I have been privileged to work for some of the most high-powered people in town. They pay me for my opinions, and I give those to them.
Robert Wilkie
When our veterans walk into any VA facility, they converse with men and women who speak the unique language of military service.
When an American veteran comes to VA, it is not up to him to employ a team of lawyers to get VA to say yes. It is up to VA to get the veteran to yes, and that is customer service.
For the VA to thrive as an integrated health care network, it must be agile and adaptive.
I experienced what can never be duplicated in the private sector - the communal aspect of VA.
If we don't get a hold of what we owe Americans who are providing services to our veterans, then the entire system collapses.
I am opposed to the privatization of the Veterans Affairs Department and will continue to make sure the VHA is fully funded.
Many of the issues I encountered as acting secretary were not with the quality of medical care but with getting our veterans through the door to reach that care.
I welcome a scrutiny of my entire record.
My own life changed when my father returned from his second combat tour in Vietnam. When he came home after almost a year in Army hospitals, he weighed less than half of what he did when he left. I watched the agonizing recovery, and that experience was on my mind when I was asked to come to VA.
While I honor the soldiers in my family, and I am a student of history, the past is the past, and I do not live in the past.
I learned at a very early age, listening to those around my family, that in order to be a commander, you had to walk your post.
As part of any new leadership organization, you come in with a team. You come in to assess. You come in to rearrange.
The last thing I will pay attention to is any of the usual Washington back and forth.
I am humbled by the prospect of serving those who have borne the battle, those American men and women who have sacrificed so much.
The Bible that I will take my oath on reminds me of the 100th anniversary of the end of the war to end all wars. It was a Bible taken into battle by my wife's grandfather who had probably never ventured beyond three or four counties in North and South Carolina.
Constant rotation, based on a 19th century Army model, prevents spouses from putting down roots and gaining meaningful deployment.
Norman Hooten's dedication and commitment to serving his fellow veterans is what VA is all about.
