Get out of the weeds and take a strategic perspective of it, meaning that if we inculcate in these people, from the day they enter, a sense of loyalty to their service.... My Dad told me I entered a service. He said, “Don't expect anybody to say thank you. Expect an interesting career. You'll never be a millionaire.” And in those days, he said, “Change your name to Dallard, because with Dallaire, you'll go nowhere.” But anyway, that's changed.
Take the high road of remembering that loyalty does not disconnect because of the extraordinary experiences we live, and our interwoven lives; it's there forever. That's the covenant, to serve. And so if it is a covenant, then get rid of these two ways of handling the same problem. I was a veteran serving. Then I was a veteran non-serving, and I went into a whole different set of circumstances—I was not needed.
Part of the strategic perspective is looking at two departments with different regulations for helping the same individual during the same lifespan, or nearly the same.
Secondly, don't build a new charter, but as I've often said in-house, build one based on the covenant of a reformed charter. Get rid of so many of the stupid rules.
And yes, it's going to cost you more. Well, look at the billions we spend in training these people; the billions we spend in equipping them, giving them the ammunition, the food, the medical supplies; the billions we use in getting them into the theatre of operations and doing everything to reduce casualties and win the war, which we do in humongous amounts of money; and then the billions we spend in rebuilding and replacing the equipment and restocking ourselves; and then look at the amount of money we are actually spending on the human beings that have gone through it. It is the most gross disconnect that you can imagine.
Veterans Affairs at $3 billion is inappropriate. It is absolutely inappropriate compared to the scale of the commitment we're putting into every other dimension except the actual human being.
That is the strategic position that should be taken.