The peculiarity of Major Jill Metzger’s July 2007 disability retirement

The putting of Air Force Major Jill Metzger on the Temporary Disabled Retired List (TDRL) is an immoral and unethical transgression against all veterans who served their military obligation honorably with good conduct regardless of one enlistment or several. Many veterans have had the misfortune of being physically injured doing the mission or subsequently developing traumatic stress reactions (post-traumatic stress disorders) at some time after doing the mission.

To be considered for a disability retirement the military member must meet or exceed a 30% disability rating threshold. Disparity in disability retirement ratings is undeniable. During the period from the year 2000 through the year 2006 the Air Force awarded disability retirement to 27% of its disabled troops compared to Navy’s 36%, Marine Corps’ 18%, and Army’s 13%. That debilitating conditions are ignored, underrated or overrated lacks deniability, however, for the majority of disabled retired veterans post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is not the primary disability rated diagnosis.

PTSD is a natural recovery process, a normal reaction to an abnormal event, which may or may not develop into a chronic disorder. In its chronic and delayed forms, PTSD is a neurotic disorder arising out of an actual traumatic event itself. To get a 30% or higher Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) rating though an MEB prior to discharge from active duty or through the VA after discharge typically requires the military member or the veteran to have a documented medical history of a many month sustained pattern of hospitalizations, daily psychotropic meds, and regular counseling.

During the nine months after she went unexplainably missing on September 5, 2006 while shopping in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and her equally unexplainable being found alive on September 8, 2006, Major Jill Metzger has been observed running and doing other unhindered intense physical activates and equally as important she apparently was performing military duties commensurate to her rank, grade, and experience in the 347th Mission Support Squadron’s manpower office at Moody AFB, GA. Lacking any observable physical impairment to range of motion of joints, limbs, back neck, or loss of strength, flexibility, dexterity, vision or hearing makes it reasonable to assume her 30% or higher disability rating results primarily from presence of systemic disease or is of psychiatric in nature. It is unlikely a sudden unexpected discovery of a systemic disease is causing the 30% or higher disability rating, consequently it is reasonable to assume the primary rated disability is loss of mental fitness that requires frequent hospitalization, daily psychotropic medications, and regular counseling that brings with it significant industrial impairment (i.e inability to work).

There is something other than or in addition to disparity of how disabilities are rated causing Major Jill Metzger to be rated at or above the 30% disabled threshold at which military members gain eligibility to be designated disabled retirees.

There was no military mission that led to her disappearance; there was no military mission that put her into the hazards and dangers of an active combat zone. The peculiarity of Major Jill Metzger’s disability retirement includes the contradiction her disability may have resulted from her own misconduct or willful neglect. The United States Air Force and the United States Department of Justice have been inquiring into her September 5, 2006 to September 8, 2006 missing status for the past nine months and there is end in sight to this inquiry. Major Jill Metzger is at a loss to give an explanation why somebody needed to specifically capture and detain Major Jill Metzger and the United States Air Force and the United States State Department are unable to identify an active group hostile to the United States conducting kidnapping or attempting to kidnap members of the United States military in Kyrgyzstan. The inquiry is further complicated by the Kyrgyzstan government suggesting she went missing to have an abortion. Major Jill Metzger certainly wasn’t given a hero’s welcome on when she return to Moody AFB. An inquiry has yet to determine and verify her missing status and more importantly an inquiry has yet to say her disability is in the line of duty or resulted from her own misconduct or willful neglect.

Putting Major Metzger on the TDRL for purposes of administrative separation convenience is an immoral and unethical wrong doing to every combat wounded or killed inaction veteran and their family members. If placement on the TDRL is justified it should be given after all inquiry into her going missing is completed not before, especially with the wide spread suspicions the cause for going missing and medical disability is her willful neglect or intentional misconduct. Why isn’t there official disclosure her status was missing resulting from capture by unfriendly people to the United States and not from her intentional misconduct or willful neglect?
Malfeasance at the highest levels is strongly suggested if she is quietly removed from the Air Force through use of an MEB and a chapter 61 medical retirement without any official disclosure of the truthfulness or untruthfulness of her claimed capture and subsequent escape and evasion.

The decision to put her on the TRDL without completing inquiry and determining her missing status is despicable. Chapter 61 medical retirement is specifically prohibited by law to be given to a military member whose disability resulted from intentional misconduct or willful neglect.

CHAPTER 61--RETIREMENT OR SEPARATION FOR PHYSICAL DISABILITY, Sec. 1207. Disability from intentional misconduct or willful neglect: separation states: “Each member of the armed forces who incurs a physical disability that, in the determination of the Secretary concerned, makes him unfit to perform the duties of his office, grade, rank, or rating, and that resulted from his intentional misconduct or willful neglect or was incurred during a period of unauthorized absence, shall be separated from his armed force without entitlement to any benefits under this chapter.”

Major Metzger is the free-agent of her own acts and deeds (unless she lacked or lacks mental fitness to act reasonable) and failed to provide a reasonable explanation for her disappearance and reappearance. Without knowing any facts or truths it is reasonable probability the disappearance was caused either by a loss of mental fitness or extraordinary emotional distress. Regardless, the resulting questions needing answers more concerns her immediate supervisors and immediate chain-of-command as there was a failure to refer to appropriate health care or to take any interest in her mental, emotional, or physical well being before she disappeared. It appears to me something being covered up. Consequently there needs to be some official disclosure of at least some of the facts of the alleged Metzger abduction and escape and evasion from captors for many reasons before this separation is allowed to quietly happen without any question or scrutiny.

The purpose of military law is to promote justice, to assist in maintaining good order and discipline in the armed forces, to promote efficiency and effectiveness in the military establishment, and thereby to strengthen the national security of the United States. Since it is beyond any question and doubt Major Metzger whereabouts and duty status was not known for three days and that her explanation is in significant lack of reasonable validity and probability. If she was not abducted and captured as claimed the most probable remaining causes are all directly resulting from her personal misconduct and unfitness to hold commission.

Her actions, deeds, and acts during the period she went missing need inquiry in order to assign blame or praise. If she is not above the law, inquiry needs to discover and answer if her personal conduct, behavior, and judgment contributed to her going missing or not. If her intentional misconduct or willful neglect is found to be the only direct causes for her going missing, there should some accountability through the military justice system.

Chargeable offenses identified in articles of the UCMJ she could have violated and could be charged with are:
Article 86 Unauthorized Absence (If she was not kidnapped)
Article 107 False Official Statements (If she was not kidnapped)
Article 133 Conduct Unbecoming of an Officer and a Gentleman (if she was not kidnapped)
Article 92 Failure to Obey Order or Regulation (If she was not kidnapped)
Article 134 False Swearing (If her kidnapping and escape explanations are discovered to be false)
Article 134 Adultery (if speculation is discovered to be true)
Article 134 Fraternization (Speculation, may or may not be applicable-just can not be ruled out)
Article 134 Self Injury without intent to avoid service (if her misconduct caused a temporary medical condition making her immediately medically disqualified to continue performing her military duties at the deployed location and even more so if she went AWOL to secretly get medical treatment from an unauthorized treatment center that resulted in further self injury).

The decision to place Major Jill Metzger on TDRL brings with it gross contradiction and compromise of the underlying rules or precepts adopted for governing persons serving a military obligation and for determining the military member’s eligibility for disability retirement. It is about the rules must be fair, and the practice of following the rules must be equitable, so whatever standards apply, imperially apply to all with no biases against some or favoritism to some.

Please ask your elected representatives in the Congress, the Senate, The U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services, and The U.S. Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs to inquire into this.