Awful Clusterfuck For Injured Combat Vets
Combat veterans are being stripped of their medical benefits. Conor Friedersdorf writes in The Atlantic about how the U.S. Army is failing some of its wounded warriors by discharging them for misconduct -- misconduct likely related to their injuries (physical or psychological) from battle:
As their tours abroad ended, they returned to bases in the U.S., where their injuries affected their ability to maintain discipline. They committed small infractions. Over time, these demerits added up. They were discharged for misconduct.As a result, they lost their medical benefits for life.
Unable to afford treatment for the combat injuries they sustained, many wound up taking on debt in emergency rooms or living on the street without any treatment at all.
Their plight is a moral outrage and a public health disaster.
...Often the offenses aren't even serious. "The Gazette found troops cut loose for small offenses that the Army acknowledges can be symptoms of TBI and PTSD. Some soldiers missed formation a handful of times or smoked marijuana once. Some were discharged for showing up late or missing appointments." And then there's the detail that is perhaps the most jaw-dropping in the story: "Some tested positive once for drugs, then were deployed to combat zones because the Army needed the troops, only to be discharged for the drug offense when they returned." Then again, on another occasion, an infantry soldier who served two tours of duty abroad "was targeted for discharge after missing three doctor appointments because he had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital for being suicidal." There's enough depravity on display that choosing the worst example is difficult.
The story comes out of a Colorado Springs daily, The Gazette. Read the whole thing here.
Yes, It is difficult to collect veterans medical benefits and get treatments from the VA with an other than honorable discharge.
This is how the VA (and not the Army) set up the rules.
Like most government programs, it can be a paperwork nightmare, and nothing about being a combat veteran qualfies you automatically for any kind of lifetime medical care.
There are also income qualifications, like there are for medicaid.
What is left unsaid in the article, is how few people, even with honorable discharges are eligible for any kind of free treatment from the VA.
I believe even Tricare (the military health insurance for Active duty and retirees) gets rolled into medicare, when you hit 62.
I dont think there is any quantifiable difference in care between showing up uninsured at your local ER and doing the same at the VA. So essentially this is a beef about who pays for it, the feds or the state.
Isab at March 2, 2014 7:11 AM
I believe discharges, even dishonorable, can be appealed and upgraded after six months.
Testing positive for marijuana always got you kicked out as far as I know. As long as pot is illegal, it's no "minor offense." I was in long enough to see many people get massive demotions and booted out the door for marijuana use.
In fact, none of the things on that short list of "minor offenses" are considered "minor offenses."
Failing to be at your reported place of duty, whether it's formation or an appointment, is technically AWOL.
On the other hand, their providers should have given them a profile, which is a written statement from their physicians which exempt them from certain activities. Someone with PTSD needs in patient care, and should be exempted from regular formations within the unit.
All-in-all, it's a very useful article, but it does not seem to recognize the importance of what they consider minor offenses. The military has always considered these things to be serious offenses.
Patrick at March 2, 2014 9:12 AM
Patrick: thank you for your service.
I saw a well-respected first-class machinist mate kicked out of the nuclear Navy for a positive THC test. That was a shame, but in general, there is no room to look the other way. The person who ignores the law is very likely to ignore the reactor plant manual.
Rumor has it that Adm. Rickover disqualified a leading chief, the RC division officer, an engineer, and a captain of an aircraft carrier because two sailors performing instrumentation checks did not have the manual open to the correct page when he arrived to observe. The story is made plausible by the insane operating hours and service record of the nuclear Navy - the world's largest nuclear reactor operating service.
Radwaste at March 2, 2014 7:49 PM
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