ILLUSTRATIONS: VICTOR ABARCA
Chuck Luther was diagnosed with PTSD after a 2006 deployment to Iraq. However, the diagnosis was quickly changed to a "personality disorder," and Luther was discharged with no benefits.
So, he turned to the Board for Correction of Military Records for help. Ultimately, it was a losing battle. According to Fusion, between 2001 and 2012 the board has never granted a medical discharge.
From the story: "A Fusion investigation has found a system shrouded in secrecy that hardly ever overturns a discharge like Chuck Luther’s. We analyzed thousands of Board decisions, reviewed hundreds of internal documents, and conducted nearly 50 interviews. We found that when service members file appeals that could lay significant blame on the Army or cost a lot of money, the default answer is often no. In fact, the system is so impenetrable, and the results so often negative, that few veterans attempt an appeal when they want a meaningful change."
Read the full story at Fusion.