With one flip statement, new VA Secretary Robert McDonald may have isolated millions of veterans and called into question his ability to repair the broken VA system.
During a January exchange with a homeless veteran, Secretary McDonald stated that he was in Special Forces. Secretary McDonald now says he misspoke in an attempt to find “common ground” with the veteran. In fact, Secretary McDonald has never served in the Special Forces – he completed Army Ranger training and then served in the 82 Airborne Division.
A CNN report that was published on February 24 compared Secretary McDonald’s statement to that of Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat whose 2010 campaign was rocked after he claimed to have served in Vietnam. Blumenthal spent six years in the Marine Corps Reserves, but was never actually sent to Vietnam.
Since I am generally critical of the VA, I feel it is acceptable, under these circumstances, to say that we should give Secretary McDonald a break. If one reads the reports and news articles on this subject, it becomes apparent that the man made one awkward misstatement; and while unfortunate, it does not make him any less capable of improving the VA. And right now, we really need a Secretary we can believe in.
When Secretary McDonald took over from the inept Secretary Shinseki six months ago, he was effectively charged with repairing a potentially irreparable system, and there was no doubt he would be criticized regardless of what he did. Accordingly, making a cringe-worthy statement doesn’t help.
However, it is important that veterans know what Secretary McDonald has done since he took the reigns from Secretary Shinseki a few months ago. If you’re going to criticize him, criticize him because he isn’t delivering on making the VA system better for our veterans. The following are some of the steps and missteps he’s taken since assuming the Secretary position:
- VA Firings. In a report on NBC news on February 21 , Secretary McDonald relayed that 900 people have been fired since he became Secretary. Of those 900, however, 487 were “probationary” employees, meaning that they would have had nothing to do with the VA medical center wait times. Also, the NBC news report noted that during FY 2013, Secretary Shinseki fired over 2,000 VA employees, while the number of employees fired under Secretary McDonald during his first year isn’t supposed to come anywhere near that. Further, while Secretary McDonald relayed that 60 individuals who manipulated wait times were fired, some news reports relay this simply isn’t true.
- Availability. Secretary McDonald is not just a figurehead. He has given out his personal cell phone number at the many veteran functions he has attended since becoming Secretary, and he insists that veterans call him “Bob.” If you watch any video with Secretary McDonald, he has a candidness and a genuineness that was lacking with Secretary Shinseki. He has also paid visits to over 85 VA hospitals, facilities and cemeteries since becoming Secretary.
- Increased Scrutiny on VA Medical Facilitiess. In light of allegations regarding veteran medical care, the new Secretary has launched new investigations of many medical facilities. (In general, the VA’s Office of Inspector General has launched investigations of over one hundred facilities since Secretary Shinseki resigned). One of these includes the Tomah, Wisconsin VA medical health care center, where a Marine recently died due to the over-prescribing of opiates.
Keep in mind that the new VA Secretary is dealing with everything VA-related. He’s also choked by red tape. Any progress he makes, it’s going to be slow; and he’ll never be able to make everyone happy.
The thing is, he should be thinking of that too. Secretary McDonald, you don’t need to be claiming you were in Special Forces just because the veteran you’re speaking to is, or that you’ve fired every single person accountable for the scandals at VA health centers. For the most part, people know that you’ve inherited a broken system, and they know you’re only one man. But this is why it is so much more important for you to be careful about what you say and the representations you make.
Everyone is watching.
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Your statement that “we really need someone we can believe in” says it all in the big picture. If Mr. McDonald had misconstrued a fact while a Cadet at West Point, like he said in the L.A. misrepresentation, or he would not have graduated and become an Army Officer, much less have become the Secretary of VA Affairs.
Even if it wasn’t a written statement? People say flip things all the time; and this statement was made only to connect with the homeless veteran he made it to.
The problem is, there’s a difference between Special Forces and his service, and he does know that. An odd and unfortunate mistake to make, especially since the chances were good it would be caught.
A cadet will not lie, cheat or steal, nor tolerate those who do.
USMA HONOR CODE
THE CITADEL HONOR CODE
VMI HONOR CODE
He’d have been booted from The Academy for that one, regardless of whether it was written or spoken.
The Secretary MUST know that making such a claim is going to upset a lot of vets. How foolish is he. I saw in the WSJ that he apologized for making the claim. I say let it go and let’s see if he can make the VA a better place for vets. I do think it is so interesting that people make claims about being in the Special Forces or serving in Viet Nam. Where were they when we came home from that place!!
It is an issue of trust.
It’s true – my father served in Germany during the Vietnam Era and you won’t hear him say he’s a Vietnam vet.
When I was researching this article, the first two pages of hits for Secretary McDonald were about this statement. Nothing about the steps he’s made as the new Secretary of the VA.
Sarah,
Very well said in your article regarding Secretary McDonald. Many people in important positions find it easy to embellish truth as if that somehow makes them more acceptable or approachable to the people they are supposed to be serving.
However, I agree that the one misstatement doesn’t bring cause for Tar and Feathering him. What does bring Tar and Feathering into question is his ability to reign in a bureaucracy that almost perpetually feeds on itself. And yes, although he did inherit a broken organization, his expertise in the private sector with Proctor and Gamble should give him the necessary experience to make the difficult decisions and to execute them.
It is unfortunate that the Secretary made that statement in an attempt to relate to a homeless Vet. He has recognized it as such publicly. He needs to be given the opportunity to fix a very broken system, even though the slowness of the process tends to make us impatient. The entrenched bureaucracy will use anything they can against him to reduce his effectiveness or try to wait him out until the next Secretary is appointed. Let us not give them any further ammunition to use so this incident needs to be put to rest. As a Vet and a lowly VA member I request this.
Thanks
Give me a break we gotta stop. Allow
People to use their personality to do their jobs.
When I was in the Army 30+ years ago being assigned to the elite 82nd Airborne after completing the elite and difficult training of becoming a Ranger (for life) was what we would have referred To as a Special Unit. The best of the best of the best. The first to be deployed on serious missions. So if you have done all that and completed 4 years at West Point then you can talk smack I suppose but if your a Stanford or Harvard graduate who studied wars and combat. Then dwelled around in a cubicle for years. Well your opinion is no better than a Harvard Professor’s who manipulated his way into being the Commander in Chief. At least the Veteran Served Proudly. In my opinion all of our forces are “Special Forces” Except the one who never served in uniform.
Many of us has serve in times of minor conflicts yet we hold a great deal of respect for those who in time of actual “War and or major conflicts”. It shows us the true character a person when he or she misrepresent themselves, weather it in a foreign place or domestic place, as he did it so well. It was likely not is first time it just he got caught. This man should never lead with out the question in the mind of the follower is he telling me the truth or is he lying? His action call the question every time he open is mouth ….
Trust only when verification has been completed should not be a leader call sign…
I hear that he’s fibbed about the hiring statistics too? And how do you ‘forget’ that you weren’t Special Forces? That said, I DO care more about what he’s doing at the VA… So time will tell with him.