Help Is Hard To Get For Veterans After A Bad Discharge

[mitty14u2]

Source: NPR


Help Is Hard To Get For Veterans After A Bad Discharge

More than 100,000 troops left the service with other-than-honorable discharges in the last 10 years. The consequences of a bad discharge can last a lifetime, disqualifying veterans from benefits and health care. Host Rachel Martin speaks with NPR's Quil Lawrence about his series on these former members of the military.

MARTIN: So, someone who went to war, has PTSD, even a drug problem, could potentially end up worse off than someone who never even thought of serving in the first place?
LAWRENCE: Yeah, and especially if the offense that got them kicked out of the service and it was related to trauma. Then they're stuck in this weird catch-22, they went to war, they got PTSD, it caused them to mess up, and now they can't get VA help for the PTSD that caused the problem to begin with. We interviewed Reed Holway, he's a young Iraq war vet. He has PTSD. He got in trouble when he got posted back home, just months before he would have finished his enlistment. And now he's got that bad paper for good.

http://www.npr.org/2013/12/08/249452852/help-is-hard-to-get-for-veterans-after-a-bad-discharge

Read more: http://www.npr.org/2013/12/08/249452852/help-is-hard-to-get-for-veterans-after-a-bad-discharge

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Pentagon: military suicides hit all-time high in 2012

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/341376

Deployment after Deployment, then screw up and your screwed for life, or Death. Beware of the ones that decide revenge could be the best medicine as they are totally qualified to kill, just a matter of time until shit hit’s the fan!

When men stop caring, who knows the things they could do?

I am not a Vet, nor do I know any from the last 2 decade of war but the concern for those that serve should be higher on the totem poll then the crap they are doing or not in Washington!

[Katashi_itto]

1. Hell it's impossible to get help WITH an honorable discharge.

[spin]

2. You've got that right! (n/t)

[jtuck004]

4. Yeah...

From: http://www.vba.va.gov/reports/mmwr/

The Disability Compensation Inventory statistics displayed are tied to VA’s agency priority goals, which aim to: Improve accuracy and reduce the amount of time it takes to process Veterans' disability benefit claims. The Compensation Inventory includes all claims that have been received by VA regional offices and are pending a disability rating decision. Claims that have been pending for more than 125 days are characterized as "backlog." VA’s goal is to eliminate the backlog of compensation claims pending for more than 125 days by the end of 2015.
...


Wonder how many will die waiting for them to get around to taking care of the "backlog"? "Backlog" aka: humans in need.

[Katashi_itto]

5. VA motto on claims is: "Deny, Deny till they die."

[warrant46]

10. Lots of Homeless Vets with Good Paper

At least its down from 250,000 to 60,000 under Obama and Eric Shinseki who in spite of all the bad Talk about the VA has turned lots of it for the better

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-peck/homeless-veterans_b_4226707.html

[tazkcmo]

15. For sure.

[Xithras]

3. Dishonorable discharges are pretty terrible across the board.

I know one young man who bailed on the Navy and was handed a LTH discharge (his mouth didn't help). He had an incredibly hard time finding a job after that. He finally found an employer who didn't check, but when they found out he'd been dishonorably discharged more than a year later, he was let go on the spot. He's been unemployed ever since.

Other Than Honorable discharges are looked on by most employers as minor criminal convictions. Dishonorable Discharges are usually treated the same way as felony convictions. Once you get one, life can start to suck really, really fast.

And yes, they disqualify you from ever receiving military benefits. As far as the military is concerned, you're not a vet...you're a criminal.

[kristopher]

7. Yes, it's a tricky situation

One the one hand you have a tradition of requiring more of people than it is normal to give, and that in turn necessitates a system of discipline that includes the stick of stigma against those who would break the rules when faced with the some of the harsher realities of military life. In other words, if there is no distinction made in the character of service upon discharge, then the rate of people who break rules just to "quit" would probably be extremely high.

