ROCK SPRINGS — As Wyoming’s newest generation of veterans returns home from service, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is working to make sure no one falls through the cracks.
At a Veterans Information Fair organized by the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 2321, VA staff highlighted the Post 9/11 Military 2 VA Transition Program. The initiative was specifically designed to help post 9/11 veterans transition from military service to civilian life without a gap in healthcare coverage.
“The goal is to get them from when they discharge from the Department of Defense, starting to reintegrate back into the civilian world,” said Kelly Saur, the program’s manager out of the Sheridan VA. “Whatever the veteran needs, I can navigate the VA to help get them that care.”
The program, launched in 2003 as a joint effort between the Department of Defense and the VA, serves veterans who served on or after Sept. 11, 2001. Saur said the need grew out of a new era of combat, one that brought with it rising rates of traumatic brain injuries, post-traumatic stress, and other complex conditions that required a more hands-on transition process.
Beyond physical injuries, the program addresses what Saur described as psychosocial needs, housing instability, food insecurity, financial struggles, and relationship difficulties that can accompany the return to civilian life. From there, she helps coordinate care within the VA system, connecting veterans to mental health services, a headache clinic for traumatic brain injury patients, pain management, and other specialty programs.
VA public relations specialist Kristina Miller stressed that the barrier to entry is lower than many veterans realize.
“There is zero cost to enroll in the VA for healthcare,” Miller said. “We don’t want them to ever have to choose between making a car payment and having health insurance.”
Miller added that while some veterans may have co-pays based on their priority group, the coverage itself is free, something she said too many eligible veterans don’t know.
Veterans who served on or after Sept. 11, 2001, and are interested in the Military 2 VA program can contact Saur’s office directly at 307-675-3961. Veterans of all generations seeking enrollment and eligibility information can call 307-675-3566.
