Expert: MARK A. HOWELL - 2/10/2011

Question
MY husband was prior Navy and came back in to the Army 4 years ago. He has a total of 12 years of service. When he returned from his last deployment to Iraq he sought help and was told he had PTSD and was given some antidepressent medications. He also injured his knee in Iraq and has been told that he needs surgery. He has had 1st Sargents cancel his appointment with behavioral health and with the clinic, because they needed him in the field and they told him the mission comes first. His medicine was not working for him at this point and he began losing his concentration, started forgetting what commanders had told him to do (pertaining to his job) and so then they UCMJ him and demoted him and gave him 30 days of extra duty. His newest 1st Sargent communicated to him that he had missed extra duty due to the Garrison Commander closing the base and only essential personal were to report,  and he was going to have him kicked out of the service. My husband lost it came home and told me he was suicidial and homocidal. I immediately took him to the hospital where he was admitted. He will be discharged soon but his Commander is now telling him that they are going to Admin him out of the Army. Will he have to be medically cleared before they can Admin him out? What are his rights? He would like to stay in, he has always had excellent NCO'ers prior and right after deployment, but then they went down hill. He has never even had a traffic ticket and now they want him out, with out taking care of his medical needs? Any advice you could offer would be great, because I keep getting road bloacks here at Drum.

Answer
Angela,
I'm sorry that you both are experiencing this.
Let me answer your specific questions and then give you my advice.

1.  Will he have to be medically cleared before they can Admin him out?  Not really.  He would have a general physical but it usually doesn't include much mental.

2.  What are his rights?  Very few.  I don't know his rank, but the more stripes he has the better his chances are of winning an argument and getting someone to listen to reason.

First, he needs to speak with the Chief Chaplain on base, NOW!  (315) 772-5591  I no longer know the name of the boss there.   Whether or not he's religious, the chaplain can help and will be a powerful ally.  Commanders don't "screw" with the Chaplain.  Don't settle for some CPT Chaplain, go right to the boss. (used to be a LTC)  No offense to the CPT, but you sound like you need some "pull".

Second, he needs to see Dr. Todd Benham, chief of the Behavioral Health Department, U.S. Army Medical Department Activity, Fort Drum. (If he's still there.) (315) 772-6890.  Todd will take him seriously and help out.  I know he's an expert in PTSD.  About a year ago there was a Fort Drum physician who treated PTSD as a “behavioral problem" and got in a lot of trouble.  So Todd stepped in and straightened things out.

Right now, that's about the best you can do.

Sorry I can't help more.
Colonel H