Examining Leadership Issues with Veteran Agency

Examining Leadership Issues with Veteran Agency

President Reagan constituted the veteran agency. It was an agency aimed at offering soldiers the support they needed after coming back from combat. It was also meant to be a sign of goodwill to the soldiers. The State felt a need to honor their courage and determination in defending the nation. This agency provided services like health, compensation programs, and any other assistance these soldiers may need. The department as well is supposed to offer education and rehabilitation programs to the veterans as they struggle to fit back to society. However, this department has been met with severe critics. Some veterans have raised claims regarding their lack of support. They hinted negligence from the department towards their needs. In a sense, one would attribute ignorance to the agency. However, the main challenge is based on the leadership of the agency. Poor leadership and management have depicted a tinted picture of an agency that was supposed to be a reflection of the country’s gratitude to the veterans. This paper addresses leadership issues within the veteran agency leading to negligence of the nation’s heroes.

A report released in September 2015 hinted at a leadership crisis devouring the department of the veteran agency. (Reichel, et al. 2019). These crises were impairing the service deliverance to the veterans. Their health care delivery system was not fulfilling. The health care delivery system served over nine million soldiers. It was a bill that was passed into law by congress amidst claims that it was undeserving. However, it is essential to note that the allegations were unacceptable. The veteran soldiers dedicated their life to serving the country. They underwent severe challenges and dangerous situations. Others died in the course of protecting the integrity and values of the nation.  Research has indicated that one in ten soldiers returning from battle suffers from traumatic disorder and as a high chance of developing mental issues. Others returned with damaged body parts or amputated limbs. (Scott, 2017). Amid dismissal from service, veteran soldiers are promised to award from the government. It is this department of veteran affairs that deals with their issues. Among many responsibilities of this department is to ensure health care services to the veteran soldiers. The department is set to set up facilities that follow up on the health performance of these soldiers. Their health is always at risk considering what they go through in wars. As such, setting up an agency to deal with their issues was the noblest thing a nation could do for them. Those raising critics of the agency had other intentions.

Nevertheless, some veterans have raised concerns regarding the agency. They have hinted on poor services about compensation and health service delivery. Those could be construed to mean a deep problem lay within the agency. The report tabled for the U.S veteran department added weight to the allegations raised by some veterans.

The department originates from the war of 1776. During this time, the congress passed a law requiring injured soldiers to be compensated. It also provided extended support towards the family members of these soldiers. The government extended the core values of this agency to cover up medical facilities and compensations. However, in the year 2014, an extensive investigation was launched. This is after the management at the Phoenix hospital was accused of concealing documents for some veterans. (Reichel, et al. 2019). After the investigation was launched, the then undersecretary for health resigned. Later on, several other top leaders in the senior management left under unclear circumstances. A new secretary was appointed, but a few days he started getting pressure. He was accused of poor and slow performance. But what people did not know is that the newly appointed secretary was dealing with enormous difficulties left behind by the resigned leaders.  McDonald, the newly appointed secretary, appeared before the senate requesting an extension of the funds assigned. (Reichel, et al. 2019). He was seeking a boost in finance to cover up debts left behind.

In a sense, one can see there was an issue with the leadership. First of all, after the investigations were launched, top leaders resigned under unclear circumstances. Individuals have the constitutional right to resign from their posts whenever they want. However, their resignation could not be termed as coincidence. The timing of their departure was outrightly suspicious. One could wonder what exactly prompted these leaders to resign at the time when the investigations were launched. From the claims of some veterans, their identities could not be found within the health care systems. It begs an obvious question, why were they never found on the system even after serving the count rang getting enrolled in the veteran agency program? A possible answer could be that their names were intentionally left out or excluded from the system to keep them in secrecy. Why would such a scenario happen in a government-controlled agency? This hints a mishap in the leadership of the agency. The management of the veteran agency should ensure they make frequent contacts with their clients. (Lipschitz, Benzer, Miller, et al. 2017). However, the veterans indicated that the management had neglected them intentionally.

