Can a Person Who Was Injured in Army Basic Training Get Medical Benefits?

Beginning the day a soldier enters recruit training, she's entitled to complete medical coverage. If a soldier is injured, becomes ill or contracts a disease during basic combat training, she receives immediate treatment for the injury, illness or disease. If the injury, illness or disease is permanent or incurable, and the soldier is unable to continue military service, a line-of-duty investigation and medical and physical evaluation boards are conducted to determine whether the soldier will continue to receive treatment by the government.

Injuries Incurred in the Line of Duty

• Soldiers entering the military are covered on their first day of basic combat training. Army basic combat training is 10 weeks of extraordinary physical and mental training in which recruits often have a difficult time pacing their training, resulting in physiological and musculoskeletal injuries. These injuries are immediately treated by the local military hospital, and the recruit is returned to training. In cases in which the injury causes permanent injuries, the Army conducts a line-of-duty, or LOD, investigation to establish how the injury occurred and whether the injury was "in the line of duty."

Line-of-Duty Determinations and Military Fitness

• In accordance with Army Regulation 600-8-4, the Army must determine how and why the injury occurred. If the injury is permanent, the LOD investigation establishes the necessary facts for the Army to make another determination as to whether a medical retirement or severance payment is appropriate. The main factor in this determination is whether the soldier is deemed to be medically fit in accordance with Army Regulation 40-501. To be medically fit, a soldier must not have injuries that limit or interfere with his performance of his duties, or that aggravate or compromise the soldier's health or well-being.

Physical Disability Coverage

• If a soldier is found to be unfit for military duty, she's evaluated by a Military Evaluation Board, or MEB, in accordance with Army Regulation 40-400, and later by a Physical Evaluation Board, or PEB, in accordance with Army Regulation 635-40. The PEB process determines whether the soldier can be placed on the Temporary Disability Retired List, or TDRL. The PEB determination, although not binding on the Department of Veterans Affairs, or VA, is a significant factor in the VA's disability rating and determines eligibility for VA medical benefits.

Department of Veterans Affairs Benefits

• When a soldier is discharged from the military due to injury, disease or illness, there's a good probability the soldier is eligible for medical coverage by the VA. Only the VA can determine whether there's a service-connected disability. The VA has an extensive website that answers soldiers' questions and to which an application can be submitted to determine coverage. Medically discharged soldiers usually speak with a VA representative prior to discharge to prearrange for services.