How to start a medical discharge while injured?

Question

My husband is in the US Army Special Forces and spent 8 month in Afghanistan, last year. He came back to the US april 2007, and started again his training and jumping exercices
(he's an Airborne). After a jump in august, he seriously injured his back. The army just send him to a chiropractor for 2 month,
no X-Ray taken, nothing! Mid-September, he could barely walk, and finally the army send him for X-Ray, and the doctor found out that his back was broken!! He was supposed to be deployed to Afghanistan again mid-October, but was denied due to his injury. Now, his team deployed and he's staying at the Fort. We decided to start the medical discharge process since he's not able to do any PT (physical training), or deployement etc...He talked to his doctor about this and been told that basically he couldnt begin the proccess until after he healed and then go through a 3 month rehab after that. Does anyone know if this is accurate? Why wait till he's healed? Any advices what to do? Thx

Answer 1

1. Although there is some recognition of chiropractic, I can't fathom the Army sending your husband to one instead of an orthopedic surgeon or neurosurgeon.
2. If he suffered a spinal fracture he should have been hospitalized at the very least.
3. Forget the medical discharge processing at this point. He needs to file a request under Article 138 of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice with the Inspector General at his post. Someone has screwed up big time!

Answer 2

Well, he's in a rock and a hard place. They do want to see how his injury is progressed and whether it will heal. Me being in the USMC myself, I have gone through the same process. You show up to the clinic, they ask on a scale from 1 to 10, how much does the injury hurt. There is no doubt that he has a claim for a service related injury. We can thank malingerers for making the process not so easy. TIME + INJURY = RESULTS. They can't make an assessment at this point now because, they could be wrong. What he can do is, take it easy, let his unit know how much the injury has limited him, and they will be sympathetic to his injury. They Army is no going to just hand him a discharge. They are going to access though Military medical boards, which are made up of Military doctors, personnel, PT, and lay medical people. They have made decisions on soldier's behalf, on extensive injuries, like your spouse's. It is going to take months, and in the mean time he can do what he can. Keep your spirits up because, he needs your support and after his discharge the disabled Veterans will be able to help you sift thru the B.S., to get him what he needs. good luck

Answer 3

My husband is AF but I'm pretty sure all the branches have similar procedures, they make them wait until they are healed and go through the rehab to see if they are then fit for duty......because if they are he can forget the medical. there was a girl that worked with my husband at our last base that was on a profile for a shoulder injury for TWO YEARS. she had 3 surgeries and did over a year of physical therapy.....all during this time she was nondeployable and the only PT she did was running...no situps or pushups.....and since her job was to drive trucks and buses she couldnt do that either so she sat on a chair and did absolutely nothing for 2 whole years. They finally decided she wasnt fit for duty and never would be so they medically retired her, however there is now a guy working with my husband who hurt his leg and foot over a year ago (he was security forces) and after his rehab time they cross trained him...hes now vehicle ops and is on a PT waiver and permanently nondeployable. So either of these things could potentially happen to your husband, just be prepared for the worst and hope for the best is all i can tell you.

Answer 4

They will wait until he is healed because his injuries were in the line of duty, and they are responsible for treating his injuries. If he recovers sufficiently to be classified "Fit For Duty", then they will reassign him to another duty other than his current one until his tour of duty is up, at which time he may decide to re-enlist or take his honorable discharge. My advice would be to keep your husband focused on the goal, which is recovery. The treatments may be lengthy and uncomfortable, physical therapy certainly will drain him at times. If he DOES decide to take his honorable discharge, tell him to get EVERYTHING connected with his condition documented in his medical records. If he is not found "FFD", the same advice applies, as the more things he has documented in his medical record, the greater the disability payment.

Answer 5

you're a TROLL... A TROLL with ADHD... Which makes you an enduring DQ from Enlisting into any provider... you at the instant are not in the army... you at the instant are not on a bypass from person-friendly coaching... you at the instant are not in a motel on a bypass from person-friendly coaching...