At Sen. Mark Begich's request, Bilosz promised a full report of progress at the Anchorage office by June.
Down the table from Bilosz, Gabriel Fierros, who was struck by shrapnel when his helicopter went down outside Baghdad in 2007, offered living testimony that some vets are still frustrated with the local office.
Fierros said he hasn't gotten any disability benefits from the VA even though he was medically retired from the Army in May.
"I am told I have one more appointment, one more appointment, one more appointment," said Fierros.
Fierros was among invited speakers at an Anchorage field hearing of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs conducted by Begich.
Fierros said his injuries are all documented by the Army, and he doesn't understand why the VA needs to redo everything.
"They're duplicating. ... I thought they were about shared information, but I guess not."
WAITING FOR HELP
Fierros was injured once in 2003 in Iraq and again in the 2007 helicopter incident. His left eye was damaged, and he has also been treated for traumatic brain injury. He spent six months at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington recovering. After retiring, he filed for VA compensation based on 13 medical issues. He's still waiting for an answer.
Another veteran who testified, Chief Master Sgt. Tim Carroll, who was the senior enlisted man for Elmendorf Air Force Base's 3rd Wing before retiring in 2008, said he had an easier time getting benefits.
"I was pretty aggressive in trying to understand the system itself. I stayed on the phone. I stayed on the Internet. I asked, 'What do I need to provide -- what can I do?' "
Even with that, Carroll said, there were some things he didn't find out about. For example, he learned after he closed the deal on a house that if a veteran gets compensation for a disability, a VA loan fee is waived. That made a $12,000 difference for him, he said. The VA made good after the fact, he said, after he learned about the benefit elsewhere.
Carroll said Fierros' case is an example of how cumbersome the system is.
"Can't we skinny that down?" he asked.
SCATHING INSPECTION
Begich is conducting a series of discussions and hearings for and about veterans this week. Events were planned in Wasilla, Fairbanks and Kotzebue. Another formal field hearing is scheduled in Fairbanks at 1 p.m. today.
Alaska has a high number of veterans, an estimated 76,400. Veterans accounted for about 18 percent of the state's population as of the 2000 census, the highest percentage in the nation.
The Anchorage hearing covered topics ranging from veterans' employment programs to benefits for members of Alaska's Territorial Guard but focused on December's scathing inspection report of the VA regional office in Anchorage, which handles disability claims.
The report from the VA Office of Inspector General said the Anchorage office lacked sufficient quality controls and had a 29 percent error rate in handling of veterans' disability claims. The Anchorage office failed to meet requirements in 13 of 14 areas covered by the inspection.
At the hearing Tuesday, Belinda Finn of the Office of Inspector General said two matters contributed to management problems at the Anchorage office: It was without an on-site supervisor for eight months, and the director -- Bilosz -- is stationed in Salt Lake City and manages the Alaska office remotely.
She said computer network problems that made it difficult for employees to work on claims plagued the Anchorage office for a year.
And she said Alaska claims that the Anchorage office didn't have time to handle were sent to offices in Fort Harrison, Mont., and Salt Lake City, which made it difficult for the local staff to track them.
The Veterans Benefits Administration accepted all the criticism and made plans to deal with the problems, Finn said.
STAFFING UP
Bilosz said the Anchorage office has increase staffing since the inspection was done, including the addition of two supervisors. It is handling more claims and doing a better job, he said.
Begich asked Finn when the inspectors would be back to follow up in Anchorage, and she said not for three to five years. "That's not acceptable," Begich said after the hearing. But he said he was pleased to get a commitment from Bilosz for a detailed report in June.
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