Army Blocks Disability Paperwork Aid at Fort Drum

NPR

Army officials in upstate New York instructed representatives from the Department of Veterans Affairs not to help disabled soldiers at Fort Drum Army base with their military disability paperwork last year. That paperwork can be crucial because it helps determine whether soldiers will get annual disability payments and health care after they're discharged.

Now soldiers at Fort Drum say they feel betrayed by the institutions that are supposed to support them. The soldiers want to know why the Army would want to stop them from getting help with their disability paperwork and why the VA — whose mission is to help veterans — would agree to the Army's request.

[...] The official said the VA used to help soldiers with the paperwork, but Army officials saw soldiers from Fort Drum getting higher disability ratings with the VA's help than soldiers from other bases. The Army told the VA to stop helping Fort Drum soldiers describe their army injuries, and the VA did as it was told.

It's unclear why the Army wanted to stop the soldiers from getting help with the disability paperwork. [...]

No it's not:

"The more soldiers you have who get disability retirements, the more retirement pay is coming out of your budget," Hurwitt says.

The question remains as to why the VA acceded to the Army's demand to butt the fuck out. The VA claims their reps aren't trained or qualified to help the soldiers.

Bullshit.

"VA counselors understand the disabilities, what the different kinds of conditions are, how they should be properly described in the paperwork," Hurwitt says.

She points out that VA officials have to look at a soldier's medical history anyway to counsel him or her on VA benefits, which are separate from Army benefits.

"Really what it comes down to is you're just helping the soldier get what he's entitled to under law," Hurwitt says.

The real reason is that the VA Is run by Bush appointees. The money that should by rights go to Vets can better be distributed to cronies and big biz. No profit in giving folks what they've earned and what's due them if they have become useless and can no longer generate revenue. The system is rigged to easily cheat them out of their benefits if they don't have help, so don't help them.

No pull trigger, no get food. It's the Repug way.