Good afternoon Chairman Mitchell and other representatives of this distinguished sub-committee. I thank you for the privilege of sharing my perspective as a young Iraq war veteran who believes much can be done to reach out to our returning troops.

When I returned home from my first deployment with the National Guard and attained veteran status, I was eligible for a slew of new benefits. Upon my arrival back in Wisconsin, I was given a crash course in my new Department of Veterans Affairs benefits and went home with a box load of pamphlets and brochures that I didn’t have time to wrap my mind around because my head was spinning simply from the shock of going from the blazing heat of the Middle East to Wisconsin in January.  After initial inspection, the box was promptly shoved in the back of a truck and hauled to my parents’ house, where it has since collected dust under the guest bed.  Three days after I arrived home, I was sitting in class at the University of Wisconsin. I barely made it in time, but I did.

A short time after that, I wandered into my campus student veterans center, where I knew there would be other student veterans who could help me decipher my newly earned benefits.  I knew the VA was not going to be of much help; I had already spent quite awhile on hold on the VA hotline, and experienced a barrage of information in a briefing immediately after returning home.  I ended up not leaving the campus veterans center—I was so grateful for the immediate help they gave me in deciphering my benefits, I promptly asked for a job, ready to help fellow veterans weave through the maze of benefits when they arrived back into the civilian world. While there is certainly no shortage of information available to veterans coming home from Middle East, all too often I hear “no one told me”, and often I feel that way myself.  More effective ways of encouraging veterans to use the services available to them must be investigated.

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ reliance on traditional mailing campaigns to inform veterans of their earned benefits may work well for older, more sedentary veterans. However, for many recently discharged veterans, this form of communication is less than optimal.  For example, in the past seven months, I have changed my address from my college apartment, to my parents’ house, to my deployment address in Iraq, back to my parents address, to my current residence in Washington, D.C. Trust me when I say that there have been a few key pieces of mail that have slipped through the cracks—and the amount of address changes that I have experienced is not unusual among veterans trying to find a foothold in the civilian world after separating from active duty.  While ultimately it is my responsibility to ensure that I officially change my address each time, one thing has remained constant throughout my hectic journey the past several months: my email address.  My email was accessible throughout all of my moves, to include my time in Iraq. In the information age, electronic mail has become the preferred mode of communication such that regular mail has been given the connotation "snail mail”.  E-mail is accessible everywhere, throughout the world, instantaneously.

I understand that the VA does not request a current email address when individuals separate from active duty. I have never been asked for one. In my opinion, speaking from the perspective of a young veteran, I would have eagerly provided the VA my email address in the hopes that it would establish a direct line of communication between me and the VA.  I know that the VA has undertaken a massive calling campaign to Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans, to ensure we are aware of health care benefits available to us.  While I appreciate the VA’s effort on this matter, I can also attest that calling me is actually not the best way to make sure I am informed. Personally, I do not retain information that is rattled off to me in a telemarketer fashion. Should this information be emailed to me, it provides a reference in my inbox that I can continually go back to.  A brief phone conversation provides no such touchstone. Moreover, a phone call does not occur at the convenience of the recipient, rather it occurs at the will of the initiator. Email is checked at the convenience of the recipient, providing a more effective method of communication because the recipient is ready and willing to receive communications.

While email communications would be a welcome addition to the VA’s communication tactics, I do not believe this should replace hard copy mailings or personal calls. Rather, I believe email can be used to expand the VA’s reach.  There is certainly something to be said about the tangible nature of receiving something in my mailbox. Many companies and services ask individuals if they would appreciate communication via email as an option, and I believe I speak on behalf of the majority of young veterans when I say that I would check this box in hopes that I would remain conveniently informed about my benefits. Many banks and credit card companies now allow their customers to choose between e-statements and hard copy statements in the mail. This is an option the VA could provide veterans: allow us to pick electronic communication in lieu of hard copy mailings if we so desire.  This choice could allow the VA to save a great deal of money that is currently being poured into printing and postage costs.

