Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson visiting Fayetteville VA hospital - Today

Deputy Veterans Affairs Secretary Sloan Gibson   (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

WASHINGTON (WTVD) --

The head of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is visiting Fayetteville, home to a VA medical center with one of the country's worst waiting times for primary care treatment.

Acting VA Secretary Sloan Gibson is scheduled to meet Thursday with the leadership and employees of the Fayetteville VA Medical Center.

Gibson's visit comes days after the VA this week released the results on an internal audit showing that patients at the Fayetteville medical center wait an average of 29 days for a primary care appointment. New patients wait 83 days.

Officials said the delays were caused by an overstressed system.

Gibson became VA head last month after Eric Shinseki resigned following allegations that veterans died while waiting for care at a Phoenix VA Medical Center.


My Thoughts:

I have been trying to wrap my head around why and how "scheduling appointments" became this huge scandal.  Roughly 26 VA facilities have been identified with the Arizona medical center being the focal point of the investigation. The Durham VA here in NC has placed two employees on paid administrative leave for their role in the scheme.  Why they were not fired outright is beyond me.  Perhaps these two are being used as scapegoats and are truly innocent if so I wish them well - if not they need to accept the consequences of their actions. 

The questions that I have are:

• how did they create this network,
• how and when did they communicate with each other and
• who played God with veterans lives as they decided which veterans would get an appointment and which ones would be given the round around.
• what do the people involved at these facilities gain for doing this

My theory: Since the government is always under pressure to cut costs the VA began asking veterans for insurance only a few years ago.  Now, someone (or a group) came up with the idea to schedule appointments for veterans with insurance and veterans without insurance get put on the back burner. Therefore, giving priority to veterans with insurance allows the facility to file insurance claims to recoup money for treatment. Needless to say there is no money coming from people who do not have health insurance.  This scheme would have had to be put in place by personnel in the organizational hierarchy where they most likely created lists (veterans with insurance/veterans without insurance) which is easy enough to do.  Since the VA system already uses codes for procedures and administrative tasks adding another code to identify patients with insurance may have seemed like the norm. Then of course when people feel as if they may lose their job they are not inclined to speak up.  Their scheme was compartmentalized so that only a few knew what was really happening including personnel who actually scheduled the appointments.   I believe they had to know in order to make this scheme work otherwise there would not be a scandal where veterans have died because they were not given a timely appointment.  For the one or group to put this in place perhaps there were other incentives such as kickbacks to their personal bank accounts.  Other than trying to gain bonuses by making themselves look good for cutting costs I cannot figure any other reason to do such a despicable thing on what seems to be a nationwide scale.  Whenever people commit these type of offenses it is always about money. 

Post Army Airfield could lose C-130 fleet in new budget

   Greg Barnes  abc11

POPE ARMY AIRFIELD (WTVD) -- Pentagon budget cuts could take a chunk from Fort Bragg.

Budget documents just released call for retiring the entire 440th Air Wing fleet of C-130s. Right now, no one is sure what the impact is going to be on Fort Bragg.

For the past 50 years, the Air Force C-130 has been a familiar sight in the skies around Fort Bragg. It's a workhorse aircraft. The "Herky Bird" has hauled troops to training drops, and war zones.

Now, a 2015 Air Force budget document has proposed retiring the older model C-130H, which would include 12 of the planes that make up the 440th Airlift Wing at Pope Army Airfield.

The 440th moved from Wisconsin to Pope in 2005, as part of the base realignment and closure plan.

According to reports, the 440th provides only about one-fourth of the training flights at Fort Bragg, and there are no plans to replace the aging fleet based here. Retiring the H-models is part of a modernization program.

In a statement, Sen. Kay Hagan said, "Inactivating the Air Force's 440th Airlift Wing from Pope Army Airfield is unacceptable. The 440th provides critical support to the 82nd Airborne Division and other major units at Fort Bragg. Without them, there would be no Air Force planes stationed at Ft. Bragg. I strongly disagree with this decision, which will adversely affect the readiness of troops at Fort Bragg and cost North Carolina over 1,100 jobs. I intend to fight to see this decision reversed."

Both Hagan and Sen. Richard Burr are asking for more details about the proposed plan. Hagan says Pope could lose more than 1,100 full time and part-time jobs.

