Few injured, ill troops get disability pay they requested

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Sun, Aug. 01, 2004


Few injured, ill troops get disability pay they requested

LARRY MARGASAK
Associated Press


WASHINGTON - The military's system for compensating soldiers who become sick, injured or wounded can be as unforgiving as the battlefield: Fewer than one in 10 applicants receives the long-term disability payments they request.

Nearly one-third of injured National Guard and Reserve veterans returning from the Iraqi and Afghan wars are being forced to wait more than four months to learn if they will even be compensated. That is a long time for soldiers who might not have other sources of income.

The Army knows that troops are unhappy. But military officials say soldiers do not understand that their disability system measures fitness for duty, not the degree of one's sacrifice.

Most soldiers applying for disability pay - 56 percent in the Army's case - are leaving the military with a one-time, lump sum payment that some say is inadequate.
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