From battling the enemy oversees to battling the system back home; it's a frustration all too familiar to American war veterans.

Now a KFOX investigation reveals how a growing backlog of disability compensation claims at the Department of Veterans Affairs has left many veterans waiting years for benefits they expected and needed much sooner.

One of those waiting is Army National Guard veteran Jimmie Brand. After a tour of duty in Iraq during the first Gulf War, doctors diagnosed him with a number of ailments including a separated disc in his back, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Brand said the problems are a result of his service, but he's been fighting the VA for ten years for benefits. He said he's waited three years for the VA to arrange a doctor's exam that he needs for his claim to be processed. He describes the anxiety caused by the delay as "a nightmare."

VA workload reports for early February 2007 show that more than 600,000 disability compensation claims are waiting to be answered. In the VA office that handles El Paso claims, more than 21 percent of the 24,000 claims have been pending for at least six months.

In New Mexico, 28 percent of the 4,700 claims are also still pending after six months.

Veterans' advocates say the backlog means veterans must wait to get money and medical care owed to them that many desperately need. They blame staff shortages at the VA, the aging population of America's veterans, and the influx of claims from troops injured in the Iraq war.

The National Service Director for Disabled American Veterans, Randy Reese, says older veterans are often waiting the longest.

"The average age of those veterans is way up there, and there's a lot of them who are dying while they're waiting for the adjudication of their claims," he said.

Veterans Affairs Secretary Jim Nicholson tells KFOX there's a bigger backlog because there’s been a substantial increase in the number of claims applications.

He says the VA is hiring more claims processors and improving their training.

"We're expanding," he says, "but we can't do it overnight."

Secretary Nicholson expects a reduction in the claims backlog by the end of next year, but Jimmy Brand is hoping he'll get an answer much sooner. "I just want them to make a fair decision." he says.

If you're a veteran struggling to get a claim answered, veterans service organizations like Disabled American Veterans, VFW, and American Legion will provide a representative to advocate on your behalf to the VA.

It's a free service, but you may have to sign a power of attorney allowing the representative to obtain your records. You'll need to have your DD-214 form and relevant medical records. Letters of support, referred to as "buddy letters," from witnesses to your injury and its aftermath are also helpful.

DAV spokesman Tim Wilborn says, "No one wants to negotiate the bureaucracy of the VA alone."