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Novak said he got the idea from a professional conference and began using it for groups of recent veterans in 2004.

"It's better for peer support, for one thing," he said.

"And one of the things that the guys miss a lot and one reason why they have trouble adjusting when they come back is that they're not with their comrades." Now, Novak and colleagues plan to hire four more people to administer an expanded version of the program.

They hope it will help veterans get the mental and physical treatment they need and guide them through a sometimes confusing VA system.

The planned expansion demonstrates how the VA in Memphis is devoting more resources to deal with a stream of combat veterans returning from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

So far, about 1,600 recent veterans have come to local VA facilities, but most haven't, he said.

Nationally, only about a third of the 630,000 veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have gone to the VA, the agency said.

The number will likely grow as they age and as more come home.

Though VA employees like Novak and his colleagues are clearly trying hard to help veterans, the agency has its critics.

At t...

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