective on what you are doing, specifically, for 

folks in Mrs. Masapollo and her husband’s situation, whether 

they’re Reserve or National Guard, with a smaller detachments. 

How is it that we are not even corresponding with them, Ms. 

Burke? I mean, is it just active duty that’s getting the correspondence through our Military OneSource? 

Ms. BURKE. Well, the Military OneSource is given out by the 

commanders; yes. And we can do that with these Reservists and we 

can do it with the National Guard, and I think we’re going to step 

up to that. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Okay. I appreciate that, because that’s 

something that I think has evolved over the last couple of years 

and will continue to be the case, and we have to step up quickly. 

Now, let me ask you a question on the Military OneSource and 

TurboTAP. Is all of this, Ms. Burke, dependent on the base budget? 

Ms. BURKE. Military OneSource is in the base budget and the 

TurboTAP is in the base budget; however, we are working with 

you, the Congress, to turn the broader program for 50 States from 

emergency supplemental into the base budget. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Okay. 

Ms. BURKE. We have high hopes that that’s going to happen. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Well, I think that Mr. Boozman—I don’t 

want to speak for the other Members of the Subcommittee, but I 

think it’s important for this Subcommittee to take it upon ourVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:01 Dec 20, 2008 Jkt 043053 PO 00000 Frm 00052 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 E:\HR\OC\A053.XXX A053

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selves, following this Field Hearing, to work with our colleagues on 

the Armed Services Committee and Appropriations Committee to 

make sure that these important programs, especially given where 

we see other needs, that this moves to the base budget, because 

these are the ongoing needs, regardless of redeployment and withdrawal over the next few years. 

I think we share General Umbarger’s concerns, as he mentioned, 

in terms of all of the other resources that are coming to help him 

in his efforts here in Indiana. 

Mr. Whitson, in your written testimony, you had highlighted that 

the VA and DoD’s national memorandum agreement shall establish 

a single cooperative examination. 

Mr. WHITSON. Yes, ma’am. That’s the—under both the DES program, the Disability Evaluation System, where we’re using that for 

the PEB/MEB process—— 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Uh-huh. 

Mr. WHITSON [continuing]. The unit is not there, as well. And, 

also under our BDD Program, Benefits Delivery at Discharge. Now, 

neither of those programs apply to Guards and Reserves. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. So, a single cooperative exam has been 

established since 2004 for active duty? 

Mr. WHITSON. Yes, it has. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Do they exist for the National Guard and 

Reserves? 

Mr. WHITSON. We do not, because of the mobilization process. It 

has been described by so many witnesses, it happens so quickly 

when they come back to stateside and go through whether it’s 

Atterbury or—one of the witnesses discussed what’s happening at 

Camp Shelby, where we have a very comprehensive demobilization 

TAP briefing process. But stopping that process and affording a 

single VA DoD exam has—we’ve not come to a resolution on how 

we would do that and still allow members to quickly get back to 

their families. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Has there been ongoing discussions about 

what to do after demobilization? 

Mr. WHITSON. Well, at that demobilization TAP and DTAP briefing, we attempt to take the application, collect all the Service treatment records so that we have everything there, and then, once they 

get back to the State, Indiana, for example, here, the exam is 

scheduled immediately. But it’s not a single exam; it’s a VA exam. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. But you must be concerned about some 

of the testimony—— 

Mr. WHITSON. I am. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN [continuing]. Of Mr. Saenz about the 

issue of almost an intimidating discussion about being put on medical hold if they don’t bring forth the issues now versus having an 

opportunity to bring those issues forward later. 

Mr. WHITSON. I am, Madam Chairwoman, and I—that’s not the 

first time I’ve heard it, and it is something that we’re aware of and 

we’re looking into, cooperatively. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. This is not the first time we’ve heard it, 

either, and, we would appreciate you keeping us apprised of those 

ongoing discussions about how to best address that. 


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Let me ask one more question, and there may be some questions 

we submit to you in writing. 

For those of you joining us, sometimes it is the final panel that 

gets the most questions, so we like responses, in writing, either because we’ve run out of time or there’s so much we want to cover. 

You heard Mrs. Williams, Mrs. McCool, and Mrs. Masapollo 

when I asked them had they ever been contacted, at any time, by 

VA, DoL or DoD, and they all said no. Why do you think this is? 

I know that we have put forth resources, and you talked, Ms. 

Burke, about what’s there and there’s a lot of hard work being 

done. Why do you feel that these families feel there’s been no outreach? Again, is this an issue of coordination, again, with the National Guard and Reserves, that we’re making headway on, but we 

still haven’t fully integrated to the State, and we’re still working 

with the Reserve units in a way that we just haven’t gotten a handle around this problem yet? 

Ms. BURKE. That is a problem in the active duty, as well. We 

don’t always have a way to reach them. I mean, we have ways to 

identify them if there’s an emergency. It’s an issue of privacy and 

how do we get their addresses, into some sort of system where it 

would not cause harm. 

So we’re working on it, and we think that Military OneSource, 

if they can come to us, then we can say, Sign up, and we’ll send 

you information. If they come to us first, it really will be a lot better way of knowing whether they want to be contacted. Some people don’t want to be contacted. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. I hear what you are saying, but I think 

there is so much going on with these families that, for them to expect that they are going to come to you first versus this outreach 

and this followup that you were just describing, too, Mr. McWilliam 

follow-up after someone has participated in the Transition Assistance Program. I understand there may be privacy concerns, but, at 

the same time, we need to create a form when they’re separating 

from Service or de-activating, where they sign an authorization to 

be contacted or something. I mean, recognizing privacy concerns, 

but, at the same time, I think it is our responsibility, Federal agencies, as those of us in Washington, to be aggressive in communicating the benefits rather than sitting back and waiting for someone to come to us when there’s so much going on during the transition to civilian life. 

One last question, Ms. Burke. You mentioned in your testimony 

that, at the request of the National Guard and Reserve Units, the 

Department dispatches consultants with financial readiness specialities. How many requests have you received from the Guard and 

Reserves? 

Ms. BURKE. I can’t give you an exact number, but almost all of 

the States have requested those. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Okay. Well, that’s good to know. So, you 

have sent—the consultants have—— 

Ms. BURKE. We’re in the process of hiring those people. We have 

15 States hired. Is that your question? 

The goal is that we’re adding three people, generally, in most 

States, unless they’re a very small population of the National 

Guard. Is that your question? 


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For each of these States, this new Joint Family Assistance Program, as you’ve heard it in the first panel, has a childcare person 

and counseling with a Military OneSource person to help them develop their networks out there. So we have been trying to do that 

in every single State. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. You have hired at least three new—— 

Ms. BURKE. Right. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN [continuing]. Counselors for each State. 

Ms. BURKE. Right. And, by the fall, we’ll have the remainder of 

the State accomplished. It is very aggressive, actually. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Okay. Mr. Donnelly. 

Mr. DONNELLY. I have no further questions. I would just like to 

thank Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin and Ranking Member 

Boozman for taking their time to come to our town to hear, which, 

to me, was invaluable testimony, from everybody, to provide us 

with a lot more information about how to do this better. And, so, 

to your staff and to you, we’re really grateful for you taking this 

time. Thank you very much. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Mr. Boozman. 

Mr. BOOZMAN. No. I just thank you for the hospitality. It’s a good 

hearing, and I appreciate it. 

Ms. HERSETH SANDLIN. Before I wrap up, I wanted to make 

one—follow up on this point, because it is bothering me, I’m sure 

you can probably tell. 

If we are able to work through, with the Department of Defense, 

the privacy concerns, and you are able to find these men and 

women and mobilize them, you should be able to find them to inform them of their benefits. 

I want to thank all of you for your statements this afternoon. Ms. 

Burke, we want to work with you to make this happen and address 

the issues that were raised this afternoon. We value the insight 

and the expertise and the dedication of all of those who work with 

our Federal agency, who work so closely with our Committee, with 

Members of our Committee staff, our Counsel, who are here, the 

VA, the DoD, and the Department of Labor. It’s been very good to 

work with them on this Committee. We thank you for your time 

and your travel. 

I want to thank the staff of the Subcommittee for traveling here 

today, the great work that they do, working with all of us as Members of the Committee and with our agencies and our veterans 

service organizations. It is great to be here in Indiana’s 2nd District, well represented by our colleague, Mr. Donnelly. 

We thank you all for coming, and we thank all of those who have 

worn the country’s uniform in protection of our freedoms. Thank 

you very much. 

The hearing now stands adjourned. 

[Whereupon, at 3:48 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.] 


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(52) 

A P P E N D I X 

Prepared Statement of the Honorable Stephanie Herseth Sandlin 

Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity 

I would like to thank Ranking Member John Boozman of Arkansas for joining us 

here today and Representative Joe Donnelly of Indiana’s second Congressional district for his hospitality in inviting us to South Bend, Indiana. I look forward to 

building upon our strong bi-partisan relationship so that we may provide our Nation’s servicemembers, veterans and their families the best available services they 

need and deserve. 

Much progress has been made in education benefits, vocational rehabilitation 

services, employment programs and VA home loans programs. However, I think everyone would agree that we must remain vigilant to guard against any decline in 

benefits or customer service. 

Like many of my colleagues in the Subcommittee, the state of South Dakota has 

had servicemembers that have been activated in support of operations in Iraq and 

Afghanistan. Some of these brave men and women have returned injured and are 

currently in need of healthcare and employment services. They, like all disabled veterans from around the country, deserve our best efforts to provide a seamless and 

effective transition from military service to civilian life and the work force. 

Earlier last year, this Subcommittee held its first hearing that included the Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and Training programs that are created 

to assist veterans with employment assistance and protect a servicemember’s employment rights. While these programs have been proven to be very successful in 

other areas across the country, today we will receive testimony from 

servicemembers that could benefit from these programs but might not be aware they 

exist. 

Like many of my colleagues here today, I had the opportunity to meet with local 

government officials and veterans back in my home state of South Dakota. During 

one of my meetings, I had the opportunity to speak with the leadership staff of 

South Dakota Governor Mike Rounds and the South Dakota Adjutant General 

(Major General Steven Doohen) about ways to improve existing veterans programs. 

I am glad that we did succeed in making progress for our Nation’s Reserve Forces. 

Included in the final version of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2008, we 

were able to gain bipartisan support for language that would allow mobilized members of the Reserve Forces to use their REAP education for 10 years after they separated from the Guard or Reserve. While this is progress in the right direction, we 

must remain committed to expanding all benefits to help meet the needs of our 

servicemembers. 

Furthermore, our Subcommittee has been working with our Committee Chairman 

Bob Filner of California to address the immediate needs of possible foreclosure of 

a servicemember’s home. As we will hear from a recent Subcommittee hearing, data 

specific to veterans does not exist, or is limited in scope, leaving us with an incomplete puzzle that makes it harder for us to get a good idea of how current mortgages 

are affecting our veterans. Fortunately, many of us have heard from our returning 

servicemembers and veterans back home about the problems they have encountered. 

Today, thousands of veterans throughout our country deserve better, and we must 

do better to ensure they are afforded the protections they need as they adjust to 

life after their military service. 

I am particularly interested in hearing about the issues of concern from 

servicemembers, veterans and their dependents, and the actions the administration 

is taking to resolve the concerns of employment, rehabilitation, housing and education. 

I look forward to working with Ranking Member Boozman, Representative Joe 

Donnelly and other Members of this Subcommittee to ensure that our most critically 

wounded servicemembers are provided both proper training to complete their mission and the proper benefits to help them succeed in life after the military. 


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53 

Prepared Statement of Hon. John Boozman, Ranking Republican Member, 

Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity 

Good afternoon Madame Chairwoman, Members of the Subcommittee and all of 

our witnesses and guests. 

It’s great to be here in the Hoosier State. I looked up the word ‘‘Hoosier’’ and 

found several possible origins in early state history ranging from answering a knock 

on the door with, ‘‘Who’s here?’’ to finding a severed ear following a barroom brawl 

and asking, ‘‘Who’s ear is this?’’ 

Regardless of the origin of the term Hoosier, the citizens of Indiana have always 

been well-represented in the defense of America from the Indiana territorial militia 

formed in 1801 to the 196,000 Hoosiers who served in the Civil War to those now 

serving in the 76th Brigade Combat Team. 

It is no secret that today’s National Guard and Reserves are now an operational 

force and no longer a strategic reserve. That is one reason H.R. 5684, as amended, 

introduced by Ms. Herseth Sandlin and me contains a significant upgrade to education benefits for the Guard and Reserve. 

While Guardsmen and Reservists share many of the challenges of military life 

with their active duty counterparts, they also face some unique difficulties and we 

should endeavor to minimize those negative incentives to service. One such challenge is that members of the Guard and Reserves face multiple transitions in their 

deployment cycles. It is not easy to leave a job that supports your family. Health 

insurance, retirement benefits, seniority and other factors are important to all of us 

and when a servicemember returns home, we should do everything in our power to 

ease that transition. 

Madame Chairwoman, you and I have visited several states where they have solid 

programs to smooth the transition from combat to civilian life and I am eager to 

hear how Indiana meets that responsibility. I am especially pleased that you have 

invited several wives to testify because without their strong support, we would probably have to rethink how we structure our armed forces. Finally, I want to thank 

each of those here who wear or have worn the uniform for their service and I believe 

we owe a special recognition to the spouses who pay the bills, raise the children, 

fix the appliances and the cars, and take care of the myriad things that keep a family intact while the servicemember is deployed. 

f 

Prepared Statement of Major General R. Martin Umbarger 

Adjutant General of Indiana, Joint Forces Headquarters 

Indiana National Guard 

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity 

to speak to the issues regarding the care, treatment and benefits of our soldiers, 

airmen and families. Soldiers and Airmen of the Indiana National Guard continue 

to answer the call on behalf of our Nation and State of Indiana. As you know, the 

National Guard is a dual missioned organization. We have a State mission in support of local first responders in their time of need responding to man-made and natural disasters of our state. Our other mission is the Federal mission of reinforcing 

the Army and Air Force and their missions all over the world. Since 911, you must 

agree, our great soldiers and airmen have done this important mission in spades. 

We currently have over 14,500 soldiers and airmen assigned and makes and we are 

proud to boast of being the fourth largest Army National Guard in the Nation. We 

are presently at 106 percent of authorized strength and over the past 3 years Indiana ranked in the top five states in the Nation in recruiting and retention successes. 

