• Defense Secretary Hagel demands rape reform in military

    By Bill Briggs, Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube, NBC News

    Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Monday cracked down on generals who now possess the power to overturn sex assault sentences, ordering the first substantive shift of his tenure in how the military handles rape convictions in the ranks.


    But victims’ advocates quickly lashed the move as merely a meager tweak that fails to meet mounting calls to remove all sex-assault investigations from the chain of command and to inject civilian oversight into a controversial system of justice further exposed by the recent Aviano case. 

    Hagel directed the Pentagon's General Counsel to strip the authority of commanding generals to void military court convictions. The Pentagon must seek fresh Congressional legislation to rewrite a section of the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) to make the planned change legal.

    The decision follows a firestorm ignited last month when Air Force Lt. General Craig Franklin overturned the sex-assault conviction of Air Force Lt. Col. James Wilkerson, an F-16 combat pilot. Wilkerson was court martialed and convicted by a military jury in the assault of a civilian woman at the U.S. Air Base in Aviano, Italy. He was sentenced to one year in the brig and booted from the Air Force.

    But using current UCMJ laws, Franklin reversed that jury's ruling for apparent lack of evidence. Wilkerson was subsequently released from jail, reinstated and assigned to a staff job at an Arizona air base.

    The head of the Service Women's Action Network (SWAN), which seeks to help women serve without discrimination, harassment or assault, said she is "encouraged" by Hagel's proposal to reform a portion of the UCMJ, particularly "in light of the perceived travesty of justice in the recent Aviano case." But she added that the modification is not enough.

    "The Department of Defense has effectively acknowledged that commanders currently have undue influence on post-trial decision-making," said Anu Bhagwati, executive director of SWAN and a former Marine Corps captain. "However, post-trial review is only one component of the command-driven system that currently governs how military crimes are handled.

    "Unless pre-trial decision-making around investigation and prosecution of offenses is also removed from the hands of commanders and given to impartial prosecutors, military criminal justice will remain a lesser form of justice, both for victims and defendants."

    Measures 'fall short'
    Protect Our Defenders, an advocacy group for military sex-assault victims, called the generals’ current prerogative to toss out sex-assault convictions "only one part of much larger fundamental problems."

    "Today’s proposed changes from the Pentagon fall short of the necessary fixes to end the epidemic of sexual assault in the military," said Nancy Parrish, president of Protect Our Defenders. "The military has always contended that incidences like Aviano are extremely rare and we have never disputed that. But, we have always contended that the more insidious problem is that convening authorities can unilaterally lessen sentences, and today’s announcement does not change this.

    "Commanders now have the power to reduce any sentence for any reason or no reason," Parrish added. "Under the current proposal ... this will not change. In the Aviano case, rather than setting Lt. Col. Wilkerson’s sexual assault conviction aside, Lt. General Franklin could have simply reduced the sentence to no punishment.

    "For the system to be legitimate — the reporting, investigation and adjudication must be taken completely out of the chain of command if we are to avoid another case like Aviano," she added.

    Under UCMJ, Hagel and Congress are powerless to change Franklin's decision to overturn the conviction of Lt. Col. Wilkerson.

    In a written statement released Monday, Hagel said he is seeking to eliminate the ability of commanders who are the "convening authority" to override convictions for sexual assault or other serious crimes.

    Defendants still will retain the right to appeal convictions through the military judicial system, Hagel said. He also wants to require the convening authority to put into writing any changes they may make in sentencing for major offenses.

    "From the survivors we talk with," Parrish said, "a written explanation as to why their perp's sentence was lessened unilaterally will be of no comfort to them. This still constitutes an extraordinary power resting in the hands of one person with no equivalent in the civilian criminal justice system."

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  • Rough landings: DOD, VA sluggish helping returning veterans, study says

    By Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor

    Nearly half of the 2.2 million U.S. troops who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have struggled to readjust to American life in part because the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs have been sluggish in helping those coming home in droves, according to a sweeping report released today.

    After examining veteran suicides and unemployment as well as the military’s handling of sex assaults, women in uniform and same-sex family issues, the Institute of Medicine said returning service members deserve “timely and adequate care,” yet it cited cases in which the DOD and VA are using unproven diagnostic and therapy tools.


