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Betrayed By Command: Injured Oregon Army National Guard Troops Just Back From Iraq Forced Off Active Duty "While They Still Need Medical Care"
PORTLAND, Ore. — Injured Oregon Army National Guard troops just back from Iraq say the Army has been forcing many of them off active duty while they still need medical care.National Guard Sgt. Jason Greenlees told The Oregonian of Portland that he broke his leg between tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. After 10 months of wearing 60 pounds of body armor daily while guarding convoys in Iraq, his leg is swollen and painful. He said when Army staff at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., told him to return to Portland and his own doctor for surgery, he refused. Greenlees said the Army is wrongly forcing as many as 185 injured soldiers from the 41st Infantry Brigade Team off active duty, accusing some of them of feigning injuries to extend their active-duty paychecks, which can be thousands of dollars more than their Guard pay. At least 40 injured Oregon soldiers remain at Lewis-McChord, weeks after their units demobilized after 10 months in Iraq, The Oregonian reported. U.S. Rep. Kurt Schrader, D-Ore., and Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., have taken up their cause, complaining to the Secretary of the Army that members of Oregon's 41st Infantry Brigade Team are being systematically denied their benefits. Schrader said he was particularly upset to see staff materials prepared for demobilization of the 41st this spring that depicted National Guard soldiers as weekend warriors that may be trying to game the system. |
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