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Chiefs of Staff are assisted in the performance of their responsibilities by the Joint Staff and other Joint Chiefs of Staff agencies.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. While holding office, he takes precedence over all other officers of the Armed Services. He is presiding officer of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, provides agenda for their meetings, and informs the Secretary of Defense and the President, when appropriate, of those issues upon which agreement among the Joint Chiefs of Staff has not been reached. He manages the Joint Staff. As a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the chairman has a vote, which was authorized in the Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1958.

The Joint Staff. It is composed of not to exceed 400 officers, organized as shown in figure 16. It provides staff as

sistance to the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the discharge of their responsibilities.

For further details of the organization and duties of the Joint Staff, see "Department of Defense Reorganization Act of 1958," and appropriate subheading, above.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Committees. The Joint Strategic Survey Committee, Joint Strategic Plans Committee, Joint Logistics Plans Committee, Joint Military Transportation Committee, Joint Munitions Allocation Committee, Joint Intelligence Committee, Joint Communications-Electronics Committee, Joint Advanced Study Committee, U.S. Military Cooperation Committee, and Joint Meteorological Committee advise the Joint Chiefs of Staff on matters within their purview and participate in the preparation of strategic and logistic plans.

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SECRETARIES, AND DEPUTY SECRETARIES OF DEFENSE, AND CHAIRMEN OF THE JOINT CHIEFS OF STAFF. The following have served in these capacities

17 Sep 1947-27 Mar 1949 28 Mar 1949-19 Sep 1950 21 Sep 1950-12 Sep 1951 17 Sep 1951-20 Jan 1953 28 Jan 1953-8 Oct 1957 9 Oct 1957

Secretaries of Defense

James V. Forrestal ......Louis Johnson George C. Marshall .Robert A. Lovett

. Charles E. Wilson .Neil H. McElroy

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Served as Under Secretary of Defense from 2 May 1949 until 9 August 1949 when the position was abolished and that of Deputy Secretary of Defense was established.

Chapter 23

VETERANS OF THE ARMED SERVICES

Our Government furnishes numerous benefits to veterans of the Armed Services and their dependents.1 In most cases they are administered by the Veterans Administration.

VETERANS ADMINISTRATION

This is an independent agency under the President, which administers laws relating to the relief of, and other benefits provided by law for, former members of the military and naval forces. It is responsible for extending relief to veterans and dependents of deceased veterans who served in all wars, and to veterans and dependents of deceased veterans who served in the military establishments in time of peace, as provided for by various acts of Congress.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND. From the end of the Revolutionary War until 1921, there were several Government agencies engaged in administering the laws that governed veterans' affairs. The first of two principal consolidations occurred when the Veterans' Bureau was created on 9 August 1921 as an independent establishment by an act of Congress. This act abolished the Bureau of War Risk Insurance (created 2 September 1914) and conferred its powers and duties on the Veterans' Bureau; it

28 Apr 1921-1 Mar 1923
2 Mar 1923-15 Aug 1945
15 Aug 1945-31 Dec 1947
31 Dec 1947-30 Jun 1953
30 Jun 1953-22 Jul 1953
22 Jul 1953-20 Dec 1957
20 Dec 1957-

transferred to the Veterans' Bureau duties relating to vocational training of veterans conferred upon the Federal Board for Vocational Education by an act of Congress of 27 June 1918 known as the Vocational Rehabilitation Act; and it transferred certain hospitals, personnel, properties, etc., of the United States Public Health Service (created 16 July 1798) pertaining to the medical examination, care, and treatment of exservicemen.

The next consolidation of agencies rendering benefits to veterans and their dependents was made when the Veterans Administration was created on 21 July 1930. This merged in the Veterans Administration the United States Veterans' Bureau, the Bureau of Pensions, and the National Asylum for Disabled Volunteer Soldiers (created on 3 March 1865).

Since 1921 the following persons have headed the Veterans' Bureau Veterans Administration

or the

Col. Charles R. Forbes .Brig. Gen. Frank T. Hines ..Gen. Omar N. Bradley Maj. Gen. Carl R. Gray, Jr. Mr. H. V. Sterling (acting) .Mr. Harvey V. Higley .Mr. Sumner G. Whittier

1 In general this chapter does not deal with payments, services, etc., extended to active or retired personnel of the Armed Services BY THE DEPARTMENTS OF THE ARMY, NAVY, OR AIR FORCE such as active and retired pay, allowances, and treatment in the hospitals of the Armed Services as distinguished from VA hospitals. For these topics, and as regards Army personnel, see chapter 7.

ORGANIZATION. The Veterans Administration is composed of the central office, regional offices, and field stations.

CENTRAL OFFICE. It consists of certain staff offices and operating departments, the heads of which are directly responsible to the Administrator. Staff Offices are: Office of the Chairman, Board of Veterans' Appeals; Office of the General Counsel; Office of the Controller; Office of the Director, Information Service; Office of the Assistant Administrator for Administration; Office of the Assistant Administrator for Appraisal and Security; Office of the Assistant Administrator for Personnel. The Departments are: Department of Medicine and Surgery, Department of Veterans' Benefits, and Department of In

surance.

