Pentagon Calling up Sick Reservists

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Pentagon Calling up Sick Reservists

 

November 11, 2005

By Gene C. Gerard

 

Last week the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the

investigative unit of Congress, released a report indicating that the

Pentagon has been calling up reserve soldiers who are ill or medically

unfit to serve. The reservists are serving primarily in Iraq and

Afghanistan. Although the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for

Personnel and Readiness is responsible for managing medical and

physical fitness policy and procedures, the report determined that

this office has no way to determine if reserve soldiers are fit to

serve or have pre-existing medical conditions prior to deployment.

 

Consequently, the GAO found that the Pentagon couldn't confirm to the

Secretary of Defense or Congress that reserve forces are medically and

physically fit when they are called to active duty. Yet under federal

law reserve forces are required to have a medical exam every five

years and an annual review of their medical status.

 

The report also found that the Defense Department has not even

determined what type of pre-existing medical conditions would preclude

a reservist from being called to duty. Consequently, it doesn't track

the pre-existing conditions of reserve soldiers being deployed.

According to the surgeon's office of the commander of the U.S. Central

Command " there were many instances of individuals who deployed into

Iraq and Afghanistan with conditions for which they should have been

considered non-deployable. "

 

Given the recruitment shortages that the armed services currently

face, it shouldn't be surprising that reservists in poor health are

being called up. When the 2005 fiscal year ended in September the Army

was 7,000 recruits short of its annual goal. This was the largest gap

in recruitment since 1979 when the draft was abolished. And it was the

first recruitment shortage for the Army since 1999. The Army National

Guard and the Army Reserve had even greater recruitment shortages this

year.

 

The Army has taken various approaches to its lackluster recruitment

efforts. It increased it advertising budget by $130 million for 2006.

Over the course of fiscal year 2005 the Army handed out $207 million

in bonuses to recruits and those who re-enlisted. This was a sizable

increase over 2004, when $125 million was distributed as bonuses. The

Army gave a bonus of a least $1,000 to 53 percent of new recruits

between October 2004 and June 2005; the average bonus was $5,589.

 

The Army's maximum bonus of $20,000 was distributed to six percent of

new recruits. And the Pentagon has already made a request to Congress

to double the maximum bonus for 2006 to $40,000. The Army is also

handing out bonuses of $400 per month for three years for soldiers

with much-needed skills, such as infantry.

 

Last Month, Army Secretary Francis J. Harvey announced that due to the

recruitment shortages the Army will now double the number of recruits

it accepts who score the lowest on the intelligence test administered

to all potential recruits. Secretary Harvey also announced that the

Army was decreasing its requirement that the recruiting class each

year be comprised of at least 67 percent of applicants who scored in

the top half of the intelligence test. The portion has now been

lowered to 60 percent.

 

What has not been known until now is that recruitment shortages have

resulted in the Pentagon calling up reservists who are ill or

medically unfit. According to the GAO report, this includes reservists

who have suffered from heart attacks, those with severe asthma

(weather conditions in the desert exacerbates this condition),

hernias, severe hypertension, and a woman who was four months into

chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer. It also includes reservists

suffering from sleep apnea who need medical equipment to help them

breath, yet large portions of Iraq and Afghanistan lack the

electricity necessary to run the equipment.

 

Reserve forces that are diabetic and require insulin pumps have been

called to active duty. A soldier was called up only two weeks after

receiving a kidney transplant. Other reservists have required kidney

dialysis. The GAO report also found that reserve soldiers have been

called to active duty that suffer from psychiatric problems, including

bipolar disorder. By one estimate as much as ten percent of the

reservists who have been medically evacuated out of the Middle East

was attributable to pre-existing medical conditions that could not be

treated properly.

 

The GAO report ominously concluded, " The impact of those who are not

medically and physically fit for duty could be significant for future

deployments as the pool of reserve members from which to fill

requirements is dwindling and those who have deployed are not in as

good health as they were before deployment. " The findings of this

report are particularly ironic, considering that one year ago

President Bush won re-election in large part because he convinced

military families that he would protect the armed forces better than

Senator Kerry. Consequently, veterans voted for President Bush by a

16-point margin. Many of them are likely having second thoughts today.

 

Gene C. Gerard taught history, religion, and ethics for 14 years at a

number of colleges and universities in the southwest. He is a

contributing author to the forthcoming book Americans at War, to be

published by Greenwood Press. His previous articles have appeared in

Political Affairs Magazine, The Free Press, Dissident Voice,

Intervention Magazine, Orb Standard, and Democratic Underground.

 

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