The Secretary of Wisconsin's Department of Veterans Affairs said he has a better understanding of the needs of combat veterans now that he has served in Iraq.

Fifty-two-year-old John Scocos said though he has served in the active military and reserves for about half his life, the experience in a war zone opened his eyes.

Scocos is a colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and the only Secretary of Veterans Affairs in the country to be deployed to Iraq.

He says he feels more committed now and he sees things that he didn't before he served his six-month deployment in Iraq.

Scocos says he sees a need for more help for Iraq and Afghanistan veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and from traumatic brain injuries. And he wants Congress to expand the educational benefits provided in the federal GI Bill.

He says that'll be a priority now that he has been elected president National Association of State Directors of Veterans Affairs.