Dr. Leo S. Mackay Luncheon

Dr. Leo S. Mackay, Jr. ’83, Former Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Speaks at Chapter January 2005 Luncheon

Chapter President Bill Rentz ’55 first conducted some chapter business and then introduced Chapter member Clint Johnson ’60. Clint is a member of the AVVBA (Atlanta Vietnam Veterans Business Association). Among other activities, the AVBBA funds and installs memorials in the Atlanta area for native Georgian Vietnam Vets who gave their lives in service to their country.

On May 26^th the AVVBA will hold a memorial service to dedicate the new memorial for CDR Clarence William Stoddard '49. The memorial service will be held at Colony Square at 14^th and Peachtree.

Bill Rentz next introduced our guest speaker, Dr. Leo S. Mackay, Jr. ’83, former Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the Bush administration. Dr. Mackay held that position from May of 2001 to October of 2003. The Department of Veterans Affairs is the second largest department in the federal government, with an annual budget of $84 million dollars.

Dr. Mackay started his presentation by sharing some of his personal experiences with President Bush, saying what a good and honest man that he is, as well as a man of great religious faith. He said that these qualities were much more evident to anyone who had the opportunity to meet the President in person. President Bush invited him and his family to the White House for dinner to thank him for his service after he finished his tour as Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs. Not only was it not necessary for the President to do this, but Dr. Mackay was particularly taken by President Bush’s attention and interactions with his children during their visit. He finished by saying that he holds the President in the highest regard.

Dr. Mackay also related some of his experiences during his confirmation hearing. It was a bit brutal at times, which was a surprise to Dr. Mackay who was initially unfamiliar with the ways of politics in Washington. While many of those who questioned him during the hearing had told him in private that they had all confidence in his ability to do the necessary job, their conduct in public during the hearing was quite different. Why? When speaking in public, these politicians must always put their party’s spin on everything they say, which results in a much different attitude in public than in private. That’s just “how the game is played” in Washington.

Dr. Mackay next discussed the CARAS (Capital Asset Realignment for Advanced Services) program. The primary goal of this program is to make sure that we provide ongoing medical care for all those who have served. In order to reach more veterans with these services, the current trend is to spread out coverage through many strategically located outpatient centers, as opposed to a hand full of large, centrally located, urban hospitals. He noted that many advanced care services are the available through the VA that are not readily available in civilian hospitals.

Concurrent receipt was the next topic of discussion. Concurrent receipt refers to the situation in which a veteran is eligible for both retirement pay and disability pay. Retirement pay from the government is taxable, while disability pay from the VA is not. In the past, a veteran’s retirement pay used to be reduced by $1.00 for every $1.00 they received in disability pay. Dr. Mackay worked to get that policy changed.

Dr. Mackay next discussed the concept of a “priority schedule” for services. In 1996 Congress passed a bill opening VA services to all veterans, but with a priority schedule in which combat disabled veterans were assigned the highest priority. As such, combat disabled veterans were supposed to be given top priority for medical and other services. Unfortunately, priority scheduling is not fully implemented and meeting with some resistance. There are simply not enough facilities to assure all veterans a place, regardless of priority. In the last several years the number of veterans registered for medical services has gone from two million to five million.

One of Dr. Mackay’s primary goals was to clean up and organize the department’s administrative procedures. He formed the VA DOD Executive Committee to accomplish this goal in one particular area. It seems that the DOD and the VA did not exactly do things in the same manner, which made for much confusion and inefficiency. For example, the physical exams to enter the service and to muster out of the service were not the same. There were different procedures, different exams, and different forms to fill out. The VA DOD Executive Committee worked to standardize that procedure, saving time, effort, and money. There are many other similar examples of procedures that needed standardization and clean-up.

For Dr. Mackay's bio, click:

Dr. Mackay Bio

The Chapter thanks Dr. Mackay for making time in his busy schedule to visit with us and enlighten us on subjects of particular interest to us all.

Click on a thumbnail image below to view a full-sized picture.

Dr. Mackay starts his presentation to the luncheon attendees.

Chapter President Bill Rentz '55, presents Dr. Mackay with his personalized Atlanta Chapter arpon.

Chapter member Clint Johnson '60, informs us about the AVVBA and the monument and memorial service for CDR Stoddard '49.