    "The (federal) response has been slow and has not matched the magnitude of this population's requirements as many cope with a complex set of health, economic, and other challenges," said co-author Dr. George Rutherford. He chairs the IOM’s committee on the assessment of readjustment needs of military personnel, veterans, and their families. The IOM, an independent nonprofit, is the health arm of the National Academy of Sciences. 

    "The number of people affected, the influx of returning personnel as the conflicts wind down, and the potential long-term consequences of their service heighten the urgency of putting the appropriate knowledge and resources in place to make re-entry into post-deployment life as easy as possible,” added Rutherford, head of preventive medicine and public health at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.

    Another 34,000 U.S. service members will be flown home from Afghanistan during the next 12 months. The high suicide toll among veterans (22 per day) has drawn recent Congressional scrutiny as have the elevated veteran-unemployment rate and access limits to VA mental health care. Congress requested the IOM study. 

    Among the recommendations within the 500-plus page report:

    • DOD and VA must “boost efforts to reduce the stigma” associated with service members or veterans simply asking for help to deal with mental-health issues or with substance-abuse problems.
    • The tool DOD uses to assess cognitive function following a head injury – Automated Neuropsychological Assessment Metrics (ANAM) — carries “no clear scientific evidence” to show that it works. That’s key because more than 200,000 U.S. troops have sustained traumatic brain injuries since 2000 — most non-combat-related. On March 5, Congressional members sent a letter to the chiefs of DOD and VA seeking data to investigate a new theory linking TBIs with the military’s suicide crisis.
    • One of the VA’s “first-line treatments for depression” — Acceptance and Commitment Therapy — similarly “lacks sufficient evidence” to show its efficacy.
    • Research has found that curbing access to lethal weapons prevents suicides, however, “DOD policy prohibits restricting that individual's access to privately owned weapons” — even if a service member is known to be at risk for suicide.
    • DOD and VA should link their databases so that the health records of all service members are available to track their medical conditions from the moment they enter the service through the day any future treatment is eventually rendered by a VA facility. 

    "These (recommendations) are meant to be helpful, meant to be more of a roadmap of how to pursue” these issues, Rutherford said. “These are extraordinary challenges that the systems are facing and they’ve gone to extraordinary efforts to try and work with them.

    'Demand is large'
    “Yeah, it can all be streamlined. Yeah, (the available help) can be matched better to the demands. Yeah, you can improve this stuff. But they are trying like crazy to make it match the demand,” he added. “The demand is large, and it’s growing.”

    Compared to past post-war generations, a higher percentage of returning Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans are using the VA for their health care — 56 percent of that population, according to the VA.

    "This report provides VA a better understanding of the difficulties some Veterans face as they readjust to home, reconnect with family members, find employment and return to school," read an email from Josh Taylor, a VA spokesman. "Greater collaboration with the Department of Defense (DoD) in the areas of research, treatment and clinical outcomes will further enhance continuity of care as service members transition from active to veteran status."

    Pentagon officials will examine the IOM’s suggestions, said Cynthia O. Smith, a DoD spokeswoman.

    “DoD appreciates IOM's hard work and will thoughtfully consider the study's key findings and recommendations,” Smith wrote in an email. She added that the agency’s Deployment Health Clinical Center “will work collectively with the VA to provide a joint response to Congress no later than June 2013.” 

    The IOM study reports that 44 percent of veterans have had "readjustment difficulties," 48 percent have dealt with "strains on family life," 49 percent have experienced post-traumatic stress, and 32 percent have felt "an occasional loss of interest in daily activities." Those figures were plucked from an earlier Pew Research Center survey. 

    "I’m not surprised (by those numbers), talking to my other buddies that have gotten out. I’ve got several buddies that still can’t find jobs but, to be honest with you, I think it's a factor of (their) motivation" to hunt for work, said Ryan Kriesel, 24, an Army tank operator who served two tours in Iraq. He's now a student at the University of Minnesota. He described his own transition as "pretty smooth." 

    When it comes to those younger veterans who report a flagging interest in daily life, Kriesel believes some of that may be due to the loss of the emotional rush that once came with combat. 

