Student disabled in Iraq recalled to active duty

Disabled veterans being recalled to active duty for Iraq

James Raymond, a senior communications major and UB's Homecoming King, has been looking forward to finishing his last year of college and starting his career. Now, he might be trading in his sash and textbooks for a gun, as the disabled veteran and former editor of The Spectrum has been called back to active duty, scheduled to return to Iraq in September 2008.

Raymond fought for the Army overseas in 2004, after serving for three years. Raymond was hit by friendly rocket fire at the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, resulting in complete hearing loss in his left ear and a case of permanent Tinitus.

He stayed in Iraq after the incident, tearing the ligaments in his left knee only two weeks later. Raymond was sent back to the U.S. for knee surgery. Four years later, he is still partially deaf and walks with a slight limp.

Honorably discharged from service, Raymond has been considered a disabled veteran ever since. Now, the Army has called upon him again.

"Last Thursday, my step-dad got a package in the mail saying I was being reactivated to active duty," Raymond said. "I thought it was a joke when I first got it. I thought, 'there's no way a disabled veteran is ever going to be called back into the military.'"

Raymond had in fact been called back to service -- he will need to report to Fort Benning, Georgia on May 18.

Raymond was surprised to find that the policy of disabled veterans serving overseas was no longer unheard of. Raymond believes that he is being called back to active duty because of a glitch in the military databases.

"There are a couple of disabled veterans currently serving overseas in Iraq now, which you never hear about," Raymond said. "For them to recall me is ridiculous. They want me to be activated with a New Jersey reserve unit, not an active military unit. I'm not from New Jersey, and I'm not in the reserves, so that doesn't make sense."

After soldiers are discharged from active duty in the military, their information is placed in a computer system called the IRR (Individual Ready Reserve), according to Raymond.

According to Major Nathan Banks with Army Public Affairs, however, mistakes can be made within the Army's medical database system.

"There was glitches right in the system," Banks said.

Banks referred to the upcoming military medical system MedPros (Medical Protection System), the government's future process of military medical organization.

MedPros will be a single database compiling the medical records of every U.S. soldier.

"The medical side is doing a lot of advancements which is for the improvement of the system," Banks said. "It is still a work in progress."

Currently, according to Banks, there is not one large database in which one can access every soldier's medical record.

"Even I have a copy of my medical record just in case something's lost," Banks said.

Raymond believes that there has been a medical mix up, and that the base recalling him to active deployment has no record of his disability.

"Is it possible or probable? Yes, it's probable," Banks said, in reference to the possibility of "information mix-ups" within the still-imperfect system.

Raymond will undergo a mental and physical exam in May to assess whether he can serve. If he is found eligible, he will go through a five-week training course in New Jersey, and then be deployed overseas.

He will be putting his final exams on hold to respond to the summons.

"When you're getting called up to war, all you can think about is that date," Raymond said. "It's consuming my life."

While serving, Raymond was stationed at Fort Drum in the 187 Infantry. Raymond received the Army Accommodation Medal, the third highest award soldiers can receive.

Proud of his service, Raymond said that if he were able to, he would have reenlisted once his injuries healed. Raymond considered serving again a year after he was injured, but was told he would lose his disability benefits if he were to become active again.

"This has nothing to do with being anti-war or anti-patriotic, or against going over there. It has to do with my physical limitations," Raymond said. "I physically don't believe I'd be able to do a good enough job to fight for this country if I were sent over there right now."

Raymond enlisted only days prior to the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Raymond said he doesn't regret his decision to enlist, and that his service took on a new meaning after the attacks, Raymond even more inspired to serve the country.

"I would have been more inspired to join after [the attacks]," Raymond said. "I have always been a patriotic person - I love this country."

Raymond is one of many disabled veterans recalled into service after being discharged. According to The Denver Post, former Army Staff Sergeant Jack Auble was redeployed to Baghdad after 20 years of service. Auble was forced to return overseas in January, despite "severe osteoporosis of the spine, bulging discs and compression fractures."

Auble has a "permanent" profile - something that Raymond wishes he had gotten while he was in the process of being discharged. Veterans are given permanent profiles when their injuries will be permanent and rehabilitation is not an option.

Raymond aspires to go into public relations after graduation. Now, he fears he will not finish his degree if he is redeployed.

"I don't know if I would go back to school, I could be injured again, or even dead," Raymond said. "I just want to live a normal life."

He feels that in the end, he will be deployed.

"I knew when I got out of the military that it wasn't the end of me and the military," Raymond said. "My gut feeling is that I'm going to have to go."

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