Veterans frustrated by VA disability claims backlog
Miami Herald
12.27.12
BY ALEX BRANCH
THE FORT WORTH STAR-TELEGRAM
Infantryman Josh Odom was seven months into his first tour in Iraq when someone lobbed a grenade over the gate at the combat outpost he guarded.
It exploded six feet from the Rockwall native, driving three chunks of shrapnel deep into his right shoulder. One pierced his lung.
Odom wound up at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, where he spent four months in rehab before completing his military service in May 2010.
Still suffering neck and shoulder pain, he filed a disability claim at a Veterans Affairs Department office in Dallas.
He expected the claim to take a while, he said, but not the nearly 18 months he waited for a partial decision, then eight more for a final ruling.
While he waited, lingering pain combined with frequent consultations with doctors for surgeries made it difficult to work.
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Showing posts with label combat outpost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label combat outpost. Show all posts
Thursday, December 27, 2012
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
If you thought your Thanksgiving prep was hard, read this
Thanksgiving Army-style at remote base in Afghanistan
By STEVEN BEARDSLEY
Stars and Stripes
Published: November 21, 2012
COMBAT OUTPOST BOWRI TANA, Afghanistan — As she prepares Thanksgiving lunch and dinner here, Spc. Nikki Barthelemey faces a few holiday challenges — cooking the turkey evenly, finishing side dishes on time, avoiding incoming mortar fire.
Wait — what?
Barthelemey is head cook for an Army infantry company at this outpost in remote east Afghanistan near the Pakistan border, a transit region for militants entering the country, and an unlikely setting for a traditional American Thanksgiving.
Yet that’s how Barthelemey is spending the day, cooking a meal that rivals what Company C, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, is missing during deployment.
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Here are some pictures from around the web.
DynCorp International Helps U.S. Troops Celebrate Thanksgiving in Afghanistan served this last year.
To all the men and women serving tomorrow and everyday,,,,, Happy Thanksgiving and I give thanks for all of you!
By STEVEN BEARDSLEY
Stars and Stripes
Published: November 21, 2012
Wait — what?
Barthelemey is head cook for an Army infantry company at this outpost in remote east Afghanistan near the Pakistan border, a transit region for militants entering the country, and an unlikely setting for a traditional American Thanksgiving.
Yet that’s how Barthelemey is spending the day, cooking a meal that rivals what Company C, 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, is missing during deployment.
read more here
Here are some pictures from around the web.
In This Photo: Joshua Korder Joshua Korder of Winona, MN with Blackfoot Company 1st Battalion 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment has Thanksgiving dinner while standing watch in a guard tower November 26, 2009 in Matakhan, Afghanistan. The soldiers of Blackfoot were served pre-packaged turkey breasts, cranberries, potatoes, stuffing and pie.
On Thanksgiving Day, DI’s food service staff prepared and served a total of:
13,030 pounds of turkey
5,488 pounds of rib eye steaks
3,618 pounds of steamship round beef
3,570 pounds of pit smoked ham
3,000 pounds of shrimp
2,256 assorted pies (apple, cherry, pecan and sweet potato)
1,785 pounds of stuffing
1,739 pounds of mixed nuts
735 gallons of eggnog
588 pounds of marshmallows for candied yams
To all the men and women serving tomorrow and everyday,,,,, Happy Thanksgiving and I give thanks for all of you!
Friday, July 31, 2009
Army missteps left troops in Afghanistan open to deadly attack
Army missteps left troops in Afghanistan open to deadly attack, study reveals
A study by an Army historian documents several missteps, including lack of supplies, equipment and aerial surveillance, that led to one of the bloodiest clashes in the Afghanistan war. The battle at the remote mountain outpost of Wanat, where nine American troops were killed and 27 were wounded, is now the subject of an inquiry by the Department of Defense's Inspector General.
By Hal Bernton and Cheryl Phillips
Seattle Times staff reporters
U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan told families mission would be dangerous
In the days before one of the fiercest battles in America's eight-year war in Afghanistan, Army Capt. Benjamin Pry argued for more surveillance flights to help his beleaguered unit of fewer than 50 soldiers.
