On Patrol

The litany of troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq, along with new rules on Vietnam-era injuries, left the Department of Veterans Affairs with 853,831 unresolved cases heading into last weekend.

The volume is staggering. The VA says its processed nearly 1 million claims in the last year, but that another 1.3 million people have filed claims in that time period.

The VA expects thousands more claims to be filed over Iraq and Afghanistan, but has been set back by nearly 200,000 new cases involving Agent Orange exposure in Vietnam brought under new rules that make it easier to file.

Read more in VA struggling with disability backlog.

In other news around the military:

• The New York Times reports the State Department is operating unarmed drones in Iraq to help protect U.S. Embassies and American personnel.

• It appears there’s trouble brewing in Egypt, as the American diplomatic mission there has begun sheltering non-governmental employees for the first time amid concerns over Cairo’s crackdown on pro-democracy groups.