Their Military Careers Were Cut Short in Combat. Now They're Fighting Congress for Their Full Benefits – The War Horse

Their Military Careers Were Cut Short in Combat. Now They’re Fighting Congress for Their Full Benefits  The War Horse

The Richard Star Act would pay combat-injured veterans their full pension and disability, but the cost could reach $78 billion The fall lasted only seconds, but the consequences would span a lifetime.  Under the cover of darkness in Balad, Iraq, Army Sgt. Will Fisher was moving into position for an overnight mission. He fell roughly 40 feet and landed on his feet while wearing about 100 pounds of gear. The force of the fall crushed the talus bone in his right ankle and broke his back. He was medically evacuated to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany. That fall eventually cost him his leg and his career—the latter more than a decade earlier than he had hoped, and five critical years short of his qualifying for a full military pension.  “I wasn’t planning to leave the Army,” he said.

“The injuries made that decision for me, and that was it. The retirement I’d spent almost 15 years working towards was gone.” Service members qualify for full pensions after two decades of service, but only 17% reach the necessary 20-year mark of eligibility, a 2011 Defense Department report found. An estimated 54,000 veterans sustain career-ending combat injuries before reaching that threshold. Consequently, medically retired veterans lose part of their retirement pay because they also receive disability compensation from the Department of