The MoD are planning to axe 5,000 wounded war heroes who have been injured in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many of the injured have sustained serious personal injury having served in fierce operations oversees, some having lost limbs, sustained brain injuries, spinal injuries, blast wounds and severe hearing loss amongst other catastrophic injuries.
The MoD argue that the axe is needed in order to train new recruits, however admit that in doing so they are discarding those who have sacrificed so much on their behalf.
The information comes from a leaked MoD document which The Sunday Times quoted which confirmed that 5% of the Army's 102,000 personnel were no longer fit to be deployed in action. The MoD refused to comment on the leaked document.
Cuts will hit the most vulnerable the hardest as the MoD will start by axing the weakest 1,500 most injured first, followed by 750 more each year.
Many of our heroes sign up for an entire career in the Armed Forces. Upon medical discharge from the Armed Forces, those whose careers have been cut short are often thrown out into civilian street, having no alternative career or qualifications to fall back on. As a result of being discharged many can find themselves in great financial uncertainty being unemployed for long periods of time, also losing their stability provided by the Armed Forces in provided discounted housing to its serving personnel and their families which no longer becomes available on discharge. Those more seriously injured can find that they have even lesser employment and financial prospects due to their continuing medical and rehabilitation needs.
The MoD have previously suggested that those injured will be found alternative jobs, however, many have commented that in fact are being offered such low paid, demeaning jobs that many are forced to leave.
The axe occurs following a previous statement given recently by General Sir Richard Dannant, then Head of the Army that soldiers disabled in operations could stay in the Armed Forces. This is contrary to the now current Head of the Army, General Sir David Richards who condones the brutal axe.
Those who are personally injured whilst serving in the Armed Forces not only sustain serious personal injury but can often suffer from loss of earnings, pension, housing and operational benefits and a regular salary that they once had. The MoD currently provide compensation to those who qualify under the often compromised Armed Forces Compensation Scheme. The tariff based scheme only compensates for personal injury alone, often undervalued, and currently only compensates for the top 3 injuries on a sliding scale. Although the scheme is currently under reform, the tariff continues to under compensate injuries and fails to compensate for loss of earnings amongst other crippling losses.
The Sunday Times commented that this is a money saving exercise for the MoD in order to stop a soldier clocking up a 22 year service which would entitle them to an immediate pension and redundancy rights.
Royal Marine, Ben McBean is an example of how injured personnel are currently being treated. Ben was blown up by a Taliban land mine in the Helmand Province, Afghanistan and commented last week in the press that he felt he had been "thrown onto the scrapheap" when he received a medical discharge from the Armed Forces.
As a result of the land mine, Ben suffered brain damage and loss of both legs. Ben pleaded to stay in the Forces at a medical board following the incident and as a result was offered at job at the Personnel Recovery Unit (PRU) but was told that he had to be on parade with the rest of the non-injured unit at 8am and achieve exactly the same as others did even though Ben had greater rehabilitation and physical needs.
Bens mother Daine Dernie commented "..We all know what the purpose of the PRU is - its to get the lads out...".
Those who are physically injured whilst serving for the Armed Forces, may also be able to pursue a civil claim for personal injury should the MoD be at fault for their injuries. If successful, a civil personal injury claim can compensate those injured not only for their injuries but also other reasonable losses sustained as a result of the incident including loss of earnings.
Please contact our team if you have been injured during service to see if we can assist you with a personal injury claim.
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