SGT. SHAFT: Updated insurance not tied to combat

Sgt. Shaft: I had three years Regular Army, five years Army Reserve and 12 years Army National Guard. In 2004, I was activated for 27 months with the Guard as the battalion personnel sergeant for my unit’s rear detachment while the unit was deployed to Iraq and for demobilization when it returned. Eighteen months into my active-duty tour, I was in a severe motor-vehicle accident three miles from my duty station while on the way to work. I don’t understand why all branches of service — active, Reserve and Guard — pay for Traumatic Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance (TSGLI) but it only pays if you are injured in a combat zone.

I broke 22 bones, including numerous bones in my face. My face and skull were lacerated, and I was nearly scalped. I had four surgeries to reconstruct my face, two to fix my broken neck and one to repair internal injuries. My Department of Veterans Affairs disabilities included post-traumatic stress disorder and disfiguring, painful scars. I am considered totally disabled. I could go on, but the point is, according to the TSGLI schedule, I would have qualified for $75,000 to $100,000 in benefits except that I was not injured in a combat zone. Not that I am concerned about the $1-a-month premium, but it is hugely hypocritical to make us pay premiums for benefits for which we do not qualify unless we are in a particular duty-status location. Thousands of soldiers are injured traumatically outside combat zones with the same injuries that qualify soldiers inside combat zones. Maybe it should be renamed CTSGLI (Combat Traumatic SGLI). Thanks for listening.

Deena K

U.S. Army

Dear Deena:

My sources tell me that you might have been misinformed. Since 2005, TSGLI has no longer been just for combat injuries. Here’s what the Army human-resources Web site says about exceptions to TSGLI coverage:

“Exceptions to TSGLI Coverage:

“There are certain circumstances under which a traumatic injury would not be covered by TSGLI. They include injuries caused/sustained by:

• Self-inflicted wounds

• Attempted suicide

• The willful use of an illegal or controlled substance causing the loss, not under prescription

• Committing or attempting to commit a felony

• Medical or surgical treatment of an illness or disease

• A mental or physical illness or disease; unless the illness or disease is caused by:

“- A pyogenic (pus-forming, often from a wound) infection, biological, chemical or radiological weapon

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