> Providing benefits and developing new treatments seem to differ though, don’t they? Not at all- many of the health conditions experienced by veterans are ser

> Providing benefits and developing new treatments seem to differ though, don’t they? Not at all- many of the health conditions experienced by veterans are service-related, and no private funding is going to fund the basic research. Some of the research is also related to actively serving soldiers. During the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, some of my dad's research was related to keeping soldiers fighting in desert climates hydrated. I also did some work in a VA lab in high school which was researching new prosthetics technologies for victims of IED bombings, which did not leave enough of the persons's limb remaining for existing prosthetic designs to attach to. > Regarding your father, what was the benefit to him as a researcher to have all of these different groups to work for? More opportunities for funding! Federal grants are very competitive. > Seems like there would be more waste (more fixed overhead of administrators) and bureaucracy. Standard operating procedure when the US government's money is involved.