I served nearly 27 years in the U.S. Air Force and then another 10 years in my “second career” as a Veterans Service Officer (VSO.) Now for my third and hopefully final “career,” I plan on taking it easy and writing books to continue my advocacy for Veterans, for the knowledge I gained during those 10 years as a VSO, I believe, is far too important NOT to continuing sharing with other disabled Veterans. As a VSO, I spent four years advocating for Veterans benefits at the St Petersburg VA Regional Office, another four and a half years working with patients at the James H. Haley VA Medical Center in Tampa, and then the last year and a half providing community-based advocacy for our Veterans in and around Sumter County Florida. As a result of this experience, I not only became familiar with VA law and the VA disability claims and appeals processes, I learned the procedural matrixes the decision makers (Raters, Decision Review Officers, and Judges) utilize to adjudicated disability claims. As a result of that experience, I discovered that by approaching the Veterans benefits process from the perspective of what could be granted, instead of focusing on what would be denied, I could help Veterans become VICTORS instead of victims.
