SkyChild11

I am a higher level admin at a VA hospital and I would second everything that OP has said here. (I am not a vet, btw.) I would also add that, at least at my VA, sending inquiries to your Congressional reps WILL GET ATTENTION. Any inquiry from a vet that goes to that vet's Senator or Congressperson gets sent from their office to my VA's Director for review and response. The same is true for inquires/complaints sent in from non-vet family members.

Again, just my experience at my VA.

Also, some join with a pre-existing mental health condition that is potentially exacerbated by the service and conditions that OP describes or at the very least not helped by those conditions. For some people, the military is the right option and for some people it is the only option.

AFGE is the worst! (AFGE is a federal employee labor union: http://www.afge.org/) AFGE is a huge barrier to overcome when disciplining employees or attempting to remove employees. I am regularly disgusted at the length the union goes to when trying to protect a 'bad apple.' It really takes a toll on good managers who have to bust their asses for months and months to get terrible employees fired for things you could get fired for on the spot in the private sector. How does this help the patient? (It doesn't.)

(This is not a comment on unions in general, only my observations and experience at my VA.)