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The Department of Defense in another of its attacks on the retired military community has decided to make a distinction in the law. The Pentagon has made a decision, hidden from most observers, to deny the full payment of "Concurrent Receipt" or retired pay along with disability compensation to those veterans rated as 100% by virtue of their individual unemployability.

There is no denying this group of more than 28,000 retired military personnel are far more disadvantaged than their brothers and sisters in arms who received "scheduled ratings" of 100%. They are people such as Air Force retiree Link Braley. Link served honorably and faithfully for 20 years. He was sent in front of a medical board, which rated him as unfit for duty because of two prior hip operations and the need for back surgery. He was rated on the outcome of those two hip surgeries and not what would follow.

Within a year he required extensive back surgery, followed by three angioplasties and the insertion of a stint. Doctors could do nothing about numerous other blockages. The VA rated him as individually unemployable. He was and remains 100% disabled...total and permanent.

Link is only one of the 28,000 retirees the Pentagon's hurtful decision impacts. He is among those most in need of assistance and is being denied his full disability compensation in another of those Department of Defense moves to save dollars at the expense of retired military personnel.

Something must be done for all of these IU rated retirees...and it should be done now! The solution could be as easy as the White House picking up a telephone and ordering the DoD crowd to stop tempering with the law. The Administration should disassociate itself from the prevailing attitude of the Pentagon, which truly believes "All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others."

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Note -- The opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, views, and/or philosophy of GOPUSA.

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