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Full-Text Articles in Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration

Veteran Disability Compensation And The Army Profession: Good Intentions Gone Awry, Leonard Wong, Stephen J. Gerras Dr. Jan 2021

Veteran Disability Compensation And The Army Profession: Good Intentions Gone Awry, Leonard Wong, Stephen J. Gerras Dr.

Monographs, Collaborative Studies, & IRPs

Previous studies analyzing disability compensation have decried its $76 billion annual budget or warned of its perverse ability to incentivize veterans not to work. This study focuses on the impact of this moral hazard on the US Army profession. If soldiers continue to capitalize on an extremely permissive disability system, the trust between society and the military may be threatened, and future Army readiness may be jeopardized should disability compensation be added to the marginal cost of a soldier. More importantly, many of today’s soldiers are rationalizing disability compensation as something owed to them—not for a debilitating injury, but for …