Army Lowballing

[Berta]

http://vawatchdog.org/07/nf07/nfAPR07/nf042407-1.htm

In part:

"Critics say the Army rates its injured soldiers at a lower level of disability compared with the other armed services and the VA so it can save on the costs of disability payments."

[Ricky]

Yes and we thought the VA was bad. At least with the VA you have some recourse NOT with Army. I watched in amazement for over 24 years as they implemented this kindness to address the broken soldier. The problem is that army regulations which by the way, break all title 10 laws, gives the army the ability to pick and choose what they consider to the the unfit quality. As an example, a young man went to Iraq. Got hit with an IED. Returned with mental problems, TBI, messed up leg and arm. Army discharge board determined him to be unfit for duty due to mental problems, awarded 10 percent and explained that the TBI, leg and arm were not considered to be "unfit" for duty. Let me see here, loss of use of leg and arm - when I was in the army, if you could not walk (march) or hold on to a weapon they might just consider that to be unfit for duty. Oh well, I guess times have changed since my retirement in 2000. I guess that the army is now full of people who can not walk, carry or shoot a weapon. Damn idiots, TBI, useless leg and arm not considered to be unfit! Who in the f&&**&^%% do they think they are. He (the soldier in the story that I am familar with) finally won and received a 60 percent rating and draws 100 percent schedular VA with A/A etc.... 24 years old and he can not remember what he had for supper the night before nor his mothers name due to the TBI and both his leg and arm are wasting away from non-use, however, except for that small mental problem he has he is just want the army is looking for!!!!!!! Sorry to have displayed so much anger but it is hard when you love an organization as much as I loved the army and demanded this same love and devotion from my wife and children to see them stoop so low. I will say this and then try to let this go before I go do something I will be sorry about -THE ONLY WAY TO EXPLAIN SUCH LOWLIFE ACTIONS BY SUCH A GREAT ORGANIZATION IS IT IS RUN AND FORCED TO FORM IT OPINIONS AND ACTIONS ON THE WHIMS OF GREAT MEN AND AMERICANS SUCH AS MR. DAVID CHU. May he and all of his family rot in hell for the way he dishonors our great hereos of the armed services. Sorry guys but stuff like this coupled with the statements about wounded soldiers and veterans by the great american Mr. Chu really throw me into mental unsoundness overdrive.

[Testvet]

Ricky, blaming Dr Chu might be one answer, but who was the Dr Chu in the 60s and 70s who was the Dr Chu in 1940 and 1950's who was the Dr Chu that took away the Civil war and WW1 pensions in the 20's? Who kept the Contintental Congress from keeping their committments to the Revolutionary soldiers? We can blame it on Dr Chu, but that is just the latest name on the job of holding the budget on the backs of the weak and injured.

[john999]

Think of all the PTSD cases that were diagnosed with a personality disorder and kicked out with nothing and have to fight an uphill battle just to get service connection. It happened during Vietnam and is happening again to thousands just so the Army can save money. The broken soldiers are just used up and thrown out with peanuts and ruined lives. I acutally filed an appeal to try and get pension benefits after I had gotten 100% from the VA. The Army said there was nothing wrong with me at all. How do I go one day from being perfectly fit and the next day my VA disability starts? I was discharged on December 3, 1971 as perfectly fit and my VA disability was retro to December 4, 1971. So I got caught a disability in 24 hours that has lasted all my life.

[huskerfanfl]

It irks me when soldiers are treated so shabbily. I have seen it go the other way as well though. I personally know a soldier who had taken her teenage son to the hospital on another post because they both had appointments. They were both given a prescription, both prescriptions came with a warning that the drug could cause drowsiness. Both took some of the medicine before they left to return home. The soldier heeded the warning label and decided she should not drive, so she let her son (who only had a learners permit) drive. They both fell asleep on the way home and crashed. As a result of the injuries sustained in the crash, whe was granted medical retirement at 60%

Edited April 25, 2007 by huskerfanfl

[sixthscents]

Sure, I see your point Huskerfanfl, but.... I am afraid she was the exception rather than the rule. Since the military CAN pick and choose which disability they say is "disabling", they get off scott free 99% of the time.... with just a severance. Now, that severance may be 60 or 70K, but when you compare that against all the accrued benefits lost, plus a retirement at even 30%... well the military is making the sound monetary decision to shaft the soldier.... again and again...

I fought... I fought like heck, I went and got mad about what they were doing to me and my family and I fought... and won thru the VA, but.... if they had just honored their promises, I would have been satisfied. Honestly, I am making FAR FAR more than I would have, if they had just retired me at 40%.... but, I am the exception as well. When the injury happened, I made sure it was WELL documented, and had ALL the line of duty paperwork done. Since I was in recruiting at the time, I was on Tri-Care Remote and went to civilian physicians, but EVERY time I finished a civilian appointment, I went to Ft Campbell, or Knox and went to sick call and had the Army file cooresponding notes into my SMR. This went on for 2 years, each time I made sure that if a civilian doctor gave me a work restriction, I went to a post and had a profile issued as well. If I had a test done, like an MRI, I took the films and had them read by the military as well....

