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2
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- Large military presence: San
Diego has the highest number of active duty commands and largest number
of active duty personnel in the country.
Major commands include:
- Southwest, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center, Naval Submarine
Base, Military Sealift Command, Naval Oceanographic Center, Camp
Pendleton, Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar, Naval Air Station
North Island, Marine Corps Recruit Depot (MCRD), and Naval Amphibious
Base, Coronado. San Diego is the home port to a large number of navy
surface and sub-surface assets, as well as fixed-wing and helicopter
squadrons.
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- Approximately 267,000 veterans in San Diego and Imperial Counties
- One of the largest, if not the largest discharge site in the country
- Many active veterans service organizations (VSO): Veterans of Foreign
Wars (VFW), American Legion, Purple Heart, Disabled American Veterans
(DAV), AMVETS and many others.
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4
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- Long standing veteran presence in San Diego, but with very little
coordination between veteran’s organizations to achieve veteran’s
objectives & needs
- Annual Veterans Day Parade was resurrected in the ‘80’s
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5
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- 1981: Veterans Village of San
Diego (formerly Vietnam Veterans of San Diego) was established by a
small group of Vietnam Veterans to help homeless Vietnam Veterans. Former Mayor Pete Wilson was a driving
force in obtaining initial funding for this grass-roots organization.
Wilson suggested that to obtain elected official support, the veteran
groups should organize and start working together for common goals.
- VVSD has been honored and formally recognized by federal and state
officials – it is considered a premier organization of its kind and is
emulated nationwide.
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- 1984: Based on feedback from Mayor Wilson, a small group of WWII, Korea,
and Vietnam veterans met and discussed how to pull the veterans together
to better serve the veterans in San Diego County.
- 1984: These visionary veterans began meeting as a group each month as
The United Veterans Council of San Diego (UVC)
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7
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- The UVC “ground rules” were as follows: “No dues, no formal laws or
by-laws”. The objective was to
create a forum that encouraged veterans to work together for common goals. By keeping this group informal it
would permit members of formally chartered, large national veterans
service organizations (i.e., American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars, etc) to
become a part of the United Veterans Council without jeopardizing their
membership in the national organizations.
- 1987: Led by the UVC leadership, the former Navy Chapel in Balboa Park,
was acquired from the city of San Diego, and later it became The
Veterans Memorial Center &
Museum (VMMC); a meeting place for the UVC, and is now a site for
many veterans activities and programs.
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- Advocate for the betterment of the veteran community
- Forum to share information
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- UVC is an informal alliance of over fifty veterans organizations in San
Diego County
- Meets on the 4th Saturday at 9:30 am each month at the
Veterans Memorial Center
- All veterans are welcome and encouraged to attend
- Normal attendance is approx. 50 – 70
- Representatives from local, state, and national veteran programs,
elected officials, and DoD representatives attend
- Agenda is provided, and after Old & New Business items are
discussed, a discussion period follows.
“Roberts Rules of Order” are followed
- E-mail distribution system for agenda, minutes, alerts & UVC roster
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- Veterans Museum & Memorial Center
- California Veterans Home of Chula Vista
- Re-institution and enlargement of the County Veterans Service office
- Vastly enlarge annual Veterans Parade
- Expansion of the Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery
- TRICARE for Life (retired veterans over 65)
- Stand Down (VVSD)
- Concurrent Receipt (retired veterans receiving disability and retirement
benefits concurrently)
- Veterans Memorial (Phase 1) at Balboa Park
- Veterans Advisor position in San Diego Mayor’s office
- Community Advisory Boards for VA Medical Center and VARO
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- 1995: Created CAB under Medical Center Director
- Medical Center advisory board to provide advice, feedback, and a forum
to address healthcare issues and
concerns
- CAB composed of key, knowledgeable leaders within veterans community
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- 1998: VARO established a Community Advisory Board
- 2000: VA Medical Center & VARO combined boards to create “One VA”
CAB
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- National Veteran Service Organizations
- County Veteran Service Officer
- Director, Veterans Home of Chula Vista
- California Employment Development Department (EDD)
- US Senate & Congressional staff reps
- State of California Senate and Assembly staff reps
- Directors:
- VA Medical Center
- VBA Regional office and
- Fort Rosecrans Cemetery
- Organization representatives include:
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- Monthly meetings are well attended and members actively
participate. Normal attendance is
about 30 – 40. If a special guest
is invited attendance is well above that figure
- Meetings rotate between VA Medical Center and VARO in Mission Valley.
- We keep an attendance sheet, and previous meeting minutes are provided
to members prior to the next meeting.
- Meeting procedure: Directors provide update reports followed by chairs
comments and questions. Meeting
participants can question directors and chairs and/or provide input.
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- Created forum for discussing veterans issues as they relate to VA
services in San Diego
- Has vastly improved communications between community veterans groups,
Senate, Congressional, Elected State, County and City officials and the
media
- Improved access to VA health care & benefits for San Diego veterans
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- Spirit of cooperation for the greater good of all veterans
- Motto: If you don’t care who gets the credit, you can accomplish a lot
- Good collaboration and real cooperation
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Notes
