JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD — A U.S. Army general said it’s a priority to investigate complaints from injured Oregon Army National Guard troops who accuse the Army of forcing many of them off active duty while they still need medical care.
General Peter W. Chiarelli, Vice Chief of Staff, flew from Washington, D.C., Monday night to speak with about 30 Oregon Guard soldiers at the joint base.
Chiarelli said Tuesday there’s need for one Army-wide processing standard for active and reserve troops to ensure all soldiers receive the same level of health care, and are not rushed through the system.
“Not only do the standards need to be the same, the time required to ensure those standards must be adequate,” Chiarelli said. “That’s the message I will be taking back to Washington, D.C.”
He added that an internal investigation has been launched at the base to look into the complaints from the Oregon reservists.
Army commanders said that misperception, paperwork and misunderstandings may have led to reservists feeling slighted by the Army.
On Monday, the Oregonian first reported complaints that the Army is wrongly forcing as many as 185 injured soldiers from the 41st Infantry Brigade Team off active duty, accusing some of them of feigning injuries to extend their active-duty paychecks, which can be thousands of dollars more than their Guard pay.
The commanders said Tuesday that there were 185 referrals but that one soldier may have more than one referral to his or her name. They said each referral would be reviewed and if soldiers are found to need more medical care, they would be reinstated in active duty.
At least 40 injured Oregon soldiers remain at Lewis-McChord, weeks after their units demobilized after 10 months in Iraq, The Oregonian reported.
The complaints prompted Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., to write a letter to the Secretary of the Army saying that members of Oregon’s 41st Infantry Brigade Team are being systematically denied their benefits.
Moreover, a description of reservists as “weekend warriors” by a medical officer in demobilization package ignited ill feelings. Commanders said that officer has apologized for using such language.
Chiarelli toured the base with Army Surgeon General Eric B. Schoomaker and base commanders.
Schoomaker said some of the soldiers had expectations that all medical care would be done at the base but that would have been “impossible” in the time frame allowed.
“The expectations of soldiers were somewhat out of sync with what the installation is able to do,” Schoomaker said.
Lt. Col. Scott McAtee, the Oregon Guard deployment medical officer, said there appeared to be two errors within the system that discharged soldiers who should have remained on active duty.
Of the 2,700 Oregon troops, about 185 referrals were sent to the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Portland for care for injuries, mostly back, shoulder and knee problems, he said. Staff members are working to correct their status.
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