    "Part of it is being back in the civilian world," he said. "There’s not as much adrenaline going on as when you were overseas, out on combat missions several times a day."

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  • Outgoing DOD boss Panetta extends some benefits to same-sex spouses, partners of gay troops

    By Bill Briggs and Jim Miklaszewski , NBC News

    Departing Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta extended Monday a list of benefits — all previously denied by the Pentagon — to the same-sex spouses of service members as well as to the unmarried partners of gay troops.


    The perks, automatically available to heterosexual military spouses, will include child care services, member-designated hospital visits, and the issuing of military ID cards, which will give same-sex spouses and partners access to on-base commissaries, movie theaters and gyms. The policy changes will go into effect once training on the new rules is completed, Panetta said.

    While advocates for gay and lesbian service members and their families hailed Panetta’s policy switch as “substantive” and “encouraging,” the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) still blocks the DOD from enacting more than 85 other benefits now provided to heterosexual military spouses and their children — most notably medical and dental care, housing allowances, and death benefits.

    Also, as NBC News reported Feb. 4, that same federal law mandates that when a gay service member is killed in combat, military officials must first notify that troop’s blood family, not their spouse, as is normally the course of action. 

    Panetta said DOMA is “now being reviewed by the United States Supreme Court" — and he offered his first clear signal that the Pentagon wants that law overturned.

    “There are certain benefits that can only be provided to spouses as defined by that law,” Panetta said. “While it will not change during my tenure as secretary of defense, I foresee a time when the law will allow the department to grant full benefits to service members and their dependents, irrespective of sexual orientation. Until then, the department will continue to comply with current law while doing all we can to take care of all soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and their families."

    Same-sex advocates have been pushing the DOD to extend full benefits to the spouses and partners of all U.S. service members since the repeal 17 months of ago of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy which prohibited gay troops from revealing their sexual orientation.

    “At the time of repeal, I committed to reviewing benefits that had not previously been available to same-sex partners based on existing law and policy,” Panetta said. “It is a matter of fundamental equity that we provide similar benefits to all of those men and women in uniform who serve their country ...

    “Taking care of our service members and honoring the sacrifices of all military families are two core values of this nation. Extending these benefits is an appropriate next step under current law to ensure that all service members receive equal support for what they do to protect this nation."

    Advocates for gay and lesbian service members and their families praised Panetta’s policy shift although they said that the move is not groundbreaking due to the DOMA legal blockade.

    “Secretary Panetta’s decision today answers the call President (Barack) Obama issued in his inaugural address to complete our nation's journey toward equality, acknowledging the equal service and equal sacrifice of our gay and lesbian service members and their families,” said Allyson Robinson, an Army veteran and executive director of OutServe-SLDN, an association of actively serving lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender U.S. military personnel with more than 50 chapters and 6,000 members.

    “We thank him for getting us a few steps closer to full equality — steps that will substantively improve the quality of life of gay and lesbian military families,” Robinson said.

    The American Military Partner Association (AMPA), a support network for LGBT military families, released the following statement today in response to Panetta's announcement: 

    “We’ve waited far too long for this, and it’s fantastic news that our dedicated military families will now have access to some of the benefits and support services they need and deserve,” said Stephen Peters, the group's president. “However, (DOMA)  continues to undermine our military families who sacrifice so much for our nation. This summer, we hope that the Supreme Court will make it clear that our families are just as important and deserve the same protections, benefits, and support that federal recognition brings.”

    To offer the new benefits to partners, DOD will ask gay and lesbian service members to sign a “Declaration of Domestic Partnership” in which they will attest that they are in a committed relationship, and intend to remain so indefinitely, and that neither is legally married, according to OutServe-SLDN.

    The changes will take “several months to complete, Pentagon officials said. The extra time is needed so that military leaders can offer a chance for the public to comment on the new rules and also to allow an opportunity for each of the branches to update its IT system, develop new processes for issuing ID cards, and train their personnel on the refreshed benefits package.

    Panetta did stop short on offering a full slate of benefits that gay advocates have been requesting for two years: on-base housing and burial at Arlington National Cemetery and other items that don’t fall under DOMA, according to OutServe-SLDN. (The organization’s lawyers drafted an explanation outlining the policy shift for gay service members and their families.)

