WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will change the management structure of its 119 national cemeteries effective Oct. 1 to meet growing demands as operations steadily increase. Two additional field offices will be established in Oakland, Calif., and Indianapolis.
"Reducing the number of cemeteries that managers oversee and increasing the direct contact they have with cemeteries under their supervision will enable VA to better meet its quality service standards and its commitment to maintain all VA cemeteries as national shrines," said Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs Hershel Gober.
Gober said the two new offices will join three existing field offices in Philadelphia, Atlanta and Denver, each overseeing a Memorial Service Network (MSN), with some functions centralized at VA headquarters. The five MSN offices will be collocated with other VA facilities.
Gober explained that the size and complexity of VAs cemetery operations have increased since the present structure of field offices was created in 1977. At that time, VA had 103 national cemeteries and maintained 1.3 million gravesites on approximately 8,000 acres. Since then, the expansion of its cemetery system has resulted in VA maintaining 2.3 million gravesites on more than 13,500 acres.
"With our World War II veterans passing away and burials steadily increasing," said Gober, "we need an organization that can move ahead with the best possible management to meet the challenge. We have to use our staff and other resources to make VA national cemeteries the finest tributes possible to America's heroes."
