This is probably a good time to bring this up. My last posting was with the director of casualty support management, and I was also the acting CO of the JPSU on a number of occasions. One of the dilemmas as the CO of the JPSU is care of the ill and injured indigenous member.
I was not allowed to tackle this when I was acting CO—the boss wouldn't let me do it—but the problem as a commanding officer is that you are limited in what you can do to help the indigenous member in his treatment program. The medical authority does not recognize spiritual healing. Therefore, they will not support allowing a member to go to a healing lodge or any other spiritual or cultural treatment. With the changes in the powers of the commanding officer, the commanding officer used to be the one who granted sick leave. He no longer has that authority; it's a medical doctor who does that. If a person wishes to take on spiritual healing, then that person must take leave and pay their own way to treat themselves.
I know of ways you can get around that, but I don't want to discuss it, and I would never tell my regional commanders how to circumvent military regulations. It's just that now it's up to the member to pay for their own treatment.