Other than honorable way to treat combat wounded, Army kicks them out

As deplorable as this is, it also shows how the Army gets rid of soldiers instead of helping them. Ever think about the high number of suicides of the active duty forces being much higher than reported? This very well may be how the number of suicides connected to their service go uncounted. If the DOD kicks them out, the VA won't take them either. This is the ultimate betrayal!

Report: Combat troop discharges increase sharply
San Francisco Gate
Sunday, May 19, 2013

This Dec. 19, 2012 photo shows wounded Army veteran Kash Alvaro recovering in the emergency room at Memorial Hospital this winter after suffering a seizure and chest pains. Alvaro was hit by multiple bomb blasts in Afghanistan, but the Veterans Administration will not pay to treat the 24-year-old's war wounds because he was given an other-than-honorable discharge. Photo: The Gazette, Michael Ciaglo

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — The number of soldiers discharged from the Army for misconduct has risen to its highest rate in recent times, and some are wounded combat troops who have lost their medical care and other veterans benefits because of other-than-honorable discharges, according to an investigation by the Colorado Springs Gazette.

The newspaper reported Sunday (http://bit.ly/17Oe0T4 ) that the investigation based on Army data found that annual misconduct discharges have increased more than 25 percent since 2009, mirroring the rise in wounded. Among combat troops, the increase is even sharper.

Total discharges at the eight Army posts that house most of the service's combat units have increased 67 percent since 2009.

"I've been working on this since the 70s, and I have never seen anything like this," said Mark Waple, a retired Army officer who now tries military cases as a civilian lawyer near North Carolina's Fort Bragg. "There seems to be a propensity to use minor misconduct for separation, even for service members who are decorated in combat and injured."

The figures studied by The Gazette include soldiers who have served multiple tours and have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries. Some troops were cut loose for minor offenses that the Army acknowledges can be symptoms of TBI and PTSD.

"I see it every day," said Lenore Yarger, a veterans advocate near Fort Bragg. "We have gotten very efficient at getting people to fight wars but are not prepared to deal with the aftermath."

The Gazette found that several soldiers who tested positive for drugs were deployed anyway because the Army needed combat troops. But when they returned, they were discharged for the offense.
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