PhD Lt. Col. Daniel Gade - Wounding Warriors: How Bad Policy Is Making Veterans Sicker and Poorer

This revelatory, lens-changing book shows why our VA, though staffed by devoted and capable medical professionals, must change. Institutions get the behavior they reward. Seen through the experience of a clear-eyed, seriously wounded warrior, the current systems design and application guides vets coming in with no intent of becoming wards of the state into that very situation. Those with serious problems are submerged in a sea of others who are rewarded for staying in an unimproved situation. In Wounding Warriors, Daniel Gade has made an unflinching appraisal and charted a refreshing path forward for making the VA best in class. A must-read for those committed to caring for our veterans who have borne the battle.

General (ret.) Jim Mattis, US Marine Corps (Ret), Former US Secretary of Defense

As a US Army veteran and former Secretary of Veterans Affairs, I find this book to be a breath of fresh air. In Wounding Warriors, Daniel Gade, himself a wounded warrior, dissects and critiques some of the serious issues that beset our nations worthy attempts to care for our wounded, ill, and injured service members and veterans. His credibility is ironclad and his argument is stunning: in attempting to care for veterans, our disability system creates incentives that make them sicker, poorer, and worse off. This is a must-read for policy makers and anyone involved in care for veterans, as well as for veterans and their families.

Jim Nicholson, 5th Secretary of Veterans Affairs

Daniel Gades real education came after losing his leg fighting in Iraq. The most disturbing lesson paradoxically came from the agency that was supposed to help put him back together. What Gade discovered both through his own experiences and extensive research of others is this: rather than assisting warriors in returning to productive lives, the Veterans Administration encourages fraud and rewards indolence, further marginalizing these men and women and robbing the nation of their potentially robust contributions and continued service post-war. These meticulously researched findings set to compelling human narratives wont make Gade very popular. But they represent the brave effort and convincing factual evidence necessary for the hard work of systemic change when the system is broken.

Kevin Sites, author ofSwimming with Warlords

Americas veterans, including the most seriously wounded, ill, and injured, have become the latest battleground in a long-standing political war. The political left and right both trip over themselves to honor veterans, not ever considering that their efforts may be misguided or even harmful to those they aim to help. In this bold, groundbreaking new book, Daniel Gade exposes flaws in the disability system that make Americas veterans poorer and sicker. This book will be controversial, and it should be read by anyone who seeks to understand the veteran landscape in America.

Col (Ret.) Jack Jacobs, US Army, Medal of Honor Recipient and Author ofIf Not Now, When? Duty and Sacrifice In Americas Time of NeedandBasic: Surviving Boot Camp and Basic Training

[Wounding Warriors shows that] the current system promotes waste and abuse not only of VA disability payments but of unnecessary medical appointments. It would almost be better to give soldiers a piece of paper that asks, Are you willing to lie, cheat, and/or steal to receive 100 percent disability? and if they check yes, just give them 100 percent because it will free up waste from unnecessary imaging, behavioral health, sleep studies, etc.

MAJ [Name Withheld], PT, DPT, MHA, MBA; US Army

[Wounding Warriors] makes a compelling case for reform. Lincolns immortal words in his second inaugural address, To care for him who has borne the battle and for his widow, and his orphan have served as a beacon, but today are shrouded in fog. It is time to bring the disability compensation program into the twenty-first century and not the century gone by. Reform is never easy, but veterans who have suffered the physical and mental wounds of war, their dependents, and the American people who support this critically important program deserve no less.

Anthony Principi, 4th Secretary of Veterans Affairs

A vitally important book, written by someone uniquely qualified to tell the story. Reaching all the way back to the post-World War II era (when five-star General Omar Bradley one of the great leaders of that war led a commission that identified the perverse incentive structure that continues in our current VA disability system), this book shows us how the path of care and compensation has led to a quagmire of despair and dysfunction.

Astoundingly well documented, with a clarion call for action and clear-cut recommendations, Wounding Warriors shows us the road home from dysfunction and despair. This book can transform the way we care for our veterans, from the current methodology that has done great harm, to policies that will give our veterans the care they deserve.

If our nation sincerely cares about our veterans, we will read and heed this book.

Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, author ofOn Combat, On Killing,andOn Spiritual Combat

I found myself re-reading parts of this book as they strike so deep. [The authors captured] the reality of soldiering as well as anything Ive read. This book accurately describes a broken and spectacularly failing VA system, and will make plenty of people squeamish. Between popular culture, wishful thinking, and an untamable bureaucracy, Im afraid that the only real solution is to blow the whole system up and start over.

Matt Eversmann, Army Ranger (Ret.) and Author ofThe Battle of Mogadishu: Firsthand Accounts from the Men of Task Force Ranger

Gade and Huang provide crucial context to understanding the Department of Veterans Affairs policies and practices of determining disability ratings. The authors research and experience tell of a deeply flawed system that incentivizes veterans to claim everything. Perhaps even more concerning is the negative effect the process has on healing and rehabilitation of veterans who often chose financial compensation over recovery.

The authors masterfully describe the challenges associated with implementing change in this government bureaucracy. Wounding Warriors deftly uncovers the current situation within the VA and the history that led to this point. This story should infuriate every veteran for the rampant malingering among our own warrior class and every American citizen that funds these benefits through taxation. If Wounding Warriors doesnt result in a demand for congressional reform of this well-intentioned but grossly off-track institution, then perhaps nothing ever will.

Lt. Col Wayne Phelps, USMC (Ret.) and author ofOn Killing Remotely: The Psychology of Killing with Drones

Few people know this issue as well as Daniel Gade, informed by his experience in Washington and on the frontlines. Gades thorough examination of the VA, from its poorly designed incentive structure to its record of waste and lack of accountability, is a serious indictment that should have American taxpayers demanding reform. In an era when veterans entitlements are treated as an untouchable third rail of politics, Gades book is a profile in courage.

Paul D. MIller, PhD. Professor of the Practice of Inter-national Affairs at Georgetown Universitys School of Foreign Service and author ofJust War and Ordered Liberty; American Power and Liberal Order