James Dicks, President/CEO of Information Defense Systems (IDEFSYS), recently attended a ceremony acknowledging Florida’s military veterans. The gathering was hosted by the CFO of the State of Florida, Alex Sink, and recognized the “Florida Vets Connect” program, which is a proposal intended to distinguish the millions of military veterans in Florida and provide them with information about benefits they might be entitled to because of their gallant service to the country.
Also in attendance were Rear Admiral LeRoy Collins, Jr., USNR (Ret.), Executive Director of the Florida Department of Veterans' Affairs and John Dicks, former three-term Mayor of Plant City, Florida and a candidate for the United States House of Representatives for the Ninth District of Florida in the 2008 election.
This cooperative initiative of the Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs (FDVA) and the Florida Department of Highway and Safety Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) will permit veterans to voluntarily identify their veteran status when applying for or renewing a license or ID card. Their contact information will then be used by Florida Department of Veterans’ Affairs to ensure Florida’s veterans are provided information about the benefits to which they may be entitled.
During the ceremony CFO Sink said, “Our veterans have sacrificed so much for our country, and we should do everything we can to honor their service. The new Florida Vets Connect initiative will make it easier for Florida’s veterans to receive the benefits they may be entitled to through their brave service.”
Dicks, a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps said, “A major part of the problem was getting this valuable information out to the veterans. They can’t use what they don’t know about. So, I believe that CFO Sink has done a great service for the veteran community here in the state of Florida. Perhaps other states will replicate this program to the benefit of veterans all over the country.”
At absolutely no cost to Florida taxpayers, ‘Florida Vets Connect’ will use driver license offices as a location to gather information on veterans not currently in the state system. The DHSMV will collect, store, and make this information available to the Department of Veterans’ Affairs. The “Florida Vets Connect” program will begin during the regular DHSMV system update in July.
According to the 2009 VA Annual Benefits Report, Florida’s veteran population totals about 1.7 million, but the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs only has accurate contact information for approximately 700,000 of them. Nationwide, the Veterans of Foreign Wars Magazine reported more than $22 billion in veterans' pension funds go unclaimed annually.
