"after all i did for the army, they took my money and said don’t let the door hit you in the ass"

From Army Times:

After serving two tours in Iraq — tours filled with killing enemy combatants and watching close friends die — Sgt. Adam Boyle, 27, returned home expecting the Army to take care of him.

Instead, service member advocates and Boyle's mother say his chain of command in the 3rd Psychological Operations Battalion at Fort Bragg, N.C., worked to end his military career at the first sign of weakness.

In October, a medical evaluation board physician at Bragg recommended that Boyle go through the military disability retirement process for chronic post-traumatic stress disorder — which is supposed to automatically earn him at least a 50 percent disability retirement rating — as well as for chronic headaches. The doctor also diagnosed Boyle with alcohol abuse and said he was probably missing formations due to the medications doctors put him on to treat his PTSD.

But in December, Lt. Gen. John Mulholland, commanding general of the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, signed an order forcing Boyle out on an administrative discharge for a "pattern of misconduct," and ordering that the soldier pay back his re-enlistment bonus.

Last year, after a number of troops diagnosed with PTSD were administratively forced out for "personality disorders" following combat deployments, the Defense Department changed its rules: The pertinent service surgeon general now must sign off on any personality-disorder discharge if a service member has been diagnosed with PTSD.

"Not even a year later, they're pushing them out administratively for 'pattern of misconduct,'" said Carissa Picard, an attorney and founder of Military Spouses for Change, a group created in response to the personality-disorder cases. "I'm so angry. We're seeing it all the time. And it's for petty stuff."

In Boyle's case, according to Picard and Boyle's mother, Laura Curtiss, the soldier had gotten in trouble for missing morning formations and for alcohol-related incidents such as fighting and public drunkenness.

"The whole thing is absurd to me," Picard said. "They acknowledge that PTSD causes misconduct, and then they boot them out for misconduct."

. . . .

Picard said she has seen at least a dozen cases of soldiers with PTSD being pushed out for a "pattern of misconduct."

Chuck Luther, also with Military Spouses for Change, said he's working on four cases similar to Boyle's now.

"I've seen the office of the surgeon general doing some great things," Picard said. "But they didn't intervene in this case. Technically, it's OK. Morally, is it OK? No. If they're going to call it a combat injury, they need to treat it, or else people will be afraid to come forward."

. . .

The administrative discharge means Boyle will have to prove that his PTSD is service-connected when applying for benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs, and he's not eligible to immediately receive the counseling he needs through the transition program for service members moving between the military and VA systems.

"The military is creating a societal issue," Luther said. "These guys come out with no resources, and they're angry and feeling betrayed. But commanders are thinking, 'Do I rehabilitate him or do I get rid of him expeditiously so I can replace him with someone who can deploy?'"

. . . .

That means Boyle must repay the Army $18,500 for his re-enlistment bonus. The Army also withheld 65 days' worth of leave payments and his final paycheck.

"I have nothing," Boyle said. "After all I did for the Army, they took my money and kicked me to the curb and said, 'Don't let the door hit you in the ass.'"

Full story here.