The April 16 edition of the US News & World puts the 30% Shell Game fully in public view with it cover article by Linda Robinson with edward T. Pound, Insult to Injury - New data reveals alarming trend - Vets' Disabilities are being downgraded. http://www.usnews.com/... This article is a must read for all who share the commitment to redressing this outrageous injustice that is being perpetrated on our service members by the services themselves. A few excerpts are instructive:
The April 16 edition of the US News & World puts the 30% Shell Game fully in public view with it cover article by Linda Robinson with edward T. Pound, Insult to Injury - New data reveals alarming trend - Vets' Disabilities are being downgraded. http://www.usnews.com/... This article is a must read for all who share the commitment to redressing this outrageous injustice that is being perpetrated on our service members by the services themselves. A few excerpts are instructive:
...Now an extensive investigation by U.S. News and a new Army inspector general's report reveal that the system is beset by ambiguity and riddled with discrepancies. Indeed, Department of Defense data examined by U.S. News and military experts show that the vast majority-nearly 93 percent-of disabled troops are receiving low ratings, and more have been graded similarly in recent years. What's more, ground troops, who suffer the most combat injuries from the ubiquitous roadside bombs, have received the lowest ratings...
...Magic number. In an effort to learn how extensive the problem is, U.S. News spent six weeks talking to wounded service members, their counselors, and veterans advocacy groups and reviewing Pentagon data. At first glance, the disability ratings process seems straightforward. Each branch of service has its own Physical Evaluation Boards, which can comprise military officers, medical professionals, and civilians. The PEBs determine whether the wounded or ill service members are fit for duty. If they are, it's back to work. Those found unfit are assigned a disability rating for the condition that makes them unable to do their military job. The actual rating is key, and here's why: Service members who have served less than 20 years-the great majority of wounded soldiers-who receive a rating under 30 percent are sent home with a severance check. Those who receive a rating of 30 percent or higher qualify for a host of lifelong, enviable benefits from the DOD, which include full military retirement pay (based on rank and tenure), life insurance, health insurance, and access to military commissaries...
...Since 2000, 92.7 percent of the disability ratings handed out by PEBs have been 20 percent or lower, according to Pentagon data analyzed by the Veterans' Disability Benefits Commission, which Congress formed in 2004 to look into veterans' complaints (Page 47). Moreover, fewer veterans have received ratings of 30 percent or more since America went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, according to the Pentagon's annual actuarial reports. As of 2006, for example, 87,000 disabled retirees were on the list of those exceeding the 30 percent threshold; in 2000, there were 102,000 recipients. Last year, only 1,077 of 19,902 service members made it over the 30 percent threshold...
...Other data reveal glaring discrepancies among the military services. Even though most of those wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan have been ground troops, the Army and Marine Corps have granted far fewer members full disabled benefits than the Air Force. The Pentagon records show that 26.7 percent of disabled airmen have been rated 30 percent or more disabled, while only 4.3 percent of soldiers and 2.7 percent of marines made the grade. Services engaged in close combat, experts say, could be expected to find more members unfit for duty and meriting full retirement benefits. Instead, the Air Force decided that 2,497 airmen fall into that category while the much larger Army, with its higher tally of wounded, has accorded those benefits to only 1,763 soldiers since 2000...
These data speak for themselves of injustice being visited upon military families by the military services and DOD. DOD will fight any fix for the same reasons that the department always has benefits such as Tricare under attack. The sloganeering politicians spouting Support the Troops at every opportunity are complicit because fixing it would mean having to spend money that is currently going for tax cuts for the rich. It will take a concerted public effort to force the DOD and the Congress to do the right thing. We must mobilize now.