Are army phsyical profiles suggestions for giving assignments or are they to be...

[BETHY]

...followed mandatory? My fiance has been on a continued temporary army medical profile for the past 4 months. His leg is injured and the injury has not been diagnosed and continues to worsen. Under his profile, he has been given a "3" under "L" (lower extremeties). However, his superior officer has said that physical profiles are merely "suggestions", and now he has begun and has been assigned to more field work that far exceeds the limitations the doctor noted. His profile says he is not run, carry more than 35 pounds, stand for more than 30 miunutes. My fiance is a tanker, and his field work has required him to wear all his gear (including plating), carry his firearms, board vehicles, run, etc., all of which the doctor said he is unable to do and is clearly marked in his profile. Are physical profiles really just a suggestion to this great of an extent? He has been in the army for 7 years, but with this injury, it would have been disqualifying if he had tried to enter now. Can someone elaborate on what is going on here? I'm not sure how much weight a Physical Profile carries and if his commanding officer is neglecting his physical condition to the point where something needs to be done about it. Thank you for any responses

Also, how does this affect deployment issues since the temporary profile keeps getting renewed? He is stationed at Fort Stewart (a rapid deployment base, this would be his 4th deployment in just over 7 years) in Georgia and the stoploss date is quickly approaching for their deployment date this winter.

 

[doublerranch74851]

A profile is not a suggestion. It is a doctors orders. The commander cannot make him violate the profile. However, they have ways of pressuring you to do so.

If he is being order to directly violate the profile, he needs to go talk to his Dr. (which is most likely a PA) and tell him/her what is going on. Also, when it comes to heatlh care for active duty, you have to push, push, push to get the help you need. He needs push to see a specialist.

If he doesn't take care of these problems early on, they will only worsen.

The command and peers can really ride you down for a profile, making you feel like a failure for being sick or hurt. But if he is truly hurt, he needs to push for care. There is so much pressure to keep profile's low, deployability high, etc, it is unbelievable.

Unfortunately, the command sees numbers, not just people. A soldier that is down is just like having a tank down. It is lost resources and a commander has to account for his injured people/equipment.

I worked for a while in an area where all this data was compiled and reported up the chain of command and the pressure the commanders get is incredible.

Also, some commanders push and push and start getting a lot of high injury/sick rates among their personnel can get into some trouble. There is a balance there and unless you are involved in the process and see how/why they reason the way they do it is about impossible to explain.

Bottom line, he will have to take care of himself. Soldier's don't want to complain and know the kinda crap you can catch for going to the IG or jumping the chain of command, however, he has to realizes he won't be in forever and his health will be affected.

Good luck to you both.