Benefits News

WASHINGTON -- Veterans of the 1990-91 Gulf War will gain additional access to the leadership of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) when the department’s Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans holds its first meeting today. The 14-member, independent panel will advise the Secretary and the department on the full range of health care and benefits needs of those who served in the conflict.

“I will ask them to take a ‘fresh-eyes’ approach in developing their recommendations and work expeditiously to produce a final report within 18-months,” said Secretary Peake.

Serving on the committee are Gulf War and other Veterans, Veterans service organizations’ representatives, medical experts, and the surviving spouse of a Gulf War veteran. Members were selected to provide a variety of perspectives, experiences, and expertise. Open to the public, the meeting is scheduled for June 17 – 19, 2008 at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza, 14th & K Streets, NW, Washington.

Secretary of Veteran Affairs Dr. James B. Peake will welcome the members and thank them for their service both on the committee and in their lives as citizens, Veterans or veteran advocates. He will discuss the importance the department places on the unique issues and challenges faced by Gulf War Veterans.

The first meeting is designed to give committee members an overview of VA as well as the benefits and services provided to Gulf War Veterans. Members will receive briefings on education, home loan guaranty, disability compensation and other benefits.

Additional briefings will include health care and Veterans’ legal and appeal rights. They will hear public comments June 18 at 2:15 p.m. and June 19 at 3:30 p.m.

Membership: VA Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans

• Charles Cragin, (Chair) of Raymond, Maine. Currently serves a senior counselor for Maine Street Solutions, LLC.
• Martha Douthit of Ashburn, Va. Surviving spouse of Gulf War Army veteran, member of the Gold Star Wives of America, currently an international trade analyst with the U.S. Department of Commerce.
• Dr. Henry Falk of Atlanta. Retired rear admiral and former Assistant U.S. Surgeon General. Currently director for the Coordinating Center for Environmental Health and Injury Prevention with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
• Mark Garner of Lorton, Va. A retired Marine Corps chief warrant officer-three and Gulf War veteran who served as a Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Defense Officer.
• Dr. Lynn Goldman of Chevy Chase, Md. Vice chair of the Institute of Medicine Gulf War and Health Study; currently professor of environmental health sciences at Johns Hopkins University.
• Dr. John Hart of Plano, Texas. Past president of the Society for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology, currently professor of neurology and psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
• William (Rusty) Jones of South Riding, Va. Retired Marine Corps colonel, and veteran of Gulf War and Vietnam War.
• Kirt Love of Crawford, Texas. An Army veteran of the Gulf War, currently serving as director of the Desert Storm Battle Registry.
• Daniel Ortiz of Whittier, Calif. An Army veteran of the Gulf War, currently serving as department service director with the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
• Daniel Pinedo of Oceanside, Calif. Marine Corps colonel currently serving as the comptroller for First Marine Expeditionary Force at Camp Pendleton, Calif.
• Thomas Plewes of Annandale, Va. A retired Army lieutenant general and former chief of the Army Reserve. Currently a senior program officer with National Academy of Sciences.
• Valerie Randall of Savage, Md. A retired Army sergeant first class; currently with the Department of Homeland Security.
• Edward (Randy) Reese of Washington, D.C. An Army veteran of the Gulf War; currently national service director for the Disabled American Veterans.
• Steve Robertson of Fredericksburg, Va. A Gulf War veteran who served both in the Air Force and Army National Guard. Currently director of the national legislative commission for The American Legion.

SOURCE: US Department of Veterans Affair