[United States Government Manual]
[September 15, 2009]
[Pages 343-350]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

810 Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20420

Phone, 202-273-4800. Internet, www.va.gov.
SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS                     Eric K. Shinseki
Deputy Secretary                                  W. Scott Gould
Chief of Staff                                    John R. Gingrich
General Counsel                                   John H. Thompson, 
                                                          Acting
Chairman, Board of Veterans' Appeals              James P. Terry
Vice Chairman, Board of Veterans' Appeals         Steve L. Keller
Director, Office of Small and Disadvantaged       Gail L. Wegner, Acting
        Business Utilization
Advisory Committee Management Officer             E. Philip Riggin
Director, Center for Minority Veterans            Lucretia McClenney
Director, Center for Women Veterans               Irene Trowell-Harris
Director, Office of Employment Discrimination     Rafael A. Torres, 
        Complaint Adjudication                            Acting
Director, Center for Faith-Based and Community    Stephen Dillard, 
        Initiatives                                       Acting
Inspector General                                 George J. Opfer
Veterans' Service Organizations Liaison           Kevin Secor
Under Secretary for Health, Veterans Health       (vacancy)
        Administration
Deputy Under Secretary for Health                 Gerald M. Cross
Deputy Under Secretary for Health for Operations  William F. Feeley
        and Management
Under Secretary for Benefits, Veterans Benefits   Patrick Dunne
        Administration
Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits               Mike Walcoff
Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs, National    Steve L. Muro, Acting
        Cemetery Administration
Deputy Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs       Steve L. Muro
Assistant Secretary for Management                Rita A. Reed, Acting
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary              Rita A. Reed
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Budget             Daniel A. Tucker
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Finance            Edward J. Murray
Executive Director for Office of Acquisition,     Glenn D. Haggstrom
        Logistics and Construction
Director, Office of Construction and Facilities   Donald H. Orndoff
        Management
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Acquisitions       Jan R. Frye
Assistant Secretary for Information and           Stephen Warren, Acting
        Technology
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Information and    Stephen Warren
        Technology
Deputy Chief Information Officer, IT Enterprise,  Scott Cragg
      Strategy, Policy, Plans and Programs

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Deputy Chief Information Officer, Enterprise      Jeff Shyshka
        Operations and Field Development
Deputy Chief Information Officer, Enterprise      Paul Tibbits
        Development
Deputy Assistant Secretary, IT Resource           Rom Mascetti
        Development
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Information           Adair Martinez
        Protection and Risk Management
Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning       Karen W. Pane, Acting
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy   Karen W. Pane
        and Planning
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Planning and       Julie Anderson
        Evaluation
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy             Mark Gorenflo
Assistant Secretary for Operations, Security,     Kevin Hanretta, Acting
        and Preparedness
Deputy Assistant Secretary Emergency Management   Kevin Hanretta
Director, National Center for Veterans Analysis   Dat Tran
        and Statistics
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Security and Law   Frederick R. Jackson
        Enforcement
Assistant Secretary for Human Resources and       Willie L. Hensley, 
        Administration                                    Acting
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human    Willie L. Hensley
        Resources and Administration
Director, Office of Administration                Constantine G. Verenes
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Office Diversity   Georgia Coffey
        and Inclusion
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Human Resources    Vicki Brooks
        Management
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Labor Management   Scott Holliday, Acting
        Relations
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Resolution         Rafael A. Torres
        Management
Assistant Secretary for Public and                L. Tammy Duckworth
        Intergovernmental Affairs
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs     Randall K. Stagner
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Intergovernmental  Emily Smith
        and International Affairs
Assistant Secretary for Congressional and         Daniel C. Devine, 
        Legislative Affairs                               Acting
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Congressional and  Daniel C. Devine
        Legislative Affairs

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Department of Veterans Affairs operates programs to benefit veterans 
and members of their families. Benefits include compensation payments 
for disabilities or death related to military service; pensions; 
education and rehabilitation; home loan guaranty; burial; and a medical 
care program incorporating nursing homes, clinics, and medical centers.
The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was established as an executive 
department by the Department of Veterans Affairs Act (38 U.S.C. 201 
note). It is comprised of three organizations that administer veterans 
programs: the Veterans Health Administration, the Veterans Benefits 

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Administration, and the National Cemetery Administration. Each 
organization has field facilities and a central office component. Staff 
offices support the overall function of the Department and its 
Administrations.

