Bush Administration denies benefits to wounded Iraq veterans

[Sitnam]

@Liberal

To the OP:

So, what’s the buzz here? Is this something Bush has initiated, or just the latest in a long history of abuse? Also, is it happening mostly in basic training, or substantially after one or more tours in Iraq? Is it increasing under Bush moreso than under other presidents? Or what?

So it’s not enough that it’s happening?

[Squink]

@Liberal

So, what’s the buzz here? Is this something Bush has initiated

The VA failed to plan and sufficiently staff for the wave of casualties, and the kinds of injuries that have flowed from the combat zone.
Iraq was supposed to be a Short Victorious War. Having only planned for that, the VA is overwhelmed.

The problems have been around for years, but Bush and friends upped them to a new level.
This sounded good back in 2000: VA Project to Replace Old Computer Systems Is On Fast Track
But everything still sucks: GAO report calls out VA, Defense Dept.

For the past seven years, the GAO as a watchdog has been barking incessantly at the Veterans Affairs Department and the Military Health System over the inability of the two government-run healthcare organizations to exchange patient records between their clinical computer systems, which evolved from the same system, but were allowed to fork beyond interoperability.

But, according to the latest GAO report, there still is something about the recommendation to plan that neither the VA nor the Defense Department seems to understand.

[Liberal]

@Sitnam

So it’s not enough that it’s happening?

Sure it’s enough, if you mean enough to Pit. But if I were going to Pit unwavering support of Israel’s security, I wouldn’t open a thread titled “Hillary Clinton is an unwavering supporter of Israel’s safety and security”. (Cite.) If Bush has done something singularly to harm veterans, I want to know about it. But I don’t want to hear made up bullshit.

(Thanks, Squink.)

[gonzomax]

Study: 35 Percent of Iraq Vets Seek Mental Care

All wars are damaging to the psyche. This one with hand to hand and shooting up close is particularly damaging. The cost after this farce is over will be huge. The powers will fight by denying claims.

[Sitnam]

I have no numbers to back this up, but it seems that todays veteran is much more commonly diagnosed with mental trauma and gets money for it. To which I can just hear WWI and WWII vets yelling ‘SISSIES!’ from their graves.

[intention]

@kaylasdad99

I’d like to see an IG of some kind conduct an audit of records for the past, say, 25 years, showing annual numbers of 5-13 separations, and analyzing for factors such as time in service, MOS (or rating), and location of service at the time of recommendation for consideration for separation.

In the meantime, at least they haven’t started processing these things posthumously.

Yet…

There is a good description of the regulation along with the numbers of people it has been applied to at army.mil

The percentage of armed forces personnel who were discharged under this regulation is as follows:

Year, Percentage
1986, 0.24%
1987, 0.30%
1988, 0.31%
1989, 0.32%
1990, 0.33%
1991, 0.29%
1992, 0.22%
1993, 0.21%
1994, 0.21%
1995, 0.18%
1996, 0.19%
1997, 0.16%
1998, 0.17%
1999, 0.14%
2000, 0.15%
2001, 0.17%
2002, 0.15%
2003, 0.20%
2004, 0.20%
2005, 0.21%
2006, 0.22%

Note that the percentage of discharges in the 80’s was about 50% higher than it is now, and that the percentage has been about stable 2003 - 2006.

I hate Bush as much as the next man, but I don’t know if we’ve heard all the facts in this case.

w.

[E-Sabbath]

The 1980s army is not the Army we have now. It had more severe drug issues, for one.

[Mr.Moto]

So?

Even taking that into account, these personality disorder discharges account for a very small percentage of overall discharges - and many of them are administrative separations in the boot camp period.

We had one guy in boot camp who insisted on going to bed with his pants and boots on, so he could get away quickly from the gay guys he thought were constantly after him. He never slept, and would have freakouts once a week when his sleep-deprived brain completely fried out.

He vanished one day - went to the company that handled the problem cases while the paperwork was handled, then a few weeks later he was given his plane ticket home.

Now, I’m sure his DD-214 shows a discharge with uncharacterized service - that’s usually the case with boot camp washouts. He wasn’t in long enough to gain any kind of veterans benefits - those have time periods of enlistment attached to them unless you are combat wounded.

So what money is he due? Absolutely nothing. And while I do hope he is getting some kind of mental health counseling, and I’m not opposed to the government paying for it if he is indigent, I see no reason why the VA should pick up the tab.