Al Batres is the Chief Officer of Readjustment Counseling Service, Department of Veterans Affairs. He has direct oversight of the 206 Vet Centers providing readjustment counseling service to war zone veterans nationally to include centers in Puerto Rico, Alaska, Hawaii, and Guam, and assists the Under Secretary for Health in policy issues effecting readjustment of veterans and their health care. Dr. Batres is a service-connected disabled Vietnam veteran. He received the 1999 Presidential Meritorious Service Rank Award for federal Senior Executives.
Dr. Batres received his Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Colorado-Boulder, and MSSW from the University of Louisville. He started his career as a psychologist at Ireland Army Hospital, Ft. Know, Kentucky, as the Director of the Child and Family Clinic, Department of Neuropsychiatry. He has held academic positions at the University of Louisville and the University of Colorado, Boulder. He came to VA as the Team Leader of the East Los Angeles Veterans Center.
He currently serves on the National Leadership Board, the Executive Performance Board, and other committees for VA. Dr. Batres has been a national and international leader in pioneering the development and provision of services for veterans with combat-related trauma.
He comes from a family with a proud history of military service to our nation, his father is a WWII veteran and his son Al is a veteran of Operation Desert Shield/Storm, having served as an Airborne Scout with the 82nd Airborne Division. He has a daughter Grace in San Antonio, Texas, and is the proud grandfather of four children.
November 2000
