Readers of Tom Philpott's Military Update column sound off.

Chapter 61 Plan Stings Retirees Left Out

Under President Obama's suggested plan for concurrent receipt I see many benefits for thousands of Veterans. However, what I do not see is the military retiree getting their fair share. Read the related Military Update on this issue.

After more than 20 years of service, I retired from the Army. My body aches; I have a bad leg from running constantly and a host of other pains and injuries that retired with me. The VA rated me as 30 percent disabled which comes to $376 a month in disability pay. That $376 is then subtracted from my retirement pay.

I saw nothing in your article that covers me under President Obama's proposed plan for concurrent receipt. This bothers me for several reasons.

First, I have to drive to the VA for treatment and, because I only live an hour's drive away I am not compensated for my mileage or my time.

Second, I have to purchase medicines out of my own pocket because the VA does not carry the medicine I need to alleviate my pain.  Sure, I don't have to pay the full amount but the $22 that I spend each month is not reimbursable.  So, if you add up gas, time and medicine each month you can see that I have to pay for what should be covered because of the abuse the military put my body through.

Third, I deserve that $376 each month as compensation for my service connected disabilities.

Why should I have to pay one red cent to fix my body, or alleviate my pains and symptoms, if all of the injuries are service-connected?

The Army owes me for every dollar I have to spend, but Congress has decided to take that disability money from me each month. So where do I and countless other veterans in this situation fit into to this proposed plan? There is a serious gap and it should be re-evaluated.

RICK FUNKE
Via e-mail

Long, long overdue!
GARY J. CEGALIS
Via e-mail

I don't begrudge Chapter 61 retirees the additional funds. However, I do believe this legislation simply perpetuates the inequities of the current system.  Individuals who have served minimal time are being given retirement. This assumes that all of these individuals, if they had not sustained an injury, would have remained in until eligible to retire.  As not all enlistees stay for the required 20 years, this is a slap in the face to those who did retire at 20+ years and are remain forced to pay for their VA disability out of their earned DoD retirement.

If Chapter 61 retirees with VA ratings of less than 50 percent are provided concurrent receipt, why are regular retirees with VA ratings of less than 50 percent still required to pay for their VA disability out of their retirement? This injustice simply continues.

Military retirees who complete 20 or more years of service will be the only individuals in the United States that receive a cut in pay for the disabilities incurred in service to their country. The false excuse that it will cost too much is inexcusable when you look at the billions spent on bailouts of companies that are now in Chapter 11.

Additionally the funds come out of two different pots of money.  VA disability is funded by the VA and military retirement is funded by DoD.  It can be hoped that the Chapter 61 legislation will provide additional legal proof of the unequal treatment of military retirees by DoD and VA through the connivance of the U.S. Congress.

DENISE M. SMITH
Master Sergeant, USAF-Ret.
Via e-mail

I am an 80 percent disabled retired E-6 who served 20 years of active military service.  It's a VA rating for permanent medical conditions and I am not a Chapter 61 retiree.  I am a CRDP (Concurrent Retirement and Disability Pay) recipient who retired in 1995.

How will the new plan impact this group of retirees?

DON S.

The president's concurrent receipt proposal for Chapter 61 disabled retirees, if enacted by Congress, would help 103,000 others as CRDP helped you. -- Tom Philpott.

They talked about allowing Chapter 61 retirees to receive full military retirement benefits and VA Compensation. I looked at the formula of this new proposal and my additional payment would be $150 a month. Read the related Military Update for more information.

I have a form from DFAS that shows my current military retirement is $645.  I waived it to get $4,073 in VA compensation.  I had assumed we'd get our military retirement, not some special formula that, in my case, would leave out almost $500 in retirement.

So it's not our "retirement" unless they pay us the retirement we earned in combat.  Who knows, I may be not calculating it right, and something is better than nothing.

I guess when enough of us die off they will pay us what we earned, not before.

JON HOVDE
Via e-mail

My wife and I both served 20 years active duty service, from 1981 to 2001. She has a 40 percent disability rating and I have 20 percent.

As you know the only benefit we receive is zero.

How is it fair that a veteran who served 20 years active duty ends up receiving less pay then those who could not completed their full 20?

We can not assume these soldiers would have stayed in the military full term. Those forced out because of medical conditions are deserving of some sort of compensation but it should not equal or exceed those who may have endured their own medical issues but decided to finish the race to retirement despite our injuries, aches, and pain.

My wife and I receive roughly about $1300 apiece after taxes in retirement. I've met soldiers while in college who make almost what we make together laughing about how they use the system. They use their conditions and exploited the situation and indeed had injuries far less then some of the things my wife in I have endured. How is that an E-4 with 4 years in ends up making more then some who served 20?

If the injuries occurred in combat I can understand, but only in that type of situation.

STEPHEN E. TOLIVER
Via e-mail

My husband died almost two years ago from Agent Orange problems resulting from service in Vietnam. He had diabetes and congestive heart failure.  He eventually lost both legs. That barely begins the story of his life after Vietnam.

He gave the ultimate, his life for this country.  He deserved the ultimate pay, both his retirement for serving 20 years in the Marine Corps and his disability pay, and no less.

ELIZABETH L. WILSON
Via e-mail

Letters may be edited for clarity or length.  Write to Military Forum, P.O. Box 231111, Centreville, VA  20120-1111, send e-mail to militaryforum@aol.com or visit www.militaryupdate.com.