Posted on 09/01/2004 1:47:37 PM PDT by Former Military Chick
FORT LEWIS -- About a dozen Oregon National Guard soldiers say they languished for months at Fort Lewis because the Army lacked a protocol to allow them to return to Oregon to convalesce.
The wounded soldiers also waited hours for doctor appointments, were forced to fill out confusing paperwork and faced months of delays regarding their benefits, they told Brig. Gen. Raymond Byrne, acting adjutant general of the Oregon National Guard, yesterday.
"I feel that the system is lacking all common guidance," Sgt. William Harris of Bend said.
"I don't have anything to fall back on. There's nothing for me here on the inside, and nothing on the outside."
Guard officials concede the soldiers, some of whom had only slight injuries, could have returned to their families, perhaps commuting to a base or a clinic for care.
The problem arose from an oversight in the Army's war planning, which failed to anticipate the large number of wounded soldiers returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, said Col. Douglas Eliason, chief medical officer with the Oregon Guard.
He said a new program introduced in Oregon two weeks ago will send more Guard members home to heal. Under the program, soldiers will be provided with a job suited to their injuries at a National Guard armory and given treatment options at a Veterans Affairs clinic or with private doctors.
Around the country, close to 5,000 reserve and Guard soldiers are receiving medical care at active-duty bases because of the military's reliance on reserve soldiers for the occupation of Iraq and the war in Afghanistan.
From Oregon, 49 National Guard soldiers are convalescing from wounds at Army bases around the country -- some because they need specialized care for severe injuries, but many because the Army had no system to allow them to return home. Twenty-six of them are at Fort Lewis.
"Nobody really anticipated we would have a demand like this," Eliason said.
"They're on a remote post, with people they don't know, and far from their support system of friends and family," he said. "There's certainly some anger with these soldiers."
The soldiers discussed their problems yesterday at the meeting with Byrne, who shook their hands and thanked them for their service.
The soldiers, in turn, loosed an angry tirade about Army red tape and, some said, inferior medical care.
"If you guys expect us to just sit here and suck it all in, I'm sorry, sir," Harris said. "With all due respect, I've lost my respect for the uniform."
Away from their families, the soldiers said they had little to do but languish in the barracks between doctor visits.
Sgt. Rick Hardy of Milton-Freewater ruptured a spinal disc in a rollover accident in northern Iraq eight months ago.
He has medical appointments about twice a week at Fort Lewis, but no other duties.
He said he spends his days walking in a forest and photographing Mount Rainier, which is visible from the base.
"I just want to go home," he said. "I want to be demobilized."
Byrne said the Guard would investigate the soldiers' concerns and try to untangle the skein of Army policies, VA rules and state laws that kept the soldiers at base unnecessarily.
Some want to cast blame. For me our returning wounded are beyond political parties. We did not do our best in WW1 WW2 and the Vietnam war, we should have learned lessons so that these troops are getting the care they deserve and earned serving our country. imho
Amen!
I suppose I should have expected this reply. I did not want to have this turn into a discussion of blame but rather what can be done for our heros.
By the way, my favorite saying when I worked for the Naval Aviation Depot was: "Efficiency is the ENEMY of Bureaucracy"
Welcome to the Army, whiner.
I don't know what Army he thought he was joining, but that's the way it's been since time immemorial....
I am sure the military folks would appreciate your AMEN I know that I do, thank you.
Government health care anyone?
I blame Clinton era military restructuring. WHen I was at Ft Bliss the wait lines were long and you had to go through a specific case worker and the military insurance provider Tri-Care, a ridiculous thing when you consider the fact the non-war injured active duty soldiers did not have to go through the same process.
To try and place blame fully on the President is ridiculous, obviously the administration should accept partial blame but the fact is these rules were set in place by Clinton not Bush when he did his slight of hand by firing all those civilian workers and he removed the old medical system.
Yeah, that's a good point. If Hillary and Kerry get their way, this is how health care will look for all of us.
I think the Kerry campaign just found their next "military" spokespeople.
Why isn't he asked what he attempted to do to correct the identified problems.
Looks to me like he might be part of the problem.
