Jeremy Schuld joined the military 20 years ago. He wanted to battle terrorism after 9/11.
He didn’t expect to end his military career in a battle for benefits.
“It was a rough way to end to end an otherwise very good career,” Schuld told the ABC15 Investigators earlier this month.
Schuld’s career took him to combat zones overseas. Stateside, he spent five years as an Air Force flight instructor in a T-6 Texan II. He said he taught “basic introduction to dogfighting” while stationed at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi.
With more than a thousand hours in the air, Schuld said he experienced high G-forces.
“Routinely four and five, and then, sometimes, up to six and seven Gs,” Schuld said. That’s a huge amount of pressure on the body, up to seven times the force of gravity.
“I didn't have any concern at the time,” Schuld said.
After moving to Arizona, where he joined the National Guard's 161st Air Refueling Wing, Schuld said he needed multiple major spine surgeries.
His doctor attributed Lt. Col Schuld’s degenerative disc disease to years of high-G flying. By age 40, Schuld realized he was no longer physically able to serve. He was referred to the Medical Evaluation Board in November 2021 and medically retired in December 2023.
“It took just over two years to navigate the system,” Schuld said. Even in retirement, he’s still trying to get approved for Combat-Related Special Compensation. Service members with non-combat injuries can be eligible for the extra, tax-free monthly compensation if their injuries occurred during exercises simulating war or due to hazardous service.
“The number one ‘for example’ that the Department of Defense gives is aerial flight duty,” said Schuld’s attorney, Aaron Drake. “There could be no simpler case here.”
However, the Air Force denied Schuld's request for special compensation three times.
The third time, the decision from the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force said there were "opposing interpretations" of hazardous duty as related to Combat-Related Special Compensation. The Air Force explained its stance was that “a condition arising out of a basic domestic training flight sortie would not necessarily qualify. Rather duties must involve some exposure to actual or simulated armed conflict."
Schuld said, that even under the Air Force’s current definition, he should have qualified.
“We're teaching dogfighting skills,” Schuld said.
An Air Force spokesperson declined to provide additional comment to ABC15 on Schuld’s case beyond its written decisions.
Schuld also sought help from USJAG, a nonprofit group defending the rights of injured servicemembers.
“The chain of command has basically looked at him as a malingerer,” said Jeremy Sorenson, USJAG’s director of Guard and Reserve affairs. “A waste of their resources now that he's injured, he can't perform, he can't fly anymore.”
In Schuld's case, his commander wrote a letter of reprimand last summer claiming the Lieutenant Colonel was likely absent without leave [AWOL] for several days.
“It was days that I was sick, and it was other days that I was collecting medical records or going to medical appointments,” Schuld said. “It was missing work because of the injuries.”
Schuld wrote a reply to the letter of reprimand with an explanation of his absences, and he admitted to a lack of communication. He added he “did not lie or intend to mislead” his command.
The 161st command staff then issued an officer grade determination notification saying details of Schuld’s “misconduct” would be sent to the Secretary of the Air Force for possible demotion in rank and pay.
“It was a tremendous amount of stress, anxiety,” Schuld said. "Until the day I retired, I did not know whether I was going to retire as a lieutenant colonel.”
“The entire process is built to put as many obstacles and barriers up in front of the service members, between them and the benefits, their medical care, and pay that they're guaranteed by federal law,” Sorenson said.
Schuld did keep his rank of lieutenant colonel.
The Arizona National Guard told ABC15, that Schuld's concerns “were brought to leadership's attention which prompted an internal review.”
“We are committed to fostering a positive and inclusive work environment,” a spokesperson for the Arizona National Guard wrote in an email. “We take claims of this nature seriously and will continue our thorough review to address any issues that affect the well-being of our guardsmen.”
Now retired, Schuld plans to make another appeal of the Combat-Related Special Compensation decision to either the Air Force Board for Correction of Military Records or through the court system.
“I think the Department of Defense has a financial incentive to deny everybody, and so they make up their own rules,” Schuld said. "It's not just me."
“My hope is that the questions can be asked at a much higher level, and answers can be demanded,” Drake said.
The Arizona National Guard’s review is ongoing.
