VFA News Analysis: January 29, 2008
Yesterday, President Bush signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 into law. This legislation contains a number of provisions that will benefit America’s wounded warriors, including a comprehensive study of how veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan and their families are dealing with the impact of their service.
Fort Carson is once again in the news. Soldiers with “permanent” medical profiles, meaning that their conditions will not improve and that they no longer meet the Army’s retention standards, have been having their profiles downgraded so that they can be deployed to Iraq. As we have pointed out before, brigade commanders feel this is necessary so that they can meet their deployment goals. Meanwhile, in Fort Drum, the Army has told the VA to stop helping wounded soldiers with their disability paperwork. The VA’s assistance apparently led to Fort Drum’s troops receiving higher disability ratings than troops from other bases. Even though there is no rule prohibiting such help, VA officials complied with the Army’s demands. What is the motivation for preventing troops who were injured in service to their country from receiving higher ratings? The almighty dollar. Higher ratings mean more benefits, and disability benefits come out of the Army’s budget, therefore base commanders have to do their part to keep costs down.
Finally, there is growing evidence that undiagnosed traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) have a significant effect on social issues such as alcoholism and chronic homelessness. Wayne A. Gordon, director of the Brain Injury Research Center at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, says: “Unidentified traumatic brain injury is an unrecognized major source of social and vocational failure.” This research provides even more proof that more must be done for the estimated 20 percent of servicemembers who suffer from TBI incurred during their service in Iraq and Afghanistan. If this issue is not addressed, the consequences both for the veterans and for society at large may be dire.
For the rest of today’s news, please visit the Our Troops Newsladder.