Prognosis
Vietnam Combat Files to Be Digitized Over Mental Health Claims
- Department of Veterans Affairs wants fast-search database
- Verifying mental health claims can take up to two months
A US Army soldier sits beside an APC in the fog along Route Nine, 1971.
Photographer: Christopher Jensen/Archive Photos via Getty Images
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The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is planning to digitize its Vietnam-era combat records in a bid to speed the verification of claims over mental health issues for aging vets.
The agency issued a “request for information” for companies interested in converting the archival text files into Excel-type spreadsheets. Data filtering will then be used to quickly verify potentially traumatic events claimed by ex-military personnel, according to a notice from the department.