Reporting for Roll Call:16:30 Hrs
Hi LT:
I concur with your conclusion. We've covered about all that can be covered for this Phase. I hope our "excercise" proves useful not only for our Cherry Troop, but to anyone else who may or may not have realized that they too might discover some things of value for their situations. Hope my sometimes "hardass" commentaries haven't been too distracting during this dialogue. Old "centurion" habits don't go away...they just keep grinding on...aiming for the jugular. Hah!
Re: Visible versus Invisible Wounds: You're right about the physical ones. The process is relatively cut and dried. About the only thing that may be open to any discussion about these, given all the medical technological advances that have been made since our times of service... is...how will these affect "disability" determinations for such physical wounds in the future? But that's for another area of discussion at another time.
As to those "invisible" wounds, whether PTSD, or having been exposed to any kind of toxins of one kind or another, you are quite correct. Obviously, only those who have been field grunts (rather than REMFs),involved in multiple deployments into all sorts of weird field situations, not to mention direct combat ones, have any basis for any possible claims for "disability" because of those situations and exposures. As an example, whether someone was involved in tactical operations and combat, or, just driving supply trucks, humvees, etc. and getting blasted by IEDs, or field medics,doctors and nurses who, day after day had to deal with trying to patch up and save casualties brought to them (in some way perhaps having a stronger cumulative impact than anything else), there are undoubtedly similar mental health impacts, particularly if the service members involved had to endure such things over extend periods of time.
Granted, the severity of mental health impacts vary from individual to individual. It's not a one-size-fits-all thing. This may be where the current system has great difficulties coping with that. They simply haven't yet figured out how to effectively work on a case by case basis, because everything has been designed and organized for a "collective" approach. No question about it...it's a bitrch of a problem. Which is where your rules about getting all records possible together are right on target. I might add, it isn't only individual records, etc., but also any specific unit field reports related to either actions, or incidents, which can add further support to a service member's filng a claim.
Well, this is as far as we can go with the subject right now. Meanwhile, you deserve a "medal" for what you've done here LT, but since that's way beyond my current pay grade these days...the beer and burgers are on me...the next time we rally at Sinbads or. at your Stalag Cluckenspiel.
CENTURION
Reporting to ROLL CALL 7/13/13 2:07PM
ReplyDeleteHey Captain!
We've reached a point I want to call the end of Phase One on ROLL CALL. What we have accomplished here is to make the Veteran realize that on the 2nd day after he is discharged from whatever branch of military service he has been in is to get enrolled at his nearest VA hospital. We have the Rules and Steps here clearly listed, and the process is totally understood by him/her if in fact they have read everything here up to this point. I need not mince words here about the above process, and the above 24 Posts.
This ends Phase One of ROLL CALL.
Now, we are going to move into Phase Two of ROLL CALL.
LT