Good day, and thank you for having me. I am hoping that maybe I can shed some light, and maybe there are some points I bring up that are valid and we can work on.
Who am I? I am a 23-year veteran. I was a medical technician. I started in high school in the reserves and switched over to the regular force after college. I have been posted to Petawawa, and here in Ottawa. I have done a few tours, up north and over in Afghanistan. I am also the spouse of a wounded soldier. We have been together since we came back from Afghanistan in 2007. I am a parent, a mom of two young children. We have two daughters, four and seven. My father also served for 34 years, so I was a dependant. Basically, for 42 years, I have served.
My release was a medical one. I was released for PTSD, and I believe that VAC at one point became a huge trigger for me. Dealing with the JPSU system, trying to get a home modified for Jody, became probably more difficult than anything I had ever done in Afghanistan. That is from a stress perspective and a lack of knowledge. There was quite a bit of ignorance.
When he says he has been lucky, he is saying that from a physical standpoint, not from the years and years it took both of us, as a united front, trying to fight and make changes, positive changes, and help educate people about a person who has a physical mobility issue and how it affects you every day, 24-7. Unfortunately, those years took a humongous toll. Not only did the JPSU become a big trigger, but dealing with VAC also became one. It is not because they aim to be difficult, but when you have so many names and terms to describe different benefits and items, but you don't have anyone who is available to explain that to the individual, it is beyond overwhelming.
I actually thought I knew what I was talking about. I thought I understood SISIP. I thought I understood VAC. I was, like, “Good, I get it. I know what is being offered on both sides.” To have a case worker come to the house—I was going to laugh. I have no clue what I am even talking about. The fact that she is saying, “No, no, that's a SISIP thing. No, no, that's a VAC thing”.... I was a sergeant, senior NCO, like, come on. Twenty-three years and I can't figure out what this system is. I was medical; I should completely understand. If I don't, then what is the young private, corporal, or anybody else who has a physical or mental disability supposed to be able to do, if I can't figure it out?
I look at that and I say, obviously there is a problem. When we talk.... I know it was brought up from an education perspective. I have actually written things down in numbers and hopefully I won't go over.
The first one is education, and pushing people who have mental issues leaving the military. Do not push someone into education. If they are not ready, then the education is not going to happen. It is going to be a waste of money. You are going to stress them out, and you are going to make it worse. I can attest to that because I was pushed into going into an education. This last year, this year of transition, that is what I tell people. They say, “Who are you? What do you do?”, and I say, “I am transitioning”, because that is a job, figuring out where to go. My identity of 23 years is gone. I don't know who I am. I don't know what I am doing next. I still feel like I am a professional, but a professional what? I have so many skill sets; I just don't have a job right now. I am professionally retired. I am transitioning, but I still don't know what I want to do next.
From where my mind was pre-release to where it is now, I have changed completely. It is not a negative thing. It's a great thing, but there is almost a year of education that I am now behind. I have to play catch-up because at that period of time I wasn't ready. I prepped myself. I mentally got myself ready. I had my ducks in a row, but once I walked out that door, everything was released, and it changed. I want to put that forward and let you know that not everyone is ready for the next step, and pushing someone there is going to make them fall down that hill, and things are just going to get worse.
Concerning communication, there's the problem of our not having email access to our case managers. Well, our entire career within the military was based on email. Sometimes what's nice about it is that you can go back through your email and say, there's my answer right there, instead of trying to call a 1-800 number to contact the one specific person you're trying to access.
I actually think that having the two people talking, instead of making it into this insurance company thing that you have going on—“call a 1-800 number, because I can't talk to you directly”.... That doesn't work, and immediately it does not give the warm and fuzzies; that is not a client-based service. I know, because I did the medical technician thing for 23 years. So email is an issue.
When you have two veterans in a household, we have coverages based on our disability or anything that's wrong, but what's happening—and I'll speak for my family, as I can't speak for someone else's—is that they'll say, you're already covered under him for certain things. Well, what about my coverages? Basically, VAC saves money, because they don't have to cover me because they're covering him. Why can't it be a top-up? Obviously I'm covered, because I have my own personal issues. Do I have to make up the difference somehow?
I just want to say that it should be like CAA: cover the member, don't cover the household.
