SMITHFIELD, R.I. — From his small home office, former Lt.
Col. Ted Blickwedel is conducting a self-appointed mission: to call attention
to what he claims is a serious problem inside a little-known Department of
Veterans Affairs program that provides free mental health care to combat
veterans.
From 2009 until retiring last year, Blickwedel, a former
Marine Corps logistics officer, worked as a counselor and therapist at a VA
facility in Rhode Island called a "Vet Center."
That facility is one of 300 that VA operates across the U.S.
through its "Vet Centers" program. The program includes 80 mobile Vet
Centers, 20 vet venter "outstations" and almost 1,000 community
access points.
The program began after the Vietnam War as the Readjustment
Counseling Service. Its purpose was and is to help combat veterans
"readjust" to civilian life at home after returning from deployments.
The centers provide cognitive behavioral "talk
therapy" and organize social activities and events designed to get vets
out of the house and connected with other vets. All services are free.
Blickwedel, himself a combat veteran, said he got a master's
in social work so he could help veterans as a therapist. He told NBC News he
found working at a Vet Center to be a "wonderful" experience.
"We witnessed huge changes in veterans. Some of them,
their lives completely did a 180," Blickwedel said. "I've personally
had veterans tell me that I've saved their lives. That I made a difference for
them."
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