All the while they were trying their best to relieve me, a "relief for cause"... It didnt happen because my recruiting station (I was the commander) was one of the top ten in the nation... and had been the whole time I was in charge... yet they STILL tried to relieve me... if the had just done a medical relief I would have said sure, but there was NO way I was going to accept a relief that essentially said I was incompetent... nope, even while I was hurt, my station stayed rock solid. Now part of that was the fact that I am a very good manager... (not bragging, just a fact), but another part of it was we were a TEAM, and the work was parceled out so that everyone had a commitment and motivation for success.

I was lucky in that I had some really great soldiers.... but I had 2 stations prior to it, and they were just as successful... EVERY soldier in the Army has the potential to be a GOOD soldier. I know that... and I also know that what motivates one, doesnt necessairily motivate another, BUT... when I was hurt, they couldnt fill my slot, because I was still on the TO&E... so they had to relieve me, or let the station essentially run itself... so they tried... the filthy 1Sgt I had at the time tried EVERY trick he knew, even going so far as to try to convince me to ACCEPT a relief for cause... since it would allow him to move me closer to home..... I refused.

So, for 2 years I fought with my local command, and fought with the MEB, and PEB... I learned all the dirty tricks they try. I was forced to take a PT test, since a profile is only a "suggestion"... to the commander.. in fact I took several, alll the while causing further injury. I will say that EVERY relief for cause they submitted was shot down at Brigade level. So, finally they decided to relieve me medically, and I accepted that. Did it matter? Yes, it didnt change the ending of the story, but it matterd to ME... I was not going to have my work dismissed for the sake of expediency...

All the while I was reading... online CFR 38... and preparing my claim, making sure I had all the documentation, all the possible tests, all the proof ANY court would need. Even then, I was severanced... after 4 surgeries, a spinal chord stimulator, fusion and pins in spine, walking using canes, and poorly at that... and they rated me for a muscle strain... a muscle strain or Lumbago if you prefer.... that Lumbago made me unable to serve, not all the other stuff.

So, I say then and I say now.... the Army in paticular... chumps a broken soldier. They talk about taking care of the soldier, but that only counts if you aren't broken. In the end, it was like I was a toy soldier, and once broken, was simply cast aside..... BUT the real horror is that they are doing it still, even now as our soldiers return with spinal chord injuries, they are severancing them, because of a bad knee.... if you thhink I am exaggerating, well just go to ANY holding company on ANY Army post, and listen to the stories. If you still need proof, I have several claims I am handleing right now, and I'd be more than willing to ask them if I could tell you the details of their claims.... these guys are still in the Army right now... but being discharged for relatively minor ailments compared to their entire medical history, and being severanced....

Its just like the plan the VA bandied about... when they were talking about BUYING out 10-20% disabilities. Just another way to shaft the soldier.

..................... I am sorry, this post has gone on and on, but I am still so ANGRY at what was done to me, and what I see them do EVERY day... I want to puke... I really do.... It is a stain, a disgrace, to what is, at its very heart, one ofour most noble achievements... a volunteer Army comprised of dedicated and selfless indiviuals.. willing to die for a stranger... yet, when the last call is heard, when the last platoon falls out... the injured and maimed are left cast aside like so much garbage..........

I loved being a soldier. It was my place. What I was meant to do... and they by their very actions have diminished it, and made it less. They have no honor... only calculators.

[free_spirit_etc]

OMG! I remember all about this. Reading about it. They took the State Pensions away because of Federal Pensions. Then the Supreme Court was supposed to decide who got the pensions -- but they didn't have the authority to grant pensions as judges - so they were given the title of commisioners for hearing pension cases - if they chose to hear such cases. Then --they had THAT taken to Court --to the Supreme Court... and declared the pensions invalid... because it was not within their authority to grant them...so the VETS had to repay the pensions. So the Supreme Court decided that the pensions granted by their own members were not valid as their own members had no right to serve as commisioners.

So it was all this Power Struggle between Congress and the Supreme Court over whether the Supreme Court SHOULD hear pension cases. I guess the Supreme Court "won" -- as they granted pensions as commissiners so they could come back as a court and declare their own actions (under another hat) invalid.. but the VETS were the PAWNS in this Power Struggle...

It is pretty horrifying...

Free

Ricky, blaming Dr Chu might be one answer, but who was the Dr Chu in the 60s and 70s who was the Dr Chu in 1940 and 1950's who was the Dr Chu that took away the Civil war and WW1 pensions in the 20's? Who kept the Contintental Congress from keeping their committments to the Revolutionary soldiers? We can blame it on Dr Chu, but that is just the latest name on the job of holding the budget on the backs of the weak and injured.