On the other hand there is a legitimate group of people who's bad acts are largely a consequence of exposure to traumatic events or circumstances in the course of performing their assigned duties.

This second group is being caught in a trap designed to snare the first group.

I can't envision any way to reconcile the two paths leading to a LTH discharge in a manner that is fair to everyone.

The best solution I can come up with is to stop going to war just because some jackass politicos want to go around banging the drums of war in order to gain in the domestic political arena.

I can't really describe how furious the run-up to the Iraq war made me, suffice to say it is still a very hot flame of anger within me.

[jtuck004]

8. My experience was that when people felt it was just, they lined up for the worst of it, would

do whatever they could to protect their friends. They didn't stay because of a piece of paper.

On the other hand, when they (mostly correctly) decided the action was bullshit, they left, regardless of the piece of paper.

Maybe we ought to just give them a termination letter and quit trying to alter behavior with punishment. That has such a low rate of return, vs the other possible ways of modifying behavior one would think we would have dispensed with it by now.

[kristopher]

12. Maybe that would work.

My experience is from the era of the draft. Things in the volunteer forces are much different.

[jtuck004]

13. It was the same. They were drafted, but knew it was bs shortly thereafter. There were

the few that ate it up, but most of us knew it was crap.

Contrast that with WWII, a far bigger, deadlier battle, and better chances of not coming back. You couldn't hardly keep people out - they would lie about their age just to get in.

It's not like there is much positive effect from it now anyway. No one is hiring much of anyone anyway. The vast majority of jobs that are being filled are either highly skilled, for which military experience is only valid if they had specific experience, or McWalmart, for which the only qualification is...uh...

Anyway, I think we could dispense with the whole "this is what they were back when" line, and if nothing else save a few trees and perhaps a lot of heartache.

[warrant46]

11. Your last sentence sums it up

Powell, Cheney and the chimp all lying and the American public including a certain senator lapping it up---Not Lieberman

[azurnoir]

6. IMO this from the comments spelled it out quite well

n my opinion, current cuts to military spending have officers downsizing the troops in any way they can. If a guy can be criminalized, they reduce the cost to the military. These criminalized men and women and vastly decrease the cost to the military, and increase the cost to the public, and their lives are stained forever. From a business perspective, I understand why they are doing it, but from a human perspective, and as an American who will be footing the bill for what the military doesn't care about, and doesn't want to pay for, I am furious.

I am also the mother of one of those criminalized combat veterans. My son is Derek Tope - I posted his story here. My son took a plea deal in the hope of staying in the service, he is now being told that, even though his plea removed any option of discharge, his unit will still be able to discharge him under less than honorable circumstances.

Bless you for your service, and thank you for speaking out for your fellow servicemen & women.

[TheDebbieDee]

9. In the Army, we called it "burning" a soldier when the book (UCMJ)

was thrown at a soldier for the slightest infraction. It wasn't fair and black and brown soldiers were LESS likely to get a second chance, but it was definitely an occupational hazard for military people of all branches.....

[pasto76]

14. wll now you know me, and let me help you realize the stigma you just helped perpetuate

nice, seemingly concerned post about the well being of my soldiers.

then you sneek in that line about 'beware the ones revenge could be the best medicine...just a matter of time until the shit hits the fan!' "who knows what they could do?' (!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!)
typical need for drama (on your part), fulfilled.

Do you realize that you are implying that we are all ticking time bombs/ homicidal maniacs? Yeah, you did. Cause thats exactly how I read it.

who knows what they could do? I do. I served with them. I also know something else that they can do: basically forget trying to connect on any level with people like you. This stigma is very real, and the disconnect between you and us is very real. I mean fucking A what is the point of your post? - raising awareness of yet another problem we face, or to fear monger that any and all of these troops with other-thans are going to go on killing sprees. You should really think about this if you actually care.

SGT P

[Brigid]

16. "I gave them a fine human being . . .

And they gave me back a damaged boy."

The song "Mrs. McGrath" comes to mind.