As Army chief of staff, Shinseki made a name for himself in 2002 and 2003 when he publicly questioned the Bush administration’s Iraq war plans. But as President Barack Obama’s pick for the VA, Shinseki’s new task may be even more daunting.
The former Army general will be tasked with bringing efficiency to a department many experts call one of the most dysfunctional in the entire federal government. Recent failures, including ensuring deceased veterans’ spouses receive certain payments to the problems at Walter Reed Army Medical Center uncovered by the Washington Post, there is no shortage of issues on the retired four-star general's plate.
Despite the many challenges ahead, Obama and other key Washington players say Shinseki has the mix of talent and leadership abilities to begin the healing at the troubled VA.
Praising Shinseki's selection, retired Army Gen. Colin Powell, President George W. Bush’s first secretary of state, called Shinseki “a superb choice.” Powell said Shinseki “knows soldiers and knows what it takes to keep faith with the men and women who went forth to serve the nation. He also knows how to run large and complex bureaucratic institutions.”Rucker, Phillip, “Obama Picks Shinseki to Lead Veterans Affairs,” Washington Post, Dec. 7, 2008, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...0602321_pf.htm
Shinseki can understand the plight of injured warriors because he was awarded a pair of Purple Hearts for injuries sustained in Vietnam.
At a Glance
Current Position: Secretary of Veterans Affairs (since Jan. 2009)
Career History: Three-star general and the deputy Army chief of staff for operations and plans, Pentagon (1996 to ); Vice chief of staff (1998 to 1999) Army chief of staff (1999 to 2003)
Birthday: November 28, 1942
Hometown: Lihue, Kauai, Hawaii
Alma Mater: United States Military Academy, B.S., 1965; Duke University, M.A. (English literature)
A career military man, Shinseki graduated from the United States Military Academy with a bachelor’s degree in science. His education also includes a master’s degree in English literature from Duke University, and he has completed the Armor Officer advanced course. Shinseki also has studied at the United States Army Command and General Staff College, as well as the National War College.
Shinseki’s early military career took him from the classrooms of West Point to the Asian jungles, where he served two combat tours in the Vietnam War. He held a number of senior positions during stints in Europe, where he logged over ten years of his military career, and then at the Pentagon.
After years stationed in Europe, Shinseki was assigned to his first senior service job at the Pentagon in July 1996, becoming a three-star general and the deputy Army chief of staff for operations and plans. Less than a year later, Shinseki was given his fourth star by the Clinton administration and awarded a triple-hatted post across the pond. During the next 17 months, he was the commanding general of United States Army Europe, commander of Allied Land Forces Central Europe and the commander of NATO’s stabilization force in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Army Chief of Staff
From there, he became the service’s 28th vice chief of staff in November 1998, a post he held until July 22, 1999, when President Clinton made him the 34th Army chief of staff.United States Army biography, http://www.army.mil/asianpacificsold...kiProfile.html
The Bush administration kept Shinseki as Army chief for several years, through the transition and 9/11. But in the run-up to the Iraq war, tensions between the chief and senior Bush Pentagon appointments started to simmer. The two sides disagreed over how many American troops it would take to topple the regime of then-Iraq President Saddam Hussein. Shinseki argued, publicly at times, that a larger force than the one being considered by the Bush administration would be needed.