Each of the past 3 years the Nation’s top recruiter has come from our ranks. Over 

14,000 soldiers and airmen have been deployed to fight against the global war on 

terror. Presently, 4,133 Indiana Guardsmen, both Army and Air are deployed to 

multiple sites worldwide doing a variety of missions, no state has more deployed 

than Indiana at this time. The accomplishments of our brave soldiers and airmen 

are many, but the stresses of multiple deployments have taken the toll on our force 

and caused many adjustments to be made by my Joint Forces Headquarters-Indiana 

staff to support them during pre-deployment, deployment and post-deployment 

phases. Prior to 911, what used to be a normal baseline of events, insufficient staffs 

of maybe one deep assisted with providing benefits to Soldiers, Airmen and Families. Today, in order to properly ‘‘care of the Soldier/Airmen/Family’’, sweeping 

changes, administrative procedures, changes to staff authorization has been made. 


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Prior to 911, the staffing of the Indiana Guard was either 1–2 people deep or nonexistent concerning Veteran’s Services to servicemembers and Families. Since 911 

and the multiple deployments of our Hoosier Guardsmen we have created a new Directorate on my Joint Force Headquarters-Indiana staff. The Directorate is called 

J9 (Civil Military Affairs Directorate). We are only one of very few states which 

have created the J9 Directorate to support Servicemembers, Families and Employers during pre-deployment, deployment and post deployment periods. 

The 9 key components of the J9 (Civil Military Affairs Directorate) are: 

* Reference attached Information Briefing 

1. Family Programs—being briefed by Major Cathy Van Bree. 

2. Veteran’s Transition Assistance—being briefed by COL (Ret) Roger Peterman. 

3. Selective Service 

4. Ceremonial Unit 

5. Chaplain 

6. 38th Division Band 

7. Funeral Honors 

8. Command Historian 

9. Employer Support Guard/Reserve 

The creation of the J9 Directorate was designed to assist Servicemembers, Families and Employers during the entire period of service being performed by the 

Servicemember. This innovative approach to a combined effort lessened the administrative burdens on the traditional administrative personnel sections, and provides 

a unified focus for benefits and services for the Servicemember and family. 

Several other changes in the staffing and priority were also made to assist the 

Servicemember through innovative techniques and hard decisions. The Indiana National Guard Relief Fund was established to assist families that incur economic difficulties during deployment. This 501c3 fund was established as a result of many 

Hoosiers and organizations wanting to contribute financial assistance in any way 

possible to help our soldiers and their families. This fund assists families during 

times of economic difficulties as a result of their deployment. Stay behind Title 10 

Officers and Non-Commissioned Officers were authorized at each Armory/Headquarters. These professional soldiers are very important to the continuity of support 

to the Servicemember during the pre-deployment, deployment and post-deployment 

phases. An example would be a total of 17 Title 10 soldiers combined with Military 

Technicians man 28 armories vacated by the 76th Infantry Brigade deployed to 

Iraq. 

Our number one asset in the Indiana National Guard always has been and will 

continue to be our people; our Soldiers and Airmen. All the weapons systems, vehicles and military equipment are absolutely essential to our mission, but nothing is 

more important than our servicemembers and family. During these demanding 

times to provide professional military units for Federal missions in support of our 

Nation, and provide support for Homeland Security missions, we have instituted 

many initiatives to provide support to the Servicemember. In many cases we have 

re-assigned personnel in order to provide the proper support, if you will, taking it 

out of hide. However, recently, I am very pleased to say we have received additional 

funding and authorizations which enables me to provide this much needed support 

to the soldiers and airmen. One program, the Community Based Health Care Program (CBHCO), is a great program assisting our Wounded Warriors. In the past, 

once our soldiers returned they were quickly demobilized off Title 10 which was bad 

for soldiers. The Army CBHCO program allows our Wounded Warriors to remain 

on Title 10, close to or at home, and work at a military facility while their medical 

issues are being resolved. The sustainment of this program, and others to assist the 

Servicemember is a must. With the exception of the Veteran’s Transition Assistance 

Advisor Office, which requires at least one more advisor, we are now staffed at a 

‘‘sufficient’’ level to provide the proper support, but I am concerned that these resources may some day be pulled from us. This would be a mistake, as we have 

learned the hard way as a Nation that caring for our wounded and our veterans 

must continue long after the conflicts end. 

I thank you, key Members of Congress, for providing the funding for programs 

such as the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program. Programs such as these that care 

for our soldiers and families prior to deployment, during deployments and long after 

their return from deployment is critical to their proper reintegration back into their 

civilian careers. As a Nation we have come a long way in taking care of those that 

are serving our country. I thank all of you for the support you have given to our 

Heroes that have volunteered to serve their State and Country. I thank you for the 

privilege and opportunity to be with you today. I am very proud to wear the uniform 

and serve in the ranks of these great young men and women. 


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Mr. Chairman, this concludes my testimony. Are there any questions? 

f 

Prepared Statement of Major Cathy Van Bree 

Director of Family Programs, Joint Forces 

Headquarters, Indiana National Guard 

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, thank you for the opportunity 

to speak to the issues surrounding our servicemembers and their families. 

Due to the large numbers of servicemembers deploying recently, the Department 

of Defense, the Office of the Secretary of Defense and the State of Indiana have all 

taken notice that the families of our servicemembers need support and assistance. 

To that end, resources have been delivered resulting in increased staff and resources 

in child care & youth programming, family assistance, family readiness, mental 

health, and resource and referral (via Military OneSource). 

Indiana National Guard Soldiers and Airmen are now experiencing the largest deployment since WWII (slide #3). Over 4,000 servicemembers within Indiana are currently and/or soon to be deployed in 2008. In the last 8 months the Indiana National 

Guard Family Programs staff has grown from a staff of 6 to now 32 full time personnel in order to better respond to the needs of these personnel and their families 

(slide #4 and #5). This staff serves all servicemembers and their families within Indiana, to include National Guard, Reserves, Active Duty and retirees from all services. 

The resources we provide during pre-mobilization, mobilization and post-mobilization are invaluable to our customers. These services include, but are not limited to, 

Tri-Care training and assistance, Family Readiness Group planning and program 

implementation, youth programming, marriage enrichment seminars (Strongbonds), 

free mental health counseling, homecoming support, financial classes, unit rear detachment training, National Guard Relief Fund financial grant requests, as well as 

a myriad of other services (slide 6). Financial issues are the number 1 topic we assist families with when they are facing / returning from deployment. We also assist 

servicemembers with all of our services not currently in a deployment cycle on an 

as needed basis. 

It is critical that we continue to fund these programs in the future years. Our 

families now trust these services and rely heavily on them. Unfortunately, most of 

our new programs are only funded for 12–36 months. We serve as a combat multiplier on the battlefield, as we are able to focus on the families, while Combatant 

Commanders focus on their wartime mission. Further, we are a retention tool that 

far outweighs the cost currently expended on these new programs. 

The transition process is not over when the servicemember returns from mobilization. Some servicemembers take 12 months or longer to fully re-integrate into their 

family, civilian employment and/or community. We take Indiana citizens out of our 

state away from their loved ones, away from their careers, and send them into a 

hostile environment. We cannot expect them to return mentally, emotionally or 

physically as they departed Indiana. Assisting these servicemembers in the transition process is essential. Some servicemembers are now volunteering for their 3rd 

and 4th deployments. The revolving door of deployments is a strain to them and 

their spouses, parents, children and careers, which can effectively be addressed via 

Family Programs, Transition Assistance and Employer Support of the Guard and 

Reserve. 

Tri-Care is part of that transition. While the financial benefit of TriCare is sufficient, there are many issues that need attention. Little to no provider coverage is 

available in some areas in Indiana, as many families travel over 45 minutes to their 

primary care physician. Referrals are cumbersome and take many weeks to months 

in some instances. Mental health outpatient services are not covered, past the 6 free 

sessions initially available each calendar year. Claims processing is slow to providers and re-imbursement to families is slow, taking many months in some cases. 

Lack of providers and lack of updated provider lists are also a key complaint from 

our families. 

Tri-Care is a wonderful option, but has many logistical constraints. Families transition from their current insurance to Tri-Care and back to civilian insurance up to 

3–4 times during their career and have little time to trip over the logistical stumbling blocks Tri-Care places in our way. Tri-Care needs to be more user-friendly in 

order to reduce the amount of stress our families already endure. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my testimony. What are your questions? 

f 


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Prepared Statement of Roger D. Peterman 

Transition Assistance Advisor, Indiana National Guard 

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate this opportunity 

to testify before you today in reference to Transition Assistance Advisor (TAA) and 

Employer Support of Guard and Reserves as it applies to Pre-mobilization, Mobilization and Post Mobilization of our Indiana Soldiers. 

The TAA program is primarily designed to serve the members of the National 

Guard and their families. Additionally, we gladly provide service to members in all 

of the Reserve components, any Veteran and their families. 

As the Transition Assistance Advisor, I work to provide a statewide point of contact in assisting members with access to Veterans Affairs benefits and medical services. Services are provided at all phases of soldier deployment which includes Premobilization, Mobilization and Post Mobilization operations in conjunction with 

other Indiana National Guard Directors. TAA also provides assistance in obtaining 

entitlements through the TRICARE Military Health System and access to community resources. 

The Transition Assistance Advisor works to build community partnerships 

through the National Guard, Reserves, DoD services, Department of Veterans Affairs, Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs, Veteran Service Organizations and 

the local communities. The TAA provides communication and coordination between 

these partners. We provide education and support to all eligible servicemembers and 

their families. A very important factor in this process is raising the awareness and 

understanding of available state and Federal VA benefits, as well as various community agencies that can assist the soldiers. 

Help is provided to the individual servicemember ensuring they are aware of entitlement programs, access to medical care and benefits of TRICARE. There are many 

important deadlines that require action such as post dental care. Servicemembers 

and their families needing counseling are advised where and how to get the help 

they need. Information is provided on insurance such as SGLI and TSGLI. The TAA 

supports the VA and local communities in developing Job Fairs designed for servicemembers, veterans and their families. Assistance is also provided to servicemembers 

locating lost DD 214’s. 

Transition assistance is provided during pre-mobilization, mobilization, and demobilization. During homecoming events information is made available to the servicemember and their families in the form of brochures on VA benefits, educational opportunities, reemployment rights and other relevant resources. At this point the reintegration process has started. At 90 to 120 days the Seamless Transition is conducted at the unit or local community center. Many organizations are brought together to ensure our soldiers receive the information and resource needed to return 

to civilian life. Representatives at this event include Finance, Legal, VA benefits, 

VA Medical Center, Department of Labor, County Service Offices, TRICARE, Chaplain, Small Business Administration, Secretary of State, Employer Support of Guard 

and Reserve, Family Programs, American Legion, DAV, VFW and AMVETS. 

The TAA program is successful because we care about soldiers, veterans and their 

families. Over 90 percent of TAA’s are veterans or spouses of military members. 

Many TAA’s have worked through the disability process. They have experienced the 

process and can help guide the servicemember through it. We have built strong 

partnerships and coalitions with the VA, Directors of VA, Veterans Service Organizations, Family Programs, DoL, and Employer Support of Guard and Reserve 

(ESGR). Major Van Bree, Director of Family Programs, and I work closely on a daily 

operational level because our work overlaps. We serve as members of the Adjutant 

General’s staff. 

I want to tell you about a volunteer organization in which I serve as the State 

Chairman. Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve also known as ESGR is a 

Department of Defense volunteer organization. 

The mission of ESGR is to gain and maintain active support from all public and 

private employers for the men and women of the National Guard and Reserves. Additionally this volunteer organization provides education, consultation, and if necessary, informal mediation between employers and employees who are Guardsmen 

or Reservists. 

ESGR is required to inform employers and their National Guard and Reserve employees of their rights and responsibilities under the Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA) Title 38, USC, Chapter 43. Indiana 

has 16 trained Ombudsman volunteers who serve to mediate these issues between 

employers and employees serving in the military. Currently, Indiana ESGR has 105 

volunteers serving around the state. 


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In summary, ESGR’s goal is to support America’s employers who share their employees with the Department of Defense to ensure our National Security. ESGR 

helps employers to understand the vital role they play in the National Defense of 

the United States. We must develop and promote a culture in which American employers support and value the Military service of their employees. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my testimony. Thanks for this opportunity to speak 

on behalf of the Transition Assistance Program and Employer Support of the Guard 

and Reserves. I would be pleased to answer any questions from the Subcommittee. 

f 

Prepared Statement of Elizabeth L. Williams 

Indianapolis, IN (Indiana National Guard Member and 

Spouse of Deployed Indiana National Guard Member) 

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity 

to be here today to testify on my views and experiences in regards to the Transitional Assistance Program and the ability of my family to cope with readjustment 

needs and the deployments of my spouse, CPT Christopher M. Williams. 

My husband is scheduled to return this month from his second year-long deployment. In 2003, he deployed for approximately 15 months. Then, he deployed for the 

second time in June of 2007 and is expected to return any day. 

There has been significant progress in the efforts to provide transitional assistance to the soldiermembers and their families since my spouse’s first deployment 

experience. During his 2003 deployment, I can recall very little assistance available 

to support the families of the deployed soldiermembers, outside of the Family Readiness Group and Military One Source. 

It appears as though the Family Readiness Group is often used as the primary 

source of communication and information dissemination, as it pertains to families 

and their available resources. Without the unit or servicemembers having a functioning Family Readiness Group, the soldiermembers and especially the spouses can 

often be left in the dark. I acknowledge that perhaps my testimony is also based 

on the fact that I am also a servicemember, as well as a spouse. Therefore, I have 

the advantage of understanding the military and how it functions, as opposed to a 

spouse that has no military background. 

My husband deployed with a small detachment, which does not have a functioning 

Family Readiness Group. The little detachments can easily fall through the cracks, 

even with the wonderful system we have recently established. It appears as though 

our system may be designed for at least company sized units. When small units deploy, similar to my husband’s unit, they can be easily forgettable. Perhaps, those 

units could be assigned to a Family Readiness Group which has already been established or there could be a secondary means of communication, other than the Family 

Readiness Group, used to distribute information to the spouses and family members 

of deployed military members. 

I have recently learned we now have many new tools and resources in place, such 

as the Family Assistance Centers and the Family Readiness Support Assistants. We 

could never have too many of these. We already have 15 Family Assistance Centers; 

however, we could really use more Family Readiness Support Assistants to ensure 

the Family Readiness Groups are functioning properly and the Transitional Assistance Program benefits and resources are communicated effectively. 

