In a small room tucked into a US navy facility outside Memphis, Tennessee, uniformed personnel sit hunched over monitors, their eyes focused on screens as they speak into headsets with clipped efficiency.
The move comes after data shows lower rates of disability claims approval for some minority groups.
The whirlwind couple of weeks has essentially put veterans' efforts back at square one and left Afghans still waiting for the safety and stability they were promised for helping the U.S. military.
The island of Mindanao has been reeling from the effects of heavy rain, displacing an estimated 795,000 people.
The National Funeral Directors Association and the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs, as well as others, recently submitted public comments objecting to the VA's proposed rule change.
The staff sergeants applied bandages and a tourniquet as bystanders watched.