CINCINNATI — When Phillip Beltran joined the Army as a light-wheeled vehicle mechanic, he thought it would be a 20-year adventure that would end with retirement. In the end, only part of his hope came true.
“I joined the military when I was 21. I thought I could get out at 41, retire and live a good life afterward,” Beltran said. “I served for four and a half years without choosing.”
After joining the Army, Beltran was stationed at Fort Drum and worked as a mechanic for a military police company. He arrived there in 2004 and was deployed to Mosul, Iraq in 2005. That deployment also took him to other locations, about an hour away in Tal Afar.
“It was definitely a shock to see how the locals lived and the things even the military had to deal with during our stay,” Beltran said.
He said he was rarely in danger because he was stationed at a base in a secure zone where he repaired Humvees. He did admit, however, that there had been occasional mortar attacks to which the rapid reaction force had responded and eliminated the threat.
Beltran’s efforts brought out something that was hidden within him.
“It got to the point where I was lying under a car, tinkering around, fixing something. I’d fall asleep, drop a wrench on my face, come back, come away and do it again and again. And it was horrible,” Beltran said.
He said that although his comrades made a lot of jokes, it became very clear that something was wrong. When he got home, the problem was still there, as he fell asleep standing in formation.
A visit to the base doctors led to sleep studies and blood tests. The diagnosis was narcolepsy.
“They say the stress and maybe the shocks and explosions, some explosions and stuff – nothing direct, I was never hit directly or anything – could have caused the narcolepsy,” Beltran said.
His world collapsed. His dream of a twenty-year career in the army was suddenly shattered.
“My career was over,” he said.
His career was over as he was medically discharged, but he was still receiving a monthly pension. The problem arose when he applied for disability benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Initially he was given 80% disability, but when he could no longer work due to narcolepsy, he applied for “individual disability,” which earned him a 100% disability benefit.
“So, I’m not allowed to work, even though I couldn’t work if I wanted to,” Beltran said. “And I would like to work, but the whole narcolepsy issue is keeping me from doing so. And now I’m at this point. I’m living my life with narcolepsy.”
Reading this, you might think that Beltran could receive two full payments – his Army retirement benefits and VA disability benefits. But that’s not the case for veterans like him who didn’t serve 20 years on active duty.
“For every dollar the VA gives me, they take $1 from my pension, so if that amount goes up, it goes down,” he said.
This problem affects tens of thousands of veterans whose military careers ended prematurely due to a service-related injury.
“If they receive VA compensation, either part or all of their military pension will be forgiven so they can receive that VA compensation. And they may not receive their earned military pension, whether it’s one year or 15, 16 or 17 years of service, they are not eligible for that military pension,” said Marquis Barefield, deputy national legislative director at Disabled American Veterans, or DAV.
He said the DAV views this issue as a punishment by the system against veterans who earned service-related benefits before being medically retired due to service-related problems.
“DAV and other organizations, including the Military Coalition, have been advocating for a way to pass this Major Richard Star Act to end this unfair punishment of military members who cannot receive their retirement pay and their VA compensation at the same time,” Barefield said.
The change would provide a huge financial relief for Beltran, his wife and five children. He said he views the bill’s bipartisan support as a positive sign, but he wants to see it cross the finish line.
“It’s just a matter of getting it voted on and getting all the people who say they support it to put their words into action,” Beltran said.
DAV and other organizations hope to pass the Major Richard Star Act as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act, but the window of opportunity is getting shorter.
Barefield said this bill will be passed in the second round of Congress, and time to implement it for veterans is now tighter than ever.
“Go out and talk to your congressmen and senators and make sure they know the importance of this bill,” Barefield said. “They still need to hear from their constituents in their offices to make them understand that this is a very important issue – not only for me as a veteran, but for a spouse and a dependent and even a widower who can potentially benefit from the passage of the Major Richard Star Act.”
You can read the full text of the Major Richard Star Act and check if your representative currently co-sponsors the bill at the links below:
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