Mr. Chairman, this concludes my prepared testimony. I would be pleased to answer any questions you or Members of the Subcommittee might have. 

f 

Prepared Statement of Roy Saenz, South Bend, IN 

(Former Member of the Marine Corps Reserves) 

Thank you Chairwoman Herseth-Sandlin and Congressman Donnelly for this opportunity to speak with you about my transition experience. My name is Sergeant 

Roy Saenz. I served in the Marine Corps Reserves for 8 years from August 1997 

to August of 2005. While in the reserves I was activated and deployed twice in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. I can only attest to my experiences transitioning 

back to civilian life as a reservist. 

In January of 2003 I was placed on active duty with Eng. Company B., 6th ESB, 

4th FSSG, South Bend, IN. Prior to leaving the theater of operations, we went 

through a series of debriefings in Kuwait. The debriefing I remember best is the 

medical brief. We were given a questionnaire asking about any issues we may have. 

Two things stood out: one, ‘‘If we had issues we would be placed on medical hold 


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in Camp Pendleton until they were resolved’’ and two, ‘‘We are not telling you to 

not put any issues on the questionnaire, just that you will be a medical hold.’’ This 

meant that we would not be able to return home with our unit. Meanwhile, we were 

already aware of the plans being made for the reunion back home in South Bend. 

Friends and family had been glued to the papers following our every move because 

we had an embedded reporter with us. So at both ends of the phone lines everyone 

wanted to be reunited, not stuck in California away from home. 

When we arrived at Camp Pendleton, many units were returning so there was 

a very tight and quick schedule to get us through our briefs. We again went through 

a medical brief. This time however, we waited in line and met with a doctor for a 

quick and very basic evaluation. If we brought anything up, they told us, ‘‘You can 

stay and we will do a full evaluation but you will have to wait until next week.’’ 

This meant we would not return home with the unit. My mom and younger brother 

had already flown in from Arizona to meet the unit in South Bend. So the incentive 

to report anything even minor was trumped by the desire to reunite with family and 

friends. 

When we arrived in South Bend we received a 3 day leave. Upon returning we 

had a variety of classes. Representatives from the Marine Corps League, VFW and 

American Legion came mostly with the intent of increasing membership. Although 

in the presentations I heard, ‘‘Make sure you make a copy of your SRB and medical 

records, and take your dd-214 to the county recorder’s office.’’ I stayed on for a few 

more months and went to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina to assist with off loading 

equipment. When I returned to South Bend in September, I was demobilized and 

returned to work. 

In January 2004 I volunteered to go back to Iraq with Bridge Company B, 6th 

ESB, 4th FSSG, Folsom, Pennsylvania. Again the exit process was about the same. 

We took a survey in Iraq, then at Camp Lejeune, the same medical process occurred: a quick interview. This time they said we would be fixed once we arrived 

at our home unit. I had shoulder surgery that was done locally in January 2005. 

I was released June 23, 2005, less than a month from my end of contract date. 

I have five general issues that I would like to present to this Committee: 

1. Pay Issues 

a. Both times I was mobilized I was shorted on my first pay. When I asked the 

unit administration they said to wait until I got on the base and they will 

be able to help. Unfortunately, there was not an opportunity to ask on my 

first deployment and by the end of the deployment I did not mind because 

I was just happy to be done. But it again happened on my second deployment. Since I found out while I was at Camp Lejeune I went to administration there and they said they could not do anything about it because it was 

a reserve issue. The reserve administration people could not access what the 

dock of pay was for but again after finishing up in Iraq I did not care because I was happy to be home and done. However due to my medical hold 

my pay was again incorrect. I did not receive notice of this until after I was 

off of active duty and off of contract. Therefore, my former unit could not answer the questions. I was unable to get through to DFAS—Kansas City because the automated system could not get me to where I needed to go. Finally I received a letter in the mail from different DAFS location and it did 

not have a phone number so I wrote them and they finally wrote me back 

but still did not answer all of my questions. So here I am almost 3 years 

later and I have not resolved my pay issues. 

2. Education 

a. When I signed up in 1997 I understood that I would be eligible for the Reserve GI Bill. However it was not until I was finishing up in June of 2005 

that I found out that I could have been taking college classes while in Iraq 

on my second deployment and for the 8 months I was on medical hold. 

b. My second education issue is that while I was finishing up my second mobilization there was information coming out about the REAP program and the 

2 year consecutive/cumulative buy-in option for reserves to look into. Many 

troops willing to do the 2 years to be eligible for the buy-in were blocked because they had to come off of one set of orders and go onto a new set of orders. Everyone was talking about the REAP program but once the dust settled on that program, we found out that you have to be still in the reserves. 

So many like me who did a cumulative of over 2 years on active duty met 

that basic requirement for the time eligibility but were already off of contract. Thus we missed out on the REAP and were prohibited from buying 

into the active duty GI Bill. This left two to three years worth of deployed 


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troops from the beginning of the war that will not be eligible for additional 

educational benefits. 

3. Filling a claim with the VA 

a. While I was taking my dd-214 to the county recorder, I saw the sign for the 

VA service representative. I walked into his office and introduced myself. 

There was not much he could do at this time because I was still on contract. 

But he started a file on me. He recommended I keep a copy of my medical 

records and SRB when I got off of contract and revisit him. When I fell off 

of contract I filed an initial claim with the help of the VA Service Representative but it took about 8 months for the decision, coming in May 2006. Between September and December 2006, I had six visits for Post Traumatic 

Stress Disorder (PTSD). I was not aware that I should file those visits with 

the VA. Around February 2007, I went to the Work One office and saw a 

sign that said ‘‘Are you a Veteran? Have you talked to the VA representative?’’ He was available so I talked to him. He recommended, because of my 

rating, that I talk to Jim Garwood with the Vocation-Rehabilitation in Fort 

Wayne, Indiana. So I met with him and he was very thorough and informative. I then sent a letter for a re-evaluation and adding PTSD to the VA 

April 24, 2007 then on May 7, 2007, the pinched nerve in my back landed 

me in the hospital. As of May 2008, the VA has declined to pay this bill, so 

I am appealing this decision. I had a C & P exam in June 2007 with pending 

back issues which resulted in surgery in August 2007. It was at this point 

that I realized that the VA benefits, C&P, and VA Medical Side have very 

limited communication with each other. The decision was in July 2007 and 

my back was rated the same so I immediately appealed and was reevaluated 

in October 2007. I received the decision finally on April 18, 2008 because it 

was an appeal it had to go through the Notice of Disagreement process. I 

found out in December 2007 that the standard procedure for post-back surgery was 100 percent temporary disability. I filed the claim along with my 

appeal and it was denied. I requested physical therapy for my continued 

back and neck issues and at first the VA wanted to send me on a 2 hour 

one-way drive from South Bend to Fort Wayne for physical therapy. After 

an evaluation in Fort Wayne, nothing happened until after my annual follow 

up in March 2008. I had to have another evaluation but this time it was with 

a local physical therapist. I was finally authorized for physical therapy and 

had my first appointment in late April 2008. 

4. Filing process 

a. I initially began my process by filing a claim in South Bend. I picked the 

VFW to represent me as my advocate. When I went back to file my next 

claim, I had to wait 2 weeks before I could get in for an appointment due 

to the previous county service representative. While the new representative 

was as helpful as possible, I had more knowledge from experience and Internet research. I was under the impression that the organizational service representatives did more but as I found out they are most effective if matters 

go beyond the Notice of Disagreement process. Otherwise I could file everything on my own directly to the VA. Over the last year I began sending copies of my paperwork to both the VA directly and the VFW. I did this in the 

hope that it would speed up the process as I grew more and more frustrated 

with the amount of time the process took. 

5. PTSD and Lance Corporal Larry Bowling Jr. of Muncie, Indiana. 

a. LCPL Bowling was with me on my second deployment to Iraq with Bridge 

Company Bravo. On June 29th 2004, he was on a convoy that was hit with 

an IED. He was in the response vehicle and helped load up our three dead 

Marines: Sgt Alan Sherman, CPL John Todd, and LCPL Patrick Adle. When 

we returned to the South Bend Unit, LCPL Bowling was released on terminal leave. I stayed on and 2 weeks later he called me late one night having suicidal thoughts. I called the Corpsman and he contacted the Commanding Officer. The decision was made to wait until the next day and go 

down to take him to the VA Hospital in Marion. After evaluation he was 

given medication and released to myself and Sgt. Eugene Plonski. We were 

directed to return him to his family. LCPL Bowling was then instructed to 

come to drill weekends instead of being excused for 90 days from drill weekends. Other than 1 weekend a month he was on his own with no support 

system from the unit. When I asked the Commanding Officer what we could 

do for him he said, ‘‘He’s Folsom’s problem, not ours.’’ Within a few months 

he was given an Other Than Honorable Discharge. 


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b. This Marine, who served honorably, reached out to the unit and we failed 

him. This is due to a system that was not prepared for handling the PTSD 

of Reserve Marines and by commands that were not willing or prepared for 

handling mixed unit issues. 

Based on my experience it is my recommendations to this Committee are as follows: 

1. Evaluate reserve troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan for PTSD related 

issues at the 45, 90 day and 1 year mark. These evaluations should be done 

whether the servicemember is still on active duty, active reserves, individual 

ready reserves, or off of contract. 

2. The VA Medical and VA Benefits departments need develop a more efficient 

communication system to allow for the fast and smoother processing of claims 

by veterans. 

3. Currently there are no efficient programs post-service that inform veterans of 

programs and assistance resources in their regions. Many veterans get frustrated and give up on the system. 

4. Better inform reserve servicemembers, while still under contract, of programs 

while on active duty and better inform them of programs available post-service 

using available VA service representatives and other local veterans’ representatives including but not limited to unemployment agencies. 

5. Establish a way for troops to deal with administration problems that occur 

after they separate from service such as unresolved pay issues. 

6. Reevaluate what services can be offered at the local level. Many veterans do 

not have the flexibility of schedule or means to travel long distances to receive 

assistance. 

Thank you again for this opportunity. I now invite you to ask any questions you 

may have. 

Sgt Roy Saenz, USMC 

f 

1997–2005 

Prepared Statement of Dawn McCool, North Liberty, IN 

(Spouse of an Indiana National Guard Member) 

Thank you Subcommittee Chairwoman Herseth-Sandlin, Congressman Donnelly, 

and all other Members of the Committee. I appreciate the opportunity to share my 

experiences as a spouse of a National Guard member in regard to the transition experience for myself and my family. My name is Dawn McCool and my husband Jim 

was with F Company, 151st Infantry (Light Anti-Tank) in Afghanistan. This deployment resulted in Jim being gone from May 2003 to July 2005. We have three children, now ages 18, 16, and 12. At the time of Jim’s deployment, they were 14, 12, 

and 8. 

The main source of assistance for the family of deployed members of the guard 

is the family readiness group, commonly called a FRG. I first became involved in 

the family readiness group on May 4, 2004, the day my husband left from South 

Bend for Camp Atterbury. The wives were standing in a group when Laura Williams, who was in charge of the FRG, told us about the meetings on the third Monday of each month. I went to the first meeting and she asked if I would be the secretary and treasurer and whatever else needed. The community created from the 

FRG resulted in me meeting one of my best friends. We still talk and get together 

today, more than 4 years later. Unfortunately with our FRG getting started in 2004 

things did not go smoothly. The level of involvement with a lot of the other moms, 

wives, girlfriends and extended families was low. We tried to involve the spouses 

and families but it was difficult because of the intense emotions involved after a 

loved one first deploys. 

The core of the family readiness group was comprised of only three people. The 

money was not there; however we tried to make up for it with effort. We were in 

touch with Col. Warrick and held a pretty successful family day at Culver Military 

Academy with soldiers that had previously deployed, spouses, girlfriends, and families. This event was probably the primary success of the FRG during the deployment. 

Overall, though, my experience with the FRG did not result in the level of support 

I had hoped for during what was a very tough experience when Jim was gone. We 

were supposed to be each others’ support system but it frequently did not happen 

that way. There were two ladies that I could talk to, and they were great. But we 

felt walked on because no matter what we did or tried to do, we could not count 


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on participation. One example is a large outing we organized at the zoo. We got a 

call list of all the soldiers’ spouses or families and contacted all of them for a large 

outing to the zoo. We received a lot of ‘‘yes’’ responses but the turnout was terrible. 

After pouring in a lot of work and spending the money to put on the program, the 

involvement was not there. 

In general, that symbolized the difficulty of involvement with the other spouses 

and families. We let them know that if they needed anything, they could call my 

number or Laura’s number. My phone was constantly ringing. Everyone seemed like 

they wanted to be involved, but no one would put forth the effort to actually do anything. By the time the soldiers returned, the FRG had pretty much fallen apart. 

There was not enough organization to get the word out to the spouses and families. 

When F Company deployed again last year, I was asked to lead the FRG, but I still 

had negative feelings from all the difficulties that arose during the first deployment 

and turned it down. 

One resource that was provided on a broader scale to promote the success of the 

FRGs was a conference at Stout Field in Indianapolis that I attended. There was 

a binder with information on making the family readiness groups stronger from the 

conference. It was clear that most of the successes came from increased involvement, but given that there were only three of us and we were struggling with involvement in the first place, it was not clear how to drive that. The conference also 

did not mention at all the transition back home for the soldiers, which would have 

been helpful. 

Jim returned to the U.S. in July of 2005 and came home for good in August 2005. 

Once we knew they were coming home, there were new emotions. You want them 

home but you are used to doing everything by yourself. One story about the transition afterward is when I was mowing the yard soon after his return. Something was 

wrong with the mower blade. My husband was standing there while I went inside, 

got the hammer, and fixed it myself. Initially, he felt like he was not needed around 

the house. I worked hard to change those feelings. With our three children, I put 

on a strong front for them while he was gone and I continued that strong front 

when he returned. 

Jim had around 5 months off for the time he spent overseas, so he did not have 

to go back to his civilian job right away. He was able to do a lot of work around 

the house and get to know the kids and me again. I think this time was essential 

for his transition. A year and a half does not seem like a long time, but people 

change a lot in that time. When he came back, it was almost like we were strangers 

again and it was a major adjustment to re-integrate him into the family. But it was 

mostly great to have him home. 

Before he was deployed, he worked for Shindler elevator, doing construction and 

repairs on elevators and escalators. He returned to that job after 5 months of vacation. His unit was eventually sent to Iraq after the return from Afghanistan; however he stayed back as the Rear Detachment Commander. He spends time every day 

at the armory in South Bend. If any of the soldiers had problems they could call. 