Activities

Advisory Committee Management Office  The Advisory Committee Management 
Office serves as the coordinating office for the Department's 25 Federal 
advisory committees. It is responsible for establishing clear and 
uniform goals, standards, and procedures for advisory committee 
activities. It is also responsible for ensuring that VA advisory 
committee operations are in compliance with the provisions of the 
Federal Advisory Committee Act.
Office of Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction  The Office of 
Acquisition, Logistics, and Construction (OALC) is a multifunctional 
organization responsible for directing the acquisition, logistics, 
construction, and leasing functions within the Department of Veterans 
Affairs. The Executive Director, OALC, is also the Chief Acquisition 
Officer (CAO) for the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Cemeteries  The National Cemetery Administration (NCA) is responsible 
for the management and oversight of more than 128 national cemeteries in 
the United States and Puerto Rico, as well as 33 soldiers' lots, 
Confederate cemeteries, and other monument sites. Burial in a national 
cemetery is available to eligible veterans and their eligible spouses 
and dependent children. At no cost to the family, a national cemetery 
burial includes the gravesite, graveliner, opening and closing of the 
grave, headstone or marker, and perpetual care as part of a national 
shrine. If a veteran is buried in a private cemetery, anywhere in the 
world, NCA will provide a headstone or marker. NCA's State Cemetery 
Grants Program provides funds to State and tribal governments to 
establish, expand, or improve State-operated veterans' cemeteries. NCA 
issues Presidential Memorial Certificates to recognize the service of 
honorably discharged service members or veterans.
Center for Minority Veterans  The Center for Minority Veterans (CMV), 
established by Public Law 103-446 (108 Stat. 4645), promotes the use of 
VA benefits, programs, and services by and assesses the needs of 
minority veterans. The CMV focuses on the unique and special needs of 
African-Americans, Hispanics, Asian-Americans, Pacific Islanders, and 
Native Americans, which include American Indians, Native Hawaiians, and 
Alaska Natives.
Center for Women Veterans  The Center for Women Veterans (CWV), 
established by Public Law 103-446 (108 Stat. 4645), reports to the 
Secretary's Office and oversees the Department's programs for women 
veterans. The CwV Director serves as the primary advisor to the 
Secretary on all matters related to policies, legislation, programs, 
issues, and initiatives affecting women veterans. The CWV ensures that 
women veterans receive benefits and services on par with male veterans; 
VA programs are responsive to gender-specific needs of women veterans; 
outreach is performed to improve women veterans' awareness of services, 
benefits, and eligibility criteria; and women veterans are treated with 
dignity and respect.
Health Services  The Veterans Health Administration provides hospital, 
nursing home, and domiciliary care, and outpatient medical and dental 
care to eligible veterans of military service in the Armed Forces. It 
conducts both individual medical and health-care delivery research 
projects and multi-hospital research programs, and it assists in the 
education of physicians and dentists and with training of many other 
health care professionals through affiliations with educational 
institutions and organizations.
Veterans Benefits  The Veterans Benefits Administration provides 
information, advice, and assistance to veterans, their dependents, 
beneficiaries, representatives, and others applying for VA benefits. It 
also cooperates with the Department of Labor and other Federal, State, 
and local agencies in developing employment opportunities for veterans 
and referral for assistance in resolving

