State VA director plans to retire
Maj. Gen. Myles Deering is retiring after nearly three years as executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs.
Gov. Mary Fallin announced Deering’s retirement, calling him a well-respected officer and a distinguished commander for the six years he led the Oklahoma National Guard as adjutant general.
Deering took the Veterans Affairs post after retiring from the National Guard, where he led deployments to Iraq and to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina.
For his work at Veterans Affairs, Deering said he’s most proud of building up veteran services, particularly those outside the state’s residential veteran centers.
“We understand the importance and criticality of taking care of those vulnerable veterans in our centers,” he said.
Deering noted, however, that just a fraction of Oklahoma veterans live at the department’s seven centers.
“Those homes only serve 1,400 of those 340,000 veterans,” he said.
Deering said he feels comfortable retiring after three years of running Veterans Affairs because the agency is where it needs to be. However, there were complaints about plans to move the Talihina Veterans Center to Poteau. A bill that would have allowed the move stalled in the Oklahoma House of Representatives this year.
One lawmaker in particular, state Rep. Brian Renegar, D-McAlester, opposed the move and called for an investigation into the department. Renegar, who represents Talihina, did not return a phone call seeking comment on Deering’s retirement.
Deering said Tuesday that the Talihina center, like others, is getting too old.
“Four of our veteran centers are right at or over 100 years old,” he said. “The basic structure of the centers in Talihina and Clinton were built in 1920s.”
The Ardmore center was built in 1910 as a home for Civil War veterans, he said.
You can only upgrade so much until you’re still investing in dilapidated infrastructure,” Deering said. “Pretty soon, you’re pouring money down the drain just to patch.”
Deering will leave Veterans Affairs in January, nearly three years to the day he joined.
“I leave this agency with a great sense of pride and accomplishment, as together we have altered the course of this agency in providing greater support to more veterans within our state and creating tremendous efficiencies, which have allowed us to continue and enhance our capabilities to serve more veterans, even in light of recent budget challenges,” Deering said in a prepared statement released in his retirement announcement.