He also tried to help the wives and families as much as he could because he knew 

about my experiences. His unit returned to the U.S. from deployment to Iraq 2 

weeks ago. 

I would also like to offer special thanks to my employee. I work at AM General, 

where we build military Humvees. I take a lot of pride in my work. It makes a difference when you know someone who is over there. I become upset when someone 

says, ‘‘Oh, someone else will do it,’’ at work because it affects the men and women 

overseas. My husband’s service is one of the reasons that I went into Humvee repair. I know what they need, so I worked a lot of overtime when he was gone. 

AM General was great when Jim was in Afghanistan, especially if I needed time 

off when my kids were sick. The human resources department was very flexible and 

understanding. AM General offers an employee assistance program that I used. I 

suffered from depression during the experience and I was able to go to counseling 

and take my children so we could all talk about it. 

I wish there was some way to help families make the transition easier. One way 

would be more involvement in the FRGs. I am not sure how to do it, but the families 

need to know that there is someone to turn to, that there is help available. The soldiers see a lot of things overseas. There are still many things that Jim does not talk 

about, that he cannot talk about with me yet. They need to know that it is okay 

for them to go to counseling. This is healthy either with or without their spouse, 

although many are embarrassed to admit that they need that counseling. 

I believe it is very important that these families know that there is help, that 

there are resources. If the National Guard or another FRG could make a book or 

pamphlet details about what the soldiers are entitled to upon return and what the 

spouses are entitled to, it would be a wonderful resource. Help is there, the spouses 


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simply need to be aware of it. We all could take better advantage of the help that 

is available, Jim included. It seems that people are afraid to ask for help even when 

the resources are there. 

Looking back, though, what I think that I wish I would have had more than anything else is being able to communicate with the soldiers to a greater extent, although it seems that it might not be possible. The men that stayed behind at the 

local unit helped us a great deal. If we needed anything, they were there in a heartbeat to help us. A deployment is something I wish never had to happen. I wish the 

guys never had to go, but I know they are serving their country. 

The best way to summarize my experience is in a poem that I received from someone when Jim was in Afghanistan titled, ‘‘The Silent Ranks.’’ I believe that every 

military spouse needs to read it because it talks about the fact that your spouse 

wears the uniform so they stand out, while you are in the background. No one sees 

that the wives or children go through. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to 

share my experience. 

f 

Prepared Statement of Lori Masapollo, Niles, MI 

(Spouse of Army Reservist) 

My name is Lori Masapollo, and as the wife of a career Army reservist, I have 

been asked to describe my experiences with transition services offered by the military over the course of my husband’s multiple deployments. My husband, Lt Colonel 

Gary Masapollo, has served as a commissioned officer for 22 years. As we speak, 

he is at Fort Benning, Georgia, out-processing from the fourth full-term deployment 

in which he has engaged since 9/11. Additionally, within that same time period, he 

has made numerous shorter duration treks to Germany to assist with operations 

and training there. He has been away from home 41 of the last 79 months. Unfortunately if I only address the transition services our family has been offered—my comments will be incredibly brief. Therefore, please indulge me as I attempt to address 

our thoughts on what services we would have appreciated over the course of my 

husband’s service. 

As Gary comes off deployment and prepares to return to us, finding a job is the 

primary goal on his mind. When he left last year, he forfeited his contracted position 

as Professor of Military Science at Notre Dame so the Army ROTC Battalion there 

could fill the slot. Now he is without a job. As with many veterans who have devoted 

much of their working years to military service, he is struggling with how to find 

an employer who won’t be intimidated by his ‘‘previous experience’’ or wrongfully 

view him as too regimented or military focused to be of use in the civilian workforce. 

We have been collaborating with other transitioned veterans and searching online 

to find resume templates and suggestions for how to best equate the work he has 

done in foreign countries to civilian job skills. If the military offers any kind of resume crafting assistance, job placement assistance or help in matching returning 

veterans with companies that would appreciate certain skill sets, we have yet to discover those programs. Assistance of this type has never been offered. 

If he is unable to locate work, education assistance that would allow him to refresh his skills would be beneficial. While he has been off defending his country, the 

civilian world has continued to upgrade technology, attend training seminars and 

create new corporate ‘‘buzz words’’ that may not have existed 15 months ago. He 

may no longer be in step with corporate America and the business skills that those 

who remained home on the job have continued to hone. Returning veterans face a 

declining economy and lay-offs. The job skills that they possessed pre-deployment 

may not be of use to them now. We personally have no idea what education assistance or training may be available to assist him; however, classes that focus on 

brushing up veterans’ business skills, or help them re-direct their lives to more employable options would truly be an asset to all reservists. Once again, this type of 

assistance has yet to be offered. 

When Gary comes off active duty, and until he finds viable employment, health 

care coverage will be a concern for us. Gary and I are the parents of five children, 

and although one recently deployed with the Air Force, the remaining four depend 

on us for health care. It also crosses my mind that my husband’s transition out of 

military life is going to take its toll psychologically. No matter how much we all 

have missed his daily presence in our lives; the first few weeks are never easy as 

we adjust to living together again and this time he will bear the added pressure 

of unemployment. What if he has physical or mental health issues when he returns? 

Where will we turn? What about other returning reservists? Health care issues are 

briefly addressed during out-processing, but returning vets are simply directed to 


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their closest VA facility. Our closest VA Hospital is hours away in Battle Creek, 

Michigan. No one has ever checked in on our family either during or post-deployment to confirm that all is well, or that we have the resources we need to cope. 

I strongly believe that it takes a person of incredible character and patriotism to 

serve in the military reserves as it exists today. As the regular armies have 

downsized, reservists are called upon much more frequently to augment troops. As 

my own husband’s story illustrates, with five full deployments since 1999 as well 

as being gone for weeks at a time assisting with training and driving 90 miles to 

drill on weekends, he has spent an inordinate amount of time away from home. 

These frequent absences have not helped his civilian career options and have only 

served to place him further behind in terms of rusty skill sets, lost promotions, and 

a smaller 401K nest egg. Sometimes reservists are even expected to support and 

maintain two households. My husband served his latest tour at CentCom headquarters at MacDill AFB in Tampa, Florida. Because much of the base housing had 

been condemned, he was placed in a furnished apartment in the private sector— 

to the tune of $3800 per month. In addition to paying our home mortgage and maintenance fees, he needed to pay for that apartment, renter’s insurance, and food and 

wait for the Army to reimburse him. How many young reservists are financially prepared to take on that level of commitment all for the honor of serving their country? 

If our family lived on a military base, or within close proximity to one, perhaps 

we would have more resources and options available to us to deal with transition 

issues. Certainly base life offers more support to the families left behind, as those 

families are surrounded by other military-minded friends who are all in the same 

situation and help is a few steps away. Reservists’ families are not so blessed. It 

has been my experience that if it were not for the reservists ‘‘looking after their 

own’’, most would never know where to go for the services they need. Luckily over 

the years our family has developed a network of reservist families that offer support, share knowledge of third-party resources and bolster attitudes as we await the 

arrival of our family’s leader and prepare him for civilian employment. I often wonder what support exists for younger reservist families that have not had the years 

to establish those types of networks and contacts. It is sad to think that they are 

being left behind while their loved ones are away giving so much. 

LTC Gary Masapollo, IAM 38A (Civil Affairs) 

Jan–August 2000: Kosovo (411th Civil Affairs Battalion: attached to 1st Infantry 

Division) 

July–December 2002: Kosovo (415th Cvil Affairs Battalion: attached to 1st Infantry Division) 

February 2003–April 2004: Iraq (308th Civil Affairs Brigade: attached to U.S. V 

Corps) 

Jan 2006–July 2006: GTMO, Cuba (Secretary of Defense/Office of the Administrative Review for the Detention of Enemy Combatants) 

June 2007–June 2008: CENTCOM (Individual Member Augmentee) Central Command HQ Tampa. 

f 

Prepared Statement of Staff Sergeant Donald A. Blosser 

Granger, IN (Indiana National Guard Member) 

Thank you Chairwoman Herseth-Sandlin, Congressman Boozman, and Congressman Donnelly for this opportunity to speak with you about my transition experience. My name is Staff Sergeant Donald A. Blosser, Indiana Army National Guard. 

I served for 12 years, from 1980–1992, on active duty with the Army. I was stationed out of Ft. Lewis in Washington when I was sent to Arizona to fill a National 

Guard unit for deployment to what, at the time, was Operation Desert Shield. We 

were motor transfer operators. We deployed from Arizona to Saudi Arabia in January 1991. We returned on August 7, 1991. The call up went fine, although One Stop 

was not around at that time. We did not see the Veterans Affairs representatives 

at the time. We had general medical exams as a preliminary exercise. On the return, we did not stay in Arizona very long, perhaps 1 day, and then flew back to 

Ft. Lewis, Washington. The Army gave us leave after they shuffled units around. 

We did not meet representatives from supporting agencies because we were remained on active duty. I spent from September 2005 to the present with the National Guard. I went back to my civilian job driving trucks from 1992–2005. One 

large lure to joining the National Guard was to receive my benefits that I was not 

receiving due to a youthful oversight. I was put on active duty status in July 2006 

and deployed to the region on October 7, 2006. I deployed with a National Guard 

unit out of Camp Shelby, Mississippi. There were 55 soldiers from all over the State 


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of Indiana who joined the unit in Mississippi in order to bring it to 299 strong. 

There were soldiers from Kentucky, Tennessee, and Michigan as well in order to 

reach this number. This was difficult at times because it brought together different 

mentalities from different parts of the country. 

When I returned on September 25, 2007 from Iraq, I demobilized at Camp Shelby, 

Mississippi. I spent 3 days out-processing. They broke the days into four main 

areas: two areas were medical, one was personal, and one was for meeting representatives and getting information on Army One Stop, Veterans Administration 

benefits, and TRICARE. They gave us stations to visit and the whole unit had to 

pass through. We were issued a check-sheet that had to be initialed by each representative to assure that we covered each station. The medical area had nine substations. The benefits station had five organizations represented. Once you went to 

the final booth, you were cleared. The State of Indiana had representatives present 

and they took care of all of our reservations for travel and made sure we were taken 

care of. This professionalism and presence by the Indiana National Guard was consistent from the advance before deployment, when a lieutenant from joint forces and 

I were the advance party. We met with the commander, made arrangements, and 

were joined by three to four other Indiana representatives who helped transfer the 

weapons and equipment to Mississippi. Upon the return, there were Indiana representatives there to take care of the weapons transfer again, which meant that we 

did not have to worry about it. All Indiana representatives were really sharp and 

smooth during the process. The Kentucky representatives were sharp as well, and 

they had 72 people to serve. Michigan and Tennessee did not have representatives 

present because there were only about a dozen soldiers between the two states. 

There was a true, individual concern for each soldier passing through. We were 

told that we would be going through this again in about 90 days at the state level. 

Around the middle of January, we did this at the 38th Infantry Division Headquarters Armory in Indianapolis. I completed medical questionnaires, saw a doctor, 

and met with representatives from the Veterans Administration, One Stop, VFW, 

American Legion, and other support groups. That event went very well. I am comparing this from when I came back from Desert Storm. The area that needs some 

improvement is TRICARE. I had a medical situation and wanted to consult my family doctor but he was not a TRICARE PPO. I have seen him for 9 years, hypertension. I went on the TRICARE website to find a PPO. One doctor was in Rochester, Indiana, approximately a 1 hour drive south. Another doctor was in Michigan 

City, Indiana, approximately a 1 hour drive west. If needed, I could go to a hospital 

in South Bend, St. Joseph Regional Medical Center, which was a preferred medical 

facility. So I went to my doctor and paid for it myself. My story is not the only one. 

A lot of soldiers called me about medical issues because I was a squad leader. I had 

to let them know that this is the way it is and that there are not other options. 

The other improvement needed is TRICARE dental. The U.S. Military demands 

that you have good oral health before deploying anywhere in the world. Once we 

return from hard areas such as Iraq, I should be entitled to have my oral health 

checked and brought back up to the standards they were in when I deployed. 

TRICARE discontinued dental coverage within 5 days of my return. The Army 

wants to maintain a standard going in, so they should maintain that standard going 

out. 

Unfortunately, the Army passed the burden back on my civilian employment 

health care. I have been employed by Dayton Freight line for 9 years. I put them 

in for an award from the state because when I told them I was leaving to serve, 

they wished me well, told me to be safe, and took care of my family and I while 

I was overseas. They did not ask any questions. I let them know that my unit was 

deploying, and all they asked for was something in writing. While I was gone, they 

sent me things, checked on my wife, and continued to provide her my profit-sharing 

checks. When I came back, they gave me a profit sharing check pro-rated and my 

medical insurance was reinstated immediately. When I had an issue arise, I called 

corporate and they took care of it. They even threw a party for me when I came 

back. I have heard horror stories about other companies but Dayton Freight is 

great. 

To end on a positive note, overall I must say that the soldier is better informed 

and taken care of than after the Gulf War. 

Donald A. Blosser 

f 

SSG, INARNG 


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Prepared Statement of Stephen W. Short 

Department Adjutant, American Legion, Department of Indiana 

Mr. Chairman and Members of the Subcommittee: 

With the ending of the Cold War, the Department of Defense (DoD) dramatically 

downsized its personnel strength. In 1990 Congress, in an attempt to assist separating service members in making a successful transition back into the civilian 

workforce enacted P.L. 101–510 which authorized the creation of the Transition Assistance Program (TAP). This law was intended to assist servicemembers who possessed certain critical military specialties that could not be easily transferred to a 

civilian work environment and to assist others with educational and career choices. 

DoD’s TAP and Disabled Transition Assistance Program (DTAP) are designed, in 

conjunction with Department of Labor (DoL) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), to help prepare not only separating servicemembers but also their families for a seamless transition to civilian life. Last year in FY 2007, more than 

386,200 servicemembers were discharged from active duty status and over 500,534 

servicemembers demobilized from active duty service. Public Law (P.L.) 101–510 

(Chapter 58, section 1142) mandates pre-separation counseling for transitioning 

servicemembers. These programs consist of specific components: pre-separation 

counseling; employment assistance; relocation assistance; education, training, health 

and life insurance counseling; finance counseling; reserve affiliation; and disabled 

transition assistance seminars. DTAP is designed to educate and facilitate disabled 

veterans to overcome potential barriers to meaningful employment. Currently, VA, 

DoL, and DoD operate 215 transition offices around the world. 

