PHA Dilemma

Many people do not understand the difficulties that a member of the National Guard faces in order to be able to serve their state and country. Gone are the days when National Guard soldiers sat around drinking beer and telling stories. Today’s soldiers are pushed hard to be well trained and ready to answer the call, at a moment’s notice. We must balance home life, work life, and the military life. That is harder than one might think. There have been many times my wife has told me, “We’re not your soldiers.” I’ve also caught myself giving my employees the ‘knife hand’ or wanting to tell them to ‘drop.’

            Staying ready and prepared for the military is always an issue. Physical fitness is much harder for a Guardsman, than an Active Duty soldier. We do not have the ability to have our Soldiers meet each morning for physical fitness training, as they do on active duty. Instead it is the responsibility of each individual to do it on their own. Some are great and remain physically fit. Others, well they look like they are in a perpetual state of pregnancy. Every reservist First Sergeant has at least one or two of these in our formations.

            The Soldiers’ health is another stumbling block for us as well. Weekend Warriors have to pay for their own health care. It is not provided for as it is for traditional soldiers. This results in many of the younger soldiers not seeing a Dr. regularly. Many times we find major health issues when it is time to deploy. We all know you can’t send an unhealthy person to combat. Their health could kill them after all.

            The military has found a way to try and weed out these problems prior to a deployment. The Periodic Health Assessment is the answer. Once a year, each soldier must go through a PHA. Periodic Health Assessment. This sounds great, doesn’t it? Soldiers go through a health review. Those needing to see a Dr. or Dentist to get fixed up get a chance to do it. Those that can’t be fixed can be processed out, opening positions for new soldiers to come in. That is the theory at least.

            There are a few hang ups to this wonderful idea. A person must understand that the people that the people performing these functions are civilian contractors. They are paid by the number of people that they see. They are doctors, nurses, and technicians that are working to make extra money on the weekend. You can imagine how much thy truly care about the process and individuals. A good example is the dental exams. I have dentures, there is no reason for me to see the dentist. However, every year I have to sit 20 minutes in a line waiting for the dentist. I tell them I have dentures before I ever start waiting. When I finally get to the dentist it’s always the same.

            “You have dentures?” the old man yawns.

            I pull them out and show him. “Yes I do.”

            He quickly signs my paper. “Thank you. Go to your next station, please.”

            You can see where I feel so cared for and my time has been used properly. You have to see a physician before you leave. They ask you a few questions about your health. There is no physical exam. You could be dying from cancer or some weird tropical disease and they would never know. All you have to do is say you are fine. There are now health issues. They check the block and mark you as deployable.

            On the flip side. A soldier who is tired of being in the Army, they simply need to go in and complain. They can complain about being stressed out, or any injury that is hard to verify. The Dr. will mark them as non-deployable. A medical review will then be initiated. The soldier may think that they will be out of the military soon. That is laughable. It can take a year or longer of Dr. visits and documentation before they are released.

            God help you if you have some minor issue, and want to stay in. You are instantly marked as non-deployable. I don’t care if you have a twisted ankle, bunion, and some minor injury. It then becomes the individual soldier’s responsibility to prove that they are fixed and deployable after that. That may even cost the soldier money out of their own pocket.

            This whole process takes the majority of the day. Each soldiers moves from station to station. There is no order. You jump in whatever line is shortest. The person there signs off the box for their station. Sometimes they don’t even look up at you. Then you race off to the next shortest line, until you have all your boxes checked off. Then you are done! A sense of euphoria passes over you at that moment. You are declared fit for duty for another year.