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socioeconomic, housing, and other related problems.
    The Compensation and Pension Service is responsible for claims for 
disability compensation and pension, specially adapted housing, accrued 
benefits, adjusted compensation in death cases, and reimbursement for 
headstone or marker; allowances for automobiles and special adaptive 
equipment; special clothing allowances; emergency officers' retirement 
pay; survivors' claims for death compensation, dependency and indemnity 
compensation, death pension, and burial and plot allowance claims; 
forfeiture determinations; and a benefits protection program for minors 
and incompetent adult beneficiaries.
    The Education Service administers the Montgomery GI Bill program and 
other programs which provide education benefits to qualified active-duty 
members, veterans, certain dependents of veterans, and members of the 
Selected and Ready Reserve. The Service also checks school records to 
ensure that they comply with the pertinent law, approves courses for the 
payment of educational benefits, and administers a work-study program. 
Additional details are available at www.gibill.va.gov.
    The Insurance Service's operations for the benefit of service 
members, veterans, and their beneficiaries are available through the 
regional office and insurance center (phone, 800-669-8477) in 
Philadelphia, PA, which provides the full range of functional activities 
necessary for a national life insurance program. Activities include the 
complete maintenance of individual accounts, underwriting functions, 
life and death insurance claims awards, and any other insurance-related 
transactions. The agency also administers the Veterans Mortgage Life 
Insurance Program for those disabled veterans who receive a VA grant for 
specially adapted housing and supervises the Servicemembers' Group Life 
Insurance Program and the Veterans Group Life Insurance Program.
    The Loan Guaranty Service is responsible for operations that include 
appraising properties to establish their values; approving grants for 
specially adapted housing; supervising the construction of new 
residential properties; establishing the eligibility of veterans for the 
program; evaluating the ability of a veteran to repay a loan and the 
credit risk; making direct loans to Native American veterans to acquire 
a home on trust land; servicing and liquidating defaulted loans; and 
disposing of real estate acquired as the consequence of defaulted loans.
    The Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Service provides 
outreach, motivation, evaluation, counseling, training, employment, and 
other rehabilitation services to service-connected disabled veterans. 
Vocational and educational counseling, as well as the evaluation of 
abilities, aptitudes, and interests are provided to veterans and 
servicepersons. Counseling, assessment, education programs, and, in some 
cases, rehabilitation services are available to spouses and children of 
totally and permanently disabled veterans as well as surviving orphans, 
widows, and widowers of certain deceased veterans.
    Vocational training and rehabilitation services are available to 
children with spina bifida having one or both parents who served in the 
Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam era, or served in certain 
military units in or near the demilitarized zone in Korea, between 
September 1, 1967 and August 31, 1971.
Veterans' Appeals  The Board of Veterans' Appeals (BVA) is responsible 
for entering the final appellate decisions in claims of entitlement to 
veterans' benefits and for deciding certain matters concerning fees 
charged by attorneys and agents for representation of veterans before VA 
and requests for revision of prior BVA decisions on the basis of clear 
and unmistakable error. Final Board decisions are appealable to the U.S. 
Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims.
Field Facilities  The Department's operations are handled through the 
following field facilities:
    --cemeteries, providing burial services to veterans, their spouses, 
and dependent children;
    --domiciliaries, providing the least intensive level of inpatient 
medical care including necessary ambulatory medical

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treatment, rehabilitation, and support services in a structured 
environment to veterans who are unable because of their disabilities to 
provide adequately for themselves in the community;
    --medical centers, providing eligible beneficiaries with medical and 
other health care services equivalent to those provided by private-
sector institutions, augmented in many instances by services to meet the 
special requirements of veterans;
    --outpatient clinics to provide eligible beneficiaries with 
ambulatory care; and
    --regional offices to grant benefits and services provided by law 
for veterans, their dependents, and beneficiaries within an assigned 
territory; furnish information regarding VA benefits and services; 
adjudicate claims and make awards for disability compensation and 
pension; conduct outreach and information dissemination and provide 
support and assistance to various segments of the veteran population to 
include former prisoners of war, minority veterans, homeless veterans, 
women veterans and elderly veterans; supervise payment of VA benefits to 
incompetent beneficiaries; provide vocational rehabilitation and 
employment training; administer educational benefits; guarantee loans 
for purchase, construction, or alteration of homes; process grants for 
specially adapted housing; process death claims; and assist veterans in 
exercising rights to benefits and services.
    For a complete listing of the Department's field facilities, consult 
the Web site at www2.va.gov/directory/guide/home.asp.

Sources of Information

Audiovisuals  Persons interested in the availability of VA video 
productions or exhibits for showing outside of VA may write to the 
Chief, Media Services Division (032B), Department of Veterans Affairs, 
810 Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20420. Phone, 202-273-9781 or 
9782.

Contracts   Persons interested in business opportunities with the VA may 
contact the Director, Acquisition Resources Service (049A5), 810 Vermont 
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20420. Phone, 202-273-8815. Information on 
business opportunities with the VA can be found on the Internet at 
www.va.gov/oamm/busopp/doingbusiness.htm. Additional information is 
available at the Office of Acquisition and Material Management Web site 
at www.va.gov/oamm. Information on solicitations issued by VA is 
available at www.va.gov/oamm/busopp/index.htm.
Small Business Programs  Persons seeking information on VA's small 
business programs may call 800-949-8387 or 202-565-8124. The Office of 
Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Web site (Internet, 
www.va.gov/osdbu) contains a considerable amount of information about 
these programs.
Veterans Business Ownership Services  The Center for Veterans Enterprise 
assists veterans who want to open or expand a business. This Center is a 
component of the Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization. 
Phone, 866-584-2344. Internet, www.vetbiz.gov. Email, [email protected].
Electronic Access  Information concerning the Department of Veterans 
Affairs is available electronically through the Internet at www.va.gov.
Employment  The Department of Veterans Affairs employs physicians, 
dentists, podiatrists, optometrists, nurses, nurse anesthetists, 
physician assistants, expanded-function dental auxiliaries, registered 
respiratory therapists, certified respiratory technicians, licensed 
physical therapists, occupational therapists, pharmacists, and licensed 
practical or vocational nurses under VA's excepted merit system. This 
system does not require civil service eligibility. Other professional, 
technical, administrative, and clerical occupations, such as veterans 
claims examiners, secretaries, and management analysts, exist in VA that 
do require civil service eligibility. Persons interested in employment 
should contact the human resources services office at their nearest VA 
facility or search the VA Web site at www.va.gov/jobs. All qualified 
applicants will receive

