In our military medical system, someone who comes for help and needs to be restricted in some areas gets a temporary medical category. For the first six months we will say okay, you're unfit for deployment, you have to see someone in the mental health department weekly, and are not able to lift 30 pounds, etc. We write down all the limitations. This is for the first six months. Then there is a second six months if we have not succeeded in curing him.
After a year, or a year and a half, depending on the problem, then we usually say whether the restrictions are permanent or not. If they are permanent, then the person has a permanent category, and there's a process in the medical system and the administration system by which he will know if he's going to be released or not from the CF—retained with his restrictions or released medically. When this message comes in, this is when it would be best for someone to have permission to ask for a pension, because up until that moment, efforts will be made to cure him, to help him get better.
Once it's determined the limitations are permanent, then with permanent limitations it's okay to ask for a pension. If you are allowed to ask for a pension for your knee while you're in your twelfth year of service, and yet you still serve until you reach your 25 years of service, what kind of a permanent injury is that if you're able to continue to run and do forced marches? That doesn't make sense to us. Yet we have these patients who are active duty members and who are getting their snow plowed in winter because they have a pension, which we know about, for their back, and yet they're still on fully fit duty, working as an infantry guy. This is ridiculous. We have examples of this. We're looking at that and asking, what is this? The individual is being paid for his back and we're paying to mow his lawn and whatever and he's an active duty person. It makes no sense. It should only be when we determine there are permanent limitations.