Prologue A s the United States absorbs the aftereffects of more than a decade of continuous war, and in the face of the planned draw-down of military personnel, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will be stressed to continue to meet the growing health-care needs of the nation's veterans. Even with the lessening of hostilities and eventual withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq, Afghanistan, and other hostile assignments, the most recent cohort of veterans will grow for the foreseeable

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... , pressing VA for services. Long after our uniformed personnel repatriate from their deployments, their long-term wounds, whether physical or psychological, will need to be attended to by VA. This is a responsibility that cannot and should not be minimized.