“Personality” Discharge Limit In Defense Authorization Bill

Legislation limiting “personality disorder” discharges  
BY JOHN MITERKO, CHAIR, VVA GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, WITH VVA GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS STAFF

The lead sponsor of the Fair Mental Health Evaluation for Returning Veterans Act, freshman Rep. Phil Hare (D-Ill.), praised the inclusion of Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-Ill.) language limiting “personality disorder” discharges in the Defense Authorization Act conference report. By the time you read this, this bill is expected to have been signed into law.

“Thousands of psychologically wounded combat veterans are being denied benefits through a process that is downright scandalous,” Hare charged.

More than 22,000 servicemen and women from all branches of the military, although most notably the Army, have been discharged with so-called personality disorders since 2001. It seems obvious that this is yet another way to screw veterans: Declare that they are afflicted with a pre-existing personality disorder, bribe them with a few thousand dollars, and muster them out of the service. It’s only later that these veterans realize that they’ve made a pact with the devil…

What the DoD has never bothered to explain is this: If all these men and women have pre-existing personality disorders, why were they permitted to enlist in the first place? Or, if these pre-existing conditions only become apparent during their military service, let them be discharged before they have 180 days of active service.

The military’s actions make these veterans ineligible to receive service-connected treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and other health claims despite their combat service records. In addition, as Hare pointed out, many are required to pay back their re-enlistment bonuses, with interest, to the federal government.

Is this any way to treat our troops?

"When it comes to supporting the troops,” Hare said, “the Pentagon should not balance its budget on the backs of the men and women we put in harm’s way.”

Obama’s language would require the Secretary of Defense to report to the congressional defense committees by April on all cases of personality disorder discharges of servicemen and women who served in Iraq or Afghanistan since October 2001. Additionally, the provision would prohibit such discharges until such time as the Secretary submits that report, unless a clinical review is first conducted in the Office of the Surgeon General of the military department concerned.

Hare’s bill, H.R. 3167, would place a temporary moratorium on personality disorder discharges until a comprehensive review of DoD mental health policies is conducted by an independent review board.

“We need to put a stop to this until some entity independent of the Bush administration can justify the merits of these discharges,” Hare said.