35 cents
VOL. 3/ISSUE 46
County officers meet in Cocoa for last time
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 2015
Summer of Service exceeds goals
Patrick McCallister FOR VETERAN VOICE
patrick.mccallister@yahoo.com
The county veterans services officers are heading to Cocoa Beach, but don’t expect much time for fun on the beach. They’ll be busy getting better at their jobs. “What the conference does is helps the veteran service officers to stay current with the laws and technology that the (Department of Veterans Affairs) is using,” Dennis Vannorsdall, manager of the Brevard County Veterans Services, said. The Florida County Veterans Service Officer Association and Florida Department of Veterans Affairs (FDVA) are co-hosting the certification conference Oct. 5 to 9. About 70 veteran service officers, VSOs, will be at Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront for training. This is the last year the association and department will have the semi-annual conference in Brevard County for the foreseeable future. “This is going to be the last one,” Vannorsdall said. “We couldn’t negotiate a contract that met the needs and budget of the association.” Until recently, the association had one conference a year near Tampa Bay, and one on the Space Coast. They were in May and October respectively. Frank Strom, the association president, is division manager at the Hillsborough County Veterans Services. He said Cocoa losing one of the semi-annual conferences is all about dollars. “That’s strictly a budgetary consideration,” he said. Strom said the association likes having conferences at central locations on the east and west coasts for the convenience of attendees. He said it talked to hoteliers along the Treasure and Space Coasts.
Photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Nikki Smith A current and former patient of the pediatric oncology ward at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth shave the head of Capt. Timothy Porea, a pediatric oncologist, during the annual St. Baldrick’s Day celebration. This year, the Department of Veterans Affairs exceeded its goals for volunteer service. See story on page 6. “The east coast, we can’t find a vendor who’ll accommodate our budget,” Strom said. Keeping costs down is important. “A lot our counties don’t have a large budget for VSOs to attend (conferences),” Strom said. Florida has had county veteran service officers — who educated and help veterans file for federal and state benefits — since 1945. That year the Florida Legislature authorized
local governments to employ them. In addition to county service officers, some cities, such as Jacksonville, have them, too. The FDVA, certifies the counties’ service officers. Steve Murray, the communications director at the state veterans department, said 66 counties employ service officers. The
See COCOA page 3
House passes two historic VA reform bills FOR VETERAN VOICE
The House passed two pieces of VA reform legislation. The VA Accountability Act of 2015 passed with a vote of 256 – 170. The Surface
Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 passed with a vote of 385 – 34. Chairman, House committee on Veterans’ Affairs, Rep. Jeff Miller released the following statement:
“I applaud my colleagues for stepping up today to address the troubling lack of accountability eroding VA’s ability to care for our veterans. The VA Accountability
See BILLS page 3