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The federal government is not doing enough to help some civilian employees wounded while deployed to Iraq and
Afghanistan, the House Armed Services Committee said in a new report. Civilian employees like Helms, a
counter-intelligence specialist, do not fall under the military disability system. Their injuries aren't covered by
their usual health insurance but by Workers' Compensation. But the Labor Department's Office of Workers' Compensation
Programs is not equipped to handle civilians' wartime claims, the committee said.
OWCP does not adjudicate combat wounds any differently than workplace injuries, the committee said in its report,
"Deploying Federal Civilians to the Battlefield: Incentives, Benefits and Medical Care." But, claims officers aren't
trained to recognize unique combat injuries; claims processing is paper-based and "antiquated," and injured federal
employees have little support when trying to prove they were wounded at war, the report said. "Do they have to become
a workers' comp expert from Day One to get treatment?" asked committee chairman Rep. Vic Snyder, D-Ark.
Some wounded civilians are not allowed access to the military medical facilities that are doing the latest research on
prosthetics, traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, Snyder said. Helms has been battling OWCP and
the Defense Department to get treatment since he was caught in a roadside bombing outside of Samarra, Iraq, in June 2004.
Helms, who is assigned to the Army's 902nd Military Intelligence Group, was stationed in the dangerous Sunni Triangle
area in December 2003 to help collect intelligence on insurgent operations.
He lived and fought much like the soldiers he served with in units like the Army's 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division
and often manned a Humvee's M60 turret gun during convoys. But after he was wounded, Defense started treating him
differently from the soldiers.
Helms was medically evacuated to Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington two weeks after the bombing, but Walter
Reed wouldn't admit him at first because he was a civilian. Helms - who said he was on "unbelievable amounts" of the
painkiller Percocet at the time and was in no shape to argue on his behalf - was admitted only after the military driver
of his bombed Humvee and the driver's wife fought for him.
After a month, Helms said the driver was discharged and Helms had to leave Walter Reed. After returning to Fort Knox,
Ky., the Ireland Army Community Hospital there likewise refused to see Helms. "When you're so drugged up and so at a
loss because you spent two months trying everything you can to get support from the government, you start going,
'Whatever, I can't fight this anymore,'" Helms said.
So Helms started pursuing Workers' Compensation. But he said Labor provided him no help navigating the complicated
Workers' Comp system, and said several of his treatments at local hospitals were denied because OWCP didn't recognize
the condition or because someone wrote down the wrong treatment code number. Since then, he's had to argue his way out
of several bills from his treatments at Ireland and other civilian medical facilities - some as high as $15,000. Those
bills would have been taken care of by Tricare if he had been a service member.
Helms got back into Ireland Army Community Hospital for TBI treatments only after Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon
England wrote a memo Sept. 24 that said civilian employees wounded in a war zone are to receive the same treatment as
uniformed service members. But by then, it was too late for treatment. Helms was told recently that his brain damage is
permanent, and the time for treatment was in the first two years after his injury. "What's done is done," Helms said.
"It's only going to decline from here."
Helms, 32, is already dealing with irritability, insomnia, fear of crowds, digestive problems, short-term memory loss,
and other conditions that he said have "torn apart my personal life." He said he pulled away from his friends because
they don't understand what he's going through and why he has changed, and dating is difficult. "I started with some
[women] not saying anything and trying to be positive," Helms said. "I tried telling some upfront. That didn't work
either. The issues always come out on their own, and it's hard to find someone really willing to listen or be understanding
to the situation."
Helms still works long days at the 902nd at Fort Knox. He said he gets paid for six hours by the Army and two hours by
Workers' Comp. But he said he still often works longer days without extra pay because he feels compelled to by the needs
of his office.
The House Armed Services Committee said in its report that Defense should assign a caseworker to each civilian who is
wounded while deployed and it should give all wounded civilian employees access to military medical facilities. OWCP
should form a special office to process wartime claims and have employees who know how to handle claims involving combat
wounds, the committee said.
The Pentagon didn't comment, saying it is still reviewing the committee's report. Snyder said the report is only the
beginning of an effort to understand the problem. He said he's not now planning legislation to address these issues, but
he has asked the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to review the report's recommendations that fall under
its jurisdiction.
For his part, Helms doesn't expect much to change any time soon because of the committee's report. "Everything that was
stated in the report was recommendations," Helms said. "There's nothing that says, 'This must be done.'"
After Helms spoke to Federal Times on May 1, he returned home to find yet another bill from the government - this one
for $2,500 for his latest TBI test at a private medical facility that contracted with Ireland. "Once again, I begin this
process of justifying my existence to the U.S. government," Helms wrote in an e-mail. "It never ends."
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This is what Mike Helms got for serving his government in Iraq: An armful of shrapnel. Traumatic brain injury that left
him changed and damaged the relationships he had before the war. And almost no help in getting the medical treatment he
needs.