    DOD officials have explained to OutServe-SLDN that “policy for burial at Arlington National Cemetery is under review. At issue is how to verify eligible same-sex relationships for the surviving spouse in order to ensure equitable policy implementation."

    NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski contributed to this report.

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  • Panel calls for better care, protections for wounded troops


    By Rebecca Ruiz, NBC News

    The Recovering Warrior Task Force, a panel appointed by Congress in 2010, issued an annual report (PDF) Thursday outlining how the Department of Defense can improve medical treatment and retirement for wounded service members.

    The panel made 35 recommendations to DOD, among them ensuring that all behavioral health care providers are trained in evidence-based treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder; extending military medical coverage from six months to a year for reservists when they return home; and making it easier for families of the injured to receive counseling and logistical support.

    It also suggested creating a bill of rights for recovering service members that would address the "adversarial dynamic" that can sometimes occur between the wounded and their chain of command.

     

    Seven civilians and seven members of the military serve as task force members. DOD is required to provide Congress an assessment of the recommendations within three months and a plan for implementation at five months.

    Related: Red tape entangles injured service members who can no longer deploy

    Suzanne Crockett-Jones, co-chair of the task force whose husband was severely injured in 2004 in Iraq, told NBC News that the improvements made to the care and retirement of wounded service members have been significant in the past decade.

    "When my husband was injured, there were no resources for families — that was not even on the map," she said. Now, there are systems in place to ensure that care is being closely monitored and that family members are included in the process.

    Still, there have been 49,000 Iraq and Afghanistan casualties to test the quality of care, and as of late July, more than 26,000 service members in the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps were being processed in the disability evaluation system, which determines whether or not an injury is service-connected and meets the threshold for full military benefits upon retirement. In the Army, which accounts for two-thirds of the caseload, service members wait the longest at an average of 427 days; the goal set by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs is to process active-duty cases in 295 days.

    The task force offered a number of recommendations to improve efficiency and streamline the Integrated Disability Evaluation System, including creating electronic records for those cases and increasing staffing for liaisons who guide service members through the process.  

    In focus groups, some service members and their families complained that the chain of command and support staff did not always support the recovery process. At times, service members said they felt "disrespected and inappropriately penalized" and that athletic reconditioning or formations were prioritized over getting medical or transition services. They were also concerned about violations of medical confidentiality as some staff members had discussed service members' cases in inappropriate settings.

    Lt. Gen. Charles B. Green, surgeon general of the Air Force and co-chair of the task force, told NBC News that a bill of rights could help set expectations for commanders who may not have experience managing injured or ill service members likely to retire from the military.

    Green said the task force wanted to see consistency in the respectful treatment of the wounded between the services and from one installation to the next. 

    "A lot of people have done wonderful things for their country, and may not go back to active duty, and we want to treat them exceptionally well."

    Rebecca Ruiz is a reporter at NBC News. Follow her on Twitter here.

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  • Lawsuit: U.S. soldier killed by Afghan security employee who made threats

    By Lolita Lopez, NBCLosAngeles.com

    Rudy Acosta was just weeks away from coming home to Santa Clarita from his deployment overseas when he and a group of unarmed soldiers were ambushed. Two soldiers died and three others were injured.

    That's according to a wrongful death lawsuit filed by his parents in July.

    Pfc. Acosta was 19 when he was killed in March 2011 inside a secure area of the Forward Operating Base Frontenac in Afghanistan.

    Read the original story on NBCLosAngeles.com.


    The combat medic was shot to death on base by an Afghan national hired to protect the military -- a man who had previously allegedly threatened to kill U.S. troops, according to the lawsuit filed by Dante and Carolyn Acosta in federal court.

    "We lost our oldest son. We lost a bright, funny, charismatic 19-year-old young man with a bright future. He wanted to be a surgeon," Dante Acosta, Rudy's father, said.

    The Acostas are suing the private security company, Tundra Group, based in Canada, saying that the firm rehired Shir Ahmed after previously firing him for making the threats.

    According to the lawsuit, Ahmed was hired in May 2010 and fired in July of the same year after making statements about killing U.S. personnel. Tundra recommended he not be rehired but the recommendation never entered his file and Ahmed was rehired in March 2011, the lawsuit claims.

