Similarly, of all the  compensation appeals cases decided by the Board of Veterans’ Appeals  during November 2004–January 2006, the board remanded less than   3 percent of these cases to VBA for rework due to deficiencies in obtaining  military service records. However, because VBA does not systematically  evaluate the quality of the research done on behalf of regional offices by  the VBA unit at the National Personnel Records Center, VBA does not  know the extent to which the information that this unit provides to  regional offices is reliable and accurate. STAR data from reviews of regional office decisions made during the first  half of fiscal year 2006 showed that less than 4 percent of the cases  reviewed contained any type of error related to the law’s requirements for  developing evidence. Thus, regional offices rely on the  VBA unit at the National Personnel Records Center to do thorough and  complete searches of records, do reliable analyses of records, and provide  accurate and clear narrative reports on the results. VBA potentially could improve its procedures to reduce  the time required to process some veterans’ PTSD claims. To verify the  occurrence of claimed stressors, regional offices sometimes cannot find  needed evidence in the veteran’s personal service records and must turn to  information contained in the military historical records of DOD. While  regional offices are able to directly access and search an electronic library  of such records for many Marine Corps veterans, they must rely on a DOD  research organization—the U.S. Army and Joint Services Records  Research Center (JSRRC)—to research such records for all other service  branches. JSRRC’s average response time to regional office requests for  such research approaches 1 year; by contrast, VBA’s average processing  time strategic goal for claims involving disability compensation issues is  125 days. The opportunity may exist for VBA to establish an electronic  library of DOD military historical records for the other service branches  and greatly reduce the time required to process the PTSD claims of many  veterans. While VA’s internal assessments  indicate that its regional offices generally comply with the requirements of  the Veterans Claims Assistance Act for obtaining military service records,  VA does not have a systematic quality review program for ensuring the  reliability and accuracy of records research done on behalf of regional  offices by the VBA unit located at the National Personnel Records Center. To gain an operational context for the information obtained from these  sources and to obtain stakeholders’ views on the effectiveness of VBA’s  procedures for obtaining relevant military service records, we interviewed  officials of VA’s Board of Veterans’ Appeals and Office of Inspector  General; VBA’s Compensation and Pension Service, Office of Field  Operations, Appeals Management Center, Records Management Center,  VA Liaison Office at the National Personnel Records Center, and regional  offices located in Atlanta, Georgia, Baltimore, Maryland, Oakland,  California, and St. Petersburg, Florida; custodians of military records and  organizations that research military records on behalf of VBA’s regional  offices, including Department of Defense (DOD) U.S. Army and Joint  Services Records Research Center, Defense Threat Reduction Agency,  DOD Joint Requirements and Integration Office, and National Personnel  Records Center, which is operated by the National Archives and Records  Administration; and veterans’ advocacy groups, including Disabled  American Veterans, American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Paralyzed  Veterans of America, AMVETS, National Veterans Legal Services Program,  and state and county veterans service agencies. 1).
Why GAO Did This Study

The Ranking Democratic Member, House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, asked GAO to determine (1) whether VA's internal assessments indicate its regional offices are complying with the requirements of the Veterans Claims Assistance Act (VCAA) of 2000 for obtaining military service records for veterans' disability compensation claims and (2) whether VBA could improve its procedures for obtaining military service records for claims involving post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

What GAO Found

The Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) internal assessments indicate its regional offices generally comply with VCAA's requirements for obtaining military service records for veterans' compensation claims. For example, of the decisions made by regional offices on compensation claims during the first half of fiscal year 2006, Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) quality reviewers found that less than 4 percent contained errors involving failure to obtain military service records. Similarly, of the appealed compensation cases decided by the Board of Veterans' Appeals during November 2004-January 2006, the board remanded less than 3 percent to VBA for rework due to deficiencies in obtaining military service records. However, VBA does not systematically evaluate the quality of research done on behalf of regional offices by a VBA unit at the National Personnel Records Center, where the service records of many veterans are stored. Regional offices rely on this unit to do thorough and reliable searches and analyses of records and provide accurate reports on the results. Without a systematic program for assessing the quality of this unit's work, VBA does not know the extent to which the information that this unit provides to regional offices is reliable and accurate. VBA potentially could improve its procedures and reduce the time required to process some veterans' claims for PTSD, which may result after a veteran participates in, or is exposed to, stressful events or experiences (stressors). Regional offices sometimes must turn to information contained in the military historical records of the Department of Defense (DOD) to verify the occurrence of claimed stressors. While regional offices are able to directly access and search an electronic library of such records for many Marine Corps veterans, they must rely on DOD's U.S. Army and Joint Services Records Research Center (JSRRC) to research such records for all other service branches. The JSRRC's response time to regional office requests approaches an average of 1 year. However, by building on work already done by several regional offices to establish and use an electronic library of DOD military historical records for the other service branches, VBA may be able to greatly reduce the time required to process many veterans' PTSD claims.