{"id":60670,"date":"2022-01-26T01:09:51","date_gmt":"2022-01-26T01:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/01\/26\/new-committee-to-help-improve-care-for-native-american-veterans\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:02:54","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:02:54","slug":"new-committee-to-help-improve-care-for-native-american-veterans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/airforcetimes\/veterans\/2022\/01\/26\/new-committee-to-help-improve-care-for-native-american-veterans\/","title":{"rendered":"New committee to help improve care for Native American veterans"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough tasked his agency\u2019s new Advisory Committee on Tribal and Indian Affairs with helping the VA take more innovative approaches to serving Native American veterans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The newly created panel, one of 27 VA advisory committees<\/a>, met for the first time on Tuesday to advise the VA on everything from COVID-19 efforts to homelessness among American Indians and Alaskan Native veterans. Its 15 members are Native American veterans, each from different tribal nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy commitment to you was and is clear, that VA will not make decisions about you without you,\u201d said McDonough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also outlined his goals for the advisory group. \u201cThe work of this committee will be essential in helping us to find and to develop better and more innovative ways to serve native veterans, their families, caregivers and survivors,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jack Austin, an Army veteran and the Assistant Chief of the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, serves as the advisory panel\u2019s chairman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI believe this is a great opportunity for our native veterans\u2019 voices to be brought to the table with hope of solutions for the real struggles they face today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\t