Reply #17: There are four places they are SUPPOSED to screen for pre-existing mental conditions [View All]

[jmowreader]

This is how it worked when I went in...I raised my right hand three days before Ronald Reagan was sworn in. Strangely enough, there are days when I can't remember whether I wore socks to work, but I can remember that the day I initially enlisted in the Army was Saturday, January 17, 1981.

On the evening of January 16, I went to see Sergeant Yasenak at the recruiting station. There was a whole stack of forms he filled out for me, and one of them was all this pre-existing conditions stuff. Unfortunately, most of it I had to answer "no" to. The only "yes" answer was "have you ever been in the hospital overnight?" (Reason: "hit with a log skidder." A log skidder is a huge piece of diesel-powered equipment. For that I only stayed in the hospital one night.) Sergeant Yasenak pronounced me the most boring person alive, which is true, and sent me to the Military Enlistment and Processing Station in Spokane.

If I would have answered "yes" to some of the questions I would have been sent to a doctor for evaluation. For other questions, I would have received a "permanent deferral" which would have kept me out of the military forever.

Because the MEPS people know sometimes recruiters write down no when the applicant said yes, especially between the 25th and 31st of the month, at MEPS I got to fill out the questionnaire again, but with the questions in a different order. Apparently the form came in several versions so the troop wouldn't be able to remember to "be sure to say no to questions 25, 49 and 62." Then I had to fill out an even longer questionnaire for my security clearance. It had fun questions like "have you ever been in a motorcycle gang?" It also asked if you'd ever smoked pot. I wonder what would happen if you put down that you had been in a motorcycle gang but had never smoked pot. Checked the answer you gave for "how many times have you shoved heroin in your life?", probably. Anyway, the MEPS people confirmed Sergeant Yasenak's assessment of me and put me in the Delayed Entry Program.

When I finally went in, at the reception station at Fort Dix we each had to go into a little cubicle with a doctor who asked us a lot more questions along the lines of the first two forms. Now I've got THREE people who have pronounced me the most boring person alive. Well, four if you count the guy at 966th MI who processed our security clearances.

And finally, the drill sergeants were trained to detect pre-existing mental conditions, which pop right out under the stress of basic training. A few guys went home from basic for mental conditions the drill sergeants detected, but most of them had been ferreted out before they ever came before Sergeant Cloud.

Now? They gotta get 'em in, get 'em through basic and get 'em into Iraq. A lot of guys over there probably DO have pre-existing conditions, which of course are made worse by seeing buddies get blown up, killing or being wounded.

Still sucks that the Army's using this to screw guys out of needed medical care. Fuck Bush.