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consideration for appointments without regard to race, religion, color, 
national origin, sex, political affiliation, or any nonmerit factor.
Freedom of Information Act Requests  Inquiries should be directed to the 
Assistant Secretary for Information and Technology, Information 
Management Service (045A4), 810 Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20420. Phone, 202-273-8135.
Inspector General Inquiries and Hotline  Publicly available documents 
and information on the VA Office of Inspector General are available 
electronically through the Internet at www.va.gov/oig. Complaints may be 
sent by mail to the VA Inspector General (53E), P.O. Box 50410, 
Washington, DC 20091-0410. Hotline phone, 800-488-8244. Email, 
[email protected].
Medical Center (Hospital) Design, Construction, and Related Services  
Construction projects for VA medical centers and other facilities in 
excess of $4 million are managed and controlled at the VA central 
office, located in Washington, DC. Projects requiring design, 
construction, and other related services are advertised on the Internet 
FirstGov site at www.firstgov.gov. Submit project-specific 
qualifications (SF 254 and SF 255) to the Director, A/E Evaluation and 
Program Support Team (181A), 810 Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20420. Phone, 202-565-4181. Additional information regarding the 
selection process can be found on the VA Office of Facilities Management 
Internet site at www.va.gov/facmgt.
    Construction projects for VA medical centers and other facilities 
which are less than $4 million are managed and controlled at the 
individual medical centers. For information regarding these specific 
projects, contact the Acquisition and Materiel Management Office at each 
individual VA medical center. Addresses and additional information on VA 
medical centers can be found on the VA Internet site at www.va.gov/
facilities.
News Media  Representatives may contact VA through the nearest regional 
Office of Public Affairs:

  Atlanta (404-929-5880)
  Chicago (312-980-4235)
  Dallas (817-385-3720)
  Denver (303-914-5855)
  Los Angeles (310-268-4207)
  New York (212-807-3429)
  Washington, DC (202-530-9360)

National media may contact the Office of Public Affairs in the VA 
Central Office, 810 Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20420. Phone, 
202-273-6000.
Publications  The Annual Performance and Accountability Report may be 
obtained (in single copies), without charge, from the Office of Budget 
(041H), 810 Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20420.
    The 2005 VA pamphlet Federal Benefits for Veterans and Dependents 
(80-98-1) is available for sale by the Superintendent of Documents, 
Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.
    The Board of Veterans Appeals Index (I-01-1), an index to appellate 
decisions, is available on microfiche in annual cumulation from July 
1977 through December 1994. The quarterly indexes may be purchased for 
$7 and annual cumulative indexes for $22.50. The VADEX/CITATOR of 
Appellate Research Materials is a complete printed quarterly looseleaf 
cumulation of research material which may be purchased for $175 with 
binder and for $160 without binder. The Vadex Infobase, a computer-
searchable version of the VADEX, is also available on diskettes for $100 
per copy. These publications may be obtained by contacting Promisel and 
Korn, Inc. Phone, 301-986-0650. Archived decisions of the Board of 
Veterans' Appeals are available through the VA Web site at www.va.gov.
    A January 2000 VA pamphlet entitled Understanding the Appeal Process 
(01-00-1) is available for sale from the Superintendent of Documents, 
Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.
    The VA pamphlet, A Summary of Department of Veteran Affairs Benefits 
(27-82-2), may be obtained, without charge, from any VA regional office.
    Interments in VA National Cemeteries, VA NCA-IS-1, details 
eligibility

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information and contains a list of both national and State veterans 
cemeteries. Copies may be obtained without charge from the National 
Cemetery Administration (41C1), 810 Vermont Avenue NW., Washington, DC 
20420. Call 800-827-1000 or visit www.cem.va.gov for more information.

For further information, contact the Office of Public and 
Intergovernmental Affairs, Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont 
Avenue NW., Washington, DC 20420. Phone, 202-273-6000. Internet, 
www.va.gov/opa.