"AHA! -This- must certainly be Bush's fault. Perhaps Rummy. I dunno. Er. Fire Colin and Karen Hughes!"
Well, seeing how somebody said it.......... Yes, in a way it is there fault. You utilize Gaurdsman for combat but no plan to handle wounded? Thats just poor leadership from G.W. on down to the Generals who didnt have the guts to bring it up. And the real pisser is that its more about budgets then neglect of thought.
SHUT UP
Let's see.....our soldiers are left to languish for weeks and months because of fedgov incompetency but illegals (who probably despise this country) can count on prompt medical attention paid for by the taxpayers....isn't there something desperately wrong with this picture?
oh Thank You!!!!!
But thery're "undocumented workers"
Well, that makes me feel a lot better about seeing my tax $ go to feeding, housing, medicating & educating them. I guess if they're undocumented it also allows all those employers who hire them to ignore all those messy time consuming payroll reports.....I thought that was evading taxes but if you hire someone who's "not there" there's no need for paying taxes. I've often wondered what it was like to live in a banana republic.
Maybe it is, but I find it hard to accept that the Oregon NG is powerless in this situation.
Those Oregon boys have been through quite a tough time over there. From Baghdad to Najaf with several fatalities. Hopefully someone can get this taken care of.
Yes they have, as have many of our troops. And that is specifically why I find it difficult to swallow that the Oregon NG hasn't done a better job at supporting them on this end.
Because, officially, once those NG's are activated, they don't belong to him anymore.
That said, he is still a General Officer, and they can get quite a bit done when they put their minds to it.
At least these soldiers aren't too terribly far from home. Ft. Lewis is in Washington state, and they are from Oregon. The standard military practice would probably be to have them assigned for convalensence to a post in Florida or Georgia. I'm sure if they think of that way, it will ease their pain a bit. Maybe not much, but a bit.
The basic problem is that they are in an "in-between" state. Because they are injured, they can no longer perform their normal duties, but because they are Guard (Reserves are probably in the same spot) they don't "belong" to any stateside unit with appropriate care facilities. If they were regulars they'd be back at home post, and assigned duties appropriate to their conditions. Still not necessarily near extended families of course, but at least with their wives/husbands and kids.
He said a new program introduced in Oregon two weeks ago will send more Guard members home to heal. Under the program, soldiers will be provided with a job suited to their injuries at a National Guard armory and given treatment options at a Veterans Affairs clinic or with private doctors.
Maybe they are trying to solve the problem. The time to gripe was before they did something.
They stay until well enough to return to duty and be reassigned back to their unit. However long it takes. There is no such thing as limited duty status in this situation.
Unfortunately for the guard guys, they bitch because they believe their place is at home, when in fact they are still on active duty.
Until they are released from active, or redeployed back to their unit, there is no place for them to go.
This problem has been around since the sixties. This is why citizen soldiers get a bad rap from the regular enlisted.
Methinks they bitch far too much!
Don't get me wrong, I am not knocking the guard and reserve, but they need to understand that they are in the Army now. Or where ever. They are no longer home deployed until their unit is relieved. I suppose they could be put on unpaid leave, but that opens up another can of worms.
Bureaucrats worried about their jobs more than about their patients...
NO common sense...afraid to take inititive and do the right thing and to hell with the generals..
the men come first....
imo
Sounds like business as usual. Stand by to stand by.
Didn't he ever hear of the old saying: "There's the right way, and then there's the Army way."
Hurry up and wait is normal in the military, but letting people languish for months without simple care is not normal, and it's not productive, and it's not a respectful way for our soldiers to be treated. Fortunately, now that a newspaper has brought this to light, I'm certain there will be a fire lit under the backsides of the people who have screwed up.
It's resurrected to bash Bush now so it's out there again.
If I had anything to do with this chain of command I'd be pissed -- I'd be cracking some heads and replacing subordinate leaders, or whatever I had to do to get this fixed. I suspect the chain of command feels the same way I do now, and they'll make big changes quickly, now that this has hit the light of day.
Do you think whining is appropriate right now?
X42i slashed alot in DOD to cover his irresponsible hiring in the bum and deviate programs.
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