Tesla_WTC_Solution
13th June 2013, 21:33
The Air and Army National Guard are truly the backbone of American military logistics.
But did you know that honorably discharged members of these organizations often do not even qualify for VA medical services, education privileges, or even the words "US veteran"?
Many such individuals experience trauma, injury, loss of opportunity in the civilian and education sectors, and isolation from their loved ones when they answer the call of duty. The burden of operational responsibility put on these Guard units during wartime is greater, not less than, that required of Active Duty personnel.
In fact, Active Duty success rates in terms of mission capability, mission completion, and efficacy are literally marginal when compared to those of many Guard units! When I was in Kuwait and Uzbekistan, it was said that my Guard unit accomplished a mission completion rate of 98%, whereas the Active Duty averaged near 50% due to faulty maintenance practices and a breakdown in continuity in the chain of command because of high turnover.
During my career in the Air Force, many Active Duty-assigned C-130H aircraft were disabled and sent to the boneyards -- and our own aircraft nearly assigned to these derelict units during the highly-publicized BRAC effort: the Base Reallocation and Closure Committee! It was all we could do with the help of congressmen and our representing generals to keep our base open, not to mention ahold of our state's property!
In 2011, I applied for VA benefits on the basis of having been in a car accident on the way to work at a military base. This accident occurred in 2005 -- I was violently rear-ended, with force sufficient to actually knock the engine out of the chassis of the car behind me. I started suffering symptoms of stress disorder that year as well: my driving became less responsible, my work ethic diminished, I responded badly to suggestions of violence and sexual predation coming from some of my co-workers, and eventually became pregnant as a result of seeking emotional support from a source other than the military.
In 2008 I officially separated from the Air Force and received my certificate of Honorable Discharge. I had served time in a combat zone while deployed, and by all rights considered myself an Air Force Combat Veteran and was even qualified to put such a license plate on my motor vehicle.
In 2011, as I mentioned above, a family member encouraged me to seek a disability pension from the VA in order to help me cope with mental health issues and recurring back pain. On the basis of a post-deployment report filed in 2004, although my car accident was in 2005, the military found grounds to deny my benefits.
After going to the VA in person in 2013, I discovered that not only do I get no disability rights from the US government as a former member of US Armed Forces, I am not even considered a veteran anymore because the majority of my time served was under Governor's orders and not presidential orders. I didn't even know at the time of service that my hard work wasn't counting toward future benefits. No one in my shop had the decency to inform me of this.
And I thought that letting Eagle Scouts (males only) have an extra rank upon enlistment was unfair! How about, I was in the Air National Guard for almost 6 years, went to the desert for months, worked my ass off in fuel tanks and walking wingtips and sweating in confined spaces, running engines, clearing FOD from the taxiways, you name it, and I am not a veteran according to the standards of the fine country I was asked to serve.
I guess a person could say that I was a victim of ignorance, but isn't that awfully convenient when a person's entire future, including physical and mental health, are on the line?
Walking through Seattle, I see more homeless veterans than I ever realized existed in America, and now I finally understand how this can happen in our country. They are treated like garbage, like animals, and the ones who don't know how to ask for help get nothing. Some of the ones who DO ask for help get nothing.
I ask you, when you put that sticker on your car that says "God Bless our troops", or "support our troops", did you know that most of us aren't even considered worthy of our country's remembrance -- in spite of how much some of care about what is happening to it -- and we are in the streets while civilians are comfortable in their homes watching Fox and CNN, thinking they are good Americans...
But I tell you, the good Americans are not where you think to look.
They have fallen beneath the notice of those with power, and those with power are people like you and me, only they've opened their eyes.
But did you know that honorably discharged members of these organizations often do not even qualify for VA medical services, education privileges, or even the words "US veteran"?
Many such individuals experience trauma, injury, loss of opportunity in the civilian and education sectors, and isolation from their loved ones when they answer the call of duty. The burden of operational responsibility put on these Guard units during wartime is greater, not less than, that required of Active Duty personnel.
In fact, Active Duty success rates in terms of mission capability, mission completion, and efficacy are literally marginal when compared to those of many Guard units! When I was in Kuwait and Uzbekistan, it was said that my Guard unit accomplished a mission completion rate of 98%, whereas the Active Duty averaged near 50% due to faulty maintenance practices and a breakdown in continuity in the chain of command because of high turnover.
During my career in the Air Force, many Active Duty-assigned C-130H aircraft were disabled and sent to the boneyards -- and our own aircraft nearly assigned to these derelict units during the highly-publicized BRAC effort: the Base Reallocation and Closure Committee! It was all we could do with the help of congressmen and our representing generals to keep our base open, not to mention ahold of our state's property!
In 2011, I applied for VA benefits on the basis of having been in a car accident on the way to work at a military base. This accident occurred in 2005 -- I was violently rear-ended, with force sufficient to actually knock the engine out of the chassis of the car behind me. I started suffering symptoms of stress disorder that year as well: my driving became less responsible, my work ethic diminished, I responded badly to suggestions of violence and sexual predation coming from some of my co-workers, and eventually became pregnant as a result of seeking emotional support from a source other than the military.
In 2008 I officially separated from the Air Force and received my certificate of Honorable Discharge. I had served time in a combat zone while deployed, and by all rights considered myself an Air Force Combat Veteran and was even qualified to put such a license plate on my motor vehicle.
In 2011, as I mentioned above, a family member encouraged me to seek a disability pension from the VA in order to help me cope with mental health issues and recurring back pain. On the basis of a post-deployment report filed in 2004, although my car accident was in 2005, the military found grounds to deny my benefits.
After going to the VA in person in 2013, I discovered that not only do I get no disability rights from the US government as a former member of US Armed Forces, I am not even considered a veteran anymore because the majority of my time served was under Governor's orders and not presidential orders. I didn't even know at the time of service that my hard work wasn't counting toward future benefits. No one in my shop had the decency to inform me of this.
And I thought that letting Eagle Scouts (males only) have an extra rank upon enlistment was unfair! How about, I was in the Air National Guard for almost 6 years, went to the desert for months, worked my ass off in fuel tanks and walking wingtips and sweating in confined spaces, running engines, clearing FOD from the taxiways, you name it, and I am not a veteran according to the standards of the fine country I was asked to serve.
I guess a person could say that I was a victim of ignorance, but isn't that awfully convenient when a person's entire future, including physical and mental health, are on the line?
Walking through Seattle, I see more homeless veterans than I ever realized existed in America, and now I finally understand how this can happen in our country. They are treated like garbage, like animals, and the ones who don't know how to ask for help get nothing. Some of the ones who DO ask for help get nothing.
I ask you, when you put that sticker on your car that says "God Bless our troops", or "support our troops", did you know that most of us aren't even considered worthy of our country's remembrance -- in spite of how much some of care about what is happening to it -- and we are in the streets while civilians are comfortable in their homes watching Fox and CNN, thinking they are good Americans...
But I tell you, the good Americans are not where you think to look.
They have fallen beneath the notice of those with power, and those with power are people like you and me, only they've opened their eyes.