Gates: Wounded troops face too much bureaucracy

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Gates: Wounded troops face too much bureaucracy
By Kimberly Hefling - The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Oct 26, 2009 14:32:05 EDT

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Monday that troops injured in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to face too many bureaucratic hurdles.

Paperwork alone for them can be “frustrating, adversarial, and unnecessarily complex,” Gates said.

Gates spoke at a mental health summit with Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki. By appearing publicly together, they sought to reinforce their commitment to tackling veterans’ health issues and the stigma associated with seeking mental health care.

Earlier this year, they pledged with President Barack Obama to create a system that would make it easier for the Pentagon and VA to exchange information so there is less of a wait for veterans to get disability benefits. The VA is struggling with a backlogged disability claims system with hundreds of thousands of claims that need to be processed.

Among U.S. troops who have fought in the recent wars, Gates says brain injuries and mental health ailments are “widespread, entrenched and insidious.” He noted that a RAND Corp. study last year estimated that there could be more than 600,000 service members with traumatic brain injuries or mental health issues.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/10/ap_wounded_gates_102609/