Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has called on the Department of Defense [DoD] to grant Freedom of Information Act requests from veterans organizations seeking information on the alleged misuse of personality disorder discharges.
Service members discharged because of personality disorders receive substantially fewer benefits and services that those diagnosed with combat-related conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder.
The Vietnam Veterans of America Greater Hartford Chapter 120 and the Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) filed a lawsuit in December charging that their FOIA requests for information on veterans discharged for personality orders were being improperly denied.
In a letter to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Blumenthal, a U.S. Senator-elect, said he was considering filing an amicus brief, or otherwise supporting the VVA’s lawsuit.
“I urge you to reconsider your position and release this important information without further litigation,” he wrote. “Veterans and the public need and deserve access to information to determine whether DoD has wrongly deprived wounded warriors of benefits and services.”