I am an ANGRY American Soldier!!

I AM AN AMERICAN SOLDIER!

I am a soldier in the United States Army. I would like to talk about mistreatment of our hero’s.
I recently went through two and a half years of pain. Without getting into the details, I was medically mistreated. The fact of the matter is, I am what we call, a “Joe” a low ranking enlisted soldier. When a Joe needs to see a doctor they don’t actually get to see a doctor. They have to go through line medics. These are also low ranking individuals who are not properly trained to treat illnesses or diagnose injuries. Medics are only there to fill the equivalent of a nurses position in the office. The doctor or PA is the one who is supposed to diagnose soldiers.
Due to the lack of medical professionals in the Army the PA is stretched too thin, being forced to provide for hundreds of soldiers. At the same time the PA has to attend frequent classes and meetings with higher-ups. This in turn forces the Medics to attempt to make medical diagnoses where a medical professional should be making them.
Early on I was diagnosed with joint pain. Two years later after fighting the medical system fruitlessly I was forced to deploy to Iraq with a non-deployable profile, (a profile is a document which explains physical limitations as prescribed by a doctor). The battalion commanders are the ones who decide weather a soldier will be deployed with a non-deployable profile. Yet, I can’t blame my deployment on my commander. The fact of the matter is the Army in general is stretched too thin. Many unhealthy soldiers have been forced to deploy throughout this conflict due to shortages in numbers.
Still, the entire system is completely flawed. I know for a fact that officers O-3 and above don’t have to go to a medic for medical treatment. They go directly to doctors. I understand rank has it’s privileges, but medical treatment should be the same across the board regardless of rank.
Also There is a liability law, called the Ferres doctrine, which states that no military personnel can sue other military personnel. If this doctrine were to be lifted our country would be even deeper in financial debt, (my speculation).
But, on a contrary note. The military can hold a soldier financially liable for damages due to negligence. The Ferres doctrine mainly protects people in the medical field. So if a soldier goes under the knife for a hernia and comes out with an amputated leg, what happens? I don’t want to speculate, but that soldier can’t sue for malpractice. Even though I don’t think the Ferres doctrine should be lifted I want a better medical system for my comrades.
The only way this could possibly work is more support from the people, the civilians. We have soldiers fighting on our front lines with injuries that have been misdiagnosed or ignored due to the lack of support from our country.
After I went through two and a half years of pain, I finally got the hip surgery I needed. My family and I had to fight every step of the way for my medical treatment, I not only needed, but I deserved.
One of my favorite arguments is “you signed the dotted line, you knew what you were getting yourself into”, but nowhere in any of the papers that I signed did it say I would be medically mistreated, and I’m sure none of my battle buddies signed that piece of paper either. I have friends in Iraq right now that have non-deployable profiles, and they are out there living in pain everyday. This needs to stop.

My plan of action:

1. A battalion commander should not be burdened with deciding weather a soldier is healthy enough for deployment or not. That should be done by medical professionals only. I recommend if a soldier has any medical problems it should be reviewed by three O-5 Doctors, (with at least one of them being a specialist in the field of the injury or illness), or above and if one says non-deployable then he/she should not be deployed.

2. All soldiers regardless of rank should be seen by medical doctors and medical doctors only for illness or injury, when in garrison. Medics should be training, or bettering their physical fitness during office hours.

3. Medical professionals should be held financially liable by the military for mistreatment of soldiers, I.E. Malpractice, and/or their license to practice should be revoked.

4. Soldiers should not be ordered to break their profiles, and those who order them regardless of where the orders come from should be held financially liable. (the fact of the matter is a soldier is worth much more than a military vehicle for many reasons I will not divulge, yet a soldier can be held financially liable for negligence that causes damages to that vehicle. It should be the same when it comes to people.)

5. This goes out to all military personnel. We are all in this together. We should not, again regardless of rank, be ignoring the needs of our fellow soldiers. If we can’t get the people to support us we need to pick up their slack, because at times each other is all we have. I understand we have a mission to accomplish, but what good does that mission do us when we have soldiers who are a physical liability watching our six? We have to stand up for each other, we have to be a team at all times, not just on the PT field. Remember the Warriors Ethos!

I am 26 years old and I have already had major hip surgery. If my condition had been properly diagnosed in the beginning I may not have had to undergo such surgery, (that is purely my speculation).
No American Soldier should ever have to fight for medical treatment. It is an atrocity that any soldier should be ignored, yet it is a reality. Please help me change this. I don’t care if this gets me in trouble. I don’t care if I go to jail for this. I only hope that somebody out there can help our Hero’s.

NOTE: I decided to do this because I heard that a soldier had video taped his room and put it on Youtube.com. His video was heard, and changes were made. I don’t know what happened to that soldier, but if he did get in trouble I know why. To those who will scrutinize my letter: I have done everything in my power and within my chain of commands power to voice my concerns. I have used my chain of command the way it was intended, but my words do not reach the top through them, and I fear they never will unless I take matters into my own hands. If I am wrong by doing this, then I want to hear it from a judges mouth.

By: Specialist S.E.G.
I’m not afraid, nor should
anyone be afraid of standing
up for what they believe in,
As long as it is within your
American rights.
http://supreme.justia.com/us/340/135/case.html