Readjustment counseling on Ottoville Road in Pago Pago. Separate from the VA clinic, with its own eligibility that needs no rating, no enrollment in VA health care, and no service connection.
Also called: Vet Center, readjustment counseling, PTSD, military sexual trauma, MST, Ottoville Road, counseling, bereavement.
For: Veteran or service member, spouse, child, survivor.
The Vet Center is a different organization from the VA clinic down the road, with different eligibility, and a veteran turned away from one may still qualify at the other. In a territory with a single outpatient clinic, that distinction is worth knowing.
The American Samoa Vet Center is at the Equator Building on Ottoville Road in Pago Pago. It offers counseling for depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and the psychological effects of military sexual trauma, along with individual and group counseling, family and couples counseling, bereavement support, substance use referrals, transition assistance from military to civilian life, educational and career counseling, and connection to VA and community resources.
The eligibility rules are their own. You qualify if you served on active duty in a combat theater or area of hostility; or provided mortuary services or emergency medical services during active duty; or were part of an unmanned aerial vehicle crew supporting combat operations; or served on active duty responding to a presidentially declared emergency or disaster; or experienced military sexual trauma in any era of service; or currently use covered VA educational benefits. Family members of eligible veterans may also be seen.
The two sentences that matter most: enrollment in VA health care is not required, and a service-connected disability rating is not required. Nothing about a rating percentage touches Vet Center eligibility.
GAO counted one Vet Center in American Samoa in its 2024 review of VA in the territories, the same count as Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, and interviewed its officials as part of that work. It is a small operation and it is the territory's main door to counseling that does not run through the clinic.
The Vet Center also sits inside a local network. VA Pacific Islands and the clinic have run mental health summits in American Samoa with the American Samoa Government Veterans Affairs Office, the Vet Center, the American Samoa Community College Area Health Education Center, the Department of Health, the Department of Youth and Women's Affairs, the American Samoa Alliance Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, and several local providers. The territorial veterans office has been the lead agency for veteran suicide prevention coordination since February 2022 under the Governor's Challenge.
Thresholds
Thresholds for American Samoa Vet Center
Gate
Rule
No rating and no VA health care enrollment required
Vet Center eligibility does not depend on a service-connected disability rating or on being enrolled in VA health care. A veteran who qualifies for nothing else in this catalog may still qualify here.
Several independent eligibility routes
Combat theater or hostility area service; mortuary or emergency medical service on active duty; unmanned aerial vehicle crew supporting combat operations; active duty responding to a presidentially declared emergency or disaster; military sexual trauma in any era; or current use of covered VA educational benefits. Family members of eligible veterans are included.
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Disclaimer
VetTOC is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs or the Department of Defense. Information is for reference only and is not an eligibility determination. Verify with VA, the relevant state or territory, or an accredited VSO.