Personal observation...

I got my ETS physical last month. I am not a "wounded warrior". I did 3 trips to Iraq and got hurt no worse than when I was a kid playing in the woods or a teen playing football - just scrapes, bruises, and a minor concussion. However, when I went into the ETS physical, I was at least expecting, well, a physical examination of some kind.

The entire procedure consisted of filling out a one-page questionaire about my general health and then reviewing it. In the question asking, "do you have any concerns about your health?" I answered yes. In the comment section where you expand upon affirmative answers, I cited that I spent over 3 years of my life in combat zones, inhaling burning trash, burning feces, interacting with people who do not have vaccinations, eating tainted food and drinking dirty water that made me sick, and being in filthy urban environments with open sewers, diseased animals, and assorted other things.

I figured that I would at least get a blood test or maybe a routine screening for something. I don't know - I'm not a doctor. But, even if I had said that everything was peachy-keen, I would think that the fact that this was an ETS physical and my first "full" physical in nearly 7 years would prompt at least the standard blood pressure check or cold stethoscope on my back. My physical exam was neither physical, nor was it an examination. It just consisted of me sitting down with some health care provider who may or may not have been a doctor and reviewing my answers to the questions. When we happened upon the "health concerns" question, she said something along the lines of, "yeah, a lot of people cite those concerns." It seemed that simply documenting it was the way to address it. I guess the assumption is that if I get leukemia in 2 years then my insurance company can blame it on the Army and get them to pay my medical bills while I whither away.

The whole "ETS physical exam" took about 10 minutes, to include filling out the form.