As Shinseki told the Senate Armed Services Committee in February 2003, he felt the mission would require a force of in “the order of several hundred thousand soldiers; but Bush’s war planners, led by then-Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, felt a smaller force could get the job done. Shinseki’s prescribed force size ‘will prove to be high,’” Rumsfeld said. Rumsfeld’s then-deputy, Paul Wolfowitz, added that the Army chief’s estimates were “way off the mark” With the relationship severed, Shinseki retired from the Army soon after Baghdad fell in April 2003.Rucker, Phillip, “Obama Picks Shinseki to Lead Veterans Affairs,” Washington Post, Dec. 7, 2008, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...602321_pf.html
The Issues
Obama has talked publicly about his plans to repair the troubled VA. During the presidential transition, Obama laid out a summary of his VA reform agenda, stating his intention to “fix the benefits bureaucracy,” which includes plans to hire additional claims specialists and “improve training and accountability so that VA benefit decisions are rated fairly and consistently.” Obama also wants to “transform the paper benefit claims process to an electronic one to reduce errors and improve timeliness.”Office of the President-elect, transition fact sheet, http://change.gov/agenda/veterans_agenda/
Shinseki has vowed to “work each and every day to ensure that we are serving you as well as you have served us. We will pursue a 21st century VA that serves your needs.” He added that uniformed men and women “deserve a smooth, error-free, no- fail, benefits-assured transition into our ranks as veterans and that is our responsibility, not theirs.”CNN.com, “Obama: No one 'more qualified' than Shinseki to head VA,” http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/12/...eki/index.html
Veterans' claims and Mental Health Care
Near the top of Shinseki's to-do list is a massive backlog of veterans’ claims. Most published reports put that logjam somewhere between 600,000 and 700,000 cases. But one source who sat in on talks between VA officials and the House Veterans Affairs Committee said it became clear during that session that the backlog may include 1 million unresolved claims.Bruce Coulter, “Shinseki Nomination Lauded by Vets’ Groups, GateHouse News Service, Dec. 16, 2008, http://www.enterprisenews.com/news/n...by-vets-groups
Shinseki has tried to address this by assuring veterans that he will do everything in his power to streamline the organization. He has made small strides - when the agency failed to send checks to veterans attending college on the post-9/11 G.I. bill in a timely manner, Shinseki ordered the offices open on Saturday to make the payments.
But true reform is slow-going. Shinseki can only fire a couple dozen of the agency's 300,000 employees because of union regulations.Dao, James and Shanker, Thom, The New York Times, "No Longer a Soldier, Shinseki has a New Mission," Nov. 11, 2009
As Shinseki and Obama move forward with their VA reform plans, they inevitably will receive ample advice from interested stakeholders. For instance, during a Dec. 10, 2008, meeting with Akaka, the Veterans Affairs Committee chairman said he told the former Army chief that mental health care for veterans should be a priority. "VA needs more doctors trained to treat invisible wounds such as post-traumatic stress disorder," Akaka said.Bob Brewin, “Fast Track for Shinseki, Dec. 15, 2008, http://www.govexec.com/story_page.cf...8/121508wb.htm
The Network
The number of current and retired military officers, lawmakers and federal officials who rushed to applaud Obama for selecting Shinseki makes clear he is connected to many powerful Washingtonians.
And politicians from both sides of the aisle praised the pick, including those on the left like Senate Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Akaka and Kori Schake, a prominent Republican national security thinker who served on Bush’s National Security Council and advised Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) during his unsuccessful 2008 presidential run.
Akaka called Shinseki “a great choice,” adding he thinks the future VA boss “is well aware of the needs of our veterans and will make an excellent secretary. . . . He is a man of great ability and integrity."Sen. Daniel Akaka statement, Dec. 7, 2008, http://akaka.senate.gov/public/index.cfm
Shinseki was Army chief at the same time retired Gen. James Jones, Obama’s pick for national security adviser, was commandant of the Marine Corps. The two voiced skepticism about a number of assumptions made by senior Bush administration officials about how the fighting in Iraq would go. The duo warned the administration was making overly optimistic assumptions and expressed concerns that some of its war plans failed to account for worst-case scenarios. During posts in Washington, he served in senior Army posts at the same time other future uniformed leaders, including Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Michael Mullen and Vice Chairman Gen. James Cartwright.
Campaign Contributions
Shinseki has made one political contribution, giving $250 to the campaign of Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii),according to OpenSecrets.org. Inouye now holds the powerful post of Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee chairman.
