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Army identifies hundreds eligible for new support program

Nov-12-2004 » Filed Under: General Military

This article from Stars & Stripes describes a new Army program, DS3, designed to help diabled soldiers through the bureaucratic maze. I haven't followed the links provided, but thought this could be a resource for some families out there.

[Link to Full Article]
By Lisa Burgess, Stars and Stripes

ARLINGTON, Va. — Just seven months into a new Army program to give one-on-one, long-term help to severely injured combat veterans, program officials have identified about 880 soldiers who are potentially eligible for the assistance, according to Col. Robert H. Woods, director of the Army’s Human Resources Policy Directorate.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday at the Pentagon, Woods said that the “Disabled Soldier Support System,” or DS3, as the program is called, has conducted interviews with 232 of those 880 soldiers, and is now preparing to hire social workers who will link them with the many government and private programs already in place to assist them.

“We will never forsake a fallen soldier,” he said.

DS3 kicked off in April at the Army’s headquarters in the Pentagon, in a joint announcement with Veterans Affairs, which is responsible for lifetime medical care for injured veterans.

The program is geared toward soldiers with a disability rating of 30 percent or greater, including amputees, severe burn cases and other grave injuries received as a result of combat actions after Sept. 11, 2001, Woods said.

DS3 will team disabled soldiers with an advocate who will monitor the veteran for a minimum of five years, “providing direct support to soldiers and their families as they deal with the initial injury” and later, get on with their lives and careers, whether military or civilian, Woods said. [...]

The program already has a two-person DS3 office located at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington, where virtually all of its eligible participants end up for advanced health care and rehabilitation.

Although the program is still in the developmental stages, some soldiers have already benefited from its efforts, Woods noted.

One of those soldiers is Sgt. Michael Cain, a former transportation specialist with the 4th Infantry Division’s 299th Engineers in Tikrit, Iraq. [...]

It is soldiers like Cain, Woods said, that inspire DS3’s staff to keep pushing the program forward.

“Every generation has its heroes,” Woods said, adding Cain and those like him “are this generation’s heroes.”

For more on DS3, go to: www.ArmyDS3.org or call (800) 833-6622. Disabled soldiers seeking job leads can go to www.ds3soldierconnection.army.mil.


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