Local civilian officials say they will lobby Pentagon officials to keep C-130s, and the 440th Airlift wing at Pope Army Airfield.

My thoughts:

Why don't they just leave Ft. Bragg alone.  

A Soldier's job is never done

A Soldier provides security while others off load from a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter during an air assault mission as part of Operation Intrepid Centurion near Camp Buehring, Kuwait, Feb. 19, 2014.

(The National Guard photo by ‪#‎USArmy‬ Sgt. Harley Jelis)

Fort Bragg Army Brigadier General Jeffrey Sinclair wants sex charges dismissed

FORT BRAGG (WTVD) -- A motion filed by Fort Bragg Army Brigadier General Jeffrey Sinclair's defense seeks to dismiss all charges against him.
The motion comes more than a week after a military prosecutor overseeing Sinclair's case abruptly left the case.
Sinclair, 51, has pleaded not guilty to eight criminal charges including forcible sodomy, indecent acts, violating orders and conduct unbecoming an officer. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison at a court-martial that was scheduled to begin March 3.
The married father of three has admitted to having an extramarital affair with a female captain under his command, but maintains the relationship was consensual.
Military officials said last week that lead prosecutor Lt. Col. William Helixon had left Sinclair's case "for personal reasons."
But in the motion filed by Sinclair's defense Friday, Helixon is quoted telling a superior that he has doubts about the credibility of Sinclair's accuser.
It says on February 8, 2014, Helixon shared with lead defense attorney Richard Scheff that "he believed (the accuser) had lied, and that charges that relied solely on (the accuser) should be dismissed."
The introduction to the motion describes how Helixon felt ethically bound to remove himself from the case after concluding there was reasonable doubt as to Sinclair's guilt on the sexual misconduct charges. It goes on to say he was ignored or rejected by the Staff Judge Advocate and Convening Authority, and concludes that "the decision-makers in this case fear the adverse personal and political consequences of taking the ethically, morally and just action of dismissing the charges that rely on the Government's discredited primary accuser." It ends by saying the case should be dismissed as a result of "unlawful command influence."
The motion also claims that Helixon has disclosed that General Ray Odierno, the Army's top commander, is "aware that the charges relying on the captain's testimony are likely to fail."
During a February 9 phone conversation between Helixon and Scheff, the motion says Helixon "acknowledged Sinclair was not guilty of sexual misconduct charges, nor did he deserve to be dismissed from the Army, go to jail or register as a sex offender." It says Helixon believed that "politics and outside pressures were driving forces pushing the case forward," telling Scheff that former 18th Airborne Corps SJA, Brigadier General Paul Wilson, would be "in charge" of the prosecution.
Wilson is currently a Washington, D.C.-based Assistant JAG for Military and Operational Law. The motion goes on to say that Wilson told Helixon he "knew the accuser was a liar, that she had lied since the beginning, and that she'd repeatedly lied directly to Helixon."
Wilson, Helixon, current 18th Airborne Commander Lt. General Joseph Anderson, public affairs staff and many other are requested to testify in a hearing, according to the motion.
Sinclair's defense has portrayed the woman as a jealous ex-lover and challenged her testimony - asking that she be charged with perjury after questions were raised about evidence she said she found on a cell phone.
Sinclair has reportedly offered to plead guilty to some of the less serious charges against him. An admission of adultery alone would almost certainly end his 28-year Army career - as adultery is a crime under military law. Fort Bragg officials rejected the plea offer in December.
As deputy commander of the 82nd Airborne, Sinclair oversaw 22,000 troops until he was abruptly sent home from Afghanistan last year and criminally charged.
The case has made national news as the military has faced accusations that it not done enough about sexual assault cases in its ranks.
Fort Bragg officials have not said if the latest developments in the case could mean a delay. The case is still currently set to go to court in March.

This case has made national headlines for all the wrong reasons since it seems to be about two individuals who were having an affair.  If the captain is now claiming rape she will be hard pressed to get anyone to believe her which makes things worst for actual rape victims.  Sinclair has admitted to adultery therefore he will be punished.  As much as I can not tolerate a rapist I equally can not accept a female crying rape if it did not happen.  This is one of the main reasons why it is so difficult for a sexual assault victim to get justice.