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U.S. Rep. Jodey Arrington hosted a Veterans Affairs subcommittee meeting in Lubbock on Friday to hear from people at Texas Tech on how universities and federal programs can better help veterans transitioning to civilian life after service. Why at Tech? Because, Arrington said, the university is consistently ranked one of the top institutions for advancing veterans’ educational and career opportunities. Arrington said he didn’t want to just hear from people at Tech, but also to learn from them. Arrington chairs the House Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity. Along with U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke of El Paso, the senior-most Democrat on the subcommittee, the two hosted a field hearing titled “Best Practices in Veterans Education and Transition to Civilian Life.” The focus was on what higher-education institutions are doing to help this transition, and how services can be improved. Sitting in Tech’s Regents Conference Room, the pair heard testimony from six members of the Texas Tech community. “We have some best-in-class programs,” Arrington said. “I like to think we have some best-in-class people that I’d like to show off today, and highlight. When we say we love our veterans — I don’t know if I’ve met anyone that wouldn’t say the very same. The question is, ‘What are we doing to love them?’ At Texas Tech, they’re putting their money where their mouth is ... that’s what makes me so proud and we’re going to dig into that.” Some testimony came from people leading the programs at Tech. Tedd Mitchell, president of Tech’s Health Sciences Center, discussed its Veteran and Military Advising Office and some of the programs offered for military veterans. He specifically discussed TTUHSC’s more innovative program, which is the accelerated nursing degree that can be completed in 12 months. “We want to take care of the military folks,” said Mitchell. “We’ve done things to make sure they get the funding they need to go to college when they get out of the military, but if you can do something to marry that with some of the educational experience they pick up while they’re in the military and let that translate into a degree in a shortened period of time, that’s a huge benefit. We’re trying to do that.” Retired Col. Lou Ortiz is the director of Tech’s Military and Veterans Programs, which was created in 2010 as a department solely dedicated to helping veterans. Ortiz said his department assists veterans in obtaining federal and state educational benefits. He said the program also plays a role in helping support veterans’ transition to campus and then employment. Tech’s Vet Boot Camp is a quick, two-day learning experience, and its support system is available throughout the year for help in the classroom. “Veterans are young, and so they come out with a great opportunity for higher education,” said Tech system Chancellor Robert Duncan. “Higher ed is a really important transitioning opportunity for veterans as they come in, whether it’s an undergraduate degree or at the Health Sciences Center.” Veteran students enrolled at Tech also gave testimony. While they applauded the programs they’re utilizing, these veterans used firsthand accounts to encourage ways VA programs need to improve. Nicole Meyer, who served in the U.S. Air Force, said dealing with the VA Medical System has been a long, convoluted process. She said there needs to be better medical treatment for women’s health issues and said it wasn’t until utilizing the services through Angelo State University that she got the responses she needed. Ikaika Iuta, an Army veteran, said there were resources available, but he didn’t have the knowledge on how to access them. “The Army Career and Alumni Program helped me create a resume and get a job, but I didn’t know where I was going to live or what kind of services were offered for housing or help in getting housing,” Iuta’s testimony reads. “If it wasn’t for the kindness of friends, I would have been homeless coming out of the military and another statistic to the veteran demographic.” He also said there’s confusion between states as to what services and benefits are available. O’Rourke said before the testimonies began that he was eager to learn what the people at Tech had to say, and translate it into better practices. “We clearly are not getting the job done in ensuring that we have a successful transition from service and active duty into civilian life,” O’Rourke said. “We need to look no further than the fact that we are losing 20 veterans a day, every day in this country, by their own hand — the majority of whom choose not to or are unable to access services at the VA. Many of whom are unable to find purpose or function in their lives ... we have a role to ensure that transition is better, more seamless and more effective towards allowing that veteran to contribute to their full potential.” O’Rourke said he knows of the success in West Texas and at Texas Tech in helping with these transitions and said that needs to get spread to the entire country. As the subcommittee meeting was coming to a close, O’Rourke said he had three big takeaways to pursue in Washington, D.C.: the possibility of requiring or asking every nursing program in the country to implement a fast-track degree plan similar to Tech’s, implementing some of the practices being done at Tech into the VA’s transition assistance program, and creating more of a focus on connecting veterans with community support. Arrington agreed, saying these needs were very clear after Friday’s meeting. “I think a lot of the solutions to the problem of making services more efficient and effective and providing the support our veterans need in transitioning from military to civilian life are out there,” Arrington said. “It’s just identifying the best in class, and best practices, and replicating them. ... (Tech’s programs) are unique in this country and we need to highlight them. We need to learn and drill down on why they’re working, and what changes they’d make, so that we can replicate them throughout the country.” http://www.lubbockonline.com/news/2017-11-18/texas-tech-focus-veterans-affairs-meeting-economic-opportunity