Medically unfit being deployed?
By Tony Lombardo - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Mar 31, 2009 16:33:47 EDT
Conflicting policies, inaccurate records, and uninformed commanders and medical providers all could play a role in the Army’s deployment of soldiers medically unfit to serve, according to an Army inspector general’s report.
It was obtained Monday by Army Times through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The report is a response to “numerous Congressional inquiries, media releases and complaints from soldiers and veteran organizations regarding the growing perception that the Army is deploying soldiers to Iraq and Afghanistan who are medically unfit,” the executive summary states.
Army Secretary Pete Geren called for an inspection of the Army’s medical deployment process June 18. Seven inspectors general and a team including representatives from Army G-1, Army Medical Command, the National Guard and the Army Reserve conducted the inspection.
go here for more
Medically unfit being deployed?
Showing posts with label medically unfit. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medically unfit. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Fort Wainwright soldiers want congress to stop unfit soldiers being deployed
Soldiers say unfit troops being deployed
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 26, 2009 12:19:14 EDT
FAIRBANKS, Alaska — A group of active-duty soldiers at Fort Wainwright is accusing commanders of forcing medically unfit soldiers to deploy to Iraq.
The soldiers are gathering signatures to send a petition to Congress calling for a full investigation.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/03/ap_deployment_complaint_032609/
The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Mar 26, 2009 12:19:14 EDT
FAIRBANKS, Alaska — A group of active-duty soldiers at Fort Wainwright is accusing commanders of forcing medically unfit soldiers to deploy to Iraq.
The soldiers are gathering signatures to send a petition to Congress calling for a full investigation.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/03/ap_deployment_complaint_032609/
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Military Still Deploys Medically Unfit Soldiers to Iraq War
June 6, VCS in the News:
Military Still Deploys Medically Unfit Soldiers to Iraq War
Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman
Hartford Courant (Connecticut)
Jun 05, 2008
Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, said he was frustrated, but not surprised, that the military is not following its own pre-deployment screening rules. "First, it costs money. Second, they don't have the staff to do it," Sullivan said. "The military's out of troops, and the military is broken. ... They've knowingly sent unfit soldiers into combat since the start of the war, and they're still doing it."
GAO Report: Military 'Inconsistent' On Medical Records Reviews
June 5, 2008 - The military is not routinely reviewing the medical records of troops being sent to war despite a policy that calls for such a check before service members are deemed mentally fit to deploy, congressional investigators said in a new report.
In the report, the Government Accountability Office said that although the Department of Defense, or DoD, had taken some "positive steps" to improve the mental-health screening of deploying and returning troops, "unfortunately, DoD's policies for reviewing medical records during the pre-deployment health assessment are inconsistent."
"Because of DoD's inconsistent policies," the investigators said, "providers determining if ... service members meet DoD's minimum mental health standards for deployment may not have complete medical information."
The accountability office reviewed changes approved 18 months ago in the way troops are screened for mental-health status before and after deploying to war.
The defense department in late 2006 adopted a policy, in response to congressional legislation, that tightened pre-deployment screening by setting limits on when troops with mental-health problems may be sent to war and retained in combat.
The legislation was prompted by a series of stories in The Courant that found troops' mental illnesses were being missed or ignored during pre-deployment screenings. Some of those troops committed suicide in Iraq.
The congressional investigators noted that the military's 2006 policy called for a "medical record review" of all deploying troops, but they said health care providers at several military bases they visited "were unaware that [a review] was required as part of the pre-deployment health assessment." Their report recommends that the military abide by the policy and require a record review for all deploying troops.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.cfm/page/article/id/10311
Military Still Deploys Medically Unfit Soldiers to Iraq War
Lisa Chedekel and Matthew Kauffman
Hartford Courant (Connecticut)
Jun 05, 2008
Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, said he was frustrated, but not surprised, that the military is not following its own pre-deployment screening rules. "First, it costs money. Second, they don't have the staff to do it," Sullivan said. "The military's out of troops, and the military is broken. ... They've knowingly sent unfit soldiers into combat since the start of the war, and they're still doing it."
GAO Report: Military 'Inconsistent' On Medical Records Reviews
June 5, 2008 - The military is not routinely reviewing the medical records of troops being sent to war despite a policy that calls for such a check before service members are deemed mentally fit to deploy, congressional investigators said in a new report.
In the report, the Government Accountability Office said that although the Department of Defense, or DoD, had taken some "positive steps" to improve the mental-health screening of deploying and returning troops, "unfortunately, DoD's policies for reviewing medical records during the pre-deployment health assessment are inconsistent."