A large number of retired soldiers were always incorporated into society. These usually came from wars where some of them had not survived. (Seal, Bertenthal, Miner, et al. 2007).  Those returning home had some challenges getting along in the societal expectation. This is due to traumatic disorders arising from their experiences on the battlefields. As such, constant checkup is essential to ensure they are in the right mental appearance. This often called enrolling them into medical facilities that dealt with psychological issues. Therefore, a sizeable amount of finance was required for these institutions. However, as evidenced when the newly appointed secretary appeared before the senate hearing, he was requesting more funds. On that note, one would get to wonder whether the previous management had these kinds of issues. The most probable answer is that they had the same problem, but chose to be ignorant. They would be ignorant if only they were aware of the reason behind the inadequacy of funds. Their resignation could be as well treated with utmost suspicion at this point. Having recently and an issue that has never been in the previous management is now tabled. Such would only mean one thing; the administration was embezzling the funds set aside to help and appreciate the solders.

According to a reported tabled in 2015, the veteran agency faces more mental issues as compared to any other complications. This could be understood, taking into account the conditions soldiers are exposed to during battles. The department of defense estimates more than fifty thousand service members of the United States army is wounded. However, the department holds that the figure does not capture the mentally afflicted soldiers. As such, one can see that the need for better and improved health services are needed for the veteran soldiers. The veterans have raised concerns regarding the type of health care they receive. It is of poor quality and does not offer much solace to their problems. This is especially for the mentally disturbed soldiers. Such require their family or dependents taken care of by the agency. (Spelman, Hunt, Seal, et al. 2012).  It is a shame and insult to the core values founding this agency. The driving purpose for President Reagan’s establishment of this agency was to take care of the retired servicemen primarily. The assistance would range from education needs for their dependents, their health care services, and enough compensation. However, it is a complete failure for the agency to fail to fulfill the values founding the agency. It is much worse for the soldier who has to access specialized medical care and full benefits for their families. Such claims raised by the veterans are serious allegations that can completely tint the image of the government’s agency. The agency is supposed to take care of the veteran soldiers and should do the work diligently.

Overly, the issues raised by some veteran soldiers regarding the veteran agency are critical. This is because they can cause a tinted image of the agency. The agency was formed by President Regan tp offer solace to retired soldiers. It was to offer a compensation program for these soldiers. Moreover, the agency was to provide health care facilities to the soldiers. The health care services ranged from physical attendance to psychological needs. However, as indicated by current studies, leadership problems have led to the failure of this agency. Some veterans gave raised claims of being ignored by the agency and not receiving quality health services. In a sense, it could be understood that the top leaders of the agency were involved in malicious intentions since they resigned under unclear circumstances when investigations were launched in the yar 2014. Therefore, it is clear that the issues raised by the veterans were caused by ignorant management. As such, more needs to be done to ensure proper management of the agency for the maximum benefits of the veteran soldiers.

Reference

Lipschitz, J. M., Benzer, J. K., Miller, C., Easley, S. R., Leyson, J., Post, E. P., & Burgess, J. F. (2017). Understanding collaborative care implementation in the Department of Veterans Affairs: core functions and implementation challenges. BMC health services research, 17(1), 691.

Reichel, C., Ordway, D., Trilling, D., Kille, L., Raphel, A., & Wihbey, J. et al. (2019). Veterans Archives – Journalist’s Resource. Retrieved 9 December 2019, from https://journalistsresource.org/tag/veterans/

Seal, K. H., Bertenthal, D., Miner, C. R., Sen, S., & Marmar, C. (2007). Bringing the war back home: Mental health disorders among 103 788 US veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan seen at Department of Veterans Affairs Facilities. Archives of internal medicine, 167(5), 476-482.

Scott, W. (2017). The politics of readjustment: Vietnam veterans since the war. Routledge.

Spelman, J. F., Hunt, S. C., Seal, K. H., & Burgo-Black, A. L. (2012). Post-deployment care for returning combat veterans. Journal of general internal medicine, 27(9), 1200-1209.