Iraq War veteran challenges military on injury benefits

[unhappycamper]

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2012/11/01/173350/iraq-war-veteran-challenges-military.html


Iraq War veteran challenges military on injury benefits
By Michael Doyle | McClatchy Newspapers
Posted on Thursday, November 1, 2012

WASHINGTON — Tanya L. Towne was wearing her full “battle rattle” when she got injured preparing for war. Now the Pentagon must explain why that should be treated differently from a combat-related injury.

What happens next will put the Defense Department on the spot. It also could mean a lot to veterans other than Towne, who served 17 years in the New York Army National Guard before her 2009 medical discharge.

“She represents a lot of folks who were called up for Iraq and Afghanistan and who got hurt,” Towne’s attorney, Scott MacKay, said in a telephone interview Thursday.

In a provocative recent ruling, the U.S. Court of Federal Claims wants the Defense Department to justify a Bush administration-era decision that an injury during combat training doesn’t qualify a veteran for the enhanced benefits that are provided to those who are injured during combat. While the Pentagon’s distinction between training and combat sounds clear-cut, it seemingly conflicts with another part of federal law.


on edit: to correct message header