63page

<a href="http://www.mca-marines.org/gazette">www.mca-marines.org/gazette</a> 61 M a r i n e C o r p s G a z e t t e • M a y 2 0 0 9 I n May 2005, after several months of vetting, during which time I was wondering what they may have discovered about one of those evenings at happy hour, I was ap- pointed by the then-minority leader of the Senate to the Veterans’ Disability Benefits Commission (VDBC), join- ing 12 other commissioners appointed by the President and the 4 leaders of the House and Senate. The VDBC was created by Public Law 108–136 to study the benefits and services that are provided to compen- sate and assist veterans and their sur- vivors for disabilities and deaths attributable to military service. Specif- ically, the VDBC was tasked to exam- ine and make recommendations concerning the appropriateness of such benefits, the appropriateness of the level of such benefits, and the appropri- ate standards for determining whether a disability or death of a veteran should be compensated. For nearly 3 years the VDBC con- ducted an extensive examination of is- sues related to veterans’ disability benefits. Of note, this is the first time that this issue has been studied and ex- amined in depth by a body outside of the government since the Bradley (GEN Omar Bradley) Commission in 1956, over a half-century ago! We identified 31 issues that met the stan- dard of our charter for analysis, and in conducting the study, ensured that the analysis was evidence based and sup- ported by verifiable data. The VDBC was supported by two highly regarded organizations to provide medical ex- pertise and analysis—the Institute of Medicine and the CNA Corpora- tion—and an administrative support staff of 15. The truncated manner in which members of Federal commissions are appointed is structured to minimize any possibility of political manipula- tion by distributing the appointments so that five members are appointed by the President of the United States, and two each are appointed by the leaders of the majority and minority members of the House and Senate. Based on the precepts for this particular commis- sion, in consideration for the subject area, over half of the commissioners were required to be veterans, and five members had to have been awarded decorations that included one of the “top three” medals awarded only for valor in combat, the Medal of Honor, the Navy Cross/Air Force Cross/Dis- tinguished Service Cross, or the Silver Star, in order to ensure that the body included those who had experienced combat in its most challenging form— up close and personal. The Federal Ad- visory Committee Act dictates that all deliberations and decisions are made in a public forum and are a matter of public record. Consequently, all of our hearings were conducted with an audi- ence populated by anyone who wanted to attend and consistently included veterans’ advocates groups and the media, as well as other interested par- ties. Every word of every meeting was recorded for public record. On a per- sonal basis, it took me a couple of hear- ings to become comfortable with the fact that I had to be careful with my language and curtail spontaneous com- ments. The policy pertaining to the ap- pointment of the individual commis- sioners prevents manipulation by the President or Congress to influence a political agenda; therefore, in a surprise result of that policy, 12 of the 13 com- missioners were former military, with 5 former Army, 3 former Marines, 2 former Navy, 2 former Air Force, and 1 civilian without military experience. Eight of the commissioners were for- mer officers and four were former en- listed personnel. There were four flag and general officers, two Medal of Honor recipients, and an impressive array of Service Crosses, Silver Stars, Distinguished Flying Crosses, Bronze Stars, and Purple Hearts. One of the commissioners, a former Marine, was a double amputee from the Vietnam conflict. Accordingly, the credibility of VDBC as a commission familiar with veterans’ issues served to minimize much of the initial reservations held, and vocally expressed, by veterans’ groups. The vast majority of the hearings were held in Washington, DC, some in the Nation’s Capitol in one of the hear- ing rooms, and others in hotel confer- ence rooms throughout the city in order to enable citizens to attend who Honoring the Call to Duty The Veterans’ Disability Benefits Commission by Col Kenneth D. Jordan, USMC(Ret) >Col Jordan is a graduate of Sam Houston State University. He is a recipient of the Silver Star and two Legions of Merit. Col Jordan has served on the Board of Direc- tors, U.S. Olympic Committee; the Editorial Board, Marine Corps Gazette; and as Chairman, Board of Directors, Marine Memorial Association, San Francisco. IDEAS & ISSUES (PERSONAL AFFAIRS)
63page

www.mca-marines.org/gazette