the military at it's finest

Posted by meli on Tuesday, May 19, 2009 in doctors, marriage, military/retirement | 1 comment

Haven't blogged in quite a while.
Not for lack of subject material, life continues to be a whirlwind roller coaster of events.
Just haven't really felt like purging thoughts lately ... until now.

Nick has been on a suspended article 15, which states that if he "messes up" for any reason in the next 6 months, they'll reduce rank. This "good behavior" scenario, if you will, was asked to be reconsidered by his therapist. Because of Nicks ptsd coupled with the effects from his tbi, topped off with his sleep conditions, this scenario was going to be "detrimental to his progress and treatment thus far". Do you think they cared?

They lifted the suspension yesterday and pulled his rank ... for being late to work a couple of weeks ago.

After the punishment was handed out, they asked Nick if he had anything to say, and Nick told him that with regard to his being late - it was going to keep happening. He was questioned why, and Nick replied with "because I've been diagnosed with narcolepsy. I fall asleep while standing at my closet getting dressed in the morning. I fall asleep while sitting at my desk. I fall asleep if I have to use the bathroom at any point during the day".

It's not anything he can help or control at this point, perhaps not ever. It's a medical condition that he is trying to be treated for. It's not going to just magically be fixed because the military wont put up with it. It's most likely a direct relation to the mild tbi Nick experienced while over in Iraq, it's a condition he'll likely have to live with for the rest of his life, and he is being punished (rather harshly, I might add) for it. Really really disgusts me!

So, demoted, over 600 will be gone from our paycheck each month (not counting our BAH, since we live on post ... all in all, about 770 each month was taken from us, rather flippantly, too). Tha's a huge amount of money, and I just don't know how we're going to make it. We'll find a way, of course, just not sure how right now. We have a car payment, insurance, and a cell phone bill ... add food and gas to that list, and that's about it. That makes up our monthly bills. Our housing is directly taken out of our pay. No credit card bills, no cable, no internet, nothing else ... so I'm really goddamn unsure where the hell we're expected to "cut back costs" in order to allow us to live on our new paycheck. Really just at a loss.

At this point, with the va disability that Nick will get when we're out (and we're not exactly sure how much it will be, but we have a minimum, and that's what I'm basing this on), we'll be able to make more money with him delivering pizzas then we're going to be making now on his new monthly wages. That makes me SICK!!! Almost 12 years he's put into the military, he got "injured on the job", is unable to perform at a level in which he was once capable of, and he is being punished for that. Our family is going to suffer for that. What the FUCK kind of bullshit is that?!?!!

After Nick told him that this was going to continue to be a problem, regarding his sleep, because of the narcolepsy, the guy looked at him like "what"? It would seem as though brigade knew nothing of Nick's sleep conditions. Both Nick's 1st Sgt and his CO knew/know of his medical issues. So, it looks as though his company dropped the ball in relating information to brigade, looking out for their soldier, and helping the family. Again, what kind of bullshit is that?!!!

So, Nick will take advantage of the open door policy today, and go speak with a few of the higher ups to see if there is anyway they'll see things in a new light after being made aware that he's really not a bad soldier needing to be punished, he's an injured soldier unable to perform at "normal" level ... which he is seeking help and treatment for.

We'll see what happens...