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BY JOYCE RUSSELL
joycer@nwitimes.com
219.762.4334 | Tuesday, October 11, 2005 | (No comments posted.)
PORTAGE | For 27 years, Bob Rodriguez has given part of his life to the U.S. Army.
A reservist since 1978, he's been called to active duty twice. A medic, he spent two tours of duty in Panama and most recently spent 18 months away helping process soldiers in and out of the country from Fort Bragg, N.C. He serves with the Army Reserves 7203rd Support Unit based in Gary.
Rodriguez, 54, says the military is something he loves. It's in his blood. His grandfather served in World War I, his father in World War II. His oldest son, Rob, spent 10 years with the Marine Corps. His youngest son, Rick, a National Guard member, recently spent a tour of duty in Iraq.
"I recommend the Army to any young kid," he said recently. But then quickly added a caveat.
"But don't get hurt, don't get sick, because you don't know if they will take care of you," Rodriguez said.
For more than a month, Rodriguez has been battling with the Army he loves to do the right thing. On Sept. 2, in the middle of medical treatment for a line-of-duty medical condition, Rodriguez was discharged from active duty with 12 hours' notice, leaving him without insurance for a short time, without any income and without any real guidance.
An Army representative said the Army did what it was supposed to do, but a representative of the American Legion's national headquarters in Washington, D.C., says Rodriguez's story is all too familiar.
Kim Waldron, a spokesperson for the Army Forces Command Headquarters at Fort McPherson in Atlanta, said the conflict between Rodriguez and the Army's decision may be the result of a misunderstanding, or it points to a problem in the new community-based health care initiative designed to help reservists and national guardsmen return home from active duty.
"This is not a crack (in the system), this is a major gap. They can't kick him to the curb and give him a tin cup," said Steve Robertson, a legislative lobbyist for the American Legion who has been working with Congress to improve the "seamless transition" from soldier to civilian.
Rodriguez's story began one night in June 2004.
After serving 18 months at Fort Bragg, Rodriguez's tour of duty was over. He drove 14 hours from North Carolina to his Portage home. He planned to take a week's vacation and then return to his civilian job as a salesman for a food broker in Chicago.
Tired, Rodriguez went to bed.
"The next morning, I got a call from my mom saying he was in the hospital," son Rob said.
Bob had suffered a brain aneurysm and was eventually airlifted to the University of Chicago Hospitals where he spent a week in the intensive care unit and remained hospitalized for nearly two months.
"I don't remember anything. They say I have a problem with short-term memory. I have to really, really think about what I did Saturday, but I can tell you what I did a year ago in Fort Bragg," Rodriguez said, adding he also suffers from severe headaches each day, has some problems walking and is continuing to undergo physical and occupational therapy as well as counseling.
After an initial glitch in the system, the Army agreed to keep Rodriguez on active duty until he could be released by his civilian doctors to return to work. His pay and medical benefits for himself, his wife Rosa and college-age daughter, Becky, would continue.
His two neurologists estimated Rodriguez would be released to return to work at the end of this year. His last visit to a military doctor was in February 2005. They last spoke to that doctor in May 2005 and the family was assured, they say, that Rodriguez would remain on active duty until he had completed treatment and was released by his civilian doctors.
Then, on Sept. 2, Rodriguez received a telephone call from military payroll in Fort Knox, Ky. He'd been medically cleared for active duty discharge in 12 hours. His pay would end, as would his insurance.
"They told me to go on unemployment. I said, 'I still have a job, but I'm waiting to be released by my doctors.' They said some general told them they needed to clear the dockets, that they have too many people on medical hold. I don't want to stay on forever. I just want to get better and get on with my life," Rodriguez said.
Since then, Rodriguez has been caught in a quagmire of red tape and bureaucracy. With the assistance of son Rob, they've visited unemployment offices. He was turned down. They've had appointments with the Veterans Administration. He doesn't qualify for insurance and a disability claim could take six months. They've sought help from the Social Security Administration. They were told the administration could do nothing until he returns to work.
Waldron said the military doctor overseeing Rodriguez's case was ready to clear him for an active duty discharge in June, but granted a two-and-a-half-month extension at Rodriguez's request.
"In general terms, we've fixed you, we've gotten you healthy, you are fit to go back to your civilian job," Waldron said. "If the Army said you are good to go, but the other doctors said you were not, it would be between his civilian doctors, civilian job and Sgt. Rodriguez."
However, Waldron said Rodriguez's case may point to problems in the new community-based health care initiative, in particular, what to do with a returning soldier who may be caught in a gap such as Rodriguez's, when the military doctor and civilian doctor do not agree on the same time frame for a soldier to be released to return to his civilian job.
"It is a brand-new program created because of the impact of the wounded guardsmen and reservists returning from the Gulf," she said. "We are not saying this is a perfect system."
Robertson said what happened to Rodriguez should never have happened. He said Rodriguez should have not been discharged from active duty until either his medical condition was cleared by his own doctors or until a claim had been filed with the VA so that agency could have taken over his case.
"He should have had a seamless transition from active duty to the VA. There was a disconnect. The VA should have been aware of his case and awarded him a disability. It shouldn't have happened until a decision was made," Robertson said.
They also contacted U.S. Rep. Pete Visclosky's office. A congressional aide has been working with the family, spokesman Justin Kish said. The aide discovered Rodriguez may be eligible for incapacitation pay -- something no one from the Army told them about.
"The congressman and (his chief of staff) Chuck Brimmer have been making calls on Mr. Rodriguez's behalf. We've followed up with the Army liaison and still waiting to see if he's eligible. We are trying to expedite the case," Kish said.
Army representatives were to contact Rodriguez on the incapacitation pay issue, but have not as yet.
Waldron said she has never heard of incapacitation pay.
Rodriguez has expedited his own care with his civilian doctors in order to get back to work as soon as possible. Moving up his December medical review to meeting with a doctor late last month where, said Rob Rodriguez, the doctors have agreed to release his father earlier than first advised, possibly sometime this month.
In the meantime, Rodriguez waits to hear from the Army as to why he was abruptly given an active duty discharge. He's still a member of the reserves, he says, planning to officially retire early next year.
That, in itself is an irony.
"I've been discharged off active duty status, but I'm still officially in the reserves. But they (his reserve unit) tell me I'm not well enough to perform my duties or to participate in the drills," he said.
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