Retired Enlisted Association Confronts VA, But Stall Continues Blocking C-123 Claims

TREA Meets With Undersecretary for VBA

Last week TREA (The Retired Enlisted Association,) represented by Deputy Legislative Director Mike Saunders, met with Undersecretary for Veterans’ Benefits Allison Hickey to discuss the claims backlog and other claims-related issues. This was unrelated to all of the recent news surrounding the lack of access veterans have been dealing with related to the Veterans’ Health Administration (VHA).

·         The C-123 issue is currently being actively reviewed by VBA. This is the issue about the planes that were contaminated by carrying Agent Orange toVietnam; crew members who worked on those planes years later are suspected to have been exposed to dioxin from Agent Orange. No final decisions have been made yet.

Actual Result: Stall. Stall until we die. Amazing that VBA wants to "actively review" the C-123 issue. To us, not an issue but a threat to our lives, and amazing that VBA feels it must "review," instead of following the law the way it is written today.