A changing of the guard at VAWatchdog.org, as Larry Scott steps aside

Anyone engaging in veteran advocacy at the level of Larry Scott operated at for years knows well the occasional feeling of cynicism, hopelessness, and burned-out energy. Reading Scott though, the man seems an endless reservoir of energy directed at veterans’ advocacy. We wish Larry Scott well and join all in thanking him for his service beyond the call.

By Mike Francis, The Oregonian

Until Larry Scott of Vancouver conceived the notion of becoming an online watchdog, military veterans who were struggling to navigate their claims with the Department of Veterans Affairs had few places to turn.

The agency generally gets high marks for the quality of the medical care it provides, but veterans say it is notoriously difficult to get appointments, prove their disabilities or get the full range of benefits to which they are entitled.

So Scott, an Army veteran, launched VAWatchdog.org in 2005, and the site quickly grew to the most visited of its kind. Now, with Scott facing health challenges of his own, the site is changing hands and shifting its online address.

VAWatchdog.org has collected and published third-party coverage of the agency and dug up some scoops, including a withering 2008 exposé of the cavalier way the Detroit VA treated some veterans’ claims, stashing them in their desks and dropping them in shredding bins.

Scott’s website also has responded to the problems of individual veterans, answering e-mails with detailed guidance and occasionally referring vets to helpful lawyers. It has covered the political scene from the perspective of veterans, frequently criticizing lawmakers for underfunding veterans’ care or for failing to exercise sufficient oversight.

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., newly named chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said Scott’s site proved to be an important tool for veterans.

“Larry has provided veterans from across the country with the information they need to help hold the VA and Congress accountable,” she said through a spokesman. “Larry has put the decisions made about our veterans squarely in the public eye, and that has had a real impact.”

Read the rest at Mike Francis, The Oregonian.