But, as your cited article notes, my retirement pension is reduced by exactly the same amount. In other words, the government is basically counting my disability as "bad time" and not permitting it to be counted toward retirement.

The VA disability allowance is compensation for the injury. It is intended to partially offset my future lost earnings incurred because of the disability.

But the offset is punishment for the injury. My net compensation, then, is zero, unless you count the very tiny tax advantage I gain because the disability allowance is untaxed.

Bottom line: the offset taxes disabled retirees for being disabled. It is in truth a tax on the disabled. Nota bene: civilian federal retirees who receive a disability allowance are not offset; they receive the disability and full pension. But military retirees just get screwed.

Right. My dad is one of those impacted this way: A 20-year Army NCO (retired 1SG/E-8) who is, I think, 40 percent disabled. It's a pretty raw deal.

I think there is just a general feeling that retirees already get an unfair deal, since most people can't retire after 20 years. But, as you well know, not too many soldiers can pull that off, either. Plus, there is the presumption that, if you were able to pull 20 years of duty in the military, you must therefore be fit. That's not necessarily true, either but it's one of the strange Catch-22s of military life: You're not allowed to be sick or injured while you're on active duty, but you can suddenly become disabled upon putting in your retirement papers.

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