Regaining veterans' trust: I can't tell you how many times I've heard veterans complain that the Department of Veterans Affairs lost documents they submitted to support their benefits claims.(from the NATIONAL ADJUTANT)

When the VA Inspector General's Office discovered hundreds of important documents in shredding bins at many of its 57 regional offices, the DAV was understandably outraged. We immediately called for the VA to take urgent corrective actions to ensure the integrity of claims submitted by veterans or their dependents.

To its credit, the Veterans Benefits Administration acted swiftly to halt shredding at its regional offices and recovered documents that were key to veterans' claims decisions. And in a matter of days, the VBA developed an action plan to address this very serious problem. That includes additional training for claims workers and increased oversight. Disciplinary action also was taken against employees involved in the apparent deliberate destruction of documents.

The VA's Compensation and Pension Service also established temporary procedures for handling assertions that a claim or evidence was previously submitted to the VA and not properly retained and considered. (See details on page 11.) Those procedures, which grant claimants the benefit of the doubt as to whether they had a document or evidence lost or improperly handled, are limited to documents submitted between April 14, 2007, and Oct. 14, 2008. Those temporary procedures expire in November 2009.

Those new policies and procedures for proper handling and disposal of documents are commendable, but repairing the VA's severely damaged credibility will require much more.

The DAV has long advocated improvement in the accuracy and timeliness of the benefits delivery system. Adequate staffing levels, along with proper training and greater accountability for claims workers, are essential.

The VA ...