13NEWS / WVEC.com
Posted on May 13, 2010 at 11:41 AM
Updated Thursday, May 13 at 12:19 PM
Col. Doug Strand injured his leg in a motorcycle accident two years ago while reporting for duty at Langley Air Force Base. Now he suffers from Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, a painful nerve disorder.
To qualify for Tricare, the military health care coverage, he had to be placed on active duty, but there was a delay instead of it being automatic.
"I had to travel around in crutches I bought on the Internet in order to collect up paperwork to prove to them I still had problems. That was just wrong," said Strand.
Strand has been tied up in administrative red tape.
After months of contacting the Air Force Reserve, he got the coverage he needed.
In the meantime, he and his wife were burdened with bills and with trying to pay for the medical coverage out of pocket.
"I said, 'honey, this happened to you, a colonel, so I say this will happen to thousands of soliders,'" said Van Strand.
Strand wants an Air Force Inspector General’s Inquiry and has filed a Congressional Complaint.
"That's all we're asking them to do is comply with the laws that are already there. So there needs to be enforcement of the existing laws and accountability," said Strand.
Just last week, Strand visited Rep. Rob Wittman (R-1st District) to explain the problem. He was transported by ambulance because of his disability.
Rep. Wittman sent 13News a statement in regard to Col. Strand’s situation saying, "If a reasonable solution isn’t found, that’s a case where we need to take a careful look and see if improvements are needed."
"My concern is now these hundreds of thousands of other reservists and guardsmen from other branches of service are now going through what i'm going through," said Strand.
A spokesperson from Air Force Reserve said that oversight is different for each type of reservist but could not go into detail.
Source
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