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View Full Version : Army Treats Their Wounded Like Shit



blueturk
02-21-2005, 02:53 AM
Troops wounded in Irag face a barrage of problems trying to get treatment. Some have to pay their own medical bills, because more than a third are denied extensions. A hell of a way to run a war, but business as usual for this administration.

Troops say it's hard to get medical care
By Dave Moniz, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — National Guardsmen and reservists who are injured on active duty face daunting and sometimes insurmountable hurdles to get medical care, soldiers and military officials told a congressional panel Thursday.

Sgt. 1st Class John Allen, a National Guard Special Forces soldier, suffered multiple injuries in Afghanistan.
By M. Scott Mahaskey, Army Times

The troops described an Army bureaucracy that loses track of wounded reservists, drops medical coverage before some are healed and often inflicts hardships on families.

Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., chairman of the House Committee on Government Reform, described the problems injured Guardsmen and reservists face as "the equivalent of financial and medical friendly fire."

The panel heard sometimes-emotional testimony from Guard soldiers who have been wounded in battle and administrators responsible for helping them navigate the medical system.

Gregory Kutz, a Government Accountability Office official who helped prepare a new report on deficiencies in Guard and reserve benefits, said that the Army has made improvements in treating Guard and reserve soldiers since 9/11. Still, he said, "many problems remain."

Among the shortcomings:

• The GAO said that soldiers, including many with severe injuries, are given little help navigating a thicket of regulations and procedures necessary to gain access to military doctors.

• Injured soldiers sometimes have to pay their own medical bills or go into debt because their active-duty tours end and they are physically unable to go back to their civilian jobs.

• As recently as April, more than one-third of injured soldiers who applied to have their benefits extended were denied.

Unlike active-duty soldiers and Marines, Guardsmen and reservists typically get access to military bases and hospitals only when they are called to active duty. Once they are injured, Guard and reserve troops frequently need approval to have their active-duty service extended so they can continue medical treatment.

The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have prompted the largest call-up of Guard and reserve troops since World War II and flooded the health care system with casualties. More than 185,000 Guardsmen and reservists are currently mobilized for active-duty missions in the USA and overseas.

The problems surfaced in late 2003 with a backlog of hundreds of injured Guardsmen and reservists at Army hospitals around the country. Some of them were forced to wait months to get medical attention.

The Army recently streamlined the process to allow Guardsmen and reservists to stay on duty longer and complete their medical treatment. Chief Warrant Officer Rodger Shuttleworth, who helps administer health care policies for the Army, said the streamlining has solved "90% of the problems" related to extending health coverage.

But witnesses said other snafus remain. Sgt. 1st Class John Allen, a National Guard Special Forces soldier who suffered multiple injuries in Afghanistan, said he knows of numerous injured Guard and reserve soldiers who have stopped trying to seek medical care because it is too difficult.

"They give up somewhere in the process and just go home," Allen said. Allen is pictured below.

kentuckyklira
02-21-2005, 07:53 AM
Serves you right if you´re too stupid to dodge a towelhead´s bullet!

:D :cool: :daisy:

Nickdfresh
02-21-2005, 08:51 AM
We do treat them like shit! What's the matter? can't they afford their own health insurance?

BigBadBrian
02-21-2005, 11:40 AM
Originally posted by kentuckyklira
Serves you right if you´re too stupid to dodge a towelhead´s bullet!

:D :cool: :daisy:

It's too bad Joe Stalin's boys didn't march your family off to a gulag. :gulp:

kentuckyklira
02-21-2005, 11:44 AM
Originally posted by BigBadBrian
It's too bad Joe Stalin's boys didn't march your family off to a gulag. :gulp: :bottle:

Nasdrovje tavaritch!

Nickdfresh
02-21-2005, 12:25 PM
C'mon Neo Cons, where's the outrage all patriotic Americans should have? Did you use up your patriotism placing the "support our troops" stickers on your cars or waiving the flag? I mean actions do speak louder than words. Or, your checkbook speaks louder than rhetoric.

blueturk
02-21-2005, 12:45 PM
Fucked up how the Army wants to extend tours indefinitely if you're healthy,but won't extend benefits for the wounded.

BigBadBrian
02-21-2005, 12:47 PM
Originally posted by blueturk
Fucked up how the Army wants to extend tours indefinitely if you're healthy,but won't extend benefits for the wounded.

