Army Investigates Mistreatment of Ill, Injured Soldiers in Texas
Saturday, 21 Feb 2015 06:36 PM
By Andrea Billups
The Army will investigate complaints from wounded and sick soldiers being treated at Ford Hood and two other medical transition units who have complained they have been mistreated as they attempted to recuperate, the Dallas Morning News reported.
An investigation by the paper along with television partner NBC 5 spurred the Army to look into allegations of "constant friction between their medical requirements and the demands of a military culture based on order and discipline," the News said.
Among the allegations from current and former soldiers staying at Texas Warrior Transition Units included superiors calling them names like "dirtbag" and other terms to accuse them of "malingering" rather than returning to full duty, the News reported.
There are 25 such WTU facilities around the country.
Other soldiers shared stories of being prescribed strong medications for sleep disorders only to be forced to rise early to participate in formations with drill sergeants aggressively creating an environment of "constant friction," the paper said.
The investigation included a review of hundreds of military records as well as multiple interviews with soldiers staying or who had stayed at Fort Bliss, Fort Sam Houston and Fort Hood.
Col. Chris Toner, head of the Warrior Transition Command, said such incidents were isolated and also had been reviewed, he told the News.
But one veteran advocate, Chuck Luther, who works near Fort Hood at a non-profit, disagreed that the problems there are over, noting that the soldiers in question have lingering problems like post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I mean I’ve witnessed it personally, senior-level people talking to these soldiers like they’re common trash, calling them dirtbags, telling them that they’re lying — ‘Oh you have PTSD, you’re just weak, you need to quit trying to get a paycheck,’ things like that,” Luther told the News.
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