REGIONAL

OFFICES. A regional

office is a VA agency to which has been delegated certain authority in granting benefits and services to veterans within its territory. It furnishes information as to all VA benefits and services; procures data regarding applications and claims; rates and adjudicates claims and makes awards for disability compensation and pension; conducts physical and mental examinations for claims purposes; establishes eligibility and need for hospitalization in other government and private institutions and State home care; renders outpatient treatment and social service; handles guardianship and fiduciary matters and authorized legal proceedings; aids, guides, and prescribes vocational rehabilitation training and administers educational benefits for World War II veterans and Korean veterans; administers educational assistance under the war orphans program; guarantees loans for purchase or construction of homes, farms, or business property; and otherwise assists the veteran in exercising his rights to benefits and services. Regional offices are located as follows

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FIELD STATIONS. Under the jurisdiction of parent VA regional offices are various types of subordinate offices intended to render service to veterans nearer their homes. Collectively they are known as VA field stations. They include VA district offices, hospitals, centers, and domiciliaries; an insurance center and a veterans benefits office in the District of Columbia; a limited number of supply depots, a forms depot, and a publications depot. VA offices are located in Alaska, Hawaii, and the Republic of the Philippines; a VA center in Puerto Rico; and a VA representative at Balboa in the Panama Canal Zone. Of the foregoing field stations, mention should be made here especially of the following

District Offices. There are three of these at Denver, St. Paul, and Philadelphia. They render services to veterans within an assigned area in con

nection with the insurance and the dependents and beneficiaries claims programs; implement established policies, plans, and procedures for the insurance and death claims programs of VA; and perform auxiliary services.

Insurance Center. This agency, located in the District of Columbia, maintains premium, loan, lien, and dividend records for all policyholders of U. S. Government life insurance and policy holders of National Service Life Insurance who are on active duty in the Armed Forces. It services policies, including the following activities: cash surrenders; refunds; policy loans; settlement of matured endowments; dividend pay

ments; issue of premium notices and receipts; processing of new applications for insurance, reinstatements, conversions and changes of plans; and the adjudication, and granting or denial, of claims for insurance disability benefits. On the separation of an individual from military service, his or her insurance record is sent to the appropriate district office; but if the individual reenters the service, the insurance center again has custody of the record. The center maintains a centralized insurance locator file, and operates a centralized control of unapplied remittances and missing records for all district offices.

VETERANS POPULATION

The population of primary concern to the Veterans Administration includes all persons who had service in any war, campaign, or expedition in which the United States has engaged, and their dependents.

As of 30 June 1956 there were in round numbers 22,381,000 living veterans. The principal categories were 4,682,000 veterans of the Korean conflict (of whom 860,000 also served in World War II), 15,370,000 of World War II, and 3,061,000 of World War I. Of the total, 417,000 were women veterans.

The veteran population is progressively reduced by deaths but progressively increased by separations of living persons from the Armed Forces. For the present there is a net annual increase. For example, in the last fiscal

year for which there are complete records, 740,000 persons who had service in the Korean conflict left the Armed Forces; as a result, the net increase in this part of the veterans' population was 667,000.

The fact that a person is a veteran does not of itself mean that he or she is eligible for any present benefits; and, in fact, only a minority of our veteran population are receiving benefits today. As time passes and the veterans living today grow older, or die and leave dependents, the number of beneficiaries will grow steadily larger. For example, about 89,000 veterans of World War I died during the last fiscal year of record; thereupon their surviving widows and children became eligible for various benefits, insofar as they could qualify individually under current laws.

VETERANS' BENEFITS 8

There are a wide variety of these, including money payments, services in kind, special privileges, etc. They are summarized below. However, the laws

governing them are in some cases quite complex, and there are many exceptions, qualifications, etc., which space does not permit including here. There

2 Note on nomenclature: The hostilities in Korea in 1950-53 have been sometimes called "the Korean War," on the ground that in fact they constituted a war and a serious one, and sometimes the Korean Conflict,' on the ground that there was no formal declaration of war by Congress, as is required by the Constitution. Recently the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army directed that the term "Korean War" be employed in official correspondence, and that usage is followed elsewhere in this book. However, in Congressional legislation dealing with veterans, and in VA publications such as the one which is extensively quoted in this chapter, "Korean Confillot is employed. It is therefore used throughout this chapter.

The material under this heading is largely taken verbatim from a pamphlet of the Veterans Administration Information Service, VA Fact Sheet 18-1 of December 1957 entitled "Federal Benefits Available to Veterans and Their Dependents." The pamphlet contains the statement that "this Fact Sheet does not have the effect of law or regulations." Needless to say, the same is true of the material which appears here.

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