While the TAP program assists transitioning servicemembers leaving the military 

under their own accord, the DTAP program focuses on the specialized needs of the 

servicemembers who are separating for medical reasons. The DTAP workshop is a 

half-day seminar sponsored jointly by DoL, DoD and VA. The workshop provides 

specialized information on VA’s many disability benefits: 

• Medical Care • CHAMPVA • Disability Compensation 

• Vocational Rehabilitation 

• Disabled Veterans Insurance 

In this current era of a significantly smaller all-volunteer military, the reliance 

on the National Guard and Reserve to fight the present Global War on Terror is 

unprecedented. The Reserve forces have become an essential part of all current DoD 

operations. Reservists in Iraq and Afghanistan reflect a significant portion of the 

total deployed force in any given month, and DoD reports that continued reliance 

on the 1.8 million Reserve and National Guard troops will continue well into the 

foreseeable future. Attracting and retaining well qualified individuals to execute the 

fundamental functions of a strong and viable national defense is paramount. Without providing proper incentives for servicemembers to enlist and reenlist, the military will continue to be hard pressed to effectively accomplish their Global War on 

Terror mission. 

Reservists Return to Find No Jobs 

National Guard and Reserve troops are returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan only to encounter difficulties with their Federal and civilian employers at 

home. Many of these returning servicemembers have lost jobs, or lost promotions 

or benefits, and in a few cases they have encountered job demotions. 

According to the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, 

employers must by law protect the old jobs of deployed servicemembers, or provide 

them with equivalent positions. Benefits, raises, and promotions must be protected, 

as if the servicemember had never left. In many cases this law has not been able 

to protect many returning servicemembers across the country from the negative effects of long deployments. Servicemembers would greatly benefit by having access 

to the resources and knowledge that TAP can provide, but the program should have 

stronger employment, mental health, and small business components. 

The Effects of Reserve Call-ups on Civilian Employers and Veteran Owned 

Businesses 

The impact of deployment on self-employed Reservists is tragic with a reported 

40 percent of all veteran owned businesses suffering financial losses and in some 

cases bankruptcies. Many veteran owned small businesses are unable to operate 

and suffer some form of financial loss when key employees are activated. The Congressional Budget Office in a report titled ‘‘The Effects of Reserve Call-Ups on Civilian Employers’’ stated that it ‘‘expects that as many as 30,000 small businesses and 


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55,000 self-employed individuals may be more severely affected if their reservist employee or owner is activated.’’ 

Currently, the Small Business Administration (SBA) offers Military Reservist Economic Injury Disaster Loans. This program offers loans to businesses that meet certain eligibility criteria to help offset the economic consequences of the loss of their 

Reservist personnel. To qualify, a company must be able to show that the activated 

Reservist is critical to the success of the company. The American Legion recommends that the SBA should be part of any Reservist and National Guard TAP 

briefing, and act in an advisory capacity to veteran business owners, to assist them 

with resources and information to help lessen the impact of activation on their bottom line. 

Education and the GI Bill 

Historically, The American Legion has encouraged the development of essential 

benefits to help attract and retain servicemembers into the Armed Services, as well 

as to assist them in making the best possible transition back to the civilian community. On June 22, 1944, then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act of 1944, which later became known as the GI Bill of Rights. 

This historic piece of legislation, authored by the leadership of The American Legion, enabled veterans to purchase their first homes, attend college, and start private businesses. The emergence of the American middle class, the suburbs, civil 

rights, and finally a worldwide economic boom can be attributed to this important 

legislation. 

The majority of individuals who join the National Guard or Reserves enter the 

Armed Forces straight out of high school, and many are full and part time students. 

With the number of activations since September 11, these same Reservists are discovering that their graduation will take longer than once anticipated. Currently the 

Montgomery GI Bill pays the average Reservist $317 a month compared to his active duty counterpart who is paid $1,101 a month. 

With the rising cost of tuition many Reservists must resort to commercial loans 

and other loans or grants to supplement the Montgomery GI Bill. When a servicemember is forced to withdraw from school due to military obligation, the commercial 

loan must still be paid regardless of whether the student finishes the course, adding 

to the accumulated debt of that servicemember. 

The American Legion recommends that TAP briefings include an education representative to provide National Guard and Reservist members this kind of information so they can avoid undue financial hardship. 

The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act 

On December 19, 2003, the President signed into law a complete update of the 

Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act (SCRA) 1940. This helps ease the economic 

and legal burdens on military personnel called to active duty status in Operation 

Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. 

Relief under SCRA extends to actions terminating leases, evictions, foreclosures 

and repossessions, default judgments, lower interest rates on credit cards and loans 

and protects against lapses or termination of insurance policies. 

With the military’s increased reliance on National Guard and Reserve units, creditors residing in remote areas of the country outside of the traditional military towns 

are not aware of this act, including members of the reserve component. Therefore, 

servicemembers are experiencing serious financial difficulties while on active duty— 

their cars are repossessed, homes foreclosed and credit histories ruined because this 

piece of legislation is unknown. 

The American Legion has produced a brochure on active duty legal rights, copies 

of which will be distributed across the country. If TAP was mandatory, servicemembers and local community businesses would also know of this program, and a 

lot of frustration, time and misunderstandings could be avoided. To their credit, 

Navy TAP representatives discuss personal financial planning during workshops 

and seminars. However, the Reserve components need to have this issue addressed 

during TAP as well. 

Make TAP/DTAP a Mandatory Program 

DoL estimates that 60 percent to 65 percent of all separating active duty servicemembers attend the employment TAP seminars and 30 percent of all separating National Guard and Reservists attend a portion of TAP. The American Legion believes 

this low attendance number is a disservice to all transitioning servicemembers. 

Many servicemembers and most National Guard and Reservists are unaware of the 

assistance and resources offered by TAP. Without this program, servicemembers 

who have served their country bravely return to the civilian workforce less equipped 

than their counterparts who took advantage of the information provided by TAP. AcVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:01 Dec 20, 2008 Jkt 043053 PO 00000 Frm 00070 Fmt 6604 Sfmt 6621 E:\HR\OC\A053.XXX A053

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cording to written testimony from John M. McWilliam, Deputy Assistant Secretary 

of Veterans’ Employment and Training, Department of Labor, May 12, 2005, ‘‘We 

have been working with the National Guard and Reserve on providing TAP services 

to these returning servicemembers in many states on an informal and as needed 

basis. In this regard, three Reserve Component TAP demonstration programs are 

underway in Oregon, Michigan and Minnesota.’’ 

DoD and DoL report that in Oregon 40 percent of those part time servicemembers 

who attended the TAP session were looking for employment. The American Legion 

recognizes the value of this program and recommends that it become a mandatory 

requirement for all transitioning servicemembers. 

Access to TAP 

The GAO report, Enhanced Services Could Improve Transition Assistance for Reserves and National Guard, May 2005, reports TAP is not made available to the National Guard and Reserves. ‘‘TAP managers with DoD and the military services explained that the chief problem is lack of time during demobilization, which is often 

completed in 5 days.’’ The American Legion recommends that TAP be instituted in 

the following ways: 

• Incorporate TAP into the unit’s training schedule months before activation • Have a TAP briefing during a unit’s organization day that includes spouses • Activate a unit for a weekend either before or after a deployment • Most units spend three to eight weeks at an installation site preparing to move 

into theater; TAP briefings should be available • Spend extra day or two at a demobilization site to include TAP 

The GAO report also states that many servicemembers are not interested in the 

employment segment because they believe they have jobs waiting for them once they 

return home. That might have been true with the first rotations into theater; however, that is not the case now for many veterans, especially with back to back deployments. A number of complaints have surfaced from servicemembers around the 

country that some businesses are reluctant to hire veterans still in the military and 

businesses have allegedly started putting pressure on veterans who have deployed 

once not to deploy a second time. 

Transitional Assistance Program for National Guard and Reserves 

Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland 

The TAP program located at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, has been called 

a unique program and still highly regarded as model for all the Army. It is currently 

the only program that offers transition assistance to guard and reserves with an 8- 

hour presentation of services and benefits. Briefings are given covering Finance, 

Education, USERRA, VA compensation and disability claims, Employment Assistance, Mental Health Counseling Services, and Tri-Care. The program also has a 

number of unique partnerships with many Federal, State and local agencies. Some 

of those partnerships include: the Maryland Division of Workforce Development, 

Perry Point VA Hospital, Department of Labor, Walter Reed Army Medical Center 

and the Ft. Monmouth, N.J., Transition Office. The program has a pro-active philosophy. Some examples include: 

• Servicemembers needing employment are given immediate assistance. In some 

cases this has led to immediate hires, and those servicemembers returned home 

with a job while avoiding unemployment. If the veteran lives outside the state 

a point of contact is given for that individual to ensure there is a Veteran Representative waiting with job service resources. 

• The Perry Point VA Hospital offers immediate shelter to servicemembers who 

may be homeless, which lessens the numbers of homeless veterans on our Nation’s streets. VA reports that more than 175,000 veterans are currently homeless and another 250,000 are homeless over a period of time. VA has also reported that the number of homeless veterans who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan is increasing, especially among women with children. The American 

Legion believes the first line of defense in preventing additional homeless cases 

is to have a strong and pro-active transitional assistance program. 

• Servicemembers who need assistance with filling out compensation and disability claims are offered immediate assistance by visiting VA representatives. 

The program has received positive feedback by servicemembers and commanders. 

Assessing Services Rendered 

The American Legion recommends that Congress require Federal agencies that 

deliver TAP/DTAP services to develop a management-monitoring program to better 


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assess how well services are being delivered to transitioning servicemembers. Currently, the effectiveness of services provided by TAP agencies is unknown because 

adequate performance goals and benchmarking measures have never been instituted. Consequently, there is a lack of any verifiable outcome data. Performance 

measures should be instituted to hold all Federal agencies involved in TAP/DTAP 

accountable for services rendered. 

Summary 

America asks its young people to serve in the armed forces to guard and defend 

this great Nation and its way of life. Their selfless service provides millions of 

Americans with the opportunity to pursue their vocational endeavors. The successful 

transition of that servicemember back into the civilian workforce must be a shared 

responsibility, especially if that servicemember has suffered service-connected disabilities. There is much talk about ‘‘seamless transition’’ between DoD and VA, but 

it goes beyond that. It should be a ‘‘seamless transition’’ between all Federal agencies involved in a transition assistance program. That means: 

• Ensuring servicemembers know their active duty legal rights and that those 

Federal agencies involved should monitor and assist in the compliance with 

those rights 

• Prompt adjudication of disability claims 

• Prompt adjudication of educational claims 

• Timely access to Tri-Care and VA quality health care 

• Housing of the homeless 

• Employment assistance 

• Small business assistance 

• Any other Federal assistance as needed 

The American Legion reaffirms its strong support of TAP but also encourages 

DoD to require that all separating, active-duty servicemembers, including those 

from the Reserves and the National Guard, be given an opportunity to participate 

in TAP training not more than 180 days prior to their separation or retirement from 

the armed forces, and followup counseling not later than 180 days after separation 

from active duty. The American Legion supports efforts to mandate that all servicemembers be given the opportunity to participate in TAP/DTAP. 

f 

Prepared Statement of Gary M. Whitehead 

Elkhart County Veterans Service Officer, Elkhart, IN 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

It is a tremendous honor to be here today. I have been a County Veterans Service 

Officer for twenty-two years after I retired from the Navy in July 1986. 

When our Guardsmen and Reservists return home, they are required to complete 

three days of classes covering everything from seeing a Chaplain to having a briefing from individuals from Work Force One concerning their re-employment rights. 

Even today when I interview a WWII, Korean or Vietnam veteran, I ask them 

if their disabilities were documented in their service medical records and they advise me that they were not because they would have had to stay on active duty for 

several more days and they wanted to get home to see their loved ones. This is still 

happening today but at least they are given the knowledge that there are people 

out in their communities that will provide assistance for them. Like the old saying 

‘‘You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.’’ Sometimes veterans 

are just like that or they think getting medical care or compensation from the Department of Veterans Affairs is WELFARE. 

I have spoken with Paul Curtice, the VFW State Service Officer, and he advised 

me about all of the information that he and the DAV Service Officer puts out during 

their presentations to our returning veterans. Here in Indiana, several months after 

the Guardsmen and Reservists have settled back to being at home, the Indiana Dept 

of Veterans Affairs along with the Dept of Veterans Affairs (both compensation and 

health care) conducts follow up training with units to continue keeping them informed about their benefits. 

Personally, I feel the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Indiana Department of 

Veterans Affairs and the Military Department of Indiana misdoing everything they 

can to make sure our troops are informed of their benefits and rights as veterans. 

It’s the veteran’s responsibility to follow up with their claims for compensation and 

health care. The only thing that bothers my fellow County Veterans Service Officer’s 

and myself is that when training sessions are scheduled in OUR communities, we 


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are not invited to participate since we are not really a part of the Department of 

Veterans Affairs. 

Overall, the Transition Assistance Program provided to our troops is very good 

and all of us working together can make our veterans get readjusted back with their 

families and the community. Thank you for your time in listening to me. 

God Bless America. 

Very Respectfully, 

f 

Gary M. Whitehead 

Prepared Statement of John M. McWilliam 

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Veterans’ Employment and 

Training, U.S. Department of Labor 

Madam Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin, Ranking Member Boozman, and Members 

of the Subcommittee: 

Thank you for the opportunity to appear before this Subcommittee to discuss the 

role of the U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) Veterans’ Employment and Training 

Service (VETS) in providing transition assistance to our returning servicemembers. 

The mission of VETS is to provide veterans and transitioning servicemembers 

with the resources and services to succeed in the 21st century work force. One of 

the most important ways that we meet that mission is by providing employment 

workshops to separating active, Guard, and Reserve servicemembers as part of their 

transition to civilian life. Our services are provided through the Transition Assistance Program (TAP). 

TAP is a Department of Defense (DoD) program that partners with DoL, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the Department of Homeland Security. TAP 

has four components: 

1. Pre-separation counseling—this is mandatory for all transitioning servicemembers and is provided by the military services; 

2. TAP employment workshops—these are voluntary on the part of the 

transitioning servicemember and are administered through DoL and its state 

partners; 

3. VA benefits briefing—these briefings are also voluntary and administered by 

the VA; and 

4. Disabled Transition Assistance Program (DTAP)—also voluntary and administered by the VA. 

Historically, 60 percent to 65 percent of active duty transitioning servicemembers 

have attended the TAP employment workshops. This has risen from a 50 percent 

participation rate in 2001. As a result of the Global War on Terror Task Force, the 

DoD has established a goal of 85 percent attendance. 

