I can only say that as the champion of the rights and interests of the veterans--that's how I would refer to it--if they are poorly treated for voicing their opinion or whatever, whether it's not receiving the benefits and services they are entitled to as a veteran or they're being poorly treated because of something they said...to me it's seamless; I will champion the rights and interests of the veteran.
I'm not sure if that answers the question. Certainly anything that comes to the ombudsman's office is going to be treated with absolute confidentiality and will not be passed to third parties without the explicit permission of the individual. I think certainly in my experience now, the reception I've had from the war veterans...I speak the same language they do, so they're comfortable telling me like it is. I think the communication and the confidentiality are inherent in my office. They won't have a problem there.