Since moving into a new outpost on July 8, 2008, they had struggled with shortages of water, fuel, food and heavy machinery to help defend against an enemy attack that they believed would eventually come. Lacking excavating equipment, the troops dug fortifications by scraping the rocky soil with spades and bare hands.
Then on July 12, headquarters commanders diverted drones — remotely operated planes outfitted with cameras to spot enemy movements — to another area. Pry argued so hard to undo that decision that he said he breached professional etiquette. Still, he was unsuccessful.
"We had no support from brigade, division or theater level assets at the time," Pry told Army historians in a study obtained by The Seattle Times.
read more here
Army missteps left troops in Afghanistan open to deadly attack
A study by an Army historian documents several missteps, including lack of supplies, equipment and aerial surveillance, that led to one of the bloodiest clashes in the Afghanistan war. The battle at the remote mountain outpost of Wanat, where nine American troops were killed and 27 were wounded, is now the subject of an inquiry by the Department of Defense's Inspector General.
By Hal Bernton and Cheryl Phillips
Seattle Times staff reporters
U.S. soldiers killed in Afghanistan told families mission would be dangerous
In the days before one of the fiercest battles in America's eight-year war in Afghanistan, Army Capt. Benjamin Pry argued for more surveillance flights to help his beleaguered unit of fewer than 50 soldiers.
Since moving into a new outpost on July 8, 2008, they had struggled with shortages of water, fuel, food and heavy machinery to help defend against an enemy attack that they believed would eventually come. Lacking excavating equipment, the troops dug fortifications by scraping the rocky soil with spades and bare hands.
Then on July 12, headquarters commanders diverted drones — remotely operated planes outfitted with cameras to spot enemy movements — to another area. Pry argued so hard to undo that decision that he said he breached professional etiquette. Still, he was unsuccessful.
"We had no support from brigade, division or theater level assets at the time," Pry told Army historians in a study obtained by The Seattle Times.
read more here
Army missteps left troops in Afghanistan open to deadly attack
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sergeant Joseph Huiet is on his sixth tour of duty
Fatal shooting shows stress risk facing U.S. troops
Sun May 31, 2009
By Tim Cocks
COMBAT OUTPOST COBRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Experts say the risk of soldiers suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) goes up substantially on their third tour of duty. Sergeant Joseph Huiet is on his sixth.
The killing of five U.S. soldiers at a clinic in Iraq two weeks ago by a comrade on his third tour, possibly suffering a stress disorder, has led to soul-searching in the U.S. military about the effects of serial deployments.
Huiet, 28, from Modesto, California, took part in the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, just a week after completing basic training. More than six years later, he's still here and on his second marriage.
"Dealing with the stress has been real hard," he said inside combat outpost "Cobra," on the edge of Iraq's violent Diyala province.
Sun May 31, 2009
By Tim Cocks
COMBAT OUTPOST COBRA, Iraq (Reuters) - Experts say the risk of soldiers suffering Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) goes up substantially on their third tour of duty. Sergeant Joseph Huiet is on his sixth.
The killing of five U.S. soldiers at a clinic in Iraq two weeks ago by a comrade on his third tour, possibly suffering a stress disorder, has led to soul-searching in the U.S. military about the effects of serial deployments.
Huiet, 28, from Modesto, California, took part in the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, just a week after completing basic training. More than six years later, he's still here and on his second marriage.
"Dealing with the stress has been real hard," he said inside combat outpost "Cobra," on the edge of Iraq's violent Diyala province.
"I've had times when I'm extremely angry, when I'm stressed out and so pent up I wanted to shoot or punch something. But I didn't," said Huiet, whose brigade is based in Alaska. A recent hardship: his daughter was born the day he started this tour.
Stress suffered by U.S. soldiers during multiple deployments came under the spotlight when a U.S. soldier shot dead five others at a clinic on May 14. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, suggested stress was a factor.
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Fatal shooting shows stress risk facing US troops
Reuters - USA
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
9 soldier killed in Afghanistan from 8 different states
Army IDs nine soldiers killed in Afghan attack
Staff and wire report
Posted : Wednesday Jul 16, 2008 15:39:49 EDT
The Defense Department on Wednesday named the nine soldiers who were killed July 13 when their outpost in Wanat, Afghanistan, was attacked by about 200 enemy fighters firing small-arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars.
