Ben Carson on veterans

One who is rising in the polls is Dr. Ben Carson. I hope that trend continues. The latest idea from Dr. Carson is to do away with the V.A.

“We don’t need a Department of Veterans Affairs,” Carson said to Dave Ramsey, on the financial planning strategist’s nationally syndicated show. “Veterans Affairs should be folded in under the Department of Defense. And it should be a smooth transition.”

“We need to be looking at the way we take care of soldiers,” he said, adding military recruitment had falled off 14 percent in part to this poor treatment of military members. “[Potential recruits] are looking at what we are doing to our veterans. When a person applies for the military, they should be in a support system immediately from day one. Particularly when they go through combat, because that is when all the trauma is occurring.”

He also said advanced planning for the career and employment needs of veterans was key.

“We should have people in place a year before their time of discharge to be working on their integration back into society,” Carson said. “There shouldn’t be a period of unemployment when they come out of the military.”

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