    What's leading Afghan troops to turn on coalition forces?

    The Acostas' Los Angeles attorney, Stuart Fraenkel, said Ahmed was given body armor and a loaded AK-47 weapon.

    The lawsuit states that Tundra entered into an agreement with the American government in November 2009 to "among other things, screen, evaluate and monitor private security guards at nine military installations, including FOB Frontenac. The agreement required Tundra perform ordinary and necessary safety precautions to protect the men and women, living, working and servicing at FOB Frontenac."

    "They have customs, practices, procedures, protocols in place to prevent this kind of a problem from happening and they didn't follow them," said Fraenkel, who is also representing three others injured in the attack.

    The plaintiffs are seeking unspecified punitive damages.

    The incident is among those considered by the government as "green on blue" or "insider" attacks, which have been a major focus in Afghanistan this summer. The attacks occur when members of the Afghan National Security Forces turn their guns on coalition members.

    Panetta intervenes after 10th US service member killed in 2 weeks in Afghanistan

    According to a U.S. Department of Defense spokesman, there have been three such incidents involving private security contractors.

    There have also been 32 other green-on-blue attacks so far this year -- 11 more than all of 2011 -- the Defense Department spokesman said in an email. Since 2007, there have been a total of 73 "insider" attacks resulting in dozens of deaths and over 100 U.S. personnel injured.

    Just in the month of August 2012, there have been 10 insider attacks that killed 10 Americans, the Associated Press reported Thursday.

    That is in part why the Acostas vow to continue their fight.

    "They need to be held accountable, or this could happen again," Carolyn Acosta said.

    The Acostas say Tundra has not contacted them since their son's death. Tundra did not respond to NBC4's request for comment.

    The House Armed Services Committee, led by Chairman Howard "Buck" McKeon, R-Calif., held two hearings on "insider" attacks, including one specifically about Rudy Acosta in February.

    Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., sent a letter to McKeon asking for another hearing on insider attacks, or "at the very least request a briefing by the proper Department of Defense officials." No hearing has been scheduled at this time.

    On Thursday, a top U.S. commander in Afghanistan said that the recent rise in insider killings can be attributed in part to stress on Afghan forces from fasting during the just-ended Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the Associated Press reported.

    But that doesn't explain what happened in Acosta's killing.

    Since his death, procedures for U.S. troops in Afghanistan have changed. Troops have now been ordered to carry their weapons loaded at all times to counter any such attacks.

    US forces in Afghanistan ordered to keep weapons loaded at all times

    Fraenkel said he believes Tundra continues to perform services for the U.S. government.

    The lawsuit states that Rudy Acosta had plans to get married and attend medical school when his service was complete.

    This story originally appeared on NBCLosAngeles.

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  • Military, VA release mobile app for PTSD therapy

    National Center for Telehealth and Technology

    PE Coach lets service people and veterans suffering from PTSD to assess symptoms, record therapy sessions, receive reminders and more.

    By Rebecca Ruiz, NBC News

    The military has released a new mobile app designed for post-traumatic stress disorder patients in a therapy known as prolonged exposure.

    PE Coach was developed by the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs and offers users a mobile way of assessing symptoms, recording therapy sessions, receiving reminders for homework and appointments and learning more about PTSD.

    The app is available on Apple and Android devices, but is advised for use only when a patient is receiving professional prolonged exposure therapy.

    That type of treatment focuses on "exposure practice," or approaching situations the patient has been avoiding because they seem unsafe or are related to the trauma that brought on PTSD. For veterans, this might include avoiding crowded public places or congested traffic. The treatment also involves revisiting the traumatic memory with a clinician in order to learn how to better handle the stressful feelings that it raises.

    Part of the therapy, Dr. Greg Reger, a clinical psychologist at DOD's National Center for Telehealth and Technology, told NBC News, is recording each therapy session and listening to it daily in order to overcome fear around those situations. Traditionally, Reger said, patients would leave an appointment with CD recordings and several sheets of paper to help complete daily homework assignments that include confronting an anxiety-inducing scenario.


