Perspective: Army's Disability Benefit Review System Feels Strain

Gregory Wilson, injured in Iraq, waited two years to get his first disability payment.

The thousands of soldiers wounded in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have overwhelmed the Army's system for evaluating their eligibility for disability benefits, leading to a near-total failure to complete such reviews in a timely manner, the service's inspector general concluded in a report released yesterday.

The report also found that medical "hold" facilities lacked critical staff and formalized training for personnel caring for wounded soldiers, with more than half of unit commanders reporting "inadequate" staffing. It also cited inadequate and unreliable databases for tracking the wounded.

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