Since 1991, when DoL began providing employment workshops pursuant to section 502 of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1991 (P.L. 101– 

510), over one million separating and retiring military members and their spouses 

have been provided employment and job training assistance and other transitional 

services. DoL was further directed to provide these services at overseas locations by 

section 309 of the Veterans Benefits Act of 2003 (P.L. 108–183). Before this law took 

effect, VETS began facilitating TAP workshops at overseas military installations 

where, by previous interagency agreement, the DoD had provided TAP workshops 

since the program’s inception. VETS continued to expand additional overseas sites 

and we are extending efforts to provide workshops whenever requested to those 

Guard and Reserve units returning from the Global War on Terror. We are currently conducting TAP employment workshops at 55 sites overseas including Germany, Japan, Italy, Korea, Guam and the United Kingdom. Our mission is to provide TAP at every location requested by the Armed Services or National Guard and 

Reserve Component. 

Employment Workshop Overview 

DoL is authorized by Chapter 58 of title 10, U.S. Code, to assist the DoD and VA 

in providing transition assistance services to separating servicemembers and their 

spouses. The role of VETS in this effort is to conduct employment workshops based 

on projections made by each of the Armed Services and the Department of Homeland Security for the U.S. Coast Guard. In the United States, Disabled Veteran Outreach Program (DVOP) specialists and Local Veterans Employment Representatives 

(LVER) lead most employment workshops. In some cases, due to the distances from 

some State Employment Offices to the military installations, and to assist with the 


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rapid growth of the program, contract facilitators were added in early Fiscal Year 

1992 and Federal staff in Fiscal Year 1996. In overseas locations, contract staff 

leads most workshops. 

To maintain a quality of service delivery and ensure uniformity between locations, 

all workshops use a common workbook and program of instruction. In addition, all 

facilitators, whether DVOP/LVER, Federal staff, or contract, are trained and certified by the National Veterans’ Training Institute. 

In Fiscal Year 2007, over 146,000 separating military personnel and spouses were 

trained in 4,716 employment workshops at military installations across the Nation 

and worldwide. In Fiscal Year 2008, VETS plans to provide employment workshops 

to over 150,000 servicemembers and spouses at military installations in the United 

States and overseas. 

The VETS employment workshop is a comprehensive 21⁄2 day session where participants learn about job searches, career decisionmaking, current occupational and 

labor market conditions, resume and cover letter preparation, and interviewing 

techniques. Participants are also provided an evaluation of their employability relative to the job market and receive information on the most current veterans’ benefits. Components of an employment workshop include: career self-assessment; resume development; job search and interview techniques; U.S. labor market information; civilian workplace requirements; and documentation of military skills. 

Reserve Component (RC) and National Guard (NG) Employment Workshop 

Global military commitments have necessitated a mobilization of Guard and Reserve members that is unprecedented in modern times. The longer mobilization periods result in these servicemembers now being eligible for veterans’ benefits, including TAP. The employment workshop is available for most servicemembers at one of 

the 215 transition offices located on military installations in the United States as 

well as overseas locations. 

However, Reserve and Guard members usually transition at fewer locations, referred to as demobilization sites. Typically the demobilization process is rapid, taking a matter of days once the servicemembers arrive back in the United States from 

overseas. For example, the Army standard is to demobilize units in 5 days, and it 

is not uncommon for military installations to get two or fewer days advance notice 

before returning troops arrive. During demobilization, servicemembers may be expected to participate in as many as 18 separate briefings or activities such as physical examinations at various locations. This leaves little or no time for a full 21⁄2

day employment workshop. Nevertheless, we have found that many Guard and Reserve servicemembers would benefit from such transition assistance. Our State Directors are working directly with the reserve and guard commanders to make special arrangements following demobilization in order to present a modified TAP employment workshop to Guard and Reserve servicemembers. 

Based on requests from Reserve Component Commanders or Adjutant Generals 

and through coordination with our VETS’ state directors, TAP employment workshops in some form have been conducted in most states. 

DoL State Directors have contacted each state Adjutant General to offer outreach 

and assistance to returning members of the Guard and Reserves during the demobilization process. We offered to tailor the workshops to the identified needs of the 

transitioning Reserve and Guard members. 

Since 2001 VETS has provided transition services to over 146,000 National Guard 

and Reservists. These transition services range in size and content from mobilization/demobilization briefing to the full scale TAP employment workshop. They are 

provided in 43 states and the District of Columbia. In some states National Guardsmen and Reservists have been allowed to attend the regular TAP for Active Component servicemembers. The services provided to the Guard and Reserve are tailored 

to the needs and requests by the DoD. 

Minnesota has been in the forefront of providing the needed transitional services 

to Guard and Reservists and has developed a program that is currently being reviewed for replication in other states. In early 2005, the state of Minnesota implemented the Transition Assistance Program to not only assist the contingent of active 

duty servicemembers within the state, but also, the National Guard and Reserves. 

Realizing the Guard and Reserve components need the same quality of transition 

assistance that their active component peers receive, emphasis was placed on coordination through the state’s Adjutant General (AG) down through individual units for 

implementation of the program as a part of the overall ‘‘Beyond the Yellow Ribbon’’ 

Reintegration efforts. The mini-TAP workshops or MN/TAP is a program designed 

primarily for the Reserve and Guard servicemembers who are limited in time to attend a full TAP. MN/TAP focuses on job search, resume and applications, interviewing, and follow-up. 


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To meet the transition needs of the National Guard and Reserves, in FY 2007, 

DoL directed the National Veterans’ Training Institute (NVTI) to develop a modular 

version of the TAP employment workshop. The traditional TAP employment workshop was turned into a 15-module menu that Reserve/National Guard commanders 

may choose from in providing these services to their unit members. This training 

includes a mandatory module that covers local labor market information, USERRA, 

the One-Stop Career Center system, small business opportunities, and the risks of 

homelessness. The other 14 modules consist of the current TAP employment workshop curriculum broken down into logical and connected blocks of instruction. This 

is not a new or separate curriculum for the RC/NG; rather it has been packaged 

to better serve the Reserve/National Guard community. 

Indiana Programs 

I have provided an overview of what is being done to assist those servicemembers 

transitioning from the military to civilian life. I would now like to focus on what 

we are doing in the state of Indiana. Recognizing the need to focus on and deal with 

the problems and issues military members often face several months or years following military service, many agencies came together to create the ‘‘Hoosier Veteran 

Seamless Transition Program’’. A formal Memorandum of Understanding was 

signed in 2006 by the Governor, Joint Forces Headquarters, Indiana Department of 

Veterans Affairs, U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Indiana Department of 

Workforce Development, U.S. Department of Labor’s Veterans’ Employment and 

Training Service, National Guard Family Assistance, Employer Support of the 

Guard and Reserves, Hoosier Veterans Assistance Foundation, TRICARE, American 

Legion, American Veterans, Disabled American Veterans, and Veterans of Foreign 

Wars. The purpose of the collaboration is to ensure that Indiana National Guard 

members, after deployment, are provided all necessary services and to help these 

returnees with the multitude of applications and benefits. 

Camp Atterbury is one of two major demobilization locations in the Chicago Region. The Indiana Department of Workforce Development has stationed a Local Veterans Employment Representative full-time at Camp Atterbury to participate in all 

demobilization briefings, to provide mini-TAP workshops, and to provide individualized employment services to those Guard members and Reservists that are demobilizing. Since January 1, 2008, the LVER has provided briefings to almost 900 demobilizing servicemembers and provided mini-TAP classes to over 300 servicemembers. Services provided by the LVER include: 

• Information on the One-Stop Career Centers, DVOPs, LVERs, Unemployment 

Compensation, and the services available through the One-Stop; and 

• Completion of a referral form for all demobilizing troops indicating a desire to 

receive employment assistance. These forms are forwarded to the appropriate 

VETS’ State Director (DVET) for action. 

An official TAP site is in the process of being established at Camp Atterbury for 

active duty soldiers. These servicemembers currently travel to Ft. Knox to attend 

TAP. It is projected that the Atterbury TAP site will be operational in July 2008. 

In closing, I again thank you for allowing me to address you today on this very 

important issue and program. I am happy to answer any questions you may have. 

f 

Prepared Statement of Jane Burke 

Principal Director, Military Community and 

Family Policy, U.S. Department of Defense 

Chairwoman Herseth Sandlin and distinguished Members of the Committee: 

thank you for the opportunity to discuss what the Department of Defense (DoD) is 

doing to provide servicemembers and their families with the information and resources necessary to facilitate a successful transition from military to civilian life. 

We require a great deal from our servicemembers and their families, whether they 

be Active, National Guard, or Reserve, and I want to affirm the Department’s steadfast commitment to them. 

Returning to private life after serving in the military is a very complex undertaking. To assist them in doing so, we must empower our servicemembers with the 

tools and information they need to develop individual solutions to the challenges 

they may face as they return to civilian life. Service members’ and their families 

most immediate goals are finding a job, changing careers, enrolling in higher education, and ultimately improving their economic quality of life. 


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Federal Collaboration 

I am impressed by the dedication and willingness of all our Federal partners to 

provide an assortment of highly desirable transition services. You can be truly 

proud of the manner in which the DoD, Department of Labor (DoL), and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have continued to enthusiastically support our men 

and women in uniform. The sustained interest and support of this Committee is also 

vital to our efforts. 

The three Federal departments have been working together in earnest for well 

over a decade. The many professionals within these departments are bringing DoD, 

DoL, and the VA even closer together for a common goal of preparing servicemembers and their families for military life and transition into the civilian community at a pace greater than at any time before. Examples of our increasingly focused 

efforts include the Transition Assistance Program Steering Committee and the Secretary of Labor’s Advisory Committee on Veterans Employment, Training, and Employer Outreach (ACVETEO). DoD and VA also continue to partner extensively 

through the VA/DoD Joint Executive Council (JEC), the Benefits Executive Council 

(BEC), and the Health Executive Council (HEC). 

The rest of my statement today will touch on the many programs, actions, and 

activities under way that reflect the shared commitment to delivering transition assistance, employment assistance, and benefits information to our servicemembers 

and their families. 

Office of Personal Finance and Transition (PF&T) 

The DoD has undergone a paradigm shift and adopted a new philosophy with respect to assisting our transitioning servicemembers and their families. Recognizing 

that financial readiness, military and veterans benefits, and transition assistance 

are closely linked to one another and must be addressed as a whole, the Office of 

the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Military Community and Family Policy 

(ODUSD (MC&FP)) established its newest directorate, the Office of Personal Finance and Transition (PF&T), this past March. 

Combining oversight for both the Financial Readiness Program and the Transition 

Assistance Program (TAP), previously operating independently within separate Office of the Secretary of Defense directorates, the office is responsible for a broad 

range of policies, educational programs, and resource services that address both the 

financial readiness and transition assistance needs of military members and their 

families. 

Through education, counseling, and an inventory of high-tech and interactive resources and programs, PF&T is responsible for ensuring all military members and 

their families have access to the tools necessary to attain economic security throughout their military careers and beyond and to make educated decisions regarding 

their next military career milestones and ultimate transitions to the civilian workforce. Ensuring military members and their families have an accurate and complete 

understanding of both military and veterans’ benefits, and how application of those 

benefits affects their individual transition and economic security plans, can have 

significant retention implications, which, in turn, can contribute to mission and 

force readiness. Part of the office’s philosophy is that military life is a series of key 

transitions, and that ‘‘transition assistance’’ is a lifelong process, required for these 

transitions within the military just as much as it is for the transition out of the 

military. 

With a mission inclusive of all Services and components (Active Duty, National 

Guard, and Reserve) and their families, PF&T is establishing a national network 

of financial and transition professionals and resources through a ‘‘train-the-trainer’’ 

approach to ensure the DoD is responsive to the financial readiness and transition 

needs of state Adjutant Generals and Governors, military regions and installations, 

and individual units. Additionally, this new approach will ensure 24/7 global access 

of educational resources and individualized financial and transition plans using the 

latest technology and multiple delivery methodologies throughout the servicemembers’ and their families’ life cycle. 

However, while this represents the future vision of the nature of transition assistance, it is important to discuss the formal TAP as it exists today to show how it 

currently assists our troops and families. 

Transition Assistance Program 

Since its inception in 1990, the goal of TAP has been to provide servicemembers 

and their families the skills, tools, knowledge, and self-confidence necessary for a 

successful reentry into the Nation’s civilian workforce. The goal is to help prepare 

them to move into the job market or an educational institution. We deliver TAP 

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ment of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Education (ED), the Small 

Business Administration (SBA), the National Veterans Business Development Corp., 

and other Federal, state, local and non-profit organizations. The Veterans Service 

and Military Service Organizations provide outstanding support to TAP and to our 

servicemembers and their families at both the national and local levels. 

There are four key components to TAP, the responsibility for each shared among 

DoD, Labor, and the VA. 

Preseparation Counseling is the first component of TAP. This counseling is 

mandatory for separating and retiring servicemembers and all eligible demobilizing 

members of the National Guard and Reserve. The Military Services are responsible 

for providing Preseparation Counseling. Servicemembers are introduced to information about employment opportunities and how to go about finding a job. Also during 

this phase of TAP, Active Component servicemembers, looking for a job post-military, are encouraged to attend a DoL TAP Employment Workshop. For the National 

Guard and Reserve, similar information is provided geared to their needs. The 

Guard and Reserve receive a Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment 

Rights Act (USERRA) briefing. USERRA briefings are scheduled at installation demobilization sites in coordination with the demobilization commander. National 

Guard and Reserve personnel are also informed, during the Preseparation Counseling session, about the services available to them at the DoL One-Stop Career 

Centers. Surveys show that the overwhelming majority of the Guard and Reserve 

activated have jobs when they are activated; therefore, they have jobs to which they 

will return. However, members looking for jobs or a career change are encouraged 

to visit and register with the One-Stop Career Center nearest their residence, once 

they return home. 

While at the demobilization station, they get information about their eligibility to 

receive employment assistance and other transition services up to 180 days after demobilization from any of the Military Services Transition Offices and DoL One-Stop 

Career Centers. 

