COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Leaving Military: Veterans
Data Suggests Vast Costs Loom in Disability Claims
SCOTT SHANE, NY Times
October 11, 2006
Go to Election GuideMore Politics NewsThe number of veterans granted
disability compensation, more than 100,000 to date, suggests that
taxpayers have only begun to pay the long-term financial cost of the
two conflicts. About 567,000 of the 1.5 million American troops who
have served so far have been discharged.
"The trend is ominous," said Paul Sullivan, director of programs for
Veterans for America, an advocacy group, and a former V.A. analyst.
Mr. Sullivan said that if the current proportions held up over time,
400,000 returning service members could eventually apply for
disability benefits when they retired.
About 2.6 million veterans were receiving disability compensation as
of 2005, according to testimony to Congress by the V.A. The largest
group of recipients is from the Vietnam era. Of the 1.1 million who
served in the Middle East during the Persian Gulf war in 1991,
291,740 have been granted disability compensation.
The documents on the current conflicts provide no details on the
type of disabilities claimed by veterans. Most were found to be 30
percent disabled or less, and one in 10 recipients was found to be
100 percent disabled. Payments run from a few hundred dollars to
more than $1,000 a month depending on the severity of the
disability.
A separate V.A. health care report shows that the most common
treatments sought by recently discharged troops are for
musculoskeletal disorders like back pain, followed by mental
disorders, notably post traumatic stress disorder. About 30,000 Iraq
and Afghanistan veterans have sought treatment for post traumatic
stress, which afflicts soldiers who have been under fire or in
prolonged danger of attack.
A V.A. spokesman, Terry Jemison, said "service-related" disabilities
could include an amputation as the result of a bomb injury or a case
of diabetes or heart disease that was first diagnosed or found to
get worse while in uniform. Mr. Jemison said officials had no cost
projections for disability payments to Iraq and Afghanistan
veterans.
The documents were obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by
the National Security Archive at George Washington University.
The documents show that 37 percent of active duty veterans have
filed for disability compensation, compared with 20 percent of those
who served with National Guard or Reserve units. Also, 18 percent of
claims filed by Guard and Reserve soldiers are denied, compared with
8 percent of those filed by active duty troops.
The report offered no explanation for the differences, but veterans'
advocates said efforts to explain V.A. procedures might be better
for those leaving active duty than those offered to reservists.
"The Guard and reservists may be falling through the cracks at a
higher rate," said Joseph A. Violante, national legislative director
for Disabled American Veterans. "The V.A. needs to study why there's
a difference."
Mr. Violante, a Vietnam veteran, said young soldiers returning from
war often shrugged off their injuries and did not necessarily seek
compensation right away. "But as they get older," he said, "and
their injuries cause them more problems, then they're more likely to
file."
In recent years, disability compensation programs have seen a number
of changes that are likely to increase the filing of claims by
veterans.
Congress told the V.A. last year to advertise the availability of
compensation to veterans in states where payments had been
disproportionately low, a program that the agency has predicted will
attract nearly 100,000 new applicants.
This archive consists of a topically organized selection of
articles culled by members of the Counter-Recruitment List Serve from printed
publications and web sites. The archive is not complete. We have chosen
material relevant to the work of