https://www.wabe.org/georgia-lawmakers-focused-on-vets-hope-trump-va-nominee-collins-will-improve-agencys-support/

I am a longtime critic of both party's handling of vets. There are far too many stories of VA failure. And honestly. I cant think of any success stories.
Im also not fond of our country hoisting warrior hero culture- targetting young men. That the ultimate achievement for a young man- is to be a warrior. All the damage that can be done to a young mind by serving in combat is rarely discussed. Only the pride of being a hero, the attraction of comraderie. Belong to a fraternity of heros. Not that the positives shouldnt be discussed by recruiters. It should be! But also the dark side should be in plain view.

My middle son was struggling in high school. Infact. He didnt graduate with his class. He had to take 2 summer school english classes after his senior year to gain his HS diploma. He was plenty smart enough. He just had an english teacher in his junior year that was a big personality clash.
She flunked him twice. Not bc of his ability. His testing gpa was 80-90%. But his attendence was bad. & He'd often tell the "lady" teacher to pound sand. I met her at school conferences. She was difficult and empowered. It was what it was. She felt flunking my son was her duty. It didnt matter that he knew the material. His being disrespectful of her was the hill she stood upon- shaking her fist at a 16 year old.
Looking back- its just ridiculousness. A 20something teacher having a war of wills with a 16 year old. It created some real self doubt for my son. Doubt that he would graduate highschool. Go on to college. He infact did accomplish both and is now graduated with degrees in eletrical, electronic and software engineering degrees.
He now works as a software engineer in Seattle.

There was a dark time though with this young man.
His grades took a nose dive in his senior year as he realized the young english teacher had egfectively ended his chance to graduate on time with his friends/classmates.

Enter George Bush jr. and his education mandate known as "no child left behind".
That policy changed some laws concerning the privacy of minors. The rights of parents. The right of military recruiters to have permanent offices & staff on high school campuses. Along with gaving active duty military recruiters stationed on campus. The recruiters also had access to every childs complete high school transcripts. Not just grades, but also attendence, testing scores, disciplinary actions. Psych teports from the school " nurse" etc. No child left behind wound up creating an evaluation bio on every kid in every high school in the usa. Using algorithms, demographics and recruitment goals. High school campus military recruiters created target lists that identified psychological profiles of personality types for minors that were most likely persuadable to sign a binding recruitment contract on or after their 17th birthday. No child left behind changed the age from 18 to 17 without patental consent. Often. These recruiters told their young targets to not tell their parent/ guardian.
My son was on of those targets. My son told me how the recruiter exploited his struggles of his senior year in school. Painting a bleak future view for my son if he didnt join the military.

When i gound out what was going on. TBH, im mildly surprised I didnt wind up arrested. I threatened that recruiter repeatedly. Eventually I won the battle of wills and the recruiter left my son alone.

The point in all of this. The military promises alot of benefit for a young man. Im sure, a large portion of those that join, realized many benefits, and continue to benefit from their service.

Yet, when something goes wrong when a recruit serves. Far too often the VA fails the soldier.
The horror stories of failure date back to before I was born abd they continue to pile up. Im sure the really bad outcomes are far surpassed by the adequate and the good and the great successes.
Still. One failure is far too many.

A soldier signs away his many of his basic human rights when he joins. In return. The government promises to take care of him FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE.

Doug Collins. Former Air Force Chaplain, retired veteran. Retired congressman.

There are plenty of Trump Candidates worthy of hefty critique! Collins is not one of them.
He vows to eliminate the red tape. Fix many of the issues that have plagued the VA since the Korean war.
I trust Collins does believe the gigantic bureaucracy can be streamlined for efficiency and greater benefit for those youngsters that were promised to be given the highest level of assistance & care that a govt is caoable of achieving. Promised it to these young kids, that werent always given a true picture of what it was they were signing up for when they joined.

I wish trump had given the same thoughtfulness to his choice gor HHS secretary. Chosen this lady,

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_Means#:~:text=Casey%20Means%20(born%20September%2024,function%20to%20prevent%20chronic%20disease.

Her father was an advisor for Nelson Rockefeller.
She has many of the same views as RFK jr. Less of the whackadoodle brain worm dementia.

Nobody can argue that HHS has dubious relationships. What bureaucracy or large business doesnt. However, adding a nutjob instead of a knowledgeable pragmatist isnt best practice.
HHS 1st mandate is the same as any doctor-
1st, do no harm.

A guy that cant even keep himself safe from a brain parasite can not be counted on to not do harm. He cant even keep himself safe. Feasting on road kill? Carving up parasite laden marine mammals with a chain saw? Nobody with any medical/biology training is at all surprised rfkjr is a walking parasite host.
Complete idiot with safety NOT 1st mentality.