The soldiers were assigned to 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, of Vicenza, Italy. The 173rd is wrapping up a 15-month tour in Afghanistan.
They are:
• 1st Lt. Jonathan P. Brostrom, 24, of Hawaii
• Sgt. Israel Garcia, 24, of Long Beach, Calif.
• Cpl. Jonathan R. Ayers, 24, of Snellville, Ga.
• Cpl. Jason M. Bogar, 25, of Seattle, Wash.
• Cpl. Jason D. Hovater, 24, of Clinton, Tenn.
• Cpl. Matthew B. Phillips, 27, of Jasper, Ga.
• Cpl. Pruitt A. Rainey, 22, of Haw River, N.C.
• Cpl. Gunnar W. Zwilling, 20, of Florissant, Mo.
• Pfc. Sergio S. Abad, 21, of Morganfield, Ky.
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Staff and wire report
Posted : Wednesday Jul 16, 2008 15:39:49 EDT
The Defense Department on Wednesday named the nine soldiers who were killed July 13 when their outpost in Wanat, Afghanistan, was attacked by about 200 enemy fighters firing small-arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars.
The soldiers were assigned to 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team, of Vicenza, Italy. The 173rd is wrapping up a 15-month tour in Afghanistan.
They are:
• 1st Lt. Jonathan P. Brostrom, 24, of Hawaii
• Sgt. Israel Garcia, 24, of Long Beach, Calif.
• Cpl. Jonathan R. Ayers, 24, of Snellville, Ga.
• Cpl. Jason M. Bogar, 25, of Seattle, Wash.
• Cpl. Jason D. Hovater, 24, of Clinton, Tenn.
• Cpl. Matthew B. Phillips, 27, of Jasper, Ga.
• Cpl. Pruitt A. Rainey, 22, of Haw River, N.C.
• Cpl. Gunnar W. Zwilling, 20, of Florissant, Mo.
• Pfc. Sergio S. Abad, 21, of Morganfield, Ky.
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Tuesday, July 15, 2008
NATO forces abandon Afghan outpost after deadly attack
Is Afghanistan turning into Vietnam? Take a hill, see men die, give up the hill only to have to take it back again? 9 lost their lives defending it and 15 were wounded. The Taliban took it back.
NATO forces abandon Afghan outpost after deadly attack
July 16, 2008
NATO said Wednesday it had abandoned an Afghan outpost days after it was stormed by militants who killed nine US soldiers.
The soldiers pulled out of the outpost in Wanat village in northeastern Kunar province on Tuesday, Afghan officials said.
"We are confirming that we have vacated our combat outpost at Wanat," NATO spokesman in Afghanistan, Mark Laity, told AFP.
"All these kinds of outposts are temporary. They serve a purpose and when we consider appropriate we will move them," he said.
The area has since been taken over by Taliban militants, an Afghan official said.
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Sunday, July 13, 2008
9 US soldiers killed in attack on outpost in Afghanistan
Report: 9 killed in attack on remote Afghan outpost
By Jason Straziuso - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jul 13, 2008 13:48:23 EDT
KABUL, Afghanistan — A multi-pronged militant assault on a small, remote U.S. base killed nine American soldiers Sunday in one of the deadliest attacks on U.S. troops since the 2001 invasion, a Western official said.
Militants fired machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars from homes and a mosque in the village of Wanat in the northeastern province of Kunar, a mountainous region that borders Pakistan, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said in a statement.
The attack on the relatively new outpost began at 4:30 a.m. Sunday and lasted throughout the day.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/ap_afghanistan_casualties_071308/
By Jason Straziuso - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jul 13, 2008 13:48:23 EDT
KABUL, Afghanistan — A multi-pronged militant assault on a small, remote U.S. base killed nine American soldiers Sunday in one of the deadliest attacks on U.S. troops since the 2001 invasion, a Western official said.
Militants fired machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars from homes and a mosque in the village of Wanat in the northeastern province of Kunar, a mountainous region that borders Pakistan, NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said in a statement.
The attack on the relatively new outpost began at 4:30 a.m. Sunday and lasted throughout the day.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/ap_afghanistan_casualties_071308/
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