Sick and injured soldiers are being pushed out of Canada’s military with unseemly haste, before their veterans services and benefits are fully in place.

Mounds of papers work necessary to transition into civilian life only aggravate the plight of these vulnerable people. Many are left beset by stress, “couch-surfing” with friends or in danger of losing a home because they can’t pay their mortgage.

Military ombudsman Gary Walbourne shed some much-needed light on their situation in a withering report this past week that shows how current systems are failing the ill and injured. He found that “far too many” fail to have a successful transition to civilian life.

The reforms Walbourne recommends should be implemented quickly, including creation of a special “concierge service” to help steer soldiers released on medical grounds through the tangled thickets of federal bureaucracy.

“The complexity of the programs and processes is staggering for members (of the military) who are well, let alone ill or injured members — some of whom may be suffering from an operational stress injury,” he wrote. The transition process “is simply too difficult for some members to navigate and they unfortunately fall through the cracks.”

About 5,500 members of the Canadian Armed Forces transfer to civilian life each year, with about 1,500 released as a result of sickness or injury. The way they’re treated has been a major source of complaints, said Walbourne.

“We hear the horror stories,” he said in an interview with The Canadian Press. Often “it’s because they’re let go from one organization and haven’t been accepted into another.”

Many soldiers leaving the military slip into a bureaucratic void: they’ve been released by the defence department but they aren’t yet receiving veteran’s benefits. Months can pass before they obtain services to which they are entitled.

One of Walbourne’s key recommendations calls for the armed forces to avoid releasing members on medical grounds until their access to benefits and programs is fully in place. He calls this a “game-changer” for those receiving a medical release.

“The security and peace of mind that comes from knowing you will remain on the Canadian Armed Forces payroll until all the services and benefits are in place will significantly reduce unnecessary stress,” Walbourne wrote, “thereby allowing members to focus on getting well and moving forward with their lives.”

This shouldn’t pose too great a financial burden, considering the $22.27 billion combined annual budget of the Department of National Defence, the Canadian Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs, he wrote. Walbourne estimated the cost of hiring or contracting for 60 new staff, to provide the so-called concierge service, at about $4.73 million. And that’s also a manageable amount.

He noted that departing the military, even under the best of circumstances, isn’t like leaving any other job.

“It’s a transition from one way of life to another. There is really no equivalent profession to that of military service. Members have a proud sense of identity,” Walbourne wrote, adding that an unsettling loss of identity can occur once a person stops wearing the uniform.

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All this underlines why it’s important for the federal government to pay more attention to the difficulties experienced by military people, especially the ill and injured, when they leave the forces.

Those who have voluntarily put their lives on the line to protect this country deserve a solid and reliable bridge from military service to civilian life.