Disabled soldier backlog puts Army at risk

The backlog of soldiers too injured to serve is growing so large that it could affect the Army's ability to go to war.

Army leaders plan to reduce the size of the service by 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers each year over the next decade, but that's not counting the 20,500 troops Army doctors have declared unable to serve.

Budget cuts, combined with the end of the Iraq war and drawdown in Afghanistan, have forced the Army to cut end strength by 80,000 soldiers. The 20,500 soldiers tabbed to leave the service because of disabilities, however, still remain on the books.

The backlog is caused by failures in a system built to transition those soldiers out. Quite simply, Army doctors classify more soldiers as too injured to serve than the system can separate each year.

The number of soldiers in the Integrated Disability Evaluation System has grown by 42 percent just this past year. It's grown from 11,900 soldiers to 20,500 soldiers since 2009. Army medical leaders expect that number to continue to rise. The Defense Department adopted the IDES -- and it will apply each one of the services -- but the Army is in most dire straits.

Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, the Army's top manpower officer, described the system to Congress as "fundamentally flawed," saying, "The biggest area that we need help is in the disability evaluation system."

It's rare to hear military leaders openly criticize a system under their control. But it's clear their frustration is mounting. military.com

HIGHLIGHTS

The Army mans units at 110 percent so they can deploy at 90 percent of their authorized strength, said Col. Daniel Cassidy, the deputy commander of the U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency. vetawarenesscoalition.org

The Army colonel said the Defense Department can only do so much to salvage a system in which rules were laid out by congressional legislation in 1949. vetawarenesscoalition.org

What's truly holding the Army medical command back is a lack of staffing. There are not enough doctors or physical evaluation board liaison officers, better known as PEBLOs, to process the soldiers. military.com

The Army is adding 1,400 people this year to its disability evaluation staff, but it will take a while to train the new staff and make gains toward reducing the backlog. military.com