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**** the .mil. Fund the bureaucracy !

Yeh and let them defend themselves.

Azbob wrote..

Yeh and let them defend themselves.

Why they already do, just what do you think all those Domestic TLA Agencies with badges and guns and uniforms do ?

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When Ryan is off base, can't he hit up the nearest VA clinic? skip the on base stuff if they are that damn crazy.

No. He's ACTIVE and that means he has to get treated on-base unless he is out of town - i.e. on leave to come home. I suppose he could find a VA hospital/clinic somewhere down there in KY/TN, but he comes home here every time he's on leave.

And yes, I know full well that strep can turn fatal. It becomes scarlet fever and then lodges in your heart. Of course, none of the NCOs is a doctor and they had no idea - they just say, 'SUCK IT UP SOLDIER' if one of the guys says they have a sore throat...which is all Ryan knew at the time. It isn't like he KNEW he had strep until I took him to the doctor here. He came home and I took one look at his throat and wanted to wrap him up with duct tape so he wouldn't infect the rest of us...and then I ran him to the doctor ASAP.

There was no excuse for the NCO ripping on Ryan about the fracture though. I mean, when a foot is swollen 4 times its normal size, one has to assume there's something other than a stubbed toe. Thing is, even AFTER Ryan got a diagnosis (X-rays) and was fitted with a special shoe and told he needed at least 4 weeks off the foot, the NCOs said, you guessed it...'SUCK IT UP SOLDIER!' He was on the foot after only 5 days of being off it. Who knows how it healed.

At any rate, Ryan doesn't complain - he even tries to 'suck it up' here. I had to force him to let me take him in for the foot because he figured if he was told he needed to be off it for any length of time, it wasn't going to happen anyway - and he was right.

The guys sometimes can get a medic who's off duty to take a peek at a problem or toss them some antibiotics, but that is very rare because when not on the battlefield the medics are assinged to work in the on-base clinic/hospital. In Afghanistan the medics were always right there checking the guys out and the care was akin to having your own personal on-call physician. On base is another story altogether.

Pika-steph wrote..

There was no excuse for the NCO ripping on Ryan about the fracture though.

As far as the active duty leadership is concerned long term health consequences are the VA's problem. That's why they tell everyone to suck it up.

I watched a guy got hurt on the ship (severe knee bursitis) get loaded with painkillers so he could participate in a three day dog and pony show of showing off casualty drills for VIPs just because nobody felt like changing the roster around.

That same person has been out of the Navy for several years and as far as I know he knee healed just fine but if it had resulting in a long term injury his superiors would have just shrugged their shoulders.

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unless he is out of town

Pika, look for the closest VA to you then. At least save some money if you can. And if there is a VA near enough to the base, when he is on leave, he can wander in for anything....he has days off, right? boys day on the town just turned into opps, my foot got hurt...went to nearest care I could.

It's wrong they are telling the guys to suck it up. Higher ups, at least the ones in the medical areas, know better. Probably need to have more of his 'superiors' get some medical doc/officer to kick their asses.

http://www.va.gov/landing2_locations.htm

Gen!

My father, a Pearl Harbor survivor, was griping to me one day about having to pay for health care, "When I joined up we were promised health care for life".

Boz, see if your dad will go on TV talk shows to discuss what was promised vs what he gets.

Maybe folks today will figure out that what they promise us and what we get ain't gonna be the same thing.

Wake some folks up!!

Unfortunately he died 3 years ago (pancreatic cancer).

It's not so much, "pay them what you owe them" as "stop listening to promises from *******s".