"Because of DoD's inconsistent policies," the investigators said, "providers determining if ... service members meet DoD's minimum mental health standards for deployment may not have complete medical information."
The accountability office reviewed changes approved 18 months ago in the way troops are screened for mental-health status before and after deploying to war.
The defense department in late 2006 adopted a policy, in response to congressional legislation, that tightened pre-deployment screening by setting limits on when troops with mental-health problems may be sent to war and retained in combat.
The legislation was prompted by a series of stories in The Courant that found troops' mental illnesses were being missed or ignored during pre-deployment screenings. Some of those troops committed suicide in Iraq.
The congressional investigators noted that the military's 2006 policy called for a "medical record review" of all deploying troops, but they said health care providers at several military bases they visited "were unaware that [a review] was required as part of the pre-deployment health assessment." Their report recommends that the military abide by the policy and require a record review for all deploying troops.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/index.cfm/page/article/id/10311
Thursday, May 8, 2008
DoD: 43,000 unfit troops sent to war
DoD: 43,000 unfit troops sent to war
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Thursday May 8, 2008 8:41:24 EDT
WASHINGTON — More than 43,000 U.S. troops listed as medically unfit for combat in the weeks before their scheduled deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2003 were sent anyway, Pentagon records show.
This reliance on troops found medically “nondeployable” is another sign of stress placed on a military that has sent 1.6 million service members to the war zones, soldier advocacy groups said.
“It is a consequence of the consistent churning of our troops,” said Bobby Muller, president of Veterans For America. “They are repeatedly exposed to high-intensity combat with insufficient time at home to rest and heal before re-deploying.”
The numbers of nondeployable soldiers are based on health assessment forms filled out by medical personnel at each military installation before a service member’s deployment. According to those statistics, the number of troops that doctors found nondeployable but who were still sent to Iraq or Afghanistan fluctuated from 10,854 in 2003, down to 5,397 in 2005, and back up to 9,140 in 2007.
The Pentagon records do not list what — or how serious — the health issues are, nor whether they were corrected before deployment, said Michael Kilpatrick, a deputy director for the Pentagon’s Force Health Protection and Readiness Programs.
A Pentagon staffer examined 10,000 individual health records last year to determine causes for the nondeployable ratings, Kilpatrick said. Some reasons included a need for eyeglasses, dental work or allergy medicine and a small number of mental health cases, he said.
This is the first war in which this health screening process has been used, the Pentagon said.
Most of the nondeployable service members are in the Army, which is doing most of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Between 5 percent and 7 percent of all active-duty, National Guard and Reserve soldiers slated for combat were found medically unfit due to health problems each year since 2003, according to statistics provided to USA Today.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/05/gns_unfit_troops_050808/
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Thursday May 8, 2008 8:41:24 EDT
WASHINGTON — More than 43,000 U.S. troops listed as medically unfit for combat in the weeks before their scheduled deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2003 were sent anyway, Pentagon records show.
This reliance on troops found medically “nondeployable” is another sign of stress placed on a military that has sent 1.6 million service members to the war zones, soldier advocacy groups said.
“It is a consequence of the consistent churning of our troops,” said Bobby Muller, president of Veterans For America. “They are repeatedly exposed to high-intensity combat with insufficient time at home to rest and heal before re-deploying.”
The numbers of nondeployable soldiers are based on health assessment forms filled out by medical personnel at each military installation before a service member’s deployment. According to those statistics, the number of troops that doctors found nondeployable but who were still sent to Iraq or Afghanistan fluctuated from 10,854 in 2003, down to 5,397 in 2005, and back up to 9,140 in 2007.
The Pentagon records do not list what — or how serious — the health issues are, nor whether they were corrected before deployment, said Michael Kilpatrick, a deputy director for the Pentagon’s Force Health Protection and Readiness Programs.
A Pentagon staffer examined 10,000 individual health records last year to determine causes for the nondeployable ratings, Kilpatrick said. Some reasons included a need for eyeglasses, dental work or allergy medicine and a small number of mental health cases, he said.
This is the first war in which this health screening process has been used, the Pentagon said.
Most of the nondeployable service members are in the Army, which is doing most of the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Between 5 percent and 7 percent of all active-duty, National Guard and Reserve soldiers slated for combat were found medically unfit due to health problems each year since 2003, according to statistics provided to USA Today.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/05/gns_unfit_troops_050808/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)