Injured soldiers say they're languishing at Ft. Lewis for no reason

AP ^ | August 31, 2004 | ANDREW KRAMER

[There's millions of'em]

It might be that it is out of the Oregon AG's hands.

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.

[El Gato]

Um, why is it that this story is about Oregon NG troops and the Oregon NG AG is interviewed and quoted in the story and hE is blaming others.

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.

[americanmother]

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.

[Cold Heat]

The problem as I see it, is that wounded, or sick soldiers that require hospitalization get orders cut to TDY them to the facility.

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.

[joesnuffy]

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

[wingnutx]

waited hours for doctor appointments, were forced to fill out confusing paperwork and faced months of delays regarding their benefits,

Sounds like business as usual. Stand by to stand by.

[mass55th]

"Welcome to the Army, whiner."

Didn't he ever hear of the old saying: "There's the right way, and then there's the Army way."

[68skylark]

I'm sure you didn't intend for your comment to sound so callous. This article points up a major SNAFU that needs to be fixed.

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.

[68skylark]

Yeah, I agree. The Oregon AG probably could have done something about this problem weeks or months ago. Unfortunately, I think state AG offices vary greatly in the quality and competence and motivation of the people on their staff.

[OldFriend]

This is an old old story, just rehashed from nearly a year ago.

It's resurrected to bash Bush now so it's out there again.

[68skylark]

You're making my point for me. This is an old story from a year ago at Ft. Stewart, GA and Ft. Knox, KY, and other places -- and a year later the problems aren't fixed. I'm a Bush supporter and I hope this story doesn't hurt him. But this is a story of major incompetence in mid-level officer ranks, and it can't keep happening. It's an abuse of soldiers and an abuse of taxpayers.

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.

[OldFriend]

If these men are well enough to whine then they are well enough to understand that their fellow soldiers are risking their lives in a war zone every day.

Do you think whining is appropriate right now?

[Tailback]

I don't know what Army he thought he was joining, but that's the way it's been since time immemorial....

Yes, the Army has a 200 plus year tradition of inefficiency unimpeded by progress.

[Tailback]

If these men are well enough to whine then they are well enough to understand that their fellow soldiers are risking their lives in a war zone every day.

Maybe I missed something but I could swear that these guys sustained their injuries in that very same war zone while risking their lives. Maybe they wouldn't be whining if the Army had fixed a problem that has been known about for a long time. Of course, we wouldn't want someone to miss a tee time to actually do their job.

[185JHP]

X42i slashed alot in DOD to cover his irresponsible hiring in the bum and deviate programs.