THE AMERICAN LEGION
VETERANS BENEFITS
Legion DSO testifi es on VA claims process
At T e American Legion’s April 20, 2012 • Vol. 21, No. 8 TRAINING
AMERICAN LEGION EXTENSION INSTITUTE AVAILABLE ONLINE
Legion’s offi cial training program can now be taken electronically.
T e American Legion’s
offi cial training program for offi cers, members, Legion College applicants, and those who simply want to expand their knowledge of the nation’s largest veterans service organization, is now available online. T e American Legion
Extension Institute has been rewritten, updated, streamlined and enhanced with videos, digital photos, clickable links, a historical timeline and additional features. T e program should take less than two hours to complete. It is divided into six sections with a quiz at the end of each, followed by a fi nal exam. T e sections closely follow
the Legion’s Four Pillars of service – Veterans Aff airs & Rehabilitation, National Security, Americanism, and Children & Youth – while also touching on the Legion’s history and organization. Upon completion, a
participant must pass the fi nal online exam to receive a digital certifi cate of recognition; a lapel/cap pin will also be delivered to those who successfully complete the course. T e names of those
A National Headquarters Publication
request, the House Veterans Aff airs Committee (HVAC) held a hearing April 18 to hear the views of veterans service offi cers (VSOs) on how VA handles disability claims for veterans. Committee Chairman Jeff
Miller, R-Fla., opened the hearing by thanking the Legion for calling his attention to the oſt en unheralded role of VSOs in the claims process. He cited a letter written to him on March 5 by American Legion National Commander Fang Wong, who wrote that several of the Legion’s own VSOs “expressed their concern that an ever-increasing workload due to changing VA policies, high denial rates, and other factors were beginning to hamper the ability to provide adequate and timely service to veterans.” Wong pointed out in his letter
that VSOs are in a unique position to off er insight into how the claims backlog might be reduced. “Congress must hear from those who work with veterans on claims each day to better understand ways that VA and veterans service organizations can work eff ectively to improve representation, decrease the backlog, and provide veterans with their earned benefi ts.” Randall Fisher, a VSO for
who have passed will be recorded and indexed at National Headquarters in Indianapolis. Graduates will have the option to click a box upon completion to recognize their accomplishment on the National Headquarters website,
legion.org.
Non-Profi t Organization P.O. BOX 1055 • INDIANAPOLIS, IN 46206
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THE AMERICAN LEGION
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Indiana youth claims Oratorical win
PAGE 4 T e online course is $4.95
for members of the Legion and the Sons of T e American Legion. T ere is a $9.95 registration fee for nonmembers. Payment can be accepted securely and conveniently on the course- registration page.
T e American Legion
Extension Institute online training program replaces the series of printed booklets that had been printed and sold through National Headquarters.
www.legion.org/alei
the Legion’s Department of Kentucky, testifi ed to the committee that VA claims processors oſt en lack suffi cient training to tackle the “staggering” problem of nearly 900,000 backlogged claims – over 65 percent of them pending for more than 165 days. Questioned by the committee
on how VA could improve its training, Fisher noted that VA employees oſt en lack basic medical understanding. As an example, he cited one claims examiner insisting that a doctor who mentioned that a patient
See DSO on Page 3
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