European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 1, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 stars and stripes april army disability assessments under fire by Michael Gilbert Tacoma news Tribune the army is rethinking the Way it evaluates wounded and injured soldiers who Are no longer fit for duty because of Post Trau Matic stress disorder and certain other conditions but a Board at fort Lewis continues to move soldiers with those medical problems through the army disability As ses sment system even though the new guidelines have yet to be published according to attorneys who represent soldiers in effect soldiers must argue their Case without knowing the rules by which the Board will size up their injuries say the three army lawyers who represent sol Diers before the fort Lewis physical evaluation Board or feb attorneys from the office of sol Diers Legal counsel stated their objections in a letter to the Peb president col John Osullivan a soldiers statutory right to a full and fair hearing is fundamentally violated if they Are not provided the standards upon which they Are to be judged in Advance of the they wrote meanwhile in a letter sent after visiting fort Lewis several weeks ago the army top civil Ian lawyer raised concerns about a possible Walmart greeter test in determining whether sol Diers Are Well enough to be de Nied benefits the Peb decides whether wounded and injured soldiers from across the Western United states should receive retired pay and military benefits such As healthcare coverage and base privileges or onetime Severance payments with no benefits or no compensation at All the three attorneys who wrote the letter Are maj Damon d go lick it col Ronda w Sutton and Steven e Engle a civilian who is the chief of office they said that until the new rules Are distributed the soldiers and their lawyers do not know what evidence to gather marshal and present that will be most Rele vant to the boards decision Mak ing in each Case a Board official and an army human resources command spokesman declined to comment the army physical disability Agency is in the midst of a re write of the guidelines for rating the severity of injuries such As pts lost Range of motion in joints such As the neck and Shoul Ders sleep Apnoea and other conditions the revisions Are apparently in response to complaints that have come to Light in the Wake of the Walter Reed army medical Cen Ter scandal since then soldiers and their advocates have raised questions about the fairness of the army system for determining whether wounded and injured soldiers Are fit for duty and if there not How to compensate them for their disabilities soldiers whose disabilities Are rated at 30 percent or More Gener ally Are entitled to be medically retired they receive a percent age of their base pay each month and continue to receive benefits including healthcare coverage and base privileges soldiers who Are rated at less than 30 percent disabled generally receive a Severance payment equal to two months pay for every year of service up to 12 years there released from ser vice with no further benefits soldiers have complained that pets unfairly discount the impacts of injuries often releasing soldiers from the army with mod est Severance payments no Mili tary medical coverage and a Dis ability that makes it difficult to find work As a civilian the army top civilian lawyer Benedict s Cohen earlier this month wrote a memo to senior army officials to report several complaints he heard from fort Lewis staff closely involved in the administration of the Peb pro during a fort Lewis visit sever Al weeks ago Cohen reported staff members alleged that the Peb routinely misapplied army regulations and depart ment of defense instructions to evade reaching the 30 percent Dis ability threshold that triggers sol Dier eligibility for medical retire ment and benefits it was claimed that pets employed a Walmart greeter1 test whereby if an injured Soldier could function As a Walmart greeter he or she would receive a rating of 0 percent disability As opposed to the outcome mandated by army and defense department regulations Cohen wrote military testing and using next generation of tools by Melanthia Mitchell the associated press Seattle taking a Page from Auto manufacturers the army has rolled out several concept vehicles it Hopes will help spawn new technologies for the next generation the two Utility trucks and two Man Euver sustainment vehicles Are part of a million army program to modernize military tactical vehicles like the hum Vee and the Hemmet the army Large transport truck they Are to be used strictly for demonstration and Arent Likely to go into production army officials said the trucks which arrived at fort Lewis Early last month were tested wednesday by sol Diers with the 14th battalion and the 5th brigade 2nd infantry division weve Given them to the sol Diers to play with them and try to break said Tim Connor a defense department contractor based at fort Lewis who is Over seeing the project All four trucks Are equipped with Remote weapons systems night vision capabilities and die Sel electric hybrid engines they also include ballistics Glass video cameras and touchscreen controls the army wants to explore such technology for future use on aging vehicles like the hum Vee which Doest have enough Power or Protection to carry out today military missions what were run Ning with now has become army concept vehicles Connor said the quieter hybrid system would be especially useful during combat missions Connor said if you want to sneak up on someone you turn on the electric which also boosts the horse he said Connor said the two Utility Vari ant vehicles Are comparable to a humvee but Are heavily a Mored have bigger wheels and like the other concept trucks Are designed to sustain a blast from beneath the Carriage the larger Man Euver sustain ment vehicles have a robotic Crane capable of lifting 13 tons of cargo they also have a compan Ion trailer with its own motor so it can be operated independently of the truck Connor said As big As they Are and As heavy As they Are when they hit dips in the Road you hardly feel he said the Marine corps plans its own tests of the vehicles during the last two weeks of april and then they will go on display at the Pentagon Connor said bomb sniffing robots Philip Coyle senior adviser to the Center for de sense information in Washington said the robots could be helpful if they Are used in cases where sol Diers already suspect a bomb but he said expo Siv sniffing sensors Are susceptible to false Posi Tives triggered by explosive residues elsewhere in the area smoke and other contaminants the soldiers can begin to lose Faith in them and they become More trouble than there he said Thompson said All military robots have limitations their every move must be dictated by an operator they can be stopped by barriers or Steep grades they Are not highly agile and they can break Down or be damaged he said robotic by James Hannah the associated press Dayton Ohio As it increases its use of robots in War zones the military will begin using an explosive sniffing version that will allow soldiers to better detect Roadside bombs which account for More than 70 percent of casualties in Iraq fido is the first robot with an integrated explosives sensor Burlington robot corp is filling the military first order of 100 in this Southwest Ohio City and will ship the robots Over the next few months there Are nearly robots in Iraq and Afghanistan up from about 150 in 2004 soldiers use them to search caves and buildings for insurgents detect mines and ferret out Roadside and car bombs As the War in Iraq enters its fifth year the Federal govern ment is spending More Money on military robots and the two major robot makers have in creased production Foster Miller of Waltham recently delivered new robots to the Mili tary robot cranked out 385 robots last year up from 252 in 2p05 produced 4t a Gem City ing and Engineer ing Plant represents improve ment  ing robots said col Terry Griffin project manager of corps systems joint project office at Redstone Arsenal Ala above cameras lights and sensing equipment make up the head of a robot named fido at Gem City manufacturing in Dayton Ohio the robots Are being used in Iraq and Afghanistan for searching caves checking buildings for insurgents and detecting and defusing Roadside bombs left one of two concept Utility variant vehicles being tested at fort Lewis on wednesday above Al left John