VA supervisors told employees to falsify patient wait times

Supervisors instructed employees to falsify patient wait times at Veterans Affairs' medical facilities in at least seven states, according to a USA TODAY analysis of more than 70 investigation reports released in recent weeks.

Overall, those reports — released after multiple inquiries and a Freedom of Information Act request — reveal for the first time specifics of widespread scheduling manipulation.

Employees at 40 VA medical facilities in 19 states and Puerto Rico regularly “zeroed out” veteran wait times, the analysis shows. In some cases, investigators found manipulation had been going on for as long as a decade. In others, it had been just a few years.

In many cases, facility leaders told investigators they clamped down the scheduling improprieties after the Phoenix scandal, but in others, investigators found they had continued unabated.The manipulation masked growing demand as new waves of veterans returned from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and as Vietnam veterans aged and needed more health care.

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The Air Force is taking a key step toward developing a dedicated close-air support plane to replace the A-10 "Warthog," a top general said Thursday, according to Air Force Times.

“My requirements guys are in the process of building a draft-requirements document for a follow-on CAS airplane,” Lt. Gen. Mike Holmes, the deputy chief of staff for strategic plans and requirements, said. “It’s interesting work that at some point we’ll be able to talk [about] with you a little bit more.”

Speaking to reporters following a breakfast hosted by the Air Force Association, Holmes said a list of possible requirements for the aircraft will soon be given to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh.

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Nearly one in three Iraqis thinks the United States is secretly supporting the Islamic State group, according to new internal U.S. government polling, according to Military Times.

That’s just one of the troubling views that the U.S. State Department Inspector General's Office found when it conducted a recent assessment of the “public diplomacy” efforts at the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad.

The polling shows that about 40 percent of Iraqis believe that the United States is working to destabilize Iraq and control its natural resources

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The U.S. Army's chief of staff told lawmakers Thursday that the service would need another 220,000 soldiers before it could confidently handle major operations with emerging military foes around the world, according to Military.com.

Gen. Mark Milley told members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Army is operating at "high military risk" if it continues to operate at the proposed total Army troop strength of 980,000 soldiers.

By fiscal 2018, the Army's active force is slated to have 450,000 soldiers in its ranks. TheNational Guard will have 335,000 and the Army Reserve will have 195,000 soldiers

This story was originally published April 8, 2016 at 12:26 PM with the headline "VA supervisors told employees to falsify patient wait times."