IRIS Email response: We need more Veterans working at the VA

The VA loves to tout how they “hire Veterans”. I wonder if the manager of IRIS, below is a Vet:

Discussion Thread

Response via Email Via Email (Department of Veterans Affairs)

(Date) 11:38 AM

Dear Mr.Joe Average Vet:This is in response to your inquiry to the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) dated xxxx 2012.We apologize for the delay in responding to your inquiry. We are currently experiencing a large volume of inquiries and are working as quickly as possible to respond to each in a timely manner.You indicated on your inquiry that you were the Veteran, however, the contents of the inquiry was written in the third person. Please clarify who you are if you are not the Veteran. We appreciate your understanding of our security measures, as they are essential to ensure the integrity of your information. Once we receive this information we will then conduct the necessary research and respond to your concerns accordingly.

Thank you for contacting us. If you have questions or need additional help with the information in our reply, please respond to this message or see our other contact information below.

Sincerely yours,

Donovan W. Thompson
National IRIS Response Center Manager
tlj

I would humbly suggest that neither Mr. Thompson nor “TLJ” are a Veteran. Why not? Well, most Veterans (especially Marines) know that, especially in boot camp, you are not allowed to use “I” or other pronouns. You refer to yourself as “the private”. In a similar manner, the VA apparently did not “get it” when I referred to myself as “the Veteran”, that is, “in the third person”.

We need more Veterans in the VA. It does not make sense that some Vet’s are making do with their “VA Homeless Kitchenettes” while VA executives are awarding themselves big bonuses. To see how much your friendly VA executive got as a bonus, click on the pdf link.

2010_Bonuses001