Army officials at Fort Drum instructed representatives from the VA not to help disabled soldiers with their military disability paperwork last year, according to a report from National Public Radio this morning.
The report says the officers who asked the VA to stop helping Fort Drum's soldiers were part of what the Army calls a "Tiger Team", which is an ad-hoc group assigned to do investigations for the Army - in this case, medical disability benefits.
NPR quoted Army spokesman George Wright, who said the Tiger Team thought the VA should not be helping soldiers with their medical documents, despite that the VA's assistance complies with Army policy. The Army declined to provide any information about the Tiger Team members' identities or their motivations in asking the VA to stop reviewing the soldiers' paperwork to NPR.
One disabled soldier, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he fears retaliation from the military, says it feels like a slap in the face.
"To be tossed aside like a worn-out pair of boots is pretty disheartening," the soldier told NPR. "I always believed the Army would take care of me if I did the best I could, and I've done that."
You can read the complete NPR report here.