In addition to the DoL Employment Workshops, the Military Services provide a 

vast array of additional employment seminars and one-on-one counseling to servicemembers. This extensive assistance covers resume and cover letter writing, information about electronic job banks and Internet access to automated employment tools 

(resume writer, cover letter and job assistance tutorials), tools on salary negotiation; 

location of job fairs, details about Federal employment workshops and seminars, opportunities for post military employment networking, relocation assistance, information about government partnerships for employment and training, benefits for members who are involuntarily separated, employer panels, and information about Veterans benefits (including disability benefits). 

The second component of TAP is the DoL TAP Employment Workshop. Attendance is voluntary for Active Duty servicemembers and their spouses, with the 

exception of the Marine Corps, which has made attending the DoL Employment 

Workshop mandatory. The curriculum, facilitators, workshop materials, data collection and analysis related to the employment workshops are the responsibility of 

DoL. Servicemembers receive information on labor market conditions, assessing individual skills and competencies, how to write effective resumes and cover letters, 

proper interviewing techniques, and the best methods of searching for jobs. They 

also learn how to use electronic employment data banks. Finally, they get information addressing the special employment needs of those separating with a disability. 

The third component of TAP is the VA Benefits Briefing. Attendance at the 

VA Benefits Briefing is voluntary for Active Component servicemembers. The briefing addresses education and training, health care, home loans, life insurance, vocational rehabilitation and employment (VR&E), disability benefits, burial benefits, 

and dependents’ and survivors’ benefits. 

Demobilizing National Guard and Reserve servicemembers receive a VA briefing 

which also includes information on Disabled Transition Assistance Program (DTAP). 

The materials, information, counselors, and all data collection and analysis related 

to the VA Benefits Briefings are the responsibility of the VA. 

The fourth component of TAP is the Disabled Transition Assistance Program. Attendance at DTAP is voluntary for Active Component servicemembers and 

is a separate briefing. DTAP is for servicemembers and veterans who have, or suspect they have a service-connected disability or an injury or illness that was aggravated by service. During the DTAP briefing, VA addresses VR&E, sometimes referred to as Chapter 31. DTAP addresses the five tracks to employment: re-employment, rapid access to employment, employment through long term services, independent living services, and self employment. DTAP also addresses other services 

such as medical, dental, optical, mental health treatment, special adapted housing, 

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eral employment. VA provides all materials and information, counselors, data collection and any analysis related to DTAP. 

We also cannot overlook the many options for Federal employment such as Veterans Recruitment Appointment (VRA), Veterans Employment Opportunities Act 

(VEOA), Appointment of 30 percent or More Disabled Veterans, Federal Career Intern Program (FCIP), SBA, and the National Veterans Business Development Corp. 

Programs for those who want to start their own business or franchise. 

Finally, as a result of recommendations from the VA’s Returning Global War on 

Terror Heroes Task Force, DoD has established a goal for TAP and DTAP attendance of 85 percent for separating servicemembers and demobilizing National Guard 

and Reserve Forces. To meet this goal, we have tasked the Services to allow servicemembers to attend these sessions so they have access to the employment resources 

they need to help them transition into the workforce or into an educational institution. In partnership with the DoL and VA, a lifelong learning approach to transition 

assistance is being developed, to include the redesign and modernize of existing TAP 

curriculum and course objectives for the four components of TAP. TAP will be designed into a ‘‘purple’’ solution for transition assistance using highly interactive features hosted on the TurboTAP website and multi-media mobile learning technologies (m-learning) to deliver program modules as stand-alone, web-based, and hybrid courses with a blend of web-based and traditional classroom instruction. The 

TAP will also provide instructors and facilitators with access to the latest interactive technologies and teaching methodologies to maximize student participation 

and increase effectiveness and value of course curriculum, regardless of delivery location. This modernization of the TAP programs will provide global 24/7 access and 

increased quality control of TAP and enable commanders to meet the 85 percent 

goal while enhancing the servicemembers’ and their spouses’ learning experience. 

TurboTAP 

There is much concern about how we can better serve the National Guard and 

Reserve Components coming from Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF)/Operation 

Iraqi Freedom (OIF). As I’ve stated earlier, we are leveraging technology in its many 

forms to change how the National Guard and Reserve members transition out of the 

military, in addition to serving as a valuable tool for the Active Component servicemembers as well. This leveraging has resulted in what we call ‘‘TurboTAP’’. 

When TAP was originally developed in 1990, we did not design it with the needs 

of the National Guard and Reserves in mind. Their mission has changed dramatically since 9–11 and the requirements, with respect to TAP, warrant a fresh look. 

To better meet the needs of the Guard and Reserves, DoD, with the cooperation and 

collaboration of the Military Services, National Guard Bureau (NGB), DoL, VA, ED, 

SBA, and the National Veterans Business Development Corp., has designed a dynamic, automated web-based system for delivery of transition assistance and related 

information. The TurboTAPweb portal, launched in 2007, allows each servicemember, regardless of component, to obtain a lifelong account and a tailored Individual Transition Plan based on their transition needs which can also connect them 

to information on military and veterans benefits, many of which have significant 

cash value. Examples include the Montgomery GI Bill, the Thrift Savings Plan and 

the Savings Deposit Program. 

This portal architecture is the backbone of the updated DoD TAP process for National Guard and Reserve servicemembers. Usability, flexibility, adaptability, and 

individual customization are the keys to successful implementation of this new technology-enabled process. The goal for this system is to increase servicemember participation, satisfaction, and ultimately, enhance awareness of military benefits for 

recruitment, retention, and transition. 

We continue to be encouraged by the possibilities for TurboTAP. Military personnel can access a comprehensive Transition Guide for Guard and Reserve and a 

Pre-separation Guide for the Active Component, obtain employment information, 

build a resume online, conduct a job search, contact and locate their local One-Stop 

Career Center for employment assistance, locate the nearest VA Regional Office, Vet 

Center, and Medical Center, use helpful checklists reminding troops of key things 

to do prior to leaving the Service, be connected to information about VA benefits, 

services, and programs, and the list goes on. 

TurboTAP better meets the needs of the National Guard, Reserve, and Active 

Component servicemembers and their families because the website gives them the 

tools to connect and access the information to meet their needs when they are 

ready—present or future. This is a 21st century approach to delivering individualized information and benefits to servicemembers and families. We plan to make the 

transition to an online transaction, much like banking and bill paying have become. 

The success and accountability of the transition will be managed online versus a 


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form being hand carried to a personnel file. As we continue to expand the capabilities of the website, we will solicit your approval and legislative support. 

The site can be accessed at www.TurboTAP.org. 

Outreach, Counseling, and Decision-Making Tools 

There are multiple ‘‘high-tech, high-touch’’ initiatives, both online and in person, 

that exist to better serve our troops and families with their transition, financial 

readiness, and benefits awareness needs. 

In the Fall of 2007, DoD TurboTAP Mobile Training Teams began training the 

National Guard and Reserves. These highly specialized outreach teams travel to 

State level deployment support and reintegration programs at the request of National Guard and Reserve Component leaders to connect servicemembers to the benefits they have earned through military service. The TurboTAP Mobile Training 

Teams provide information about transition assistance, service-related benefits, and 

related on-demand financial counseling services. By the end of 2009, DoD’s goal is 

to have the TurboTAP Mobile Training Teams fully integrated into deployment support, transition assistance, and financial awareness programs in all 50 states. By 

coupling financial assistance with transition assistance, servicemembers will better 

understand how their benefits can help them reach their military career, personal 

and family goals and provide economic security throughout their lifetime. 

DoD is expanding and enhancing its network of financial professionals to provide 

financial counseling and planning services to meet the needs of all our servicemembers and families, ranging from budgeting and debt consolidation to advanced 

financial planning. To augment our own network of contracted financial professionals, DoD is building and expanding relationships with United States Department of Agriculture Cooperative Extension educational institutions, community colleges, universities, non-profit financial readiness partner organizations, financial 

planning associations, and DoD on-installation banks and credit unions to provide 

our troops with a variety of financial planning and counseling resources. A key to 

the success of expanding resources and partnerships is the train-the-trainer program being developed by DoD. The websites and multimedia mobile learning technologies (m-learning) will deliver train-the-trainer program modules as stand-alone, 

web-based, and hybrid courses with a blend of web-based and traditional classroom 

instruction. Benefits awareness and an understanding of how these benefits fit into 

a larger financial wellness plan can act as a powerful retention tool, or, should the 

member still decide to leave the Service, can assist tremendously with the decisionmaking process for a second career. 

Additionally, at the request of National Guard and Reserve units, the Department 

is dispatching consultants with financial readiness specialties to attend special 

events such as drill weekends, reintegration, pre-deployment, and wellness fairs, to 

meet with Guard and Reserve members and families and provide education on many 

aspects of financial readiness and transition. 

One of the newest key outreach and benefits awareness initiatives is the Joint 

Family Support and Assistance Program (JFSAP). Originally started in 15 States 

and now projected to expand to all 50 (to include the four territories) by the end 

of 2009, the JFSAP facilitates partnerships among Federal, state and local organizations, builds benefits and transition assistance outreach for deploying units, and resources a vital state by state database for around the clock family assistance. 

Through partnerships with such groups as the Red Cross, JFSAP will help reach 

servicemembers and their families within each State, especially the geographically 

dispersed families of the National Guard and Reserve, to ensure they are aware of 

and can easily be connected to benefits within their area. In this manner, we can 

contribute to the financial well-being of all troops and families, and in keeping with 

the new DoD philosophy, leverage this awareness as a retention tool. 

Regarding financial tools, DoD is committed to providing our servicemembers and 

families with those that will enable them to truly enhance their financial wellness 

and economic security. DoD is building a catalog of resources through technology, 

expanding online counseling and mentoring tools, and researching and providing 

more decisionmaking calculators for financial career decisions to help troops address 

the question that all servicemembers eventually have to confront: ‘‘Should I go or 

should I stay?’’ 

Three of the key online resources sponsored by DoD that contain transition, financial, and benefits information are Military OneSource (www.militaryonesource.com), 

Military Home Front (www.militaryhomefront.DoD.mil), and TurboTap 

(www.turbotap.org). 

Military OneSource provides support services 24/7 for all troops and their families, including the Guard and Reserves, regardless of their mobilization status, and 

offers free, convenient access to confidential resource and referral support. When a 


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servicemember or spouse calls or emails, a master’s level consultant provides assistance. Military OneSource is especially beneficial to those geographically separated 

from installation services or those who are unable to seek assistance during traditional working hours. The ‘‘Money Matters’’ section of Military OneSource contains 

financial calculators, DVDs, CDs, and informational pamphlets to assist a family in 

its financial plan. Additionally, Military OneSource now features telephonic financial counseling to augment those programs provided by the Services. 

Military Home Front is DoD’s ‘‘Google’’ for quality of life information. As a sister 

site to Military OneSource, MilitaryHOMEFRONT is the library of DoD information 

on quality of life issues—to include transition and financial readiness—useful to installation staff and policy makers. In Fiscal Year 2007, there were over 1.7 million 

visits to the site. 

MilitaryHOMEFRONT, in coordination with the JFSAP, has introduced the 

MySTATE database (www.mystate.mhf.DoD.mil), a powerful new tool providing 

State and local servicemembers and their families across the Nation with access to 

various organizations and businesses that offer special discounts and services specifically for military personnel and their families. MySTATE includes State directories, locations of programs and services, maps, directions and much more. The 

website also gives users the opportunity to provide feedback on the organizations 

or businesses listed. 

Credentialing and Certification 

While in the Service, servicemembers receive extensive, high-quality training in 

a wide range of military professional fields (referred to as MOS’s and Rates). The 

training, combined with military work experience, contributes significantly to a 

highly skilled workforce. Making the conversion from military occupations and skill 

sets to civilian jobs and certification presents challenges for transitioning military 

members. It is critical that DoD assist these troops in overcoming these challenges 

since credentials help pave the way to immediate employment in the civilian world 

and long term economic security. 

In response, DoD, in partnership with the DoL, formed the Credentialing Working 

Group to address the issue of the conversion of military training and experience into 

nationally recognized industry accepted certifications. The Working Group is carrying out its mission by expanding current information, leveraging assistance resources, and promoting uniformity and reciprocity across the States with regard to 

certification, licensing, and apprenticeship to assist and prepare individuals to transition into civilian life with credentials for high-wage high-demand jobs that can 

provide economic security. 

Conclusion 

In conclusion, our servicemembers and their families have sacrificed much in support of the Global War on Terror. Our military is experiencing a dynamic deployment cycle of unprecedented levels. It is DoD’s duty to provide our troops with the 

decisionmaking tools they need to help them with the key financial and transition 

decision points in their life to enable them to execute their individual career and 

economic security plans. The new DoD Office of PF&T in partnership with other 

Federal and private agencies will get us there. 

Madame Chairwoman, on behalf of the men and women in the military today and 

their families, I thank you and the Members of the Committee for your steadfast 

support during these demanding times. 

f 

Prepared Statement of James A. Whitson 

Director, Eastern Area, Veterans Benefits Administration 

U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs 

Madame Chairwoman and Members of the Subcommittee, I appreciate the opportunity to appear before you today to discuss the Department of Veterans Affairs 

(VA) Transition Assistance Program (TAP) and other outreach efforts to support 

separating servicemembers and their families during their transition from military 

to civilian life. I am accompanied by Mr. Dennis Kuewa, Director of the Indianapolis 

Regional Office. My testimony today will cover the comprehensive transitional assistance VA provides to all servicemembers, including members of the National 

Guard and Reserves, as well as the current outreach efforts by the Indianapolis Regional Office. 


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VA Outreach Efforts 

VA currently conducts outreach initiatives to servicemembers that explain VA 

benefits at various stages of enlistment, as well as following discharge. Many of 

these activities are done in conjunction with the Department of Defense (DoD). VA 

and DoD are working through joint initiatives to ensure wide dissemination of information on the array of benefits and services available to servicemembers; including 

health care, educational assistance, home loans, vocational rehabilitation and employment, disability compensation, pension, insurance, burial, and memorial services. 

Transition Assistance Program (TAP) 

Transition Assistance Program (TAP) briefings are conducted nationwide and in 

Europe to prepare retiring or separating military personnel for return to civilian 

life. At these briefings, servicemembers are informed of the array of VA benefits and 

services available, instructed on how to complete VA application forms, and advised 

on what evidence is needed to support their claims. Following the general instruction segment, personal interviews are conducted with those servicemembers who 

would like assistance in preparing and submitting their applications for compensation and/or vocational rehabilitation and employment benefits. 

Disabled Transition Assistance Program (DTAP) 

Disabled Transition Assistance Program (DTAP) is an integral component of transition assistance for servicemembers who may be released because of disability. 

