Stryker Brigade News

“When we pay CERP, it’s not admitting to wrongdoing, that’s why it’s called [a] condolence. [We’re saying that] we’re sorry for what occurred,” Mullins said.

“We also pay out of the FCA,” she said. FCA stands for Foreign Claims Act. “We really have to screen out claimants’ claims so we can tell which fund we’ll pay them out of. FCA is strictly for accidents. Under FCA, you cannot pay for combat-related injuries.”

Claimants come to either Forward Operating Base Courage or Forward Operating Base Marez to complete a spot interview and find out what information they need to file a claim. In the case of a vehicle accident, claimants need police statements, witness statements, photos of the vehicle showing the damage, and proof of ownership.

Sometimes, the unit involved in the collision fills out a claim form to let the JAG office know that they were involved.

“Sometimes units will drop off their half of the claims form so that when we get the claim we can match both the claims forms together and know for a fact that yes, this unit did run into them…it’s a legitimate claim,” Mullins said. “It makes [our job] a million times easier. It makes it a breeze. I love units that provide claims forms. They should get a medal!”

Mullins has dealt with her share of vehicle accidents.

“Definitely the majority of our claims are Stryker-vehicle, or humvee, or military vehicle accidents in general and out of those accidents, the majority are property damage to local national vehicles,” Mullins said. “We’ve seen some claims where a Stryker ran into a claimant’s wall and broke a hole into the wall trying to turn a corner. It’s just an example of how it’s sometimes hard to maneuver these big vehicles in such small streets.”

Not all claims are for scratched paint or dented fenders. Some times a claimant has lost a family member. Then the job becomes difficult.

“You want to have a poker face,” said Staff Sgt. William Owsley, NCOIC 172nd Brigade Operational Law Team. “You can’t really go into this job and have an emotional attachment. Sometimes it’s just too draining to hear too many sad stories. One man got into an accident with a Humvee and his daughter was seriously injured. It’s easy to relate to him because I have two daughters of my own. Sometimes it hits home. I just break away from that and continue with the questions I need for him to answer and not put my feelings into his claim.”

Processing a claim time takes about two weeks. Once Mullins or Owsley receive a claim, they pass it on to 172nd Brigade Judge Advocate attorneys Capts. Charles Basinger and Annemarie Drazenovich who decide what amount the payment will be. Owsley is the pay agent who hands the money to the claimant once the claim has been approved.

Despite the difficulty in processing some of the claims, they find the work rewarding.

“In a lot of ways, I believe from my own perspective that it helps win hearts and minds by honoring what we do,” Mullins said. “It shows that we’re a disciplined, organized force- that we have humanity- that we’re not going to go out and run into things and not compensate for those damages.”

“I try to be as friendly as possible. I know all the claimants, number one, are afraid to come to the gate because they don’t know how we’re going to treat them,” Mullins said.

“Number two, just to get here it’s dangerous in itself. So I try to greet each claimant with open arms. I try to give them as much information so we can properly adjudicate their claim. We all go out of our way, especially if it’s a claim that came out of a combat-related incident. We go out of our way to find the claimant and pay them.”

The team has encountered some false claims, and they have the duty to research and deny fraudulent claims. One fabricated account alleged that there was a taxi in a firefight where other observers said that there was no taxi, and another man tried to file the same claim twice under a different name.

“Sometimes I think that claimants assume that we don’t read police statements or witness statements because they’re in Arabic and they assume ‘They’re not going to be able to translate this stuff’ so some will give us witness statements and police reports that are contrary to their claim,” Mullins said.

Caseload varies from day to day, one day it could be 10 people and other days there could be 40 or 50.

“You see both sides,” Owsley said. “All in all, the claimants are happy that we’re here, so that’s rewarding. Sometimes we want to help them more but we can’t.”

(via DVIDS)