REFORMING THE VA
Trump says he will “make the VA great again,” according to his website. Here are excerpts from his 10-point plan:
Q Ask Congress to pass new legislation that will empower the VA secretary to discipline or terminate any employee who has jeopardized a veteran’s health, safety, or well-being.
Q Create a commission to investigate fraud, cover-ups, and wrongdoing in the VA.
Q Establish a 24-hour White House hotline veterans can call if they have complaints about the VA.
Q Increase the number of mental health professionals. Q Allow veterans to seek mental health care outside of the VA. Q Ensure every veteran has the option to seek care through the VA or with a private service provider of their own choice.
says the general possesses a number of skills that make him well-suited to lead the department. “He’s very thoughtful, very driven,
very well-read, and he comes across that way. That certainly is his per- sona, the ‘warrior monk,’ and that’s how he was in private, too,” Can- cian says. “He put his actions into a broader context; you had the feeling that he really had thought about war and what he was doing.” In a recent interview with The
New York Times, Trump indicated Mattis might have made him rethink the use of waterboarding to fi ght terrorism. On the campaign trail, Trump talked about the need to use the interrogation tactic to prevent terror attacks. He told the Times he was surprised to hear Mattis say he could do better with “a pack of ciga- rettes and a couple of beers.” “I’m not saying it changed my
mind,” Trump told The New York Times. “But I’ll tell you what, I was impressed by that answer.”
Reforming the VA During his campaign, Trump re- leased a 10-part plan to reform the VA in which he said he’d sup- port veterans’ physical and mental health care through modernization
IMAGE: SHUTTERSTOCK
and better accountability. “No more long drives, no more
waiting backlogs, no more excessive red tape,” the plan states. “Just the care and support they earned with their service to our country.” Trump wants to appoint a new
VA secretary whose “sole purpose will be to serve veterans.” He said he will remove and discipline feder- al employees who have violated the public’s trust and will ask Congress to pass legislation allowing the VA secretary to “terminate any employee who has jeopardized the health, safety, or well-being of a veteran.” Trump’s White House also will
have a 24-hour hotline veterans can call if they have complaints about their VA care, according to the plan, that will be “answered by a real person.” He plans to increase the number of mental health care professionals and will allow vet- erans to seek care outside the VA system. “Under a Trump administration,
no veteran will die waiting for ser- vice,” the plan states.
Leadership style Polls conducted by Military Times and Syracuse University’s Institute
SOURCE:
DONALDJTRUMP.COM
for Veterans and Military Families routinely showed Trump main- tained an edge when it came to the military vote. Clinton proved less popular with servicemembers, the polls showed, although service- members weren’t overly confi dent about either candidate’s ability to serve as commander in chief. Trump’s comments about Sen.
John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) capture during Vietnam, Gold Star fami- lies, and knowing more about ISIS than military leaders didn’t sit well with everyone, but Friedman says it’s not necessary for Trump — or any commander in chief — to have the military’s complete support because servicemembers carry out the president’s orders regardless of political beliefs. As long as Trump tones down some of his campaign rhetoric, it’s likely he will have the support of the military. “If he ... seems considered and
reasoned, and maybe even reduces the amount of wars that we’re fi ghting, it might go a long way to win military support,” Friedman says.
MO
— Gina Harkins is MOAA’s senior staff writer. This is her fi rst feature for Mili- tary Offi cer.
JANUARY 2017 MILITARY OFFICER 61
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