Through VA’s DTAP briefings, VBA advises transitioning servicemembers about the 

benefits available through VBA’s Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program (VR&E). The goal of DTAP is to encourage and assist potentially eligible 

servicemembers to make an informed decision about the VR&E program and expedite delivery of these services to eligible persons. 

While TAP and DTAP briefings are central to VA’s efforts to inform servicemembers about VA benefits and services, VA also provides briefings to servicemembers about military separation and retirement services programs, military medical facilities, Physical Evaluation Boards, Casualty Assistance Services, and various 

other military liaison activities. 

The chart below reflects the number of briefings and personal interviews conducted by VBA representatives for the past 5 years. This includes briefings conducted for regular active duty military members, pre- and post-deployment briefings 

for Reserve and National Guard members, and briefings conducted overseas. VA has 

increased the number of briefings presented by 39.6 percent since 2003. 

Fiscal Year Briefings Attendees Interviews 

2003 5,840 210,015 102,402 

2004 7,834 276,574 122,120 

2005 8,184 326,664 124,092 

2006 8,541 393,345 93,431 

2007 8,154 296,855 100,976 

2008 

(Through March 2008) 3,962 161,749 39,917 

Veterans Assistance at Discharge System (VADS) 

VA also distributes information on benefits and services through the Veterans Assistance at Discharge System (VADS), which generates a ‘‘Welcome Home Package’’ 

for all recently separated veterans (including Reserve and National Guard members). The package contains a letter from the Secretary, pamphlets describing VA 

benefits and services, and a benefits timetable. In addition to the VADS mailings, 

a separate personal letter from the Secretary, along with benefits information, is 

sent to each returning servicemember. 

Vocal Rehabilitation (VR&E) ‘‘Five Tracks to Employment’’ 

Based on the 2004 Secretary’s Task Force on Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment, VA redesigned the delivery of VR&E benefits into a program that emphaVerDate Aug 31 2005 01:01 Dec 20, 2008 Jkt 043053 PO 00000 Frm 00081 Fmt 6604 Sfmt 6621 E:\HR\OC\A053.XXX A053

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sizes veterans’ informed choice and employment at the beginning of the process. 

This redesign, entitled the ‘‘Five Tracks to Employment’’ process, included the development and implementation of a standardized orientation program, creation of the 

new Employment Coordinator position, training for the new Employment Coordinators, training for all field staff on the Five Tracks to Employment process, creation 

of an online employment services website—www.Vetsuccess.gov, and the establishment of Job Resource Labs in all regional offices. 

The Employment Coordinator (EC) serves as an expert in the VR&E program to 

provide services to enhance veterans’ job readiness and assist veterans to become 

employed within their interests, aptitudes, and abilities. The EC also serves as an 

expert about the local labor market, assisting Vocational Rehabilitation Counselors 

to develop rehabilitation plans that match current employer hiring demands. The 

EC works collaboratively with the Department of Labor VETS program Disabled 

Veterans Outreach Program Specialists (DVOPS) and Local Veterans Employment 

Representatives (LVERS) in the provision of direct job placement services for veterans and also partners with community employers to develop future career opportunities for veterans served through the VR&E program. Combined, all of these activities serve to focus the VR&E program on its most vital outcome goal of assisting 

veterans to obtain and maintain suitable employment. 

Benefits Delivery at Discharge 

The Benefits Delivery at Discharge (BDD) program is an initiative jointly sponsored by VA and DoD. The program provides transition assistance to separating or 

retiring servicemembers who have disabilities related to their military service. VA 

began accepting disability compensation claims from servicemembers in the BDD 

program at 3 VA regional offices and 3 Army installations in 1995. National expansion of the program began in 1998. In November 2004, VA and DoD signed a national memorandum of agreement to establish a single cooperative examination that 

meets the requirements of a military separation examination and a VA disability 

rating examination. 

Current BDD program participants include 40 regional offices and 153 military 

installations (142 DoD sites and 11 Homeland Security Coast Guard sites). This 

number includes 5 locations overseas (3 in Korea and 2 in Germany). Participation 

in the BDD program is offered to servicemembers who are within 60 to 180 days 

of release from active duty and who remain in the area in order to complete the 

medical examinations. 

Disability Evaluation System (DES) 

In response to recommendations by the Dole-Shalala Commission, West/Marsh 

Independent Review Group, Secretary Nicholson’s Global War on Terrorism Returning Heroes Commission and the Veterans Disability Benefits Commission, VA and 

DoD launched a Disability Evaluation System (DES) pilot on November 27, 2007, 

scheduled to run for 1 year. The pilot program differs from the existing DoD DES 

process in the following significant ways: 1. VA is brought into the process at the 

Medical Evaluation Board (MEB) stage, counseling the servicemember and taking 

a claim for disability compensation; 2. one examination is performed according to 

VA protocols, normally done by VA, which forms the basis for the MEB and Physical 

Evaluation Board (PEB) decisionmaking as well as the VA disability rating, should 

the member be found unfit. If the PEB determines that the member is unfit, VA 

assigns the evaluation for the unfit condition(s) as well as any other claimed conditions. The VA rating for the unfit condition is generally binding on DoD for purposes 

of determining the amount of severance pay or placement on the temporary or permanent disability retired list. In conjunction with the DES pilot, VA is also initiating enhanced data sharing between DoD and VA regarding medical information. 

Seamless Transition Program 

With the onset of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), VA expanded its outreach efforts even further with the Seamless Transition Program. In 2003, VA began to assign permanent, full-time representatives at 

key military treatment facilities where seriously injured OEF/OIF returnees are 

hospitalized; including Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Bethesda Naval Medical 

Center, Eisenhower Medical Center, Brooke Medical Center, and Madigan Army 

Medical Center. 

VA representatives at these facilities provide benefits information and assist in 

filing claims. They monitor patient progress and coordinate the submission and 

smooth transfer of claims to VA regional offices. Each veteran’s claim is then casemanaged at the appropriate regional office of jurisdiction to expedite processing. Additionally, VA assigns special benefits counselors, social workers, and case-managers 


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to work with these servicemembers and their families throughout the transition to 

VA care and benefits systems to ensure expedited delivery of all benefits. 

VA also began hiring Recovery Care Coordinators, who are charged with assisting 

seriously ill, injured, or wounded servicemembers navigate the various systems and 

benefits programs to which they may be entitled. 

National Guard and Reserve Members 

In peacetime, outreach to Reserve and National Guard members is generally accomplished on an ‘‘on call’’ or ‘‘as requested’’ basis. But, with the onset of Operations 

Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) and the activation and deployment of large numbers of Reserve and National Guard members, VBA’s outreach to 

this group has been greatly expanded. VA has made arrangements with Reserve 

and Guard officials to schedule briefings for members being mobilized and demobilized. These benefits briefings for Guard and Reserve members increased from 821 

briefings for more than 46,000 attendees in FY 2003 to over 1,800 briefings for more 

than 96,000 attendees in FY 2007. 

Fiscal Year Briefings Attendees Interviews 

2003 821 46,675 N/A 

2004 1,399 88,366 N/A 

2005 1,984 118,658 N/A 

2006 1,298 93,361 10,515 

2007 1,868 96,355 11,488 

2008 791 56,372 5,377 

VA has also published a brochure, A Summary of VA Benefits for National Guard 

and Reserve Personnel, which is widely distributed to Guard and Reserve units. A 

special page on VA’s main Web site is dedicated for use by Guard and Reserve members. 

Transition Assistance Advisors (TAAs) 

A memorandum of agreement was signed in 2005 between the Department of Veterans Affairs and the National Guard Bureau to institutionalize a partnership and 

to support better communication between the two. VA is encouraging state National 

Guard Coalitions to improve local communication and coordination of benefits briefings to assure that National Guard and Reserve members are fully aware of benefits. As a part of this partnership, the National Guard Bureau employs 57 Transition Assistance Advisors (TAA) for the 50 states and 4 territories. 

The TAA’s primary function is to serve as the statewide point of contact and coordinator. They also provide advice regarding VA benefits and services to Guard members and their families and assist in resolving problems with VA healthcare, benefits, and TRICARE. VA and the National Guard Bureau teamed up at the beginning 

of the program in February 2006 to provide training to the TAAs on VA services 

and benefits as well, as define their role as VA advocates. VA has participated in 

subsequent annual refresher training, as well as monthly TAA conference calls. 

Outreach for Indiana Servicemembers 

The Indianapolis Regional Office (RO) conducts several outreach initiatives for Indiana veterans and servicemembers. In FY 2007, the RO conducted more than 40 

briefings, attended by over 6,000 active-duty personnel and their families. Through 

March 2008, the RO conducted 16 briefings for over 1,600 attendees. 

As of March 2008, the RO Veterans Service Center and VR&E Division jointly 

provided a full-time presence at the Roudebush VA Medical Center Seamless Transition Integrated Care Clinic (STICC). To provide better services to veterans in 

Northern Indiana, the VR&E Division operates a satellite office at the Northern Indiana Healthcare System Medical Center in Ft. Wayne, Indiana. The RO is also in 

the process of establishing an out-based office at both Camp Atterbury and in Logansport, Indiana. The Indianapolis VR&E Division has established a number of 

working partnerships with Federal, State, and local government entities. One of the 

partnerships includes a pilot program with the Crane Learning and Employment 

Center for Veterans with Disabilities. Veterans who complete the program are offered jobs at the Naval Support Activity at Crane, Indiana. 


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Madame Chairwoman, we at VA are proud of our continuing role in the transition 

of servicemembers from military to civilian life, and seek to continually improve the 

quality and breadth of our outreach efforts to active duty, Reserve, and National 

Guard members. 

Thank you for allowing me to appear before you today. I would be pleased to respond to any questions from Members of the Subcommittee. 

f 

Prepared Statement of Charles T. ‘‘Tom’’ Applegate 

Director, Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs, Indianapolis, IN 

Ms. Chairwoman and Members of the Subcommittee: 

I’m honored to be here today to speak to you on behalf of the Indiana Department 

of Veterans Affairs. My Department supervises Indiana’s ninety-one (91) County 

Veterans’ Service Officers who, in turn, represent the veterans of Indiana. 

I am proud to be able to say that the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs was 

one of the first in the Nation to partner with the State Adjutant General of the National Guard to bring first-class transition services to the officers and enlisted members of that organization. Since our first workshop in Portage, Indiana on 29 April 

2006, we have helped to transition 1,078 National Guard men and women back into 

civilian society. 

The official Memorandum of Understanding was signed by Governor Mitch Daniels in a public ceremony at the Indiana Statehouse on March 17, 2006. That MOU 

established the Hoosier Veterans Seamless Transition Program (HVSTP) to assist 

Active Reserve Forces, which includes the Indiana National Guard and Reserves, 

with the transition to civilian life upon returning from active-duty overseas. 

Governor Daniels remarked, ‘‘Our veterans have performed the most important 

public service of all. We are a state of patriots and we should do everything we can 

to assist and thank these men and women who have given so much for our benefit.’’ 

The program ensures that returning veterans are provided with assistance related 

to their transition from military active-duty to civilian life, including necessary medical care, information about benefits and entitlements, and employment. The 

HVSTP is a partnership between the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs, Joint 

Forces Headquarters, U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of Veterans 

Affairs (Benefits), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (Health), the National 

Guard Family Assistance Offices, the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserves 

(ESGR), TRICARE, Indiana Workforce Development, and the Hoosier Veterans Assistance Foundation as well as other state veterans’ service providers. 

The Governor was joined by Adjutant General R. Martin Umbarger, myself from 

the Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs, and representatives from various veterans service organizations across the state, including the American Legion, VFW, 

AMVETS, and the Disabled American Veterans. 

The workshops enable the participants who have not already done so to enroll in 

the VA Health Care System, file a claim for service-connected disabilities they may 

have sustained while on active duty, receive readjustment counseling from either 

the Operation Enduring Freedom/Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) counselors 

from the VA Medical Centers or from the counselors at a local Vet Center, resolve 

any employment difficulties they may be experiencing, find resolution for any 

TRICARE problems, enroll in family assistance weekends, and learn of any state 

veterans’ benefits to which they may be entitled. 

This program has been highly successful and the participants themselves have 

scored the workshops with high marks. 

On 17 March 2006 Governor Daniels also signed Senate Bill 75 which established 

the Military Family Relief Fund (MFRF). This fund provides grants for the families 

of Hoosier members of the Indiana National Guard or Armed Forces Reserves who 

have been called to active duty since September 11, 2001. A portion of the money 

for the fund is raised through the sale of the ‘‘Hoosier Veteran’’ license plate and 

the new ‘‘Support Our Troops’’ plate created by the bill. The fund can be used by 

the reservist or their family for things such as non-receipt of pay, loss of funds, medical, dental & hospital expenses, clothing, utilities, fire or other disasters, essential 

private owned vehicle, unexpected repairs/maintenance, dependent funeral expenses, emergency travel, rent, or food. 

To be eligible, the servicemember must have been on active duty orders for 30 

days or more and the cause of the financial difficulty must be connected to the mobilization or deployment. Eligibility extends to 6 months after being released from 

their active duty orders. 


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To date this fund has provided grants to the families of National Guard and Reserve members totaling over $100,000. 

On May 3, 2007 the Governor signed Senate Enrolled Act 480 which established 

the Veterans Affairs Trust Fund. Once a funding source is established, this fund 

will provide the same kind of relief for members of the active duty and their families 

and for members of the general veterans’ community. 

On March 24, 2008 Governor Daniels signed HB 1249 (IC 21–14–10) which provides a remission of tuition fees at state supported colleges and universities for recipients of the Purple Heart medal. This will assist those returnees who suffered 

injuries resulting in the receipt of this medal to attend college tuition-free. 

State law also provides that National Guard and Reserve members who are employed by the State of Indiana and who are called to active duty in the Guard or 

Reserves, will receive the difference between their military pay and their state salary. 

Senate Bill 480 also provides a tax break to returnees the year following their return. Any military pay earned during the entire duration of their active duty orders 

is exempt from state taxes, not just the time they served in a combat zone. This 

will provide a tremendous relief to this group of taxpayers. 

We have recently learned that some of these men and women return to Indiana 

and face the possibility of becoming homeless. This is totally unacceptable and the 

Indiana Department of Veterans Affairs has lately become more involved in preventing this condition for those who have given so much for their state and Nation. 

In conclusion, I wish to thank the House Committee on Veteran’s Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity for the opportunity to present this testimony. 

Æ 


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