http://cdn.csgazette.biz/soldiers/day2.html

quote:

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Left Behind No break for the wounded

A roadside bomb hit Sgt. Jerrald Jensen's Humvee in Iraq, punching through heavy armor and shooting a chunk of hot metal into his head at several times the speed of sound, shattering his face and putting him in a coma. "I wasn't supposed to live," the veteran lisped with half a tongue through numb lips. "No one knows why I did. It's shocking." Even more shocking is what Jensen did next. After 16 surgeries, the sergeant volunteered to go back to combat in one of the most savage corners of Afghanistan, where he was injured again. Perhaps most shocking, though, is what happened when he got home.

Jensen returned to recover in a battalion at Fort Carson designed to care for wounded soldiers called the Warrior Transition Unit. In the WTU, the soldier with a heroic record said he encountered a hostile environment where commanders, some of whom had never deployed, harassed and punished the wounded for the slightest misstep while making them wait many weeks for critical medical care and sometimes canceling care altogether.

In 2011, a year after joining the WTU, just days after coming out of a surgery, Jensen tested positive for the drug amphetamine. The then-41-year-old asked to be retested, suggesting his many Army prescriptions might be to blame. His commander refused and instead gave Jensen the maximum punishment, cutting his rank to private, docking his pay and canceling surgery to fix his face so he could spend weeks mopping floors, picking weeds and scrubbing toilets.

Then, Jensen said, WTU leaders said he should be discharged for misconduct — the equivalent of getting fired — with an other-than-honorable rating that could bar him from medical benefits for life.

"To call guys who sacrificed so much dishonorable and kick them out with nothing?" said Jensen, who is now out of the Army, living in a small apartment with blankets covering the windows because his injuries make him sensitive to light. "Christ sake, man, it is a disgrace."

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www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ5prGi9L5g




[This message has been edited by b.blauser (edited 5/21/2013 2:28a).]

If this happened as portrayed, his Congressman or Senator should get involved. This is an outrage and an insult to all who have served.

Again, if this happened as told by the story, the officer's in charge should be relieved and dismissed from the service.

Serious question - is cdn.csgazette.com a reputable news outlet? From what I've seen, WTU is the most heavily scrutinized unit in the Army, and when WTU Soldiers miss medical appointments the hospital commander and senior unit commander are notified. Not to mention that it takes a 3-star to stop a med board to pursue a chapter, with the hospital commander's recommendation.

[This message has been edited by Tango Mike (edited 5/21/2013 7:21p).]

The Gazette is the actual news outlet.

http://gazette.com/

Wanted to add, I can see why some might be hesitant to diagnose PTSD in certain cases. Like the one 60-70lb overweight (or close to it) E4 who told an E6 she could kiss his ass, he wasn't going to go into the hall to talk on his cell phone. This after he was bragging how he was going to claim PTSD to get the last 10% disability he needed for 100%. I think he hurt his back or something in garrison (wasn't blown up) while in, and got the great idea that he was going to use the Army to pay for his livelihood.

We have a soldier in my unit claiming the same thing. Refuses to lose weight. Constantly eating crap at drill, doesn't show up etc. Said he hurt his knee in AIT and that's why he can't run or exercise. The doctors at AIT "refused" to look at him because he was a Guard soldier. Has no issue walking (exercise, right?) or cramming fried chicken and mountain dew down this throat. I am 99% sure the doctor told him he was just fat and that's why his knee hurts, but he's getting discharged (non-medical) soon enough anyhow.



[This message has been edited by TXAGChick06 (edited 5/22/2013 4:50p).]

And positive drug tests for any narcotic, barbiturate, amphetamine, or opiate are automatically screened by a doctor against a Soldier's prescriptions before being reported to the unit.

Lots of red flags pop up in that article. I spent two years in a WTU and saw a lot of bull**** and crappy leaders but this just doesn't add up.

I do know that in the time period he was talking about there was a major push in the WTU's to limit prescription medication abuse. There were guys trading meds and selling meds in the barracks at the WTU's. While I was there I was only issued two weeks of meds at a time and had to go in every other week between meds running out and have them counted by a pharmacist. I got my doc's to take me off the hard stuff as soon as I could manage the pain with other stuff just so I didn't have to deal with the BS of keeping track of them.

For a period of time there were a lot of 100% UI's and weekly random UI's.

Like Tango Mike mentioned, a positive UI immediately results in the BN surgeon reviewing the Rx on your file and conferring with your doctors. Mistakes are made and meds are issued with out being on file but a doc would know and be able to correct that.

Finally I will say that the WTU's that I have either been in or had very good friends in were not good units and often good soldiers ended up being set up for failure by bad leadership. I could go on but I'll leave it at that.

I've seen too many cries of "wolf" from soldiers to take this article seriously. If I'm wrong, I hope his representative gets involved and squares it away. It's likely you'll find that he was at least somewhat complicit.

WTU's are such a joke I stayed in my unit and worked while going to all my appointments until the day I got out. Then again they were pretty new then. However, some of the best soldiers I know that had never even seen an article 15 had problems there. Nothing like this guy, but problems still. I'm sure the truth is somewhere in the middle of what he claims and what the people in charge will claim when they are questioned.