SUBJECT: Traumatic Injury Protection under the Servicemembers' Group Life
Insurance (TSGLI) Program

TSGLI is a program that provides automatic traumatic injury coverage to all servicemembers covered under the Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance (SGLI) program

Every member who has SGLI also has TSGLI effective December 1, 2005. This coverage applies to active duty members, reservists, funeral honors duty and one-day muster duty.

This benefit is also provided retroactively for members who incur severe losses as a result of traumatic a injury between October 7, 2001 and December 1, 2005 if the loss was the direct result of injuries incurred in Operations Enduring Freedom or Iraqi Freedom.

This is an outstanding benefit. There was nothing like this until now. Servicemans Group Life Insurance, the death benefit insurance for active duty personnel now pays up to $400,000. The TSGLI coverage is above any VA benefits paid.

Service personnel were never offered injury insurance before now. This must be a special conflict indeed:

"The purpose of this program is to provide payments to severely injured Service
members. The retroactive provision of PL 109-13 provides that Service members, to
include members who do not have SGLI coverage, that suffer a qualifying loss on or after
October 7, 2001, but before December 1,2005 will receive a benefit under the TSGLI
program if the loss was a direct result of injuries incurred in Operation ENDURING
FREEDOM or Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. Effective December 1,2005, all members
who have SGLI at that time will become insured for Traumatic Injury Protection of up to
$100,000 unless they make a valid election to decline SGLI coverage."

Memorandum for Under Secretary of Defense November 23, 2005

Even if they were not covered by any insurance, they get a chance to purchase cover retroactively:

"The retroactive provision is
provided to any member who suffered a qualifying loss as a direct result of injuries
incurred in Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) and Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) on or
after October 7,2001, but before December 1,2005. This applies to all members,
regardless of enrollment in SGLI."

What a incredibly generous deal. "Regardless of enrollment."

"Traumatic Injury coverage is not disability compensation and has no effect on
entitlement for compensation and pension benefits as provided by VA or disability
benefits as provided by the Department of Defense. It is an insurance product similar to
commercial dismemberment policies. Traumatic Injury coverage provides money for a
loss due to a specific traumatic event while disability compensation is intended to provide
ongoing financial support to make up for the loss in income-earning potential due to
service-connected injuries. Traumatic Injury coverage is not designed to serve as an
income replacement program but rather provides a payment to assist Service members
and their families through a finite injury recovery period. To be eligible for TSGLI a
Service member must be eligible and enrolled in SGLI."

A finite injury recovery period. For me that would mean from 8 Jan 1967 to 17 Dec 1967, my time in Philadelphia Naval Hospital. I would have been awarded compensation for:

Loss of one foot at or above ankle $50,000

Jesus, how I could have used that money. I could have flown home from Philadelphia every weekend. The guys in the firestation took up a collection to get my parents down to Philly the one time they made it, that would have changed, if there had been TSGLI for Vietnam.

I know the amount would have been less but, I probably could have bought a house and I surely could have bought a car, if there had been TSGLI for Vietnam.

I had to go back to my parents house after Nam. I was still only fucking 19 and very, very nuts. But I was also very, very broke. The VA took it's time kicking in and nobody told me I could collect unemployment for a year. Nobody told me anything. If there had been TSGLI for Vietnam, somebody would have been charged to help me:

"Beneficiary Financial Counseling Service (BFCS): Under the above provisions,
VA indicates it will extend the BFCS to any beneficiary receiving payments of $25,000
or more."

But there was no TSGLI for Vietnam. Or Korea. Or WWII. Or WWI. Or Desert Storm Or any other conflict until now.

Does it seem weird to you that through all those years a grateful nation could not come up with the idea of disability insurance for service members? That the Rumsfeld Pentagon came up with this largesse?

I think it has to do with numbers. There were 6,550 + amputees as an outcome of the Vietnam conflict. Many of those were multiple amputee but for easy example lets say they all lost an arm/ leg above wrist/ankle. 6550 x $50,000 benefit = $327,500,000.

$327,500,000, a payout like that would be catastrophic for any insurance company, especially since the cost of TSGLI is but $1.00 a month:

"On Dec. 1, all members eligible for SGLI will become insured for traumatic injury protection of up to $100,000 unless they decline SGLI coverage. A flat monthly premium of $1.00 will be added to the monthly SGLI deduction, regardless of the amount of SGLI coverage that the member has elected effective Dec. 1." DoD News release November 30,2005

One dollar. And you can get it retro.