Is the Army Ripping Off Our Troops?

       If the Army is shortchanging our troops on their disability retirement ratings to save a few bucks, then the Army should be charged with treason for doing such a thing. The Army says that they aren't doing such things but anyone who reads the Inspector General's report will see many problems with the way that the soldiers are being treated and ripped off after serving this country in that sham war in Iraq!   MORE BELOW

                                                                               

Army Times 

The Army is deliberately shortchanging troops on their disability retirement ratings to hold down costs, according to veterans’ advocates, lawyers and services members, and the Inspector General has identified 87 problems in the system that need fixing.

The numbers of people approved for permanent or temporary disability retirement in the Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force have stayed relatively stable since 2001.

But in the Army — in the midst of a war — the number of soldiers approved for permanent disability retirement has plunged by more than two-thirds, from 642 in 2001 to 209 in 2005, according to a Government Accountability Office report last year. That decline has come even as the war in Iraq has intensified and the total number of soldiers wounded or injured there has soared above 15,000.

Along with paying them reduced wages during that time, the eventual reevaluation often leads to downward revisions in their disability ratings — and lower disability payments.

   From Daily Kos

...what about that Inspector General's report that identified 87 problems that needed to be fixed? It was from a year long probe that found, "inconsistent training for counselors helping soldiers through the system, inadequate record keeping and a failure to follow policy pushed down from the Defense Department," and yet two days ago, Secretary of Defense Gates was:

...dismayed to learn this past week that some of our injured troops were not getting the best possible treatment at all stages of their recovery, in particular the outpatient care. This is unacceptable and it will not continue.

I'm grateful to reporters for bringing this problem to our attention, but very disappointed we did not identify it ourselves.

Yes, Secretary Gates was shocked, simply shocked, at the problems at Walter Reed, and so he sprang into action, sending an army of workers to paint and patch up Building 18 before giving reporters a tour, and naming a review group to "inspect the current situation."  And after much study and expressions of support for the troops, with a few more case workers assigned to the ever-increasing number of wounded men and women, what will happen to Cpl. McLeod and the thousands like him across the country?  After the outrage and news coverage dies down, will the issue of shortchanging wounded veterans on their disability ratings continue to be ignored?  

 

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