Ore. lawmakers want Guard medical care reviewed

[unhappycamper]

Ore. lawmakers want Guard medical care reviewed
By Peter Urban - Gannett Washington Bureau
Posted : Monday May 17, 2010 19:11:00 EDT

Two Oregon lawmakers are seeking an investigation into the quality of medical treatment provided to National Guard and Reserve troops before and after combat deployment to Iraq.

Sen. Ron Wyden and Rep. Kurt Schrader sent joint letters Monday to the Army’s inspector general and the Government Accountability Office seeking an investigation after their offices uncovered evidence that Joint Base Lewis-McChord treated active-duty soldiers differently from National Guard members and reservists returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

They also wrote to Army Secretary John McHugh asking him to investigate their concerns that returning National Guard members and reservists are being treated as “second-class soldiers.”

“I am outraged after hearing troubling reports about the disrespectful and inequitable treatment received by Oregon Guardsmen,” Schrader said in a news release issued with Wyden.

Schrader wants all the soldiers’ cases to be reviewed. Some National Guard members have already been released without receiving appropriate medical treatment, he said. In the letter to McHugh, Schrader asked that he “personally ensure their proper care and treatment.”



unhappycamper comment: Not much has changed since my days in uncle's army.