Why do some NCOs feel that they have an MD when dealing with their Troop's Profiles?

It is unfortunate that so many people on here have the top priority of rooting out malingerers. Honestly of all of the Junior Enlisted I met, there was only one person that I felt was guilty of malingering, on the other hand it seemed like every Sgt was on light duty for something that kept them from running with the formation, but felt good enough to run with the SSgt after work when they felt they could earn some brownie points. This phenomenon of the more senior enlisted actually being the “hypocritical malingers” is so well known that it made it into Terminal Lance (http://terminallance.com/2010/09/24/terminal-lance-67-hypocratic-malingerers/).

I think the problem in the Marine Corps at least is that Corporal has been completely displaced (In the Air Wing at least) in the task of planning and executing PT. I could have told you which of my guys needed a break, and who was whining, but I was relegated to silently follow the one or two unbroken Sgt, SSgt, or Gunny as they ran PT, who could not even tell you the names of the people in my shop without their nametapes.

I think I agree with the OP, and being required to carry around your chit (Papers please) is stupid. You should place your chit with the admin section, and it will be on file; if there is a question about the validity than it can be referenced there. In the end service member who states that they are on limited duty and cannot perform the exercise is doing nothing wrong, but if they are lying they need to be burned. It is not appropriate to have the argument at PT, nor is it good for the unit to feel that they are not trusted at the word at least in the moment. This is the US military; the NCOs and SNCOs need to quite trying to turn it into a bureaucratic nightmare.

Good point Chief. All too often this seems to be the case. As a medic, I'm pretty good at figuring out civilian profiles, but I tell my soldiers if they get injured to the point where they need to go see a civilian doc, bring that paperwork in to me so that I can then have them immediately follow up with the unit PA. NCOs not familiar with anything medical, short of CLS, should defer passing judgement on injured soldiers to the SMEs, ie the medics, PA, BDE Surgs, etc.

My profile was very, very specific. But my NCO,s would not even bother to follow up with my doctor. I came close to losing my whole calf muscle . Instead I lost individual muscle compartments. Now my right leg is considered 40% disabled through the VA.

This too happened to me. I had an injury for a year only because the Army orthopedic surgeon had no idea as to what he was doing. He didn't have the training to diagnose the true injury and he was a Major in charge of the orthopedic clinic at Darnell Army Hospital in Ft. Hood. I wore a plaster cast for a year. My NCO's thought I was shaming as the saying went back then. So they found a size 17 rubber over boot and made me wear it. Then they made me drive saying the whole time there was nothing wrong with me, because if there was the surgeon would have found the problem. So I spent 6 months driving M 113's and jeeps and an occasional deuce and a half. Let me tell you it was not good for my leg. Finally the Major looked me in eye and told me I was faking my injury. I told him that's why my calf swelled to the size of a football when my cast was off and I was forced to do work that violated my profile. I told him that he was the faker that he was not a doctor. He was pissed. It took a civilian doctor to diagnose me. By the time it was over I had major surgery on my calf. With a good deal of the muscle going in the scrap bucket. Moral to the story report those NCO,s. Don't let them screw you for life like they did me. Burn them if you can and burn them bad. Because they should not be in the position they are in.

There are examples that ended badly also where a Military member was forced to do some extensive running by a NCO and that person dropped dead on the running track. He was 21 years old. There may be people that manipulate things to avoid doing what they don't want to but keep in mind the medical problem may well be real. How would You fell if You were that NCO and the guy You singled out and pushed died because of You ? Something to think about.

I broke a finger in boot camp and had a gutter cast on my right arm. Obviously I wasn't doing much with that arm for a few weeks. During field training it got soaking wet due to rain and fell apart, so I discarded it. Upon returning to MCRD one of my DIs called me out for a 'thrash', so I complied. I 'thrashed' for about 30 minutes which will burn you down, other Marines know what I am talking about here. I was in the middle of doing pushups on broken finger when Sr. DI comes in and stops us, leaves us at attention. He takes the Jr. DI into the 'hut' and haves a conversation that we could hear in the squad bay, not yelling but we could still here it. He was basically asking the Sgt if he had lost his mind, since my activities were restricted by my profile. They were sh**ing bricks that I might tell the doctor at my medical visit scheduled for the next day. The Jr. DI had assumed the missing cast meant I was good to go. I didn't correct his thinking because this is USMC boot camp, you don't question the DI's orders. The Sr. DI called me in and asked why I didn't tell the other DI, stuff like that. I liked my Sr. DI so I told him rest assured there would be no mention of the thrashing unless it was medically necessary information at my medical visit. Turns out though it was quite painful doing pushups on that finger, it was healed enough no damage was done and they decided to restore me to full duty. So my experience was the NCOs were expected to know at least who had a profile and some idea of the limitations. The Jr. DI treated me a little different after that, I believe because I didn't report him. I tell this tale for the benefit of NCOs out there still serving that you definitely need to follow the profile or it could cost you. Not your job to play doctor. If you think you have a malingerer, it's best you discuss this with a superior and let them work the issue. If you are a person on a profile, best to keep it with you. I have permanent disabilities due to traffic accident. I have even had physical therapists or other persons in the medical field tell me to do things that go against the advice of the surgeons that put me back together. I politely tell these non-MDs " I hope you won't be offended if I prefer the opinion of a surgeon who is head of orthopedic trauma department at our regional trauma center, or the opinion of a board-certified surgeon who is the head of a joint-replacement center, over yours." So be respectful and mindful of the rank of the person you are addressing, but if you are certain that engaging in a particular activity would go against the direction of your doctor, you should request to speak with the next person in the chain-of-command. It is not in the best interest of whatever branch of the military to which a person belongs to turn you into a person collecting a permanent disability retirement if that can be avoided by following doctor's orders.

It doesn't take a MD to recognize malingering. We as NCOs can pin point that stuff a mile away.

Every joe is just trying to get over Chief don't you know. Yes it has been a problem for a long time the military tends to use people up then put them out when they can no longer perform it is hard. I had plantar flachitius for 6 years and was on a no running profile and then the last year befor retirement I had a P3 on my shoulder but I was over 18 so the med board let me stay it was very stressful going into the board.