    "Our patients don’t avoid (homework assignments) because they don’t want to get better," Reger said, "but any inconvenience provides an excuse not to do something even if it helps you get better."

    Related: Combat to corporate: PTSD stigma blocks some veterans
    Related: First opera about Iraq War reaches out to veterans suffering from PTSD

    Patients, for example, might find it difficult to listen to the recording if the only CD player available to them is in a car. They might also feel self-conscious about taking notes in public after going into a crowded mall or driving through rush hour traffic, but PE Coach allows a patient to type descriptions directly into the phone. The app, Reger said, is a "dramatic shift" in how convenient it is to stick to daily therapy.

    Since a quiet pre-release in March, the app has been downloaded more than 2,000 times. A separate DOD and VA app called PTSD Coach, which was designed for wide use, has been downloaded more than 66,000 times since last year.

    Reger said the app would be used by many VA and DOD mental health clinicians who are trained in prolonged exposure therapy.

    The ability of the app to capture the homework data, even time-stamping when a patient listened to the therapy recordings, helps clinicians monitor the success of the treatment in ways he or she couldn't do before, Reger said.

    "We want to celebrate the response they’ve had because of their hard work." 

    Rebecca Ruiz is a reporter at NBC News and a 2011-2012 Rosalynn Carter Mental Health Journalism Fellow. Follow her on Twitter here.

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  • Panetta to Congress: Transition system for veterans is 'overwhelmed'

    Alex Wong / Getty Images

    U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, left, and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki testify before the House Armed Services Committee and House Veterans' Affairs Committee on July 25, 2012 in Washington, D.C.

    By Rebecca Ruiz, NBC News

    The system designed to assist service members transitioning from active duty to civilian life is "overwhelmed," Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told legislators in a historic Congressional hearing on Wednesday.


    The hearing, in which Panetta and Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki testified about both departments' capabilities to successfully transition service members, was the first time both the House Armed Services and Veterans’ Affairs committees met jointly.

    Among legislators' concerns were VA's claims backlog, the lengthy wait for active-duty wounded warriors to secure disability retirement and the effectiveness of the Transition Assistance Program (TAP), which is meant to help service members plan for a post-military career and better understand their benefits.

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    "The reality is that not all (service members) are getting the kind of care and benefits they should get," Panetta said. The expected  draw down of at least 80,000 soldiers in the coming year will strain transition services as well, he said. "This system is going to be overwhelmed — it's already overwhelmed."

    If the Department of Defense is subject to sequestration cuts as part of across-the-board deficit reduction, the Army may have to trim its forces by an additional 80,000 to 100,000 service members. The president has promised that VA would be exempt from sequestration, but Shinseki told legislators that the exemption might not cover administrative costs.

    "We all know there is a surge of veterans returning home, and it has become apparent that DoD and VA are straining to meet the challenge of providing a successful transition for these men and women," Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, told NBC News.

    In the past four years, Miller said, the claims backlog has ballooned and wait times for appointments, particularly for combat-related psychological disorders, have extended into months. In addition, a single electronic medical record that could be used between VA and DOD remains five years away.

    As of July 21, more than 915,000 claims were pending with the VA, two-thirds of which have been in process for more than 125 days.

    Shinseki testified that the backlog was due in part to recent decisions to award claims in three new categories -- Vietnam-era Agent Orange illness, post-traumatic stress disorder and Gulf War illnesses. In his written testimony, Shinseki said that VA plans to eliminate the backlog in 2015 with a goal of processing all claims within 125 days.

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    Injured or wounded service members who want to medically retire from the military, which would grant them full medical benefits and monthly compensation, also face long delays. As of May 2012, more than 26,000 service members had open cases; in the Army, where service members wait the longest, claims were processed in average of 427 days.

    That includes time spent for rehabilitation and medical care, Shinseki said, but both departments were tasked by Congress with expediting and streamlining the disability retirement system several years ago, and the goal for processing cases is 295 days.

    Panetta said that as the two bureaucracies work together in unprecedented ways to improve the transition process for service members, there still remains a "lot of built in resistance to adapting and changing the way we do things."

    "Things are going to have to change," he said. 

    Rebecca Ruiz is a reporter at NBC News. Follow her on Twitter here.

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