TED BLICKWEDEL

TED BLICKWEDEL is a Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel, and combat veteran who became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker after he retired from the military. He worked as a counselor at the VA VET Center in Warwick, RI, from 2009 to 2018 where he provided mental health care for fellow veterans. In 2017, during his tenure at the VET Center, he began to ‘speak truth to power’ in an effort to have VA VET Center Management revise their clinical productivity policies that were harmful to counselors and compromising quality care for veterans. His subsequent whistleblowing campaign came at a great price, personally, professionally, legally, financially, and health wise.  A federal Government Accountability Office (GAO) investigation he helped instigate substantiated his allegations. This resulted in the United States Congress passing legislation that was signed into law which ensures VA leadership is accountable for protecting the quality of services to our veterans and their families, as well as safeguarding the welfare of counselors who care for them at over 300 VET Centers nationwide. Blickwedel’s crusade to rectify compromised mental health care and counselor well-being within the VA VET Center program has been featured on NBC and NPR, to include the Military Times, other publications and local news broadcasts. His book, 'Broken Promises,' chronicles this ordeal, as well as the unjust and toxic retaliation tactics used against him by VA officials in attempts to silence him.