Actually, I wouldn't be so quick to blame the Army. I would blame those who makes the rules for the Army...Congress. :gulp:

Nickdfresh
02-21-2005, 12:52 PM
Originally posted by BigBadBrian
Actually, I wouldn't be so quick to blame the Army. I would blame those who makes the rules for the Army...Congress. :gulp:

Okay, that's a good point. But as a veteran BBB, do you see a clear and present double-standard, almost apartheid or Jim Crow like system; isn't there preferential treatment for active duty troops, and a separate-but-less-equal one for Reservists/Guardsman?

BigBadBrian
02-21-2005, 01:00 PM
Originally posted by Nickdfresh
Okay, that's a good point. But as a veteran BBB, do you see a clear and present double-standard, almost apartheid or Jim Crow like system; isn't there preferential treatment for active duty troops, and a separate-but-less-equal one for Reservists/Guardsman?

I wouldn't know...I'm not on active duty or reserves.

Seshmeister
02-22-2005, 08:32 AM
I blame Sarge

Cathedral
02-22-2005, 09:10 AM
Nick, I have never put a bumper sticker on my car in my life. But if i did it would read "If you can read this, you'd better hit your brakes NOW!"

I work for an insurance company and i can tell you that since the Iraq war began they try to shy away from selling life insurance to active duty soldiers.
And if they do they pay higher premiums because they are considered a high risk.

The system is corrupt from the top to the bottom and it isn't a left or right issue, it's an American issue that should be addressed and rectified by all who work in elected offices.

ODShowtime
02-22-2005, 09:29 AM
It's an important issue because all of this hurts enlistment, and we're gonna need more grunts where we're going.

Cathedral
02-22-2005, 10:27 AM
Yep, and we're going there in record time at this point.

ODShowtime
02-22-2005, 11:02 AM
Originally posted by Cathedral
Yep, and we're going there in record time at this point.


Well, I just landed a great, lucrative job in the exact city in which I want to live, 10 minutes from my house. If that isn't a sign of the coming apocalypse, I don't know what is.

Cathedral
02-22-2005, 11:07 AM
LOL, well not exactly the positive spin i would have chosen, but congrats on the position anyway. :)

ODShowtime
02-22-2005, 11:19 AM
Originally posted by Cathedral
LOL, well not exactly the positive spin i would have chosen, but congrats on the position anyway. :)

Thanks! I actually credit gw and his suicidal policies for giving me the kick in the ass I needed. I am with you on this Cat, I don't think we'll be around for much longer. So fuck it, I'm going to Florida. Jeb can kiss my ass.

Cathedral
02-22-2005, 11:45 AM
Well, best of luck to ya!
I'm going to sit here and try to enjoy my crow since i helped this situation along.
But it's no secret i have been very conflicted on the issues of faith and poilitcs.
I probably would have been better served to have passed on voting this last time around.

But in the broader picture neither choice would have done a thing to change our destiny.
I currently feel that something had to have been done 50 years ago for any of this to have been any different.

It's our foreign policy that is flawed and has been for decades.

ODShowtime
02-22-2005, 11:52 AM
Originally posted by Cathedral
Well, best of luck to ya!
I'm going to sit here and try to enjoy my crow since i helped this situation along.
But it's no secret i have been very conflicted on the issues of faith and poilitcs.
I probably would have been better served to have passed on voting this last time around.

But in the broader picture neither choice would have done a thing to change our destiny.
I currently feel that something had to have been done 50 years ago for any of this to have been any different.

It's our foreign policy that is flawed and has been for decades.

First of all, thanks for admitting you made a mistake. It's the first step towards recovery. Many in here are incapable of the soul-searching needed for such a personal revelation.

I wish you luck with the family problems you disclosed here.

I agree with you 100% that all of our serious problems stem from a foreign policy that has been flawed since at least WWII.

The thing is, I see the same menace, the same exact machine behind gw that made all those decisions in the 20th century. He's their man. I see them all connected.

Not that it matters. Take matters into your own hands and try to get laid a lot before it's too late. :D

Cathedral
02-22-2005, 12:20 PM
LOL, I wish i had time to reply properly to this....Good Onya!

I'll be back. :)