Transforming Service to Veterans

Paul Lawrence is an Army veteran and also served as the Under Secretary of Benefits at the VA. During his time with the VA, he worked to streamline the bureaucracy to help veterans get the benefits they apply for quickly and accurately.

Links & Resources

• Paul Lawrence on LinkedIn

Transcript

Scott DeLuzio  00:00:00    Thanks for tuning into a Drive on Podcast where we're focused on giving hope and strength to the entire military community, whether you're a veteran active duty guard reserve, or family member, this podcast we'll share inspirational stories and resources that are useful to you. I'm your host, Scott DeLuzio. And now let's get on with the show.  

Scott DeLuzio    00:00:22    Everybody welcome back to the Drive On Podcast today. My guest is Paul Lawrence. Paul is an Army veteran and also served as the Undersecretary of Benefits at the Department of Veterans Affairs. During his time with the VA, he worked to streamline the bureaucracy to help veterans get the benefits that they apply for, quickly and accurately., Paul is also the author of the book, Transforming Service to Veterans. In this episode, we're going to talk about Paul's time at the VA and how he's helped veterans along the way, and as well as a little bit about his book at the end. So, welcome to the show, Paul, why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself and your background.  

Paul Lawrence   00:01:01    Hey, thanks, Scott. Thanks for having me with you. Yeah. it's an interesting story. I grew up in an army family. My father was a career military officer in the army. He was in the Signal Corps. We moved all around the world during the cold war thing, lived in Europe a couple times back and forth, and I was actually born in Japan. I left after a year, so I don't remember anything of it. So basically it seemed natural that I would join ROTC when I was in college. I did, I joined army ROTC. I delayed my going in so I could go on and get my PhD in economics at Virginia Tech. And then I went into the army. So I did my three years. I completed my ROTC requirement. I got out and then I moved to Washington and became a consultant to the government, primarily working in accounting firms, consulting to the government.  

Paul Lawrence    00:01:50    And so that's where I was. When someone said, Hey, you should apply for this cool job at the VA. And that's how I became the undersecretary of your benefits. I would definitely say being a veteran and being in a military family really kind of informed my thinking and really, while it wasn't all my life, it was a significant part of my life. And some of the things I still remember, my father taught me and I still remember, I think about all the time, that was some of the things that led me to want to serve.  

Scott DeLuzio     00:02:16    And I think it's important to coming from a military background to kind of have that understanding of  what is important to, to the veterans and having that in, in your family history, in living  the military life,  moving from one base to another and moving all over the world, you kind of get a sense for that probably from an early age, where some other people who may not have had that experience, they wouldn't have been able to experience that in and wouldn't have that understanding necessarily of what it's like, to be in the military, and part of a military family, especially  

Paul Lawrence   00:02:54    Right. And to move, to live in foreign countries where they don't speak English, where you can learn different languages and see the whole kind