As a recent college graduate and new entrant in the “real world”, I can also attest that there is nothing more annoying than irrelevant emails clogging my inbox.  If the VA were to overhaul their communications to implement an email update system, it would be crucial that these emails are tailored specifically to the individual receiving them.  However, I believe that would be relatively easy to do, given the VA’s massive data collection capacity and ability to identify categories within the broad group they provide services for. Should these tailored emails provide a clean, attractive hook, written in layman’s terms, about a new benefit, a benefit change, or simply a benefit reminder with a link to more information, this could do a great deal to make the VA’s services appear more approachable and appealing.

Ideally, with the creation of a VA electronic mail enrollment form, veterans should be able to self-identify themselves for specific updates regarding disability, health, education benefits, etc. 

A veteran interested in attending college could enroll in education updates that ensure he or she is aware of the latest VA policies regarding the implementation of the new GI Bill.  Then, upon graduation, that same veteran could opt out of education updates, thereby minimizing unwanted communication from the VA.  The ability to create a "smart" electronic outreach system would give the VA exponentially more outreach power at a minimal cost.

It seems to me that the general belief is that veterans know where to find services and benefits.  This is true. Everyone knows the big concrete building is where the VA is, everyone knows the VA website, and everyone knows that if they have a problem, they are supposed to go to the VA. However, as the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have continued, it has become apparent that this knowledge does not translate into veterans actually using the services provided to them.  As we young veterans struggle with the stigmas of treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, as we struggle with the lack of knowledge about Traumatic Brain Injury, as we struggle with rising divorce, unemployment, and suicide rates, we must all ask ourselves what can be done to make help more accessible. It is no longer enough to simply inform, we must encourage.

The Department of Defense, on the other hand, has gone to great lengths to ensure that they are quite encouraging to young individuals.  The Department of Defense puts millions of dollars into glossy magazine spreads, television advertisements thumping with bass beats, catchy slogans that get revamped every few years in order to capture the ears of those about to graduate high school.

Type in www.airforce.com and you are immediately given a swirling view of the Pentagon, accompanied by the majestic roar of fighter jets, as an “advisor” offers to chat with you during extended hours, even on Sundays, and you are tantalized by “amazing videos of airmen in action.”

With an all-volunteer force, the need to make the choice of enlisting in the military attractive is understandable.  All of these bells and whistles go a long way in making the military more appealing.  However, it is interesting that all of these fancy ways of reaching out to individuals dissipates after one actually signs on the dotted line.  Where are all of the bells and whistles calling veterans to the services available to them? When their abilities were desired, there was no shortage of appealing methods of reaching out to them; it seems the appeal in attracting veterans diminishes once they have served their country honorably.

Take, for example, the VA homepage. While full of information, the page is less than encouraging. Abound are links filled with bureaucratic language, which everyone knows is tough to navigate even when you are schooled in the language of the law.

The VA currently does not provide “in a nutshell”; the VA currently does not provide much to stimulate interest in their services; the VA currently does not provide encouragement to seek out benefits.  What you see is what you get, but this is no longer enough. 

An untold number of veterans are coming back from the current conflicts, suffering from conditions we proclaim we must do something about.  The Department of Defense has deemed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder an important enough issue to launch PTSD public service announcements on the Armed Forces Network, but even these campaigns disappear once you depart from active duty. I do not know any military members who still watch AFN public service announcements after leaving active duty, and I am not aware of any television awareness campaigns in the civilian advertising world for conditions such as these, save for the campaigns currently being undertaken by veterans service organizations, like the public service announcement being launched by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

I commend the Department of Veterans Affairs for their efforts in reaching out to veterans, and I commend veterans service organizations for trying to fill in the gaps.  It is not an easy job, by any means. I believe a few key changes within the Department of Veterans Affairs in their methods of outreach could go a long way in giving young veterans the tools they need to successfully transition back into civilian life after sacrificing so much for their country.