Research - Rehabilitation - Re-Employment

Sgt. Shaft 04/16/2001

Dear Sgt. Shaft:
I sent the following letter to those Members of Congress supporting the Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2001:

A recent copy of "Sgt. Shaft" in the Washington Times was forwarded to me concerning the problem of concurrent receipt of longevity retirement pay and VA disability compensation. Since I am a prime candidate for the honor of being "shafted" by this law, of which I was never aware, I am grateful that there is someone in Congress who has seen fit to correct the discrimination by initiating correcting legislation.

In retrospect, I am probably as marked by the "fall-out" of wearing a uniform during the Vietnam Era as any other veteran that came out of an Army hospital, having been a patient for a significant time (seven months in my case). Medically Retired (TDRL) as an E-3 in 1969, with a VA 60% service connected disability (full medical retirement in 1972 with same percentage), I was able to use my GI Bill/Vocational Rehab opportunities to further my education ... and ended up in medical school. Somehow I survived the first couple of years, and by choking down untold amounts of antibiotics I managed to not only finish but ended up being selected for a surgical residency. General Surgery was followed by Pediatric Surgery, which in turn was followed by private practice. In a dispute with my ex-partner over business techniques, we separated, and I was approached by both the Army and the Navy to enter their service as part of the teaching facility at a military medical center. At that time (1983) the Army had only one active duty pediatric surgeon, and he was at Walter Reed (WRAMC). I was offered Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. The deciding factor in my accepting was a memory of all those young broken, destroyed bodies that I lived next to for seven months. (Our Country will ALWAYS send our finest young people to "war," if the need is there. But will the very finest of salvage care be there for them? My burden was that, if I could ask the question, then I had to be part of the solution.) So despite having one lung, destroyed hearing and other assorted maladies, on a waiver at the level of the Secretary of the Army I was commissioned. It was my understanding, however, that although I waived my VA disability pay on entering active duty, I would have that pay restored on leaving the service. What was never said, and I never asked, was "where was the hook" (buried in the fine print)? I guess I just found out. Having served now, long enough, to look at retirement, I have long counted on the Disability Compensation to make the difference between existing and "living."

I can assure you that military pay does not allow for investment portfolios, and 401k's are a pipe dream. So even though I have had it far better than most of my Vietnam Era comrades, I would still be pulling down the disability pay .. on top of my income, IRAs, 401k, and my compensated business expenses/perks. So thank you again for Reintroducing H.R. 303. Please "Make It So!!

R.I.S.
Ford Hood

Dear R.I.S.:
The good news is that Rep. Michael Bilirakis (R-FL) and Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) have introduced companion bills to rectify an inequity in current law that requires an offset of military retired pay for every dollar received in Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation. Rep. Bilirakis has reintroduced H.R. 303 that would eliminate the offset imposed on disabled military retirees. Sen. Reid's companion legislation (S.170), entitled the Retired Pay Restoration Act of 2001, would permit full concurrent receipt of retired pay and disability benefits.

The bad news, however, is that Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) has introduced an amendment that could send concurrent receipt into File 13 for quite some time. His amendment states:

"The Secretary of Defense is the appropriate official for evaluating the existing standards for the provision of concurrent retirement and disability benefits to retired members of the Armed Forces and the need to change these standards.

It is the sense of Congress that the Secretary of Defense should report to the Congressional defense committees on the provision of concurrent retirement and disability benefits to retired members of the Armed Forces. The report should address the number of individuals retired from the Armed Forces who would otherwise be eligible for disability compensation; the comparability of the policy of the Office of Personnel Management guidelines for civilian Federal retirees; the applicability of this policy to prevailing private sector standards; the number of individuals potentially eligible for concurrent benefits who receive other forms of federal assistance and the cost of that assistance; and alternative initiatives that could accomplish the same end as concurrent receipt of military retired pay and VA disability compensation."

This, of course, gives the DOD bureaucrats ample opportunity to delay and thus scuttle this equity legislation.

Shaft Kudos
A pat on the back to House VA Committee Chairman Chris Smith (R-NJ) and Ranking Democrat Member Lane Evans (D-IL) for their leadership in introducing a bipartisan effort to boost the education benefit under the Montgomery GI Bill from its current level of $650 per month for 36 months to $1,100 -- the largest hike ever in the bill's history. "When fully phased in, the new education benefit will bring the total to $39,600," Rep. Smith said, "an amount roughly equal to the estimated tab for a commuter student at a four-year public college. Added Rep. Evans, "These needed changes to the program will increase program usage and will enable the military services to recruit the high ability young people they need."

Send letters to Sgt. Shaft, c/o John Fales, P.O. Box 65900, Washington, D.C. 20035-5900; fax to 301-622-3330; call 202-462-4430 or email sgtshaft@bavf.org.

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