Who We Are

We are a group of men and women who have served in the United States Armed Services and believe Dan Seals has shown a commitment to us and veterans across the nation.  We believe he is the best choice to represent us in Congress!

Why We Like Dan:

• He will honor our obligations to all veterans.
• He will assist veterans and their families.
• He will expand benefits for expanding needs.
• He will make benefits more accessible.

Assisting Our Veterans and Their Families

Some have characterized the delivery of care and support to our veterans and their families as a “challenge.” While this is accurate, it does not adequately capture our task.  Caring for veterans and their families is an obligation, a responsibility, a reckoning.

On average, the U.S. has maintained 145,000 soldiers in Iraq at any given time since 2003. The total number of troops who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan exceeds 1.6 million.   There remain 124,000 troops in Iraq and the 71,000 serving in Afghanistan will soon be joined by 30,000 more troops as part of President Obama’s surge.

As of October 31, 2009, 31,557 troops have been wounded in Iraq and over 4,434 in Afghanistan.  These casualty numbers, however, exclude psychological injuries.  An estimated 320,000 U.S. troops have suffered serious brain injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan, with 300,000 experiencing major depression and/or post-traumatic stress.  While the Obama administration prepares to increase our military presence in Afghanistan, it is worth noting that spinal cord injuries are spiking in Afghanistan and over 40% of all casualties that have occurred in the Afghanistan War since 2001 have occurred in 2009, indicating an increasingly violent and unstable climate.  The brain and spinal cord injuries that are characteristic of these wars require years of treatment and follow-up care. These figures confound the mind—returning the terms “shock & awe” to their proper context.

Some project the cost of providing disability and health care for wounded Iraq War veterans alone will exceed $600 billion.  Fighting a war is expensive and so is mending our fighters.  The obviousness of this link, however, seems to have been lost on many members of Congress.  Most Americans are astonished to learn that the Senate has failed to pass the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) budget 20 times in the last 23 years, most recently in September 2009, notwithstanding the undeniable urgent need.

Dan wants Congress to create solutions for suffering veterans through expanding benefits to cover expanding needs and improving all veterans’ access to these benefits.

Expanding Benefits to Cover Expanding Needs

While improvements in medical and military technology have prevented countless deaths in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, our armed forces have seen an unprecedented number of veterans returning home with limb and brain injuries. A landmark RAND Study estimated that 620,000 returning veterans may have incurred a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or both.

Nearly 20 percent of returning combat veterans may have a TBI.  In fact, they are now so common that they are considered the signature injuries of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  TBIs are generally suffered after being attacked by an improvised explosive device (IED) and can lead to a wide range of long-term disabling conditions, including memory loss, seizures, depression, and problems with coordination.  TBI injuries often mean years of physical and mental rehabilitation and continued sacrifice as family members leave their former lives behind to become full time caretakers.

Long and repeated deployments raise the risk of service members incurring blast and combat stress injuries (PTSD).  Already, our nation has witnessed annual rates of suicide, substance abuse, and divorce increase for those who serve our nation.

Dan understands the significance of these injuries, what they mean for our nation’s service members and their families, and the urgent need to address them appropriately.

Mandatory Mental Health and Brain Injury Screenings for Veterans

Many cases of TBI go untreated or under-diagnosed. Though the Department of Defense (DoD) has implemented a series of pre- and post-deployment mental health screenings, many veterans continue to struggle with undiagnosed cases of TBI and PTSD.  Moreover, our government continues to struggle with properly diagnosing and treating service members who exhibit symptoms of TBI, PTSD, and depression.  Dan believes we need to ensure the mental well-being of our veterans by mandating confidential, in-person screenings by medical professionals for all returning service members exposed to IED blasts.  Congress should also review the levels of disability compensation for TBI and PTSD and provide grants for research into identifying and treating TBI and PTSD.

A Confidential Phone Support Service for Veterans

Dan supports creating a federal hotline for veterans based on the model created by the Illinois Warrior Assistance Program. This 24-hour, toll-free service would be staffed by health professionals trained to assist veterans suffering from PTSD, depression, and TBI-related symptoms.  The hotline should also provide support for servicemembers who are victims of sexual assault. The confidential nature of the service will make it easier for veterans to overcome the unfortunate stigmas associated with PTSD, depression, TBI, and sexual assault.

Added Funding for Qualified Mental Health Professionals

Dan supports providing additional funding to hire and train more mental health professionals to handle the growing numbers of veterans suffering from PTSD and TBI.  He supports efforts such as the Army’s plan to add more than 400 behavioral health specialists.

And to this end, Dan knows that few people can help veterans as well as those who have lived through theses challenges.  By establishing specialized scholarships for veterans who have served in combat zones to become mental and behavioral health specialists, he believes that our nation will be able to both provide excellent career opportunities for veterans, capitalize on their combat experience, and meet our veterans’ growing mental health needs.

Increasing Access to Benefits

Veterans have all too often failed to receive benefits to which they are entitled, in part due to miscommunication between the VA and Department of Defense.  Further, the VA has been too slow to adapt its services to meet the unique needs of female soldiers, who comprise a significant and growing portion of our active military, Guard, and Reserve forces. Female soldiers are suffering on the job from sexual assault, and at home from a devastating divorce rate.  In order to improve access to benefits, we must improve the coordination and communication systems that deliver benefits as well as improve the composition of those benefits.

Transferring Records Electronically

Veterans should receive their medical and service records electronically upon discharge. This will save time, reduce costs, and improve care.  By integrating the VA and DoD’s medical record systems, information will be transferred more efficiently, saving both money and lives.

Beginning VA Disability Payments immediately based on DoD Medical Board Findings

The current VA Disability Pension claims system has up to an 18-month backlog, delaying much-needed benefits to discharged disabled veterans.  Dan supports ongoing efforts to rectify the VA and DOD ratings boards in order to expedite veterans’ pension and disability payments.

Modernizing the VA to Reflect the Current Force Structure of our Military

Female Marines have a divorce rate three times higher than the civilian average.  The specter of sexual assault also looms for military women, as we saw a 26 percent increase in reported assaults in 2008 over 2007.   Dan will work to ensure that VA facilities are better equipped to deal with the health and social needs of female veterans.

Honoring Our Obligations to All Veterans

Our duty to provide the care our veterans deserve obviously extends to veterans of past wars, yet a recent Chicago Tribune article shows that Vietnam veterans face significant obstacles to receiving disability payments for injuries and diseases attributable to their service.  We must ensure that our reforms assist all veterans in receiving the care and benefits they deserve.

See Dan’s Endorsements