Other Columns by Thomas D. Segel
Thomas D. Segel Bio

Printer-Friendly Version

How does the military community view Washington these days? Veterans, particularly those who retired from military service, feel they have more enemies in the capitol city than they have friends. While the Washington crowd pretends to support military and veteran issues, the truth behind those false gestures is the majority in both political parties view former warriors as nothing more than unwanted expense.

Who should be held accountable? At the top is the President of the United States, along with those of the Republican administration who pays lip service to supporting the military, but only offers gestures of superficial support once a warrior leaves the field of battle.

Equally responsible are both the Republican and Democrat members of the United States Congress. With fewer and fewer veterans in its ranks and an opposition political party with an anti-military mentality, little has been, or will be done to support those who were the defenders of this nation. In fact, Congress seems to go out of its way to find new ways to make the cost of serving ones country a very expensive choice for anyone to adopt.

A very significant example of the high cost of serving can be seen by actions which took place only days ago. The Senate Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee, now chaired by Lindsey Graham (R-SC) held a" health fee summit" meeting on February 28, which included key officials from the Department of Defense, including Under Secretary Dr. David Chu.

Chu has never been known to support any positive retiree or veteran related legislation. He is currently champion for a Pentagon proposal to raise Tricare fees by 50% to 270% for retirees under age 65 and raise pharmacy co pays by 67% for all beneficiaries. The subcommittee seems to agree with the proposal and is helping it to move forward, an effort, quietly supported by many Republicans in Congress and the Administration.

What was always promised as free medical care for services rendered, has in recent years had across the board fees enacted...and it looks like more are on the way, slowly driving retired and even active duty military personnel away from government supported treatment into a search for less expensive coverage.

However, if veterans rank any individual or agency as the primary enemy, The Department of Defense holds that questionable honor. One needs only to pick a topic. If it involves support of a military retiree or any veteran, DoD has a spokesperson to deny there is any government responsibility or obligation. In most cases the DoD voice is in direct opposition to issues raised by American veterans.

If Republicans are to regain their status as strong supporters of national defense in the eyes of voters, those who control the nation's purse strings need to realign their loyalties to coincide with the foot soldier, the military retiree and the veteran population, instead of with the dollar driven mentality of DoD bureaucrats. Every elected official in Washington should be very mindful of this...and also remember that the ranks of veterans grow larger every day. More and more service personnel are returning from the war zones.

>> Continued -- Page 1 2 3