Hello Steem.
Tonight I would like to let you know that any time you hear the MSM or a politician say that we take good care of our returning wounded, they are at least exaggerating, and more than likely lying outright. Again this is my personal story, but the policy and procedures are the same for every branch. There are many documented cases of wounded or suffering troops being sent back to battle in spite of their injuries or PTSD, luckily for me I was not on the front lines in Iraq, but a submariner, so my case is very minor in comparison.
I was injured in September 1988, during an alert patrol on SSBN-628. A cleaning bottle slipped out of a shipmates hand, while he was cleaning carbon dust in the overhead of the upper level of my machinery space. I was lying prone on my stomach, arms stretched out over my head in the middle level. The bottle hit nothing the whole way down, a one in a million shot, considering the piping, wire runs, equipment, etc that it could have hit. It struck me, still upright, at the base of my neck, crushing the disks between the bottom two vertebra of my neck, causing a brief period of unconsciousness. Nearly immediately after that, any stress I put on my neck, turning wrenches, looking up, or lifting even the coffee pot, would cause the left side of my body to go numb. I knew something was seriously wrong.
Immediately after returning to port, I was sent by the Ship's corpsman to the Squadron medical officer for evaluation. I explained my symptoms and said I thought that I had a pinched nerve in the base of my neck, and was sent for an X-ray. The X-ray came back normal (no broken bones)and I was told everything would be fine. For the next eighteen months the symptoms continued and actually worsened, and I was repeatedly sent for X-rays.
I was the leading Petty Officer for A-gang, and my underway duties required me to to be the lead for nearly any casualty that occurred on the ship. If there was a fire, I was on the nozzle of the fire hose in an OBA, Flooding I was to be first on the scene with the equipment to repair the leak, etc. I was unable to do that, but the squadron medical officer and the corpsman insisted that there was nothing wrong, because my X-rays were normal. One can not do what they physically can not do, so I started going to my machinery space to take care of the atmosphere control equipment instead.
I repeated this for every drill for the entire patrol, in addition to assigning others for all maintenance, supervising them, instead of doing the maintenance myself. I switched myself to mainly paperwork, accepting the job of Command Ship-alt and A&I coordinator for all systems, nuclear and non nuclear, and took that program from <10% reporting to 98% reporting in one patrol, even though I was given sixty 3 in binders of paperwork, the wardroom was tired of taking up all of their locker space, and told to figure it out, no training, no introduction. I also did the the Command 3M (Maintenance and material management) system.
Even doing just paperwork, my symptoms increased in severity causing nearly constant severe headaches.
The command gave me evaluations of making progress toward advancement, ensuring I would not be considered for advancement to E-7 Chief Petty Officer.
When we were in Refit, 3 weeks before the next patrol, I heard through the grapevine that my CPO, the Chief of the Boat, the corpsman, with the Executive Officer XO in the loop, were going to write me up for malingering (faking an injury to get out of work) during the patrol. I had requested several times for an evaluation at the Naval hospital, and each time was denied by the Squadron medical officer. I decided that I had to do something to cover my ass, so while I was at the Naval base to pick up some paperwork one day, I ignored the Squadron MO and went to the Orthopaedic clinic at the Naval hospital and made an appointment. I was given an appointment 3 days later, and did not inform the command. I made an excuse to have to go to main base for some paperwork, and went to my appointment.
I walked in, explained what had happened to the Doctor, and how every time the x-rays came up negative, but the headaches were getting so severe as to blur my vision, even doing just paperwork. He listened patiently for my 15 minute rant, and asked me to remove my shirt, so that he could examine the back of my neck. When he walked over behind me, all he said was "WOW!" as he ran his fingers down the back of my neck. That was it. His examination took 15 seconds, tops.
He told me to put my shirt back on and then informed me that I would not be deploying with my command, and was going to be put on medical hold. He asked if either the corpsman or the squadron medical officer had ever looked at my neck. I said no, that I told them my symptoms and they sent me for x-rays. He then told me I had a one half inch disk bulge at two levels in my neck, PROTRUDING out of the back of my neck, and x-rays were worthless because they would only show bones, and not the soft tissue between them.
He filled out a form for me to take to my corpsman, and said I was on light duty from then on, made an appointment the next week for an MRI, which would show the damage, and sent me back to my command.
I delivered the paperwork to the corpsman, and he immediately became irate, because I had gone over the Squadron's head and his as well. When I informed my CPO, he just got pissed, called me a P*ssy, and said that he hoped that I was happy that I had convinced someone of my non existent injury. Obviously the grapevine had been correct.
The MRI came back and my disks were seriously damaged and the hospital sent paperwork to my command informing them that I had to be transferred prior to patrol. My command was not happy that they had one week left before departure and had to replace the A gang LPO. My chief was LIVID. The next week was very unpleasant to say the least. The COB, my LPO and the corpsman were openly hostile, and I never even got to do a turnover for any of my collateral duties.
I spent nearly every minute on board. Always had to come in early and stay way late. On the day of my transfer, I got my orders and left at 5:30 pm after working the mid shift the night before. Not exactly light duty. Usually one sees the commanding officer to do final check out, but strangely I just got to see the XO, who told me he was not unhappy to see me go. I transferred to Commander Submarine Group Six and for the next two years had multiple tests to determine whether I should have surgery to replace one disk or the other or both.
I had done so much damage to the disks trying to do my job that both had to be replaced, fused with bone harvested from my illiac crest in my right hip. There was not even enough disk left to inflate by injection with saline to simulate my symptoms. If I had been sent 18 months earlier for the proper evaluation and testing, I might have been retired from two careers by now. Worst of all, it was my fellow servicemen, my peers and supervisors that had stigmatized and ridiculed me due to an injury that was in no way my fault. I had not even seen it coming.
We take care of our injured members all right. If I had not got wind of the coming write up, which would have led to non judicial punishment, it would have cost me the pay grade I had, not just advancement to the next.
Like I said above, I can't imagine how our combat troops, going through similar discrimination, due to injury, deal with this alienation and